RATS!! too smart to get caught, help!

[Centralflafred]

They also make have a heart traps in the size for rats as well.

 

[technodoll]

No worries, I did mean wire mesh... my contractor told me what to get, comes in 2' x 8' pieces that we can cut in half.

The chicken wire is for inside pens, doors and such.

I'd rather eradicate the vermin though

 

[PortageGirl]

Quote:
You do know that real rats can chew THROUGH chicken wire don't you? If they're big enough they can gnaw through it, if they're small enough, they can fit through it.

You have to use heavy gauge hardware cloth with small enough holes that they can't get through it.

edit: I see that point has already been brought up, sorry to double team you on that. Still worth repeating I guess.

 

[mediazeal]

If you can keep it away from all other critters...
One of the posters here had a plaster of paris/peanut butter ball rat bait.
He made these delicious little balls out of it and tossed it on the ground (not where chickens or dogs or cats etc could get it)
The rats ate it and it leached all the water out of them turning them into plaster of paris blocks.
The rat population dropped dramatically and he could stop putting them out.
I'm sure you can find it if you search for it here.
but it will kill anything that eats them, so beware.

 

[feathersnuggles]

Quote:
I don't think that's going to get it. Check with feathersnuggles about what they actually had in mind, but I'm afraid it may have been more along the lines of hardware cloth or 1/2 or 1 inch welded wire. They'll chew through chicken wire in one bite. Sorry, I don't really mean to be the harbinger of doom.

Yep, I envisioned welded hardware cloth between the dirt and the patio tile/crushed rock. If their tunnels came up to that 1/2" welded wire, it would stop them.

 

[chookchick]

Your best bet is too "rat-proof" your coop to keep them out, and keep food out of the run at night. Even if you manage to trap or poison some, they have a residual population that will move in. Also remove any water source at night. This time of year they are looking for warm areas (like under or in a coop) to winter in. Is there any way you can put a solid bottom on your coop? --along with the wire in trench. I don't think that stones or rocks will slow them down much if they get past the barrier. And I don't think you would want them under a wire mesh floor either. At least it's your COOP--I just concreted in a HUGE hole under a clients house foundation, where the rats were coming into her crawlspace. It's a continuing battle.....

 

[technodoll]

The problem I have is that I can only get to my coop around 10am in the mornings, and they do most of their laying, eating and drinking from 3:30am onwards (I have a timer light on for them since they put themselves to be at 4pm these days!). I don't want them thirsty or hungry for half the time they are awake.

Will continue with the traps, poisoned bait and everything else we can do to rat-proof the renovated coop and if that doesn't work I'll call an exterminator.

I hate vermin!

 

[chookchick]

Technodoll--if you rat-proof your coop, you can keep food and water in the coop at all times. Rat proof = no holes wider than 1/2", hardware cloth on all vents, etc...BTW the aforementioned client, HAS an exterminating company (and not a bad one) that comes by on a regular basis. I discussed rats with him recently--and as he said, there is just NO WAY to completely get rid of rats if you have them in the area. The best thing you can do is not provide them with shelter (buildings, brush, accessible compost bins, etc..) and not leave any kind of food or water around (bird feed, leftover tree fruit, accessible garbage). Preventing physical access is the best you can do.

 

[technodoll]

OK, good to know!!

The coop is unfortunately a 100+ year old crappy building with swiss-cheese weathered wood surrounded by bush, vines and trees... we don't have the money to tear it down, haul it away and rebuild to modern specifications... we can only patch it up as a temporary solution and hope that next year brings some spare money for the new coop project.

I'm sure we'll see vermin scatter like crazy when we do decide to tear down that skanky building...

*shudder*

 

[feathersnuggles]

I've heard that rat terrier dogs are excellent rat killers and that hunt down all types of varmits. Honestly, I do not have any first hand experience with them, but I thought I'd put it out there in case you want to try it.