We have had rat problems since last summer when I found the black snake (5 ft plus, measured) that was a resident of our horse barn trying to eat a huge duckling that he never was going to get down.
I was really angry and he met the shotgun. Now we have burrowing rats like crazy and I can't catch them--live trap, bucket trap, plain ol' rat trap--nothing. I go out to the shed to change out the heated tub of duckie water and they are standing on the edge, sipping away, waving "hi" to me--I couldn't take it anymore. I put out a bait station as a last resort last night; since rats are neophobic, they will not touch it for at least a week. These are smart rats. BUT I went out this morning and found a rat, or the remains anyway. The head was gone and every bit of flesh except for the skin and the pelvic bone and the tail. It was almost surgical. I am not frightened of rats and actually used to have pet rats; whatever did this to the rat is very creepy. Any ideas? My place is surrounded on 3 sides by a largish creek in the foothills of NC. Note: NO bait had been eaten last night; there was blood everywhere on the hay pallet near the body so I suspect that the rat had fought back and injured the killer. This was an enormous male rat who had been raised on Layena, LOL.
