Roof Rats. I can’t remove the food (citrus)

[Allthefloofs]

Not that anyone was wondering, but I've has 0 luck with my live trap with PB in it

I put the pb on the roof of the trap and put chicken feed in it. They would put their front paws on the edge of the trigger to push themselves up to eat the pb/chicken food and the doors would close. I also had to start using the double door havahart traps, the single ones they wouldn't go into. The other way I would do it is chicken food and strawberry frosting under the trigger platform, the would jam their bodies under to get to it and it would tip the platform and trigger the doors. I am really good at the live traps, but so bad about killing them .

 

[ackie]

I put the pb on the roof of the trap and put chicken feed in it. They would put their front paws on the edge of the trigger to push themselves up to eat the pb/chicken food and the doors would close. I also had to start using the double door havahart traps, the single ones they wouldn't go into. The other way I would do it is chicken food and strawberry frosting under the trigger platform, the would jam their bodies under to get to it and it would tip the platform and trigger the doors. I am really good at the live traps, but so bad about killing them .

I forgot about putting some under it. SO usually puts some sardine down and then puts the trap on top of it, under the plate, so they definitely want more even if they do somehow sneakily get the bit off the plate.

I caught a possum in the middle of eating one of my eggs one time... showed up and the egg was broken but the inside was still there, set a trap on top of it and the next morning I had a possum.

We use the two door havahart in that size. Our medium and large traps are single door. But out large trap is slightly too small for the coyotes around here. I've heard they can get the bait, the door falls but lands on their butt and they just back out. SO shot one with an arrow one time. Heh.

 

[Allthefloofs]

I bet the fruit is falling off the trees onto the ground.

No, they are roof rats, it is rare to catch them on the ground. They live in the roof and jump to the tree. I watch/listen to them all day, have for years. They aren’t a traditional rat. At night the trees shake as they go to town on the fruit. Our trees are full of hollowed out fruit. On the ground every morning there is torn up orange/grapefruit bits and rat droppings. Our fruit isn’t ripe, it wouldn’t be falling two months before it is ripe. Rats here are a whole other category. I have lived all over the US and never seen anything like them.

 

[Geena]

Not that anyone was wondering, but I've has 0 luck with my live trap with PB in it

If you have Norway Rats, they LOVE raw meat.

 

[ackie]

If you have Norway Rats, they LOVE raw meat.

I suspect they are roof rats as they run along the rafters at the top of the coop.

 

[dawg53]

No, they are roof rats, it is rare to catch them on the ground. They live in the roof and jump to the tree. I watch/listen to them all day, have for years. They aren’t a traditional rat. At night the trees shake as they go to town on the fruit. Our trees are full of hollowed out fruit. On the ground every morning there is torn up orange/grapefruit bits and rat droppings. Our fruit isn’t ripe, it wouldn’t be falling two months before it is ripe. Rats here are a whole other category. I have lived all over the US and never seen anything like them.

Try hanging ammonia soaked rags in the tree just before dark.

 

[Apache12]

I don't think that that is what the article is getting at, It says to stop "feeding" them, meaning you need to stop giving them a free meal, of open chicken feed. They have to work quite a bit harder, to get up in a tree to eat, and will be discouraged and may leave, if they are driven out with all of the other additions mentioned in the article. Anyway, I get your point, it is funny to think about.

Roof rats feed in the trees all the time. it is very normal for AZ roof rats Their primary food source is citrus fruit

 

[Weeg]

Roof rats feed in the trees all the time. it is very normal for AZ roof rats Their primary food source is citrus fruit

Ohh, that makes sense. I am probably not as much help here then! Sorry for the wrong input!

 

[Apache12]

I bet the fruit is falling off the trees onto the ground.

No it’s not

 

[Apache12]

We are in Scottsdale and we have the same issue. We have 4 orange trees, a couple plums, two grapefruit, one lemon, one key lime, a pomegranate and a cocktail tree. The only things they don't eat are the lemons and limes. Everything else is gone before it is ripe. They eat through everything, including the stucco. I don't leave food out at night, and I have it set up so there is very little waste, I have trays under the girl's feeders and they catch all but a sprinkle of food. I also pull water at night. They eat the citrus and the pomegranates. I can't cut every tree down. I have zap traps that occasionally work, but we are in a livestock area, surrounded by horse properties so the rats live there too. This year they have eaten through the stucco and roof areas and now we have herds of them in the roof. Like stampedes. We have paid "professionals" thousands to seal the roof only to have them eat through in several other areas. The big issue we have is that once we seal the holes they die in the attic and it smells for a few weeks, until they eat in/out. To be clear, it's been an issue before we had chickens. My point in the post is that in PHX it's not really about the chickens, roof rats are bad because of the citrus/fruit trees. Chicken feed is just a sweet bonus for them.
I have the runs and coops set up so there is an automatic door on each of the coops. They can't get into the girls at night. I have two coops, one Omlet with an auto door, one prefab with an omlet auto door. All the prefab coop panels are double layered hardware cloth. The rats have the run, but they can't access the coops. I have hardware clothed a small run, but they find ways in. Always. The coops are the only thing I have reliably been able to secure. In the winter the zap traps do pretty well. I also had great success with live trapping but I don't have the heart to kill them and driving them into the desert isn't sustainable.

Well I hate to rehire these girls. We enjoy the, so much. But I don’t need rats in the food. Luckily our house is block and we have all the trees trimmed away from the house. But every neighbor has citrus and we are a block or two from horse property. I think a better feeder might work as suggested but these rates couldn’t reach the feeder on their hind legs. To small. And the birds have to put their head down in the feeder so how can a rat eat in there.