Steel wool = coon deterrent?

[Compost King]

No holes dug into the coops this morning! and my cats were very active last night running around the area the rats were coming from. I have a shed that all my dirt floor coops are connect to. When the shed was put in 10 years ago the cats could get under it but I found I needed to regrade the land to keep runoff water from running into my crawlspace shortly after buying the house and putting in the shed. So the ground is about 8 inches higher than it was when I put in the shed and cats can not access under it. I believe the rats nested under it. I believe the rats were trying to come out to find a new access point to the chicken feed and the cats kept them stranded underneath. I see cat footprints all around the shed and my male cat has been spotted peaking under it with enthusiasm. I am hoping the cat gets them before snakes move in. I really do not want to reach in and get an egg from a nesting box and run into a copperhead bite. The one thing I do not want to do is use rat poison just to have my cat eat a rat full of poison. It's Possible my male cat ate a rat last night because he will not share rat meat. The Female Cat plays catch and release with animals.

 

[aart]

Steel 'wool' ...like sandpaper... comes in varying coarseness.

So the ground is about 8 inches higher than it was when I put in the shed and cats can not access under it.

Any chance you can raise the shed?

 

[Folly's place]

Rats are difficult! I locked my barn cat and chickens up and used poison, the only thing that really will eliminate them.
Can you then install a rat barrier around this shed to prevent a new colony?
Mary

 

[Compost King]

Shed can't be raised unless I disassemble it and reassemble it and that would take too long. Its huge. I have considered cutting in a trap door and letting the cats access it, or better yet keep the cats out and set up rat traps under that trap door. That would be cheaper than rat barriers.

 

[aart]

Its huge.

How big?
....thinking big jacks.

 

[Compost King]

Its 10 x 10 and very tall with a 2nd level. and very full.

 

[Acre4Me]

Shed can't be raised unless I disassemble it and reassemble it and that would take too long. Its huge. I have considered cutting in a trap door and letting the cats access it, or better yet keep the cats out and set up rat traps under that trap door. That would be cheaper than rat barriers.

Poison is the most effective. Also, the rats generally die pretty quick and usually do so in their tunnels or homes. Your idea of adding access points in the floor of the shed, so you can add poison might be the best option. But, you would have to be careful not to be adding access points that the rats use to get directly into the shed.

Good Luck

 

[Aunt Angus]

Poison is the most effective. Also, the rats generally die pretty quick and usually do so in their tunnels or homes. Your idea of adding access points in the floor of the shed, so you can add poison might be the best option. But, you would have to be careful not to be adding access points that the rats use to get directly into the shed.

Good Luck

I'd worry about my cats getting hold of a poisoned rats, too.

 

[Compost King]

I found a new rat hole that I missed when I opened coops this morning. I caught a large rat and removed it 2 weeks ago and the newer holes are getting smaller. I probably caught the mama rat. The hole is filled with steel wool cleaning pads and sand. I expect a few more holes in the future before they give up and move on. Previously they dug new holes where I backfilled or around what ever brick/rock I added to the backfill, this time I find a completely different location. This works out though because the more holes they dig they more steelwool goes into the ground so when a predator finds this weakness the predator will find steel wool everywhere

 

[Big Red Roosters]

Raccoon has completely left the coop alone. I dumped sand all round so I could keep an eye on nearby tracks, and there's nothing. Yet.