Rats...live with 'em or trap 'em?

[Chicken Fruit]

I tell them they cant live on my property.

 

[jhm47]

Poison, traps, glue boards, cats, terriers, they all work to some extent. You cannot ignore the problem, or they will completely take over your coop, barn, and even house.

I live several blocks away from a large grain elevator. They have poison out at all times, and lots of rats. I have never seen a dead rat, and our dog sometimes goes there when I visit them, and he's never found one either. Seems that they always go into their burrows to die. I use poisons around my birds too, and have never seen a dead rat, and I know by the missing poison that it's being used.

I also have a great Rat Terrier. He's great on killing them, and I would recommend one for anyone.

 

[Davaroo]

Trap and dispatch rats and mice - always.

Treat them as predators. The place for all such creatures is in the wild - away from your chickens.

 

[chilling in muscadine]

Quote:

I'm gonna try this, does it work?

Personally I think my So Snakeman secretly likes them being here just as long as they are not in the house. He has 28 snakes to feed and he is always going outside, turning over dog houses and anything else a rat would hide under. He will stomp them or shoot them with 22 bullets. I think he uses long rifle, non hollow points. Bullets that will go all the way through the rat and not leave any lead pellets inside because this would kill his snakes. All of our neighbors are farmers for many miles around and we know that none of them use any poisons or we wouldn't be able to take a chance feeding one to a snake. Free snake food, but it might sound gross to some but this is what they would eat in the wild. He totally want admit it but I know his secret.

All jokes aside though, rats here have destroyed so many things I had stored in my barns and they will get into your walls of you house and chew the wiring. I read recently a stastic on the house fires that burned form rodents damage chewing through wiring.

If your problem is small now than get rid of them before you become overwhelmed.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
It's not just financial ruin that can be wrought by rodents, either.

The toll in life that can be attributed to rats in inestimable. Surely we've all heard of the Black Death of the Middle Ages?

25 million humans wiped out by bubonic plague, nearly half the population of Europe at the time. The Continent was said to be desolated, with not a human to be found in some districts.

The Black Death, or bubonic plague, is a bacterial infection called "Yersina pestis." It lives in fleas, which bite humans, and so infect them.

SO where did the fleas come from? They lived on rats, of course - which happily co-exist with humans, if allowed.

 

[chilling in muscadine]

Quote:
It's not just financial ruin that can be wrought by rodents, either.

The toll in life that can be attributed to rats in inestimable. Surely we've all heard of the Black Death of the Middle Ages?

25 million humans wiped out by bubonic plague, nearly half the population of Europe at the time. The Continent was said to be desolated, with not a human to be found in some districts.

The Black Death, or bubonic plague, is a bacterial infection called "Yersina pestis." It lives in fleas, which bite humans, and so infect them.

SO where did the fleas come from? They lived on rats, of course - which happily co-exist with humans, if allowed.

So true!

 

[Autumn Mama]

Just quickly adding as I check the posts, that are farm is certified organic, poison may not be our best option.....

Trapping is the way to go? We have so far eluded any in our trap ( a small animal trap). The food gets taken, but the trap doesn't close on any. Perhaps the weight sensor plate isn't calibrated to the weight of a rat?

Any other ideas? Keep them coming, I'm taking notes!

 

[byrandom]

I took a large Sterilite/Rubbermaid tub and drilled two small holes in the bottom, as well as cut an entrance about 3.5''x3.5'' on the front, level with the bottom. I then took a scrap of cloth and boiled it in peanut butter water, then smeared a large glob of peanut butter in the middle. I then Folded/rolled the peanut buttery scrap of cloth and wired it to the plate on a rat trap. I then drilled two small holes in the rat trap and wired it to the inside bottom of the Sterilite tub, approximately 5-6'' away from the front "entrance". I then attached the lid on the tub, and have caught 1 rat/mouse a night since December. I did not lose any bait as they had to TUG on the cloth to try to get it off, and have never rebaited it....

ETA: I devised this solution after our miniature dachshund was caught in a small mouse trap.. I swear, she's going to be the death of me yet! lol

 

[chilling in muscadine]

We have the small catch um alive traps and have good luck with these and peanut butter is the best bait to use.

 

[speckled_egg]

Rat traps baited with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups work well, but they need to be checked regularly and beware of the mess!