My granddaddy, years ago and before there were rat baits on the market, would mix Red Devil Lye and corn meal together and put in a shallow pan in the tool shed/feed storage building that was locked up and no animals could get to.
The rats would get in the pan and the moisture of their paws/feet would activate the lye, which in turn, they would lick their feet and ingest they lye.
A way I found by chance, as a boy, was I had an old barrel that had some sweet horse and mule feed in the bottom of it that was uncovered and over next to the wall of the granary.
I went in the building to get the old milk cow some feed and heard some noise coming out of the barrel.
When I tilted the barrel over some to see what all the ruckus was about, in the dim light I saw a rat.
The old barn cat was following me around so I just dropped her in there with them.
After her eyes became acclimated to the light, the slaughter began.
I dumped eight dead rats out of that barrel and the cat had a meal fit for a cat.
To the victor goes the spoils.
The rats would get in the pan and the moisture of their paws/feet would activate the lye, which in turn, they would lick their feet and ingest they lye.
A way I found by chance, as a boy, was I had an old barrel that had some sweet horse and mule feed in the bottom of it that was uncovered and over next to the wall of the granary.
I went in the building to get the old milk cow some feed and heard some noise coming out of the barrel.
When I tilted the barrel over some to see what all the ruckus was about, in the dim light I saw a rat.
The old barn cat was following me around so I just dropped her in there with them.
After her eyes became acclimated to the light, the slaughter began.
I dumped eight dead rats out of that barrel and the cat had a meal fit for a cat.
To the victor goes the spoils.
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