Rat Control in winter *edited with pictures

[lazy gardener]

This sounds like a great idea! I am going to home depot tomorrow and I am hoping that hardware cloth are bricks aren't that expensive I think I recall bricks not being too pricey but I've never had to buy hardware cloth before

You're gonna pay through the nose at Home Depot. Cheapest place to buy it is on line.

 

[Howard E]

For those of you thinking you might be able to rat proof a structure against brown rats, aka Norway rats.....aka the kind that live in the ground in tunnels.......by burying a section of hardware cloth into the ground, or laying an apron on the ground around the perimeter......think again.

You might be able to excavate a trench, then bury an L shaped section of fence a foot deep and a foot out, and it might work......until it rusts out. Probably better to bury landscape pavers........the 18" kind......in an L shaped pattern. One side of the L up and down the other flat....and buried deep. But if you leave a crack.....even a tiny crack......they will likely find it.

This is an old video, but what they knew then still applies now. As for how to keep them from digging tunnels and coming up from below, if you don't have time to sit through the whole thing, fast forward to the 9:00 mark to see what you are up against.

And low barriers....or a couple feet of cloth near the ground won't cut it either. Won't even slow them down. A true rat proof structure is going to require a 3D enclosure on all 6 sides......floor, 4 walls and ceiling. No opening larger than 1/2" in any of that and much of that from some type of cement, bricks and sheet metal like metal siding and roofing. Ouch.

 

[Boonie Stomper]

I doubt that it will freeze. You most likely will have to dispatch it. Do you have a pellet or bb gun?

No guns. Illegal to discharge firearm in city.
But you were right about the rat. It is quite comfy still. I actually would be tempted to haul it away and relocate it.

Rats are pretty smart they get wise to any kind of trap after awhile. I hate using poison but once you eradicate them they don't come back in my experience. We had a wrath of them when we first moved to our current house 5-6yrs ago. Had them again this fall, only two times I've had to deal with them .

I will not use poison. My DMs German Shepherd was killed by eating a rat that ate poison at a neighbors garage.

Alas. I suppose it would be easy to wield a skewer or knife. Have had petstore rats before but even they can cause troubles. But... what if this is just a juvenile Norway rat?
It must with all its homeys be removed in ANY case! The fact is that a long time ago in my youth in a basement bedroom converted from an in-house garage, one of those HUGE beasts over the course of weeks gnawed its way down the foundation wall, through the cinderblock and interior framing and sheetrock, and into my and sister's room one night!

 

[mechanic57]

Wow, they can chew threw aluminum alloy sheets! Awesome video, thanks for sharing.

 

[lazy gardener]

No guns. Illegal to discharge firearm in city.
But you were right about the rat. It is quite comfy still. I actually would be tempted to haul it away and relocate it.


I will not use poison. My DMs German Shepherd was killed by eating a rat that ate poison at a neighbors garage.

Alas. I suppose it would be easy to wield a skewer or knife. Have had petstore rats before but even they can cause troubles. But... what if this is just a juvenile Norway rat?
It must with all its homeys be removed in ANY case! The fact is that a long time ago in my youth in a basement bedroom converted from an in-house garage, one of those HUGE beasts over the course of weeks gnawed its way down the foundation wall, through the cinderblock and interior framing and sheetrock, and into my and sister's room one night!

Please don't relocate it. Those things are prolific breeders. If you relocate it, it becomes some one else's problem, unless it finds it's way back to you. Besides, in most states, it's illegal to relocate trapped animals onto some one else's property. Simply use what ever means are at your disposal to dispatch it.

 

[Boonie Stomper]

Would air soft pellet toy gun work?

 

[Howard E]

Frighten him? Yes. Piss him off? Probably. Kill him? No.

For those living in urban areas where firearms are not allowed, the best alternative to a powder burning gun is a .22 caliber air rifle. Available at places like TSC, Walmart, etc. The ones from these box store outlets tend to be cheap junk, but still....they are NOT toys. They are powerful and the biggest of them are routinely used by trappers to whack coons and possums. They would easily dispatch the biggest rat going. One shot, one kill. Graveyard dead.

Beyond that, you must also realize rat colonies are a bit like icebergs. Far more below the surface than what you can see. You may have only caught the one dumb rat (we will call him Jethro) out of 50 or more. The rest.....well, they are still around and they are not dumb. You can never trap your way out of a rat infestation.

Do investigate the various rat baits on the market. They are far safer than you might think, as long as you use them in the right way. Experts who sell the stuff have to field questions about this all the time and most will tell you the stories of poisoned pets, etc. are overblown. There are poisons and then there are poisons. I know one guy who uses poison, but not rat poison. He uses fly bait in coke. Do that and no telling what might happen. But most rat baits served up from proper bait stations are safe enough and will work, provided you do all the rest to make it work. All the rest being removing free access to other foods, etc. which forces them to take the bait.

 

[Howard E]

BTW, if you look at my signature line, there is a link to a BYC article I wrote on traps and trapping. I started that off with some simple rules and Rule #2 was if you trap it you kill it. Put another way, before you ever set a trap.....and doubly so if it is a trap of a type that leaves the animal alive......have a plan for what you are going to do with it once you catch it. 99% of the time, that plan needs to be you are going to kill it. If not that, leave it alone and do something else.

As for me, once I decide to trap it, my plan is simple. I go with Zombieland Rule #2.....they get the double tap and are then fed to the buzzards. That may not be the plan for you, but do have a plan for how you intend to kill it and what to do with the remains after you do. And do that well before you set the trap. Indeed.......before you even buy the trap have that "what if" scenario worked out in your mind.

 

[Boonie Stomper]

... the one dumb rat (we will call him Jethro) ...

Jethro

Dasher wants to eat it alive. Not sure if isn't a Daisy, tho. Must be a juvy?

UPDATE: Rat killed through the bars by chickens! Wow. BTW, very young male.

 

[mechanic57]

BTW, if you look at my signature line, there is a link to a BYC article I wrote on traps and trapping. I started that off with some simple rules and Rule #2 was if you trap it you kill it. Put another way, before you ever set a trap.....and doubly so if it is a trap of a type that leaves the animal alive......have a plan for what you are going to do with it once you catch it. 99% of the time, that plan needs to be you are going to kill it. If not that, leave it alone and do something else.

As for me, once I decide to trap it, my plan is simple. I go with Zombieland Rule #2.....they get the double tap and are then fed to the buzzards. That may not be the plan for you, but do have a plan for how you intend to kill it and what to do with the remains after you do. And do that well before you set the trap. Indeed.......before you even buy the trap have that "what if" scenario worked out in your mind.

I follow this same rules. And if you are setting and leaving traps baited to catch a nocturnal creature like a rat, be prepared that you may catch a skunk instead. People tend to forget about skunks and their unique ability to counter-attack you from within the cage