Rats from hell. Need advice.

[jasperg357]

You could try putting smoke bombs that you can get from any fireworks store in the tunnels then covering the holes. When they start digging there way out be waiting on them with a pistol loaded with rat shot.

[reefmarker]

Yesterday I was working in the garden and decided to get the hose.  I stuffed it about a foot down one of the holes and turned it on full blast.  Two minutes after, the action began.  Rats were shooting out of the holes every which way.  I watched their pattern and put the snap traps in their paths, which had no effect.  Some of the rats even jumped directly onto the trigger and the traps didn't snap.  Even after the holes filled with water, rats kept shooting out.  It was amazing.  Sadly all I had was a shovel, and couldn't move it quick enough to bang them on the head.  Next time I'll bring the dogs in with me and we'll have a hell of a time. 

We used to do this on a turkey farm!  If you notice right before the rats come out of the hole you will see bubbles.  That is when you get your baseball bat ready and whamo!  I don't think you can ever get enough killed this way to actually get rid of them.  It is a bunch of fun for a group of young boys!  Try paying a bounty on each rat pelt.  I bet some enterprizing kid could clean them out for you quick!

[theremart]

They sell those black boxes at tractor supply company for about $10.  Inside the box is a couple of baffles so the rats have to make it through a little maze to get to the poison.  The poison is the little wax blocks with holes in them.  The poison sits down on metal pegs.  This keeps everything inside even if you pick it up and shake it.  My two cats can't get to the poison, so I think it is very secure.  My cats can open drawers, doors, cabinets, toilet lids, dog and cat food bags, so I feel if they can't open the bait stations, nobody can.  Whole cost for 1 setup with poison and all is about $20 I've included the URL below.  I went through an infestation of these tiny little mice two years ago, and the snap traps, box traps, sticky traps, and electric traps did nothing but drain my wallet.   Once I got one bag of the rat bait for these stations, all my sticky traps were immediately full of almost dead mice pooping out little bluish green poisoned poop!  I got the two Savannah cats to try and catch the mice, but they never had a chance since the poison got the critters first.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/rodent-bait-traps/tomcat-reg-rat-bait-station-4203294

Excellent advice.  The Tomcat works good too.

[Possenti2264]

I'm thinking about getting a cat.  An outdoor cat.  This cat will be for rat control only, as I am allergic to cats.  I have two dogs who spend their days outdoors as well, but come in at night. 

Is there any way this could work? 

Cat people, tell me about having a cat for rodent control and how it works with your other pets, etc.

[antsyaunt]

Cat people, tell me about having a cat for rodent control and how it works with your other pets, etc.

Right now we have 2 cats.  One is strong and energetic and an excellent hunter, and he has a cheerful disposition.  The other is the exact opposite.  The lazy and slow one waits for his 'brother' to bring home a kill, then steals the mouse and eats it when the hunter gets distracted.  And we thought the strong and energetic one was the smart one...
Prior to these two characters, we had a cat that was a great hunter of rabbits, chipmunks and mice.  Outdoor mice, that is.  He never wanted to go after the occasional indoor visitor.  We loved him anyway. 

[Cool Blue]

I remembered a webpage called RatKill.com which showcased a guy's shooting abilities with a pellet gun.  Since then, the site has added live rat kill cams as well as various methods for killing rats.  One contributor suggested a simple bucket trap where a bucket of water has a ramp up to some bait strung over the water.  Rate reaches for bait and falls in the water.  The contributor claimed 57 rats n one week.  I pray I don't have that many in my yard.

I have several buckets, so I think I'll give the bucket trap a try tomorrow night.

I know somebody who leaves a bucket like this in his cabin when he's not there are he claims there's always dozens in the bucket when he shows up.

He uses a small wooden board with string tied to both ends which is strung across a bucket 3/4 full of water.  The wood has a blob of peanut butter on it.  The rats/mice try to crawl across the string and when they hit the board they flip upside down and fall in the water.

[Cool Blue]

I'm thinking about getting a cat.  An outdoor cat.  This cat will be for rat control only, as I am allergic to cats.  I have two dogs who spend their days outdoors as well, but come in at night. 

Is there any way this could work? 

Cat people, tell me about having a cat for rodent control and how it works with your other pets, etc.

I've been told that female cats are the best hunters.  Males are lazy and just wait to see what the females brought.  I've also been told not to feed your cats more than once a day if you want them to hunt.  Too much food and they don't hunt.

[Possenti2264]

Do cats need shots and all that?  If the cat has disease, can my dogs catch it?

[LvsChant]

Cats need shots similar to dogs... they have some diseases that are not communicable to dogs (feline leukemia, etc.). The do need rabies shots, etc. You would also need to assure they are spayed or neutered or you'll end up with a lot of feral cats living in your area...

If you really don't like cats, and don't plan to treat the cat as a pet, maybe you should concentrate on other methods of rodent control... just my opinion.

[4bull]

This isnt nice so, but a knew an old fur buyer ,who live traped rats early in the fall .
Then beat it to death in the back of his shop ,while it screamed the other rats headed for the hills.
He said he only cought 1 or 2 a year.

[Possenti2264]

This isnt nice so, but a knew an old fur buyer ,who live traped rats early in the fall .
Then beat it to death in the back of his shop ,while it screamed the other rats headed for the hills.
He said he only cought 1 or 2 a year.

I laughed.

[Thanson_V]

One of the things Animal Control does here in NH is relocate skunks to the beach. They do this beacause the skunks seek out rat nests and eradicate them, as well as eat the garbage that tourists leave behind so the rats don't get to it. If you can stand it, you might want to import some skunks.

[Possenti2264]

Yesterday, my brother came over and we spent twenty minutes or so jamming sticks into every rat hole we could find.  Once we were sure we'd filled all the holes, we grabbed a couple of shovels and opened the garden area up for the dogs to help if needed.  I got the hose and put it down one of the tunnels and let 'er rip.  

One rat managed to dig a new tunnel and pop right out of the soil.  He was quick and I missed him with the shovel.  Then a second rat.  I threw a cinder block down hard on the hole and collapsed a portion of the tunnel.  A third rat came up from the same hole as the water hose.  He peeked out of the water, took a look around, then made a break for it, charging straight at my wife who took refuge on the picnic table.  My black lab, Jane, was quicker.  She grabbed the rat and tossed him out toward the middle of the yard, then the two had a fight very similar to Gandalf vs The Balrog, except the Balrog wins (and had a little help from our shih-tzu).

The video quality is less than wonderful, but that's because my wife was trying not to fall off the picnic table while filming.  She was terrified.

WARNING: This video shows nature at work in the style of National Geographic meets Jackass, minus the nudity.  It does not end well for the rat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lZ80WKc0fA

[thezoo]

Got im

[Possenti2264]

Only three rats came out of the holes.  Far less than the dozen I saw last time.  We did strike the compost bin next, and we saw maybe 6, which I would assume included the first two rats that came out of the holes in the ground, since they ran that direction.  So we have 6 rats left.  I guess the rest drowned.

[thezoo]

  Know what im thinking, snakes, how do you feel about snakes,  we have loads of them around our house, we even have 3 as pets, my uncle hates snakes, if he sees one its dead, every year hes overrun with rats& mice, and for background he lives in a very nice home, meticulously clean, well manicured yard, just no snakes..  If you can tolerate snakes, try bringing a few wild rat snakes into your yard and set up habitat  for them, a piece of roofing tin in one corner of your yard gives them a place that is warm to hide under, of course there is the possibility of atracting venomous snakes, but my experience tells me that if you leave them alone theyll leave you alone.  I know this might not be an option, if any of you have a fear of snakes, but they excell at taking out lots of rodents

[LvsChant]

Thanks for posting this, possenti... I got a good chuckle. Especially at the "oooooh" at the end. Hugs to the wife and baby for me...

[Thanson_V]

Snakes do kill rats good, but they only do it once a month. Slow metabolism. Considering that rats breed every month and have up to a dozen little rats you'd need a zillion snakes. But that would be pretty metal.

[thezoo]

Thats not entirely true, little ruby, the one that is my avatar ate 3 rat pups and 1 hatchling quail 6 days ago, shes protesting now that she wants to eat today ( roaming her cage up, down , left, right looking for something to eat, when we first got her it wasn't uncommon to feed her after she craps, we were feeding her every 3 to 4 days, never powerfed her, but let her tell us when she wanted food) so snakes can put one heck of a dent in rodent populations, especially when many are present, they will eat the adult rats then go for a rat pup snack

[reefmarker]

Do cats need shots and all that?  If the cat has disease, can my dogs catch it?

Yes, like was said before cats need shots.  There are also lots of people out there that will turn you in if they don't feel you are taking proper care of your cats!

Anyway...the biggest problem with outside cats is cat fleas.  They will get everywhere.  Dog fleas usually only reproduce on dogs.  Cat fleas would like nothing more than to reproduce in your carpets, on your dogs, in your waistbands, etc. and they will bite and leave nice painfull itchy spots to let you know they appreciate your hospitality.  Luckily this is easy to cure.  Just bug bomb your house, have all your animals treated for fleas, treat your yard for fleas, and then repeat every week or so for the next few months.

Another problem with outside cats is fighting.  A minor scirmish will sound like world war III.  They also tend to get puncture wounds through their skin.  These wounds heal over, the bacteria grows just under the skin until it fills up (yuck), and then it pops back out through the skin leaving a wet spot on the cat.  This keeps on repeating and repeating.  Then, one of the people I noted in the first sentence reports you for something you didn't even know was an issue.  $100's of dollars of vet bills later your outside cat runs away because it sure was nice staying inside while it was sick.   

[Possenti2264]

I don't mind snakes.  If a snake eats rats periodically, would the rats stay away simply by virtue of the predator being present?

[mamabear]

I treat my cats with over the counter flea drops once a month. I get the good ones that treat for fleas, eggs, ticks, and whatever else, mosquitos maybe?, and it is $8 for all three of them. I haven't taken them in for shots, the neighbor has a cat and they have never had a cat fight, and I know that there are other cats in the neighborhood cuz I've seen them but they all seem to get along just fine without each other. We are out in the country so there is lots of room for all of them though.
 Snakes are a good idea though as long as they aren't poisonous and won't bite us humans.

[thezoo]

I don't mind snakes.  If a snake eats rats periodically, would the rats stay away simply by virtue of the predator being present?

  Thats a good question?  a lady i used to know killed every snake she saw, her property was overrun with rats

[Oni]

My cousin had a mouse infestation in his garage years ago. Similar to the bucket trap, he used a large 20 gallon or so fish tank with food stuff in it and a ramp to the top.  It took a few days, but a mouse ended up inside.  He left it there and the next day there were lots of them in the tank.  He said mice and rats are curious by nature, and when they saw a buddy inside chowing down on food they were compelled to join him.  When he noticed no new visitors, water was added and later he dumped a bunch of little dead mice in the trash.

[theflyingswordfish]

Not positive that it works for rats, but I know that moth balls work for skunks, snakes, squirrels and such.  When I had a raccoon under my old house, I took a sling shot and fired a few under mothballs under there and within a couple days no more raccoon.  There is a product called snake away that is nothing but ground up moth balls that says if you sprinkler it in a line around a barn it will keep the snakes away.  One word of caution, I have a buddy that moved into a house out in the country several years ago and had a family of skunks move in under the house (1 momma and several babies).  He and his wife were understandably unhappy about this situation, so him being the brilliant person that he is, originally decided to jump up and down on the floor and bang pots together to scare the skunks away......the only effect this had was to cause all of them to spray at once and make the house completely unliveable for a month, he then decided to try the moth balls, but decided that if a couple would work, 10 lbs would work better.  It took more than 6 months for the moth ball smell to leave and it was unbearable for 2 of those months.  So if you try the moth balls, use them sparingly.  =)

[Roswell]

I had this same problem this past season. I tried all sorts of different traps and baits until I finally found one that worked.

Victor Power Kill Mouse trap.

I killed over a dozen in like two weeks with these things.  They hold up well outside even after the rain, they are re-useable and they have a small plastic cup that holds the food.  ( I found sunflower seeds work best, even over peanut butter or store bought "rat bait"


http://www.amazon.com/Victor-M142-Power-Kill-Mouse/dp/B001O9CA7C/ref=pd_sim_ol_11

Home Depot also sells them



I got a cat too for outside, but with a problem like that you are going to want more than one weapon at your disposal.

[Hurricane]

I have a few of those Victor plastic traps in the Rat size. The catch does not hold up very well, and on one the hinge pin in the catch came out. I think part of the problem is they snap too hard.

Deadly when they work, tho.

[caverdude]

Would there be any danger in attaching a bare electrical wire to a rat trap? That way the rat would think he's just going to steal the bait, then he gets zapped.  Would it kill him?

Be careful there, a guy on www.darwinawards.com put up a hot wire around his garden and use 120v a/c to electrify it for neighbor hood dogs.  He was picking tomatoes and grabbed the wire. Won the award.

[LibertyBelle]

I have a little 8 pound rough coat Irish Jack Russell Terrier that is as fast as lightening, manages to squeeze into some amazingly small spaces, and lives to kill any rats or snakes that manage to make their way onto the property.  I also have a Welsh Harlequin drake that gobbles up every single mouse/rat baby he finds and chows down on any mangled rodent/snake bodies left by the dog. The drake is not the least bit aggressive toward people, but is a terror when it comes to rodents, chasing squirrels and opossums (the drake loves to roam the yard at night, eating slugs and other nasties...and then takes "cat" naps all throughout the day), and sometimes he even chases the dog.   Between the two of them, we don't have rodent (or snake) problems.

[LvsChant]

I have a little 8 pound rough coat Irish Jack Russell Terrier that is as fast as lightening, manages to squeeze into some amazingly small spaces, and lives to kill any rats or snakes that manage to make their way onto the property.  I also have a Welsh Harlequin drake that gobbles up every single mouse/rat baby he finds and chows down on any mangled rodent/snake bodies left by the dog. The drake is not the least bit aggressive toward people, but is a terror when it comes to rodents, chasing squirrels and opossums (the drake loves to roam the yard at night, eating slugs and other nasties...and then takes "cat" naps all throughout the day), and sometimes he even chases the dog.   Between the two of them, we don't have rodent (or snake) problems.

They sound like an awesome team! Thanks for sharing that...