Squirrel or Rat?

[perchie.girl]

Good DOG!!!

She was I miss her terribly... just an aussie mix but she was a good hunter

 

[BYC910]

Me I must be German. I use smoke bombs Gas em flush em out and shot the son of a b itch Very entertaining this one the rat and the squirrel I'm not biased all varmints around here abouts get fed a balanced diet of low fat lead

 

[wvchics]

Now we're talking. Some alternatives. And so nicely stated as well thank you . I especially like the smoke em out that's very original. I've seen people shoot rats before and they actually looked like they were having fun. Although I might leave that activity for my fiance. Maybe he'll let me have a dog. I tried to tell him the rats didn't try to move in when we had a dog before lol.

 

[lazy gardener]

I knew an older fellow (90's) who would use a vac hose on the tail pipe of his car to deal with ground hogs who dared to set up housekeeping in/around his garden. Sounded like a sensible plan to me. A dose of CO, followed by kicking some soil into the hole. No need to dig a hole to bury the critter.

 

[BYC910]

It's my understanding that for rats, A Jack Russell Terrier is by far the best rodent dog there is . Had a vet with one that would go all over my barn looking for them . I shoot rats and mice because I don't like poisoning them .DD and DW have cats. They help a lot . When it's time to cut hay, the last thing I need is chewed wires on farm tractors . Even had mice bite the water line to the refrigerator. Changed it to copper . And the washing machine was flooding the kitchen. Turns out they had bit a hole in the tubing going to the water level pressure switch . Fixed that buy using a metal braided sink supply line . This house is old I don't even know how old. If you have chickens or any type of animal your going to have rats and mice .Just dealing with them can be a pain. Rats and mice like pipes . Four inch black corrugated pipe makes good cheap bait stations .For mice even smaller PVC pipe . cut lengths about two feet long and cap one end put the bait at the capped end .Put a little feed with the bait . Ravaynscroft told of a rat bucket and I made one of those . She uses a five gallon bucket, with two small holes with a can on a wire, at the top of the bucket . the can has to be able to spin on the wire . She then spreads peanut butter on the can . When the rat or mice jump on the can it spins and dumps them in the bucket .Which is filled about half way with water end of rat .It works I made mine out of an old non working shop vac .Just not at the rate I like them dead . But shooting them is a hundred percent .Oh and the fact that these rats are coming out in day light ,means there are many.

 

[wvchics]

Yeah I generally try everything else first in spite of the hassle. However when all else fails I will use poison. People were trying to say it's illegal, but the EPA has livestock protection listed as a use, and chickens are livestock. However if I can get the first one before they colonize I refrain. In the case of an infestation I use it in controlled setting. I never leave poison out for more than a few hours. I think I will set up a bucket though. That's something I can leave and not have to worry about the risk. Sounds like it'd be a good prevention measure.

 

[ThatParrotLady]

I think between the drowning can idea and the jackrussel idea, you could definately live with a 12 pound pup who becomes your chicken's herding dog, and he's small enough that if he ever started stuff the rooster is bigger than he is and would kick his butt.

Scotty here has once or twice tried to play with Houdini (My Roo) and quickly learned that while the chicken will indulge him in tag in the yard, when he's done out come the spurs and so does my jackie back into my lap.

 

[pamonarch]

wait just confirmed... its rats

What the heck do I do???

TomCat bait boxes!! Ordered mine online and also got one at tractor supply...and large rat traps..if the rats are after chicken feed...bait the trap with chicken feed crumbles, then put a tiny trail of feed up to the end of the trap.leading to the trigger..i got many rats that way...took a week but my rat problem is over...but never underestimate, keep poison bait boxes out all the time and set traps everynight along the walls where you see the rat droppings...you will conquer them! and take your feed out of the coop everynight. (best way to end a rat/mice problem is to starve them out..and the ones you dont get will leave and go elsewhere!! ) i put my feed holder directly into a metal can with a lid for the night. works like a charm and the cam is a great idea..always know your enemy and how many you have in order to conquer them!! good luck to you!!

 

[SnowyChickenMomma]

@ Pamonarch ... I did buy one of the Tomcat rat bait boxes and the first night I had no success, but I also didn't put a trail leading to it,maybe I should try that, Thank you for the ideas.

Last night I had the Tom cat bait station, I also had 2 regular Victor wooden snap trap rat traps... then I also had 2 glue traps. I use gorilla glue to glue the bait on. One trap has some dry cat food and the other I had glued some seeds I got out of my spaghetti squash on. The morning I checked on it the rat had gotten 2 of the seeds off the seed trap and that one didn't snap, the other one I found upside down but all the cat food was still stuck on it and no catch.

The glue traps had wood chips on them but no rat or any other animal. Last night I set out the same thing and if that doesn't work my plan is to buy rat poison.

I haven't checked the camera to see how they got away but I look forward to it.

 

[drumstick diva]

Just reading about all this makes my skin crawl