The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: jeromedawg on September 08, 2016, 09:40:06 PM
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I noticed small droppings around our master bedroom deck and decided to setup a cam to try to see what it is. Looks like a roof rat but I'm not 100% sure. Can anyone identify? He hasn't been brave enough to come out fully but we'll see. A couple days ago I set out a mixture of cocoa, baking soda, sugar, flour and bits of peanut butter. I noticed something was nosing around in there because there were slight tracks but the droppings in the Pringles can bottom were a dead giveaway.
Any suggestions on how to get rid of this guy and any of his buddies?
A cat was already suggested... unfortunately, that's not ideal since the yard has low walls and any cat would easily escape. Plus, I don't really want to get a cat (at least at this point in time haha)
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Peanut butter as bait on a trap. When we moved in to our house we had some small mice or small rats in the attic. That is what got them, then filling in all possible points of entry into the house. 2 years and no rats or mice.
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Peanut butter as bait on a trap. When we moved in to our house we had some small mice or small rats in the attic. That is what got them, then filling in all possible points of entry into the house. 2 years and no rats or mice.
Yea there's a [deliberate] space/opening between the yard wall and condo wall where lots of critters could squeeze through. Looks like this one is taking advantage of that opening. Maybe stuffing it with steel wool would help. What kind of trap(s) did you use? Just plain ole snap traps? My wife doesn't want me to use those and wants one that's easier to cleanup haha. Dead or alive, as long as it's relatively easy cleanup I'm good.
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More pics, just cause... he just popped out again. Getting a little braver haha
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Just plain ole snap traps? My wife doesn't want me to use those and wants one that's easier to cleanup haha. Dead or alive, as long as it's relatively easy cleanup I'm good.
Show her Respect the powerful 330 Conibear - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40WvRRUrUSQ) and then the plain ole (http://www.bestmousetraps.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/the-best-rat-trap.jpg) won't seem so bad. ;)
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Just plain ole snap traps? My wife doesn't want me to use those and wants one that's easier to cleanup haha. Dead or alive, as long as it's relatively easy cleanup I'm good.
Show her Respect the powerful 330 Conibear - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40WvRRUrUSQ) and then the plain ole (http://www.bestmousetraps.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/the-best-rat-trap.jpg) won't seem so bad. ;)
LOL! I'm gonna get one of those! jk...
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That is a huge rat... Glue traps worked for us for mice, though putting them in a plastic bag and smacking them against the garage floor until they died was unpleasant :/ might try the good old 5 gallon bucket full of antifreeze trick. It worked for our neighbor.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OijRH-lduq4 (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OijRH-lduq4)
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If you have one, you probably have a bunch.
Poison the heck out of them, and get the good stuff from a farm store, not DCon. If you can get hold of a product called Golden Malrin Flybait, that's the best stuff, but don't let any pets near it.
Piles of junk, wood piles, clutter, old buildings, etc. are magnets for rats. If you or your neighbors have these conditions and / or any type of animal feed or accessible garbage around it needs to be eliminated. When we bought our farm, there were several old falling down barns on the property, agricultural fields all around and they had previously had livestock (feed) on the property. We had rats until we got all of this stuff cleaned up, burned, buldozed and buried the old barns, cleaned up the property, kept animal feed in steel containers, etc., etc.
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I prefer the large bars of poison over the small pellets. The critters are forced to consume it on the spot instead of carrying it away.
When using spring type traps I tie a piece of string on the bait tab, so the peanut butter coats it better. That's made a big improvement in my catch rate.
I use the poison in the basement and traps inside the house (mainly in the food pantry).
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Yea there's a [deliberate] space/opening between the yard wall and condo wall where lots of critters could squeeze through. Looks like this one is taking advantage of that opening. Maybe stuffing it with steel wool would help. What kind of trap(s) did you use? Just plain ole snap traps? My wife doesn't want me to use those and wants one that's easier to cleanup haha. Dead or alive, as long as it's relatively easy cleanup I'm good.
We used the snap traps. The cleanup was not bad at all. It either snaps the neck or a limb/body part and it dies. Once you get rid of that opening or deal with it somehow, you might have rats trapped in your house. Eventually they'll starve/die and then....stinky decomposing bodies in your house. Are the rats in your attic or just cruising the halls of your home?
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We had a family of large mice invade our garage/basement last winter. The only thing we found that worked was Ramik Green. Just keep your pets and small children away from it.
https://www.amazon.com/NEOGEN-RODENTICIDE-Ramik-Nuggets-4-Pound/dp/B005BUZL2Q
I caught a couple with glue traps, but the survivors quickly learned to avoid those, and I felt awful having to kill the ones we did trap. Spring traps and the DCon baits didn't work at all.
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The back story:
We had a hail storm that ran through our neighborhood and pretty much damaged every roof. The result was that every roof in a square mile came off within a few weeks/months of each other. We had a food hoarder living across the street and... the entire neighborhood was suddenly crawling with rats.
I killed 35 in my house or yard in about 3 months. Most were in my house. I tried MANY different methods and did a bit of research. The absolute best method was a plain old unbaited Victor spring trap. That's right, the bait just isn't that necessary. Rats are creatures of habit. They follow the same runs everywhere they go. They generally run along walls or some other vertical surface. If you have a 2x4 running across your attic... they're running along it. They have no bladder control, so they sort of just dribble pee everywhere. You can take a black light and find the trails. Place the trap perpendicular to the run, where they run across the trigger. If you are not catching them in a few days, your traps are not in the right locations.
Snap traps are cheap. I would buy a dozen at a time and deploy them all. If you are bothered by the mess, just take the whole thing and toss it in the trash. Buy another. They *usually* are nice and clean kills and are pretty humane. Occasionally... they are not. For this reason: Tie them down. Otherwise an occasional rat will run off and die in a wall.
If you have a wooden fence outside, tack a snap trap on the horizontals (so that it looks like it is defying gravity) and you'll catch some running along the fence.
I don't like rat poison. I've got lots of pets and I just don't want the risk of exposing them. And it's a bit of a nasty death. It's a massive overdose of Coumadin, which basically causes rats to hemorrhage and bleed out internally.
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Yea there's a [deliberate] space/opening between the yard wall and condo wall where lots of critters could squeeze through. Looks like this one is taking advantage of that opening. Maybe stuffing it with steel wool would help. What kind of trap(s) did you use? Just plain ole snap traps? My wife doesn't want me to use those and wants one that's easier to cleanup haha. Dead or alive, as long as it's relatively easy cleanup I'm good.
We used the snap traps. The cleanup was not bad at all. It either snaps the neck or a limb/body part and it dies. Once you get rid of that opening or deal with it somehow, you might have rats trapped in your house. Eventually they'll starve/die and then....stinky decomposing bodies in your house. Are the rats in your attic or just cruising the halls of your home?
Give something like this a try: https://www.amazon.com/Trapper-T-Rex-Rat-Trap-Traps/dp/B0084X5ONI/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1473433256&sr=8-12&keywords=rat+trap It's about the size of a can of dip, has a little podium in the kill zone to place the bait, and can be set and reset simply by pinching the back of it and locking back the spring. No need to fumble with the classic wire and spring setup. This particular model is way too expensive, but you should be able to find one in that style for much cheaper. +1 to everyone who suggested peanut butter. It's attractive bait that can't be knocked over or carried away. Even if you catch this one, keep the trap going for a few more weeks in case he has friends or family.
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Yea there's a [deliberate] space/opening between the yard wall and condo wall where lots of critters could squeeze through. Looks like this one is taking advantage of that opening. Maybe stuffing it with steel wool would help. What kind of trap(s) did you use? Just plain ole snap traps? My wife doesn't want me to use those and wants one that's easier to cleanup haha. Dead or alive, as long as it's relatively easy cleanup I'm good.
We used the snap traps. The cleanup was not bad at all. It either snaps the neck or a limb/body part and it dies. Once you get rid of that opening or deal with it somehow, you might have rats trapped in your house. Eventually they'll starve/die and then....stinky decomposing bodies in your house. Are the rats in your attic or just cruising the halls of your home?
Maybe I'll get some snap traps... this is outside of our house but I think the rats might be nesting behind the walls. A few years ago when we had flooding/water damage from a stupid mistake of mine (forgot to screw the washing machine filter back in fully and it popped out as a load was running, resulting in water spilling/flooding into nearly half the condo), we had to have a construction company come out and demo about 2ft of drywall off the ground along several rooms, bathrooms, hallways. One day, I came home to a bunch of flesh flies flying around our house. Turns out they were coming out of the opening cut behind the toilet in our 2nd bathroom. This wall is a connecting wall between our neighbors and us and if you were to follow it, I'm sure it would be the perfect transit way for roof rats to come in and nest - they probably burrowed under the deck or stucco on the outside and chewed a hole to get inside the wall. The flesh flies probably came from a roof rat that ended up dying for whatever reason (not sure if this was around the same time I placed baking soda traps outside but the time I did that, it seemed to work on one or two rats because I found them dead in the general vicinity). I also remember seeing a dead house mouse (unless it was a baby roof rat) in our house around the time of the demolition - I think the mouse died of dehydration or starvation or something but that was another telltale sign that something was up. The AC repair guy also found a bunch of "bedding" which was insulation from inside the walls that a rat had used to make a nest at the bottom of the AC compressor outside... I think there might have been a dead rat in there too but I don't recall. In either case, it's time to take some action - we recently had our patio redone with pavers installed (before it was essentially a dirt lot), so now it's pretty easy to determine if there are pests and rodents around (easy to spot droppings)
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I sent an email to the HOA requesting that they get an exterminator to set traps and bait stations. They should be able to do this outside of our yard walls. I'm still wanting to pick up some snap traps and place those right by the opening where the rat was running
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The physics of snap traps is problematic - they're too lightweight for the power of the spring, and tend to 'fly' when activated often leaving a confused, but unharmed rat watching the aerobatics.
For best results, screw that snap-trap down to a longer scrap of wood - a 2x4 or 1x4.
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Another vote for 5 gallon bucket homemade trap. I once caught six mice in one bucket in one night.
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And I'm curious what did you name him? Lol
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Another vote for 5 gallon bucket homemade trap. I once caught six mice in one bucket in one night.
I once saw a little mouse get into a bucket-sized container full of halloween candy and struggle to jump back out with a giant tootsie role in his mouth. It was cute until we reminded ourselves he was chewing through our telephone wires earlier.
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The physics of snap traps is problematic - they're too lightweight for the power of the spring, and tend to 'fly' when activated often leaving a confused, but unharmed rat watching the aerobatics.
For best results, screw that snap-trap down to a longer scrap of wood - a 2x4 or 1x4.
I have a wood block/wire trap in my office right now that's about the size of a graphing calculator. It's heavy enough to hang onto most rats, but it does have the problem of bouncing if you don't place it against a wall and even then still misfires. I've watched rats get caught in the smaller ones and pry the bar off and walk away.
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The physics of snap traps is problematic - they're too lightweight for the power of the spring, and tend to 'fly' when activated often leaving a confused, but unharmed rat watching the aerobatics.
For best results, screw that snap-trap down to a longer scrap of wood - a 2x4 or 1x4.
I have a wood block/wire trap in my office right now that's about the size of a graphing calculator. It's heavy enough to hang onto most rats, but it does have the problem of bouncing if you don't place it against a wall and even then still misfires. I've watched rats get caught in the smaller ones and pry the bar off and walk away.
I've caught a crapton of rats with simple unbaited Victor snap traps. If the rat walks across the trigger, it almost always is dead on snap. Something is missing from the physics calculations. I've had too many successes.
As for rats not being killed by the smaller ones... are you saying mouse traps don't catch rats? I'll totally believe this. I'll also believe that a rat trap won't be effective for a mouse.
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If possible, please avoid poison since it will move up the food chain. Rats get eaten by coyotes, mountain lions and birds of prey who in turn die or get sick. Yeah, you think you don't care about coyotes, but remember they eat rats which is a good thing.
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This thread is making me paranoid. I'm doing some work in the attic and there's a lot of rat droppings/urine. It all looks very old, but it's a bitch to clean up prior to blowing new insulation.
My best guess is they got in there a decade ago when the home was being remodeled, but I can't be sure because there are still a few points of possible entry that I plan to seal up. I really really don't want to find an old rat corpse as I sift through the insulation (no smell currently).
What's the best way to assure myself there is no current infestation? I don't want bait, because I don't want to draw new rats into the attic.
Can rats survive in an attic with no food? Would they just nest there and go outside to eat, and then come back to nest some more?
When sealing entry points, should I use foam? Chicken wire? Aluminum sheet?
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They can absolutely survive with no food. They come and go with no real problem.
I've tried sealing holes with foam... they pick it out and leave a pile on the ground.
They supposedly don't like steel wool... but they pick that out just the same.
I will say that in Texas heat, an unconditioned attic in the summer will turn that rat carcass to a mummy in about 5 days. The smell goes away really fast.
In my case, I found they were entering where soffit sections dead end into shingles. There is a tiny gap... and it's 1/4 plywood... they just push through. Over time, you could see sort of dark greasy spots where they slid in and out.
I have no idea what the "right" way to fix it is. But what I did was take a 2x4 and cut it into a long wedge strip ... the width of the soffit. I then wrapped it in aluminum flashing and jammed that SOB up in between the shingles/soffit. I then painted it the same color as the soffit and it pretty much became invisible from the ground level.
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If possible, please avoid poison since it will move up the food chain. Rats get eaten by coyotes, mountain lions and birds of prey who in turn die or get sick. Yeah, you think you don't care about coyotes, but remember they eat rats which is a good thing.
This can also impact area pets, if a neighborhood dog or cat gets the dying rat. Poison is an awful way to kill an animal, though the ability of the random homeowner to euthanize ethically is difficult. Some options for a trapped live rodent is in an enclosed container with dry ice, sharp scissors (for mice or very young rats) if the person feels confident to decapitate quickly, freezing in a small container.
If animals have shelter or food, they will inhabit an area. Therefore, even if you kill Mr/Mrs Rat, it's likely more will come later if there is still food and/or shelter around. Make the area uninviting to a rat: lights, off-putting chemicals (mothballs or predator urine), remove food and access points. Small rodents can squeeze through a hole the size of a quarter or nickel. Predator urine can be purchased through hunting/outdoor stores, or you can sprinkle a friend's used cat litter around if you know anyone with a cat. I would get disposable trays or press tape into the litter and put it litter-side up for easy cleanup.
Good luck!
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So i bought a classic victor snap trap and one of those tomcat jaw clamp traps and set one on each side of the shed where the rat(s) is likely running along with cookie crumb trails and peanut butter in the trap wells. I didnt see him pop out at all yesterday so not sure what the deal is. Will see what happdns tonight i guess.
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Here we go!!!! Cmon, just take it lol
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I ordered dog food online and like a lazy bastard I left it at my front door for a few days. Just realized something chewed through the box and the plastic bag (it comes in a vaccusealed plastic bag so I figured it would be safe from critters/no smell. Not sure if it was a rat or raccoon or maybe just my dog but there was definitely some black greasy area near the chewed hole. OTOH no rat poops or urine. Also possible it was damaged in transit but I kinda doubt it. This thread definitely made me think of rats!!! (Although I feel like raccoon is more probable simply since I've seen families of them before and not seen a rat)
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OMG that little bastard just set it off but didn't get clamped on it! I just watched it live lol. Gonna go check outside to see if he's hurt :)
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Pretty sure I should have set the trap parallel next to the wall rather than perpendicular to it. If I had it parallel I'm pretty certain he would have gotten locked down.
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Video of the endeavor....
[attachment deleted by admin]
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Ugh, also forgot to screw it down to a larger piece of wood :T
Anyone know if the rat will be bold enough to try again? Or will it probably avoid the same trap from now on? I have the other jaw trap on the other side so I could try moving that over.
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Pretty sure I should have set the trap parallel next to the wall rather than perpendicular to it. If I had it parallel I'm pretty certain he would have gotten locked down.
I would say: don't bait it. Don't make him slow down and ponder and sniff. Don't put it so far away from the corner. Put it perpendicular right in the corner where a normal stroll will make him waltz across it.
You need to minimally have a wire or string on it, too. If you just snag a leg or a tail, he will drag the entire trap away.
Now... if it is an adult, he may be smart enough to learn from that mistake. The young ones are stupid. As they get older, they get smarter.
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or you could wait up with a pellet gun and give it high velocity lead poisoning....
That's the most fun idea yet!
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Pretty sure I should have set the trap parallel next to the wall rather than perpendicular to it. If I had it parallel I'm pretty certain he would have gotten locked down.
I would say: don't bait it. Don't make him slow down and ponder and sniff. Don't put it so far away from the corner. Put it perpendicular right in the corner where a normal stroll will make him waltz across it.
You need to minimally have a wire or string on it, too. If you just snag a leg or a tail, he will drag the entire trap away.
Now... if it is an adult, he may be smart enough to learn from that mistake. The young ones are stupid. As they get older, they get smarter.
Heh, do you think he'll avoid it though completely now that he got slapped by it? Or is there a good chance one of his friends will check it out? I'll give your suggestion a try and tie it to something. Maybe i'll screw it down to a bigger piece of wood too so it doesnt jump next time - or does that really matter as much?
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mice vs rats: mice= dumb, rats= suspicious---- note how hesitant it was because it was something new in the environment....---- leave it baited but unset for a few days.... it'll get used to it, then set it----- bammo!...... or you could wait up with a pellet gun and give it high velocity lead poisoning....
Lol its hard to see in the dark out there. Dont they avoid exposing themselves when the area is lit? It woulx be fun to go 'hunting' either way hahaha.
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Pretty sure I should have set the trap parallel next to the wall rather than perpendicular to it. If I had it parallel I'm pretty certain he would have gotten locked down.
I would say: don't bait it. Don't make him slow down and ponder and sniff. Don't put it so far away from the corner. Put it perpendicular right in the corner where a normal stroll will make him waltz across it.
You need to minimally have a wire or string on it, too. If you just snag a leg or a tail, he will drag the entire trap away.
Now... if it is an adult, he may be smart enough to learn from that mistake. The young ones are stupid. As they get older, they get smarter.
Heh, do you think he'll avoid it though completely now that he got slapped by it? Or is there a good chance one of his friends will check it out? I'll give your suggestion a try and tie it to something. Maybe i'll screw it down to a bigger piece of wood too so it doesnt jump next time - or does that really matter as much?
I don't honestly know the answer. When I was hunting my 30+ rats, I had 10 or more traps going at any time and had one camera. I rarely caught anything on camera. All I ever saw was a run-by on camera -- no kills and no misses.
Don't get discouraged, though. Put out a bunch of traps and check them often. You WILL get some that get tripped. Just reset them and try again.
I had some that I luckily put in the right spot. They were in my attic. I would set the trap, climb down stairs and hear THWACK within 10 minutes. I would go up, toss the body and set it again an go back down... THWACK.
...and I had some that would sit idle for days, then catch one. Some of it is random. Some of it is proper placement. Don't give up. And don't think there is just one rat... They're not all gone until you go several weeks with no sightings or evidence.
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I just remembered that when I was a kid I'd chased a mouse & had it cornered under the fridge. I got out my pellet rifle & packed a paper "spit-wad" in the gun instead of a pellet, figuring the mouse might explode from the impact of a lead pellet. The paper wad worked great from about 24" away!! :)
Btw, if peanut butter doesn't catch em' I'd try baiting the trap with Bacon. Nobody can resist a piece of yummy greasy bacon!
If all else fails I hear snakes make great pets. ;)
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The tricky part here is that the rat(s)is outside and it seems like they might be nesting under the deck or their passageway into the walls is from under the deck where theres a pretty tiny and restricted entry point. An exterminator is supposed to be coming out soon so we'll see what he says or finds.
I sorta want the satisfaction of catching one now, though :)
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They can absolutely survive with no food. They come and go with no real problem.
I've tried sealing holes with foam... they pick it out and leave a pile on the ground.
They supposedly don't like steel wool... but they pick that out just the same.
I will say that in Texas heat, an unconditioned attic in the summer will turn that rat carcass to a mummy in about 5 days. The smell goes away really fast.
Reminds me of an Ebay sale years ago, some guy was selling a desiccated rat, his description said he found it in his attic.
No, I don't know if it sold or the asking price.
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They can absolutely survive with no food. They come and go with no real problem.
I've tried sealing holes with foam... they pick it out and leave a pile on the ground.
They supposedly don't like steel wool... but they pick that out just the same.
I will say that in Texas heat, an unconditioned attic in the summer will turn that rat carcass to a mummy in about 5 days. The smell goes away really fast.
Reminds me of an Ebay sale years ago, some guy was selling a desiccated rat, his description said he found it in his attic.
No, I don't know if it sold or the asking price.
Maybe I'll do something like that too.... "comes with a FREE wood and metal necklace (by Victor), and a pair of latex gloves to prevent the spread of Hanta, Plague, etc"
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This thread (watching a rat hunt occur vicariously through forum postings) definitely reminds me of those original computer games... you know... "You enter the room and see a candle on the table, a chair, and a pungent scent".....
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This thread (watching a rat hunt occur vicariously through forum postings) definitely reminds me of those original computer games... you know... "You enter the room and see a candle on the table, a chair, and a pungent scent".....
+1 more updates to come! I wont be setting the traps tonight to see if the rat batsard returns. I think im going to need to buy a new camera to use as the baby monitor moving forward as well.... :O
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My roommate and I once had a mouse problem. We killed 37 mice by a variety of creative methods, but there was no end in sight because they were making replacements at the same rate we were killing them. I nearly went insane. This was a house we were renting in college, and the layout of the house and the holes in the walls for wiring meant a lot of the stinky squeaky traffic went right by my head when I was sleeping, on their way to Mouse City from Kitchen Mountain or the Sea of Endless Dogfood.
The only solution I found that permanently worked was the "engineered" (as opposed to temporary) solution of using a staple gun to afix 1/4" galvanized steel hardware cloth to every opening, real or imagined. (You know, the 1/4" mesh that you can get in rolls for cheap at Home Depot). I stuffed steel wool behind each one, probably not necessary. Then I poured 6 sacks of concrete around various places the buggers had been using to tunnel in and wrote "EAT THIS MOUSE" with the trowel on the most prominent one. This solution worked permanently.
(We were renting from a professor we got along with pretty well and my roommate's thesis advisor, who was giving as a steep discount for fixing the place up.)
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I use the large snap traps (the ones for rats) and chocolate syrup. Rats love chocolate syrup. Now the advantage to chocolate syrup is you can have a high confidence that my bait will not be contaminated. I don't want anything near my food that also contacts a (used) rat trap. Once a trap is sprung I want to touch the eating surface as little as possible.
My rats keep coming back to chocolate syrup and my traps are old, sometimes they go off, sometimes not. reset the trap if necessary and squirt on the chocolate syrup from a foot or so to make sure that the syrup bottle stays clean. Wait for the rats to come back.
They also love cherry tomatoes but this is only handy when you are growing some.
The stick traps are nasty and I always trap the wrong animals, birds etc. Now you have a wriggling animal in a trap... I dont have the heart for that. Snap trap is easy and effective, I have only once encountered live rats in the snap traps. Came down on the back of it's head and he was perfectly fine. Pissed off but fine. and big. gave that one a gas pedal till he died. Then I threw him in a bucket of water and he started swimming around.
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oh, I deal with Norway rats if that matters...
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I use the large snap traps (the ones for rats) and chocolate syrup. Rats love chocolate syrup. Now the advantage to chocolate syrup is you can have a high confidence that my bait will not be contaminated. I don't want anything near my food that also contacts a (used) rat trap. Once a trap is sprung I want to touch the eating surface as little as possible.
My rats keep coming back to chocolate syrup and my traps are old, sometimes they go off, sometimes not. reset the trap if necessary and squirt on the chocolate syrup from a foot or so to make sure that the syrup bottle stays clean. Wait for the rats to come back.
They also love cherry tomatoes but this is only handy when you are growing some.
The stick traps are nasty and I always trap the wrong animals, birds etc. Now you have a wriggling animal in a trap... I dont have the heart for that. Snap trap is easy and effective, I have only once encountered live rats in the snap traps. Came down on the back of it's head and he was perfectly fine. Pissed off but fine. and big. gave that one a gas pedal till he died. Then I threw him in a bucket of water and he started swimming around.
Interesting, I'll have to give chocolate syrup a try. I haven't seen the rat return so I don't know if it's traumatized or scared of being slapped, or possibly dead from potential injury from the other night... but nothing so far. I should probably change out all the bait and traps though. I noticed rats aren't the only things those traps were attracting, as there were ants all over it. Will rats approach anything that's crawling with ants?
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I found two corpses in the attic. I'm still guessing they are a decade old although that's just based on the renovation history
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I have only once encountered live rats in the snap traps. Came down on the back of it's head and he was perfectly fine. Pissed off but fine. and big. gave that one a gas pedal till he died. Then I threw him in a bucket of water and he started swimming around.
Ratsputin!
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I have only once encountered live rats in the snap traps. Came down on the back of it's head and he was perfectly fine. Pissed off but fine. and big. gave that one a gas pedal till he died. Then I threw him in a bucket of water and he started swimming around.
Ratsputin!
lol. excellent work.
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They're back!!! The past couple nights we've been hearing 'rummaging' noises and last night my wife and I both heard squeals outside our master bedroom window on the deck area. I flipped the lights on and looked outside - sure enough a big rat came running out. I'm pretty sure there were at least two of them probably fighting with each other. My shed door was flung open but I may have left it that way when getting bug spray earlier. I thought I had closed it or at least pushed it mostly closed...wouldn't be surprised if they nosed their way in and were looking for food.
I'll have to lay some traps out. I only have two right now and am tempted to get a dozen of them. We have a small yard so I feel that many is unnecessary but what do I know...
Several months ago I was actually able to get one that was sneaking in under the yard wall through a small burrow hole. I set the Tomcat up right near where they were coming in and heard a loud snap in the middle of the night followed by high-pitched squealing that woke me up... the rat was struggling to free itself from the Tomcat when I walked outside to check, and it was pulling the trap around with it lol. I had to quickly dispatch it with a 1x6 plank, guillotine style execution.
I was looking into electric traps but those just seem cost-prohibitive. I'll probably buy at least a few more snap traps from Home Depot and line the walls and edges of shed with them. Perhaps I'll try unbaited. Right now I just have the traps laying out there for the rats to get 'accustomed' to. I'd also like to modify them by adding some screws or nails so the bigger ones can't pull themselves out if caught. I haven't caught anything on the Victor trap yet. The bars are slightly rusted too, so it's probably a good idea just to get some new ones anyway.
Wish I could poison these but the *effective* poisons are banned in CA and if you poison these things they may get scooped up by other wildlife that will then in turn be poisoned as well.
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(https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/cap.aws.opennetworkexchange.net.)
https://www.qcsupply.com/ramik-bars-4-lb.html (https://www.qcsupply.com/ramik-bars-4-lb.html)
This is the stuff I have used for years. The large bars are great because the rats have to consume them where you place them, instead of carrying the small pellets away, so you can monitor what they are actually eating. (The line above is a link. Don't know why it looks like that.)
I don't think the dead rodents are considered toxic to other animals because active ingredient is an anticoagulant.
If you decide you need it I'm sure you could find a sympathetic mustachian to send a box.
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(https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/cap.aws.opennetworkexchange.net.)
https://www.qcsupply.com/ramik-bars-4-lb.html (https://www.qcsupply.com/ramik-bars-4-lb.html)
This is the stuff I have used for years. The large bars are great because the rats have to consume them where you place them, instead of carrying the small pellets away, so you can monitor what they are actually eating. (The line above is a link. Don't know why it looks like that.)
I don't think the dead rodents are considered toxic to other animals because active ingredient is an anticoagulant.
If you decide you need it I'm sure you could find a sympathetic mustachian to send a box.
Thanks! Yea looks like Ramik is OK in CA - at least when I add it to my cart on Amazon I have the ability to actually place the order. Maybe I should pickup a box of that stuff if the snap traps aren't effective. I have both the Tomcat and modified Victor setup. I screwed the Victor to a short 1x6 plank and weighed the other side down with a brick. The Tomcat also has what appears to be an attachment loop so I passed some butcher's twine through and secured the other side to a nail I partially drilled into the same 1x6 plank. I turned the Victor into an instant death trap, adding more pressure to the springs with popsicle sticks and drilling a handful of 1-1/4" sheetrock screws from the bottom up:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/V2aZD39ePlufbS1qKh4BBKpSFv87GQ0jm7PnXzOZ7ob2Eh3B0STE54oEfY5wS7wWIfxA5BRaSMbHRDxc6n1hprpB34XxqRIspojnhtNj2inetW4jPHFWIZiPY-2tMKBFQ6ASm55EaFxPN0ih-7SieiEosWl5qZUd6Uo_Q3qpCBh64ONr3GyOUeT7bTh-NIMLOBeq4R-SBGKUp8W4bo8oLpo786ZjvovSsLAEP6k6C_Ax8LFgrsyzfe4lIIexdvJlgAFMFhrj71hsGDRdjpYNykh5my8VFa4xasO_YF8y1V6dpXDd7oFkUuPTVyfPsoYwIwVhYCN4YFt0wwhVs8XjRLSHwRBWjQQ2nEybhIOjV-pX01D8-29FHu9bAgngqPFQmIT0WjYaFDYq8BPRRthNXayfshtSXXXt_0i1pKN53NR0O7e4MogZbBuf309h2WFy404_hvEMV7uxWe-84nXTwpcmElo8GPSfPFZha5UxauHR6f3D264TRq3dXffOKNSqVCh3xaMt1rjjsB0ONJesGlsibxd4WHP4hiRL_SsRkfusHfCNaFh-ob8exOZVuwxndmWRRVl2OtcLnGLUX5LFniqr1fEKytJ6_kqGimn7dSWWPRfA0EzdLa20RiDyVzfYWVvivlQp2f98TT_4Hc2TwQIP4VIrUV_IyA=w934-h700-no)
I'm ready for war! #waitingforthesnap
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I have only once encountered live rats in the snap traps. Came down on the back of it's head and he was perfectly fine. Pissed off but fine. and big. gave that one a gas pedal till he died. Then I threw him in a bucket of water and he started swimming around.
Ratsputin!
I have seen several rats come back to life after being seemingly very dead. It’s crazy.
I had a dead rat come back and jump out of a freezer that he had been in for 2 days. Freaked the fuck out of me but one of the other scientists just laughed and said “oh yeah, watch out for the rat zombies, they come back sometimes”
Oh, and rats are crazy smart, but blind as fuck. That’s why PP above has so much success with putting unbaited traps in their known path. They literally can’t really see them. They can smell bait and learn to avoid it, but they do almost always stick to the same walking paths, which are almost always up against walls, so unbaited traps on their known path really is a smart approach.
Also, yeah, you almost never have 1 rat. They’re ultra social, love friends, and literally go insane and die if they don’t socialize enough.
They can also chew through concrete, so it’s hard to plug them out of the holes that they know about, because if they are determined to get back into their home to see their friends, then they will do their best to find a way.
I worked with rats for 6 years and had them as pets for even longer. It’s made me very grateful for every time I’ve discovered mice because that has always meant that I don’t have rats (mice won’t live near rats). I have a healthy respect and fear for their cleverness and adaptability...plus their zombie powers.
So I woke up to a TON of email notifications from my IP cam and now I can't go back to sleep... rats set it off. TWO of them but one leading/clearing. Pretty ridiculous but there's one (or maybe two working in tandem, one at a time) that grabbed the bait right out of the Tomcat bait cup and the other snatched the bait right out of a modified bait cup (bottle cap slid onto the Victor metal pedal notch) and was walking all over the trap (sans the screws). I've seen where it runs now and it'll run *around* the screws. It was nosing the pedal/cup but never managed to set it off. I tried using pliers to clamp down the notch as well to try to make it more sensitive but was struggling with making it *too* sensitive (that it would set off at the slightest movement, including me setting the trap). Anyway, wicked smart.
I bought 3 more Victor traps and need to put some screws in them as well. Maybe the screws I have are too long (they stick out probably more than 1/2") but I don't know if I have anything shorter. As far as the path they run, in this particular area it seems they're running all over the place and not necessarily staying by walls. They'll scurry through the open places but it's a little cluttered back there (garden cart, waste bin, shed and maybe no more than a few feet of open space). The camera is setup to a place where it can't see the *entire* area to see the path(s) they're running but they are running across the shorter open spaces it seems. In this case, any new 'obstacle' you place out it seems they'll sniff it out and not necessarily blindly cross... then again, maybe that's only because I'm putting bait in the traps. But you'd think they'd be smart enough to know if there's a new object in their path, not to necessarily cross it but sniff and check it out, then go around. I think I'll try placing an unbaited trap along at least one path I know for sure they are traveling down. I'm assuming place the trap perpendicular to the run so the rat has to cross it, with the pedal side closest to the wall? And do you still clamp the traps down to a larger piece of wood?
The other thought I have - aren't certain types of traps perhaps better-suited for the unbaited approach? Like the plastic/yellow large pedal Victor traps as opposed to the small metal plate pedal Victor traps? The only ones I have are the smaller metal plate ones. I'm gonna try another tactic of shoving a small seed in the notch and pasting peanut butter under the pedal and some against the wood board directly under the pedal, in hopes that the rat will either try to pull the seed off and set the trap off OR sniff/lick the PB and cause the pedal to release the spring. As I type this the jerk rat came back to sniff on the trap again and laugh at me.
Look at this bastard!
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I wrap the bait lever with something like a baggie tie or a pipe cleaner and smear peanut butter into all the crevices. That makes the bait stick a lot better.
Maybe you need a cage type trap, like a "Have a Heart". I caught a heard (20+) of flying squirrels with one, but I think rats are a lot smarter.
It might take you a while to figure out how to catch them, but after you do you'll relish the memory of the hunt. ;)
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I wrap the bait lever with something like a baggie tie or a pipe cleaner and smear peanut butter into all the crevices. That makes the bait stick a lot better.
Maybe you need a cage type trap, like a "Have a Heart". I caught a heard (20+) of flying squirrels with one, but I think rats are a lot smarter.
It might take you a while to figure out how to catch them, but after you do you'll relish the memory of the hunt. ;)
Nice, I'll have to try that. I set up several more traps just now but probably scared off all the rats for a while lol. One of the traps I set out went off prematurely while moving it around since I was messing with the pedal notch and trying to make it more sensitive with pliers before that. I nearly snapped my fingers off a few times setting these things up haha. I haven't yet reset the other traps but may do that tomorrow and reconfigure placement of the traps. Right now it's just a mess but it's way too early to be messing around like this... I couldn't go back to sleep after initially waking up and seeing all the notifications. Maybe I should turn those off or something :P
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You can also try a night vision scope and a pellet gun. :)
I mean since you're awake anyway!
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You can also try a night vision scope and a pellet gun. :)
I mean since you're awake anyway!
LOL! I was gonna say but totally forgot! That would be ideal but this is a small enclosed patio/backyard area at my condo. I don't think I'd be able to get far enough away to where the rats wouldn't know I'm there. The angles are bad and the area pictured is a small 6x8 covered deck area. I wish I could pop them with a pellet gun but it's not gonna happen lol. I'd also risk shooting our master bedroom sliding glass door/window out.
The new setup. There's one unbaited trap out of picture because I set it along the wall to the left of the tripod/camera. The other unbaited trap is on the leftmost side and the baited trap with a sunflower seed & PB is on the right - I'm not sure if that ones really going to work but I've been watching the rat(s) run through that opening all night. The Tomcat is pretty much useless now that the bait is out of the bait cup (I didn't bother resetting it or the spiked trap just because I didn't want to 'disturb' things and wanted to add the extra traps in case these bastards start running through again, in hopes that they'll get snapped up. I didn't have time to drill any screws in either, so there's a chance that it'll get away.
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What's crazy is that you'd think the traps would trip up even with a rat brushing against the bar holding the pedal up - I just watched video of the rat casually walking all over the trap, including the bar, and nothing happening. Now that trap is older and parts of the metal are 'corroded' and rough from weathering. What I probably should do is take some sandpaper/steel wool and smooth all that out - perhaps that's affecting the sensitivity.
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I recall what worked the last time I got one was cheese rinds. I stuffed them into the bait cup of the Tomcat along with PB to make it stick. I have the Tomcat setup along one passageway this way so we'll see if that works. The remaining Victors I've setup in various ways: a couple are setup with cheese rinds pushed onto the notch so it'll be near impossible to remove them and then pasted PB under the pedal. One of the others I followed this guy's suggestion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6surVql9hHk and then the other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La-EgIsevlQ but using a small sunflower seed and no other bait around. I may sprinkle some sunflower seeds and other crumbs to form a 'trail' later on. I nearly took my finger off setting on of the traps - I hate setting these things!
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GOT ONE! The Tomcat is up by 2 now.... I put some PB in the bait cup and took a small piece of cheese rind and pushed it down, then used the PB as 'paste' to keep the rind in place. Unfortunately, I didn't have recording/motion detection enabled on my IP cam as I only have it going through the night hours. And I totally forgot to snap a few 'memorial' pics before bagging the sucker. The only reason I found out about this was because I went outside to bait the areas surrounding the traps and saw the Tomcat was out of place and the twine I used to attach it to a 1x6 board was taught - shined my flashlight under the garden cart and sure enough a big ole rat. Not sure how long it was struggling as I had no idea it went off. I know there's at least one more, so hopefully I can get that one too. I reset the Tomcat so hopefully there will be another kill soon. I'm not sure how many more uses I'll be able to get out of that thing before it busts...
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More activity tonight - two more showed up. One actually got caught in a Victor trap within the past 15 mins but was able to free itself and run off.... smh. This was one of the traps I setup 'out of box' without any mods other than shimming the spring for more power too. Guess it didn't get a clean hit on the head and probably trapped it on the neck/stomach or something. Had I used screws it would have pinned it down. Now all the others are probably freaked out and aren't coming back. We'll see though. I just screwed 5 screws into that trap and reset it. Gonna get to bed and hopefully wake up to some dead rats...not counting on it though.
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I know you have some bad-ass rats, but I'm 100% positive one screw will hold.
Glad to hear that the hunting is going well. You should think about getting a camo cap and a Mossy Oak decal. ;)
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I'm missing the photos though. Pix or it didn't happen.
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I know you have some bad-ass rats, but I'm 100% positive one screw will hold.
Glad to hear that the hunting is going well. You should think about getting a camo cap and a Mossy Oak decal. ;)
What's crazy is *another* rat came and set off the trap that had screws in it (5 of them) AND was secured down yet it got away! From the video it looks like it 'bounced' the rat off but the rat was on it. Maybe the rat was too big for the trap? I have no idea but I was perplexed (and still am just rewatching the video over and over)... I should have had two more last night but Victor has failed me, even modified. At this point I've probably screwed my chances of eradicating at least these two nuisances long-term. Not sure if more will come back or if the rest have been "warned" to avoid.
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+1
Im checking in each day for updates. With a horrified fascination. Those are big rats!
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Interesting story in the Wall Street Journal today. The rats in Paris are being protected. The people there love their rats and are taking steps to keep people from killing them. I just... SMH.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-france-even-the-rats-have-rights-1533914241
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Interesting story in the Wall Street Journal today. The rats in Paris are being protected. The people there love their rats and are taking steps to keep people from killing them. I just... SMH.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-france-even-the-rats-have-rights-1533914241
Ridiculous! They're are just *begging* for the plague!
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+1
Im checking in each day for updates. With a horrified fascination. Those are big rats!
Seriously... is it just me or is anyone else finding it unbelievable that the rat managed to avoid getting caught, pinned and skewered (yum) in the screw/nail-modded snap-trap like that?! It was *all over* the trap too... I'm still confused and am in disbelief.
UPDATE: another rat came by this morning but was investigating the Tomcat and avoiding the others. I don't know if it's one of the two that got snapped but I'd be in the next county over if I were them! If I had space and a pellet gun those two would be in rat hell by now.
I noticed outside our yard walls the pest control company placed two bait stations within 5 feet of each other right where the rats are running. I'm not sure if those bait stations are intended to trap rats or just provide poison so that the rats bring it back to their nest and die off. I'm not sure what kind of poison they're using if the latter too... at least here in CA
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I use rat poison in home made bait stations by my firewood shelter. It (they?) eat the bait but cant remove it. I keep refilling until it isnt being eaten anymore. Repeat at intervals through autumn and winter.
Usually find a nest and dehydrated rat mummy at some stage as the wood heap gets used up.
Cant say I like having to do it, but its better than finding a live one, or hearing them partying in the roof.
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I cleaned off the Tomcat, reset it with fresh PB & cheese rind stuck in it, and then repositioned it closer to the side of the shed where the main wall is. I also removed the garden cart that was sitting there and took down the Victor trap because I don't want to mess around with resetting those and possibly snapping my fingers off... hate those things now that I've had to reset them multiple times already. I also caved and ordered a Victor electronic rat trap, now that I know there are at least two if not more of these things around. That should be coming on Tuesday but in the meantime hopefully the Tomcat will catch at least one more.
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I use rat poison in home made bait stations by my firewood shelter. It (they?) eat the bait but cant remove it. I keep refilling until it isnt being eaten anymore. Repeat at intervals through autumn and winter.
Usually find a nest and dehydrated rat mummy at some stage as the wood heap gets used up.
Cant say I like having to do it, but its better than finding a live one, or hearing them partying in the roof.
What kind of rat poison are you using? Ramik? I was reading up on that stuff and have read mixed reviews that it doesn't work or it takes forever.
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"No Rats and Mice". The active ingredient is brodifacoum which I think is an anticoagulant. Im in NZ so our regulations may be different, this is purchased from a farm supply shop.
My bait station is a 2L plastic milk bottle with the end cut off, and a hole pierced in each side. A wooden skewer goes through the holes with the bait blocks threaded on (the bait has a hole in the middle) inside the bottle.
Once the bait is being eaten I need to refill it for 2-3 days. Then it stops being eaten, I guess because they are dead!
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I've been maintaining a large bucket trap filled partway with water to get rid of a family of ground squirrels that have burrowed under the foundation of the rental we are in (thankfully we don't own the place!). We caught (drowned) four so far. I think there are four more to get.
We are trying to avoid poison pellets as there are roaming cats in the neighborhood.
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"No Rats and Mice". The active ingredient is brodifacoum which I think is an anticoagulant. Im in NZ so our regulations may be different, this is purchased from a farm supply shop.
My bait station is a 2L plastic milk bottle with the end cut off, and a hole pierced in each side. A wooden skewer goes through the holes with the bait blocks threaded on (the bait has a hole in the middle) inside the bottle.
Once the bait is being eaten I need to refill it for 2-3 days. Then it stops being eaten, I guess because they are dead!
I'm pretty sure that's banned here in CA. I searched for "brodifacoum" on Amazon, added to cart, and went to checkout and it says it can't be delivered here haha. Also, I think what I'm dealing with are Norway (brown) rats which I briefly read somewhere can be resistant to anticoagulants.
EDIT: I've been reading that Vitamin D3/D is effective for killing these guys. What I'm not quite sure about is, if that's true, how much I should be using - I'm thinking to try mixing some up in PB and placing it out around the yard. I have some 5000IU softgels and also 2000IU softgels. Not sure how many of these I would need to use... has anyone tried this out before?
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Tomcat to the rescue!!!
I didn't wake up all but 30 minutes ago so apparently slept right through this one. He/she even had his/her buddy come check him out to see if he was OK several hours later. Bad news for buddy #2 but luckier than buddy #1. The only thing is that he was flapping around for a good 10-15 minutes before actually dying. So that's the downside of the trap :( Hopefully the electronic trap will help resolve that. But at least it didn't escape.
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jeromedawg,
Two in one night! Way to go.
Are your neighbors catching them too? I'm sure there's a bunch more of them somewhere nearby. They are probably "making the rounds" when they stop by your place. You might want to ask around and see if your neighbors need some trapping advice, or maybe they can share rat killing secrets that you haven't heard of yet.
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jeromedawg,
Two in one night! Way to go.
Are your neighbors catching them too? I'm sure there's a bunch more of them somewhere nearby. They are probably "making the rounds" when they stop by your place. You might want to ask around and see if your neighbors need some trapping advice, or maybe they can share rat killing secrets that you haven't heard of yet.
Actually the 2nd one was just coming to check the dead one out - no other traps were set, unfortunately, so the second one didn't get caught. I just got the electronic trap today and already have it setup and sitting outside on the other side of the shed where I think they're running through. When I went out there I'm pretty sure I saw one scurry away under the deck. I'm not sure if these rats will avoid a trap if they 'sense' that one of their siblings got killed in one already. I read somewhere that they have a 3-day memory... not sure how true or accurate that is. Anyway, hoping the electronic mouse trap takes care of the second one that was checking things out. I no longer trust the Victor snap traps at least with these rats - failing on three different occasions is too much. I wish I didn't buy 3 more of them... I doubt I can return them or get my money back either :(
I haven't checked with the neighbors but I wouldn't be surprised if they're in other peoples' yards too. I know several other neighbors have already reported them. Maybe it's time to get a rat terrier!
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Oww, good one !
I dont know if you are doing this already, but wearing gloves to set traps, bait etc is supposed to be helpful to prevent rats getting suspicious of human activity.
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Oww, good one !
I dont know if you are doing this already, but wearing gloves to set traps, bait etc is supposed to be helpful to prevent rats getting suspicious of human activity.
Yep, also who knows where those rats have been - they're probably filthy. Most of the time I remember the gloves but if I'm in a rush sometimes I forget. The third rat appeared again last night and I see exactly where they're coming in now (small hole they gnawed out in the deck right behind the shed). I have the Tomcat trap setup on one edge of the shed and the electronic trap on the other end. The rat was very suspicious and wouldn't go near either trap. I'm wondering if I should try switching up the bait from PB/cheese rinds to PB/turkey bacon (it's all I have along the lines of bacon) just to try to make things more enticing... I did sprinkle some sunflower seeds around the general area so I think it was snacking on those. I may just give it a day or two more to see if the rat will venture out further and get caught in a trap... on the other hand, I've heard they like "fresh" food and can sense when food has gone stale (and will avoid)
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How about leaving the traps unset with plenty of bait around for a few days? Then just when they get relaxed a bit around the traps, set them again.
I am not sure why your rat saga is so fascinating , but I want you to win! And more video please!
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How about leaving the traps unset with plenty of bait around for a few days? Then just when they get relaxed a bit around the traps, set them again.
I am not sure why your rat saga is so fascinating , but I want you to win! And more video please!
Last night was a no-go. Mr. Rat decided to not show up at all. I even played sounds of squealing baby rats from youtube and fed it into the mic input for the cam. Maybe that's what kept them away lol. I have the electronic rat trap setup along with the snap trap, and placed turkey bacon around and in all of them. They're both live. For these rats, I'm not sure if it matters much at this point. Both traps, especially the Tomcat are pretty much one-touch kills. I feel like there's not a huge point baiting them unset like the standard snap traps because if a rat is curious enough to stick its nose around the bait cup or go into the electronic trap, it's nearly guaranteed to die. That's obviously not the case with the classic snap traps though.
Anyway, glad everyone is enjoying the "show" LOL!
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They are pretty cautious now. It wouldn't go closer than a foot away from the traps. Maybe I should remove the Tomcat and keep the electronic one there. Or perhaps parallel to the wall?
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Last night was a no-go. Mr. Rat decided to not show up at all. I even played sounds of squealing baby rats from youtube and fed it into the mic input for the cam. Maybe that's what kept them away lol.
Hahaha, that is just downright outrageous!
More saga updates, please! :-)
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The Victor trap apparently shorted out :( Didn't even catch anything with it. Will return to Lowes. In the meantime, the rat made another appearance last night - same deal: popped it's head out for a bit then crawled out but quickly went back into the hole. I moved the shed back for more clearance, planted some loose dried cranberries, then rinsed out the Tomcat trap and rebaited with cream cheese with dried cranberries buried in it. Not sure if it'll go for any of this but it seemed to be disinterest enough in the turkey bacon, PB, parmesan rind, and sunflower seeds I had laying out there. It will probably be pretty cautious with me having moved the trap. We'll see...
BTW: can anyone tell at this point whether these are roof rats or Norway rats?
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I completely sympathize with all of this. Roof rats are nasty shits. They were in my barn eating my chicken feed. We made a bucket trap and got rid of SO many, but really, you have to remove their food source if you can. And then start to seal up wherever they are nesting. We chose not to use rat poison, because we'd have so many dead bodies rotting, and that isn't good. We also have dogs who would kill and eat them, and we didn't want them to get sick. We had to use a combination of removing the food, removing the water... snap traps that we would move around (they are really smart about snap traps, or spring traps, whatever you call them).
In bucket traps, you need to use the tallest trash can you can find, because they can jump. And some people try to drown them, but rats can swim, so you really need to either take that trashcan somewhere and release them, or do something within that can to kill them, your choice. I personally used my dogs - sorry, not sorry.
Good luck, don't give up!
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I completely sympathize with all of this. Roof rats are nasty shits. They were in my barn eating my chicken feed. We made a bucket trap and got rid of SO many, but really, you have to remove their food source if you can. And then start to seal up wherever they are nesting. We chose not to use rat poison, because we'd have so many dead bodies rotting, and that isn't good. We also have dogs who would kill and eat them, and we didn't want them to get sick. We had to use a combination of removing the food, removing the water... snap traps that we would move around (they are really smart about snap traps, or spring traps, whatever you call them).
In bucket traps, you need to use the tallest trash can you can find, because they can jump. And some people try to drown them, but rats can swim, so you really need to either take that trashcan somewhere and release them, or do something within that can to kill them, your choice. I personally used my dogs - sorry, not sorry.
Good luck, don't give up!
I'm wondering if this is a Norway rat because it seems more brown than it is black. In any case, the current survivor seems to be avoiding the snap trap at all costs lol. I've thought about putting out a bucket trap but not sure how to actually trap - do you use the spinning can method? I recently came across this one, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctCoEl-F1gE&lc=, and thought it was a really good idea and something that could work. But I don't know... this rat that keeps popping back up seems to be highly intelligent (maybe he's reading this thread LOL):
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Jeromedawg, here is what I use...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1jJkvUQoLk
Oh, and you can tell a difference in Norway vs Roof by how long their tails are, and how big their ears are. We had both in our barn.
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Jeromedawg, here is what I use... https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=l1jJkvUQoLk
Oh, and you can tell a difference in Norway vs Roof by how long their tails are, and how big their ears are. We had both in our barn.
Thanks! BTW: the link isn't working.
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Jeromedawg, here is what I use... https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=l1jJkvUQoLk
Oh, and you can tell a difference in Norway vs Roof by how long their tails are, and how big their ears are. We had both in our barn.
Thanks! BTW: the link isn't working.
I think that's the link for the poster to edit the video. Here's a watch link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1jJkvUQoLk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1jJkvUQoLk)
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Alright, got a new setup going. The Tomcat re-baited with PB and a piece of chopped chicken wing end right next to the entry hole and another 'choke point' on the other side of the shed which is a ramp leading to a 5gal bucket with a 2" diameter hole cut-out in the middle and 2" PVC+coupling dropped in as a 'funnel' trap with water in the bucket. I laced the ramp and lid with a light PB trail and smeared more PB on the inside bottom of the PVC pipe; hopefully to tempt and lead the rat into wanting the "pot of gold" in the bucket where it will slip in and drown. It would be cool if that actually happens but I'm somewhat doubtful. I got the idea from Youtube (I may have posted the link earlier). Anyway, here's a view of the setup:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/t4IbOAysgb0DMzJzTeWzwKgSDCobo00NsuujN-rUhWvZGlvxt-SJYTLMbtqKM-2u8LHMaHc1EmaJPThl-NH7omx9yp_xoDBC05_8hjcl33_c6qc4wnBL_-mzJAhEQibtq6xVIN23WxyvWwyBc2vXLq31qHQiBz-0wmC-1KSpIk03L8kSqi6itUhxyhZPT-G86JZ24KHEf1jLbMWjnlihXPE1XXuWH2w1pMRTOvAIKp0aEtV87SdaqueSJmiCu8POXlAnVJnQUOEgH-jOuenSxDb0kd7U4btgXRG-eHiDvMkhU1ufgr7obxYSIkb-mDk0vo-lk32BIPkTHVudP1ZTP9kqQ8_fnwdJKKl3Cdk5Wu5mVJnYEH5lER22r8OmgaFJq-Og4wzO6kaolgEqLlhlogxASwIrIjseCIMNj_UK7OOkRFg9fPbtqyw5uaaTEHBTnUxOx6CE58H7iEBrysTFQnsWHHmLnDozmcTYu3GrhD7KNwODZZbT4bp-Zl8Uu10v6agGL9L2Oem4VkXzeCN0QQgz5DKMSG9uqndMuP8emZh9zlz3JylI3z5ztgN2HL75D_viWYp-6mgNpJcXQAWANrJCBTYjWwsUT3sgL9DGMxlhKz4rhLdSAe0pxuUY0my7ir8ntWIY5NRDRlTe8zEk_3i5kp9GlWA9ubbi21JW506NAe1DFEIjZBVnSg=w1250-h703-no)
BTW: the rat has been making random appearances just about every other night or two. It's verrry cautious and appears to not want to go near the Tomcat at this point. So the hope is that it'll be interested in the ramp setup and what's inside the bucket; well, interested enough to meet its demise! Ugh, all this for a stupid rat... well, possibly still more than one. The pest control company setup two bait stations on the other side of our yard wall but those appear to do jack squat - I'm guessing they're baiting them with anticoagulant, and these rats may have anticoagulant resistance or something.
EDIT: I just heard a loud *snap* but no squeals... checked the Tomcat and that was the last of it - the plastic hinge that holds the trap down in the back broke off so it's done for, unfortunately, I took one of my screw-rigged Victor traps and removed one popsicle shim (maybe the thickness of two was counteracting the intent of the shim resulting less force from the spring but who knows...). I wasn't able to move the Victor closer to the entryway the rats created because it's longer than the Tomcat which fit the 'alleyway' perfectly. I may just end up buying another Tomcat at some point. For the 3 rats I nailed with it I think it was worth the $6-7 I spent. I spent the same amount, even more, on the 4 Victors combined and not a single one of them caught or killed a rat.
If I wanted to go into overkill-mode, I suppose I could line the alley-way with back-to-back traps in hopes that the rat will just run right over them and get snapped up. But let's see how it goes tonight (or the next couple nights). I'm particularly interested in the bucket trap. I had the bucket/lid/PVC laying around and spent 86 cents on the coupler (which is really just there just to keep the PVC from falling into the bucket)
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I once read an interesting book on neophobia in rats. Seems they are like humans - some are natural adventurers, some very conservative. The adventurers love to try new foods and explore new places - these are the easy ones to catch, kill or poison. The conservative ones won’t come anywhere near you, your traps or your poison and will provide the constant recruits to the ones that you are seeing off! Between the two extremes there is a range of personalities that leave you in the battle of wills that we are all enjoying on this thread! :)
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<<Between the two extremes there is a range of personalities that leave you in the battle of wills that we are all enjoying on this thread! :)>>
The BEST thread on the forum. You have almost surpassed the thread from the guy who had a scammer move in to his vacant rental house and refuse to leave. Hey! Similar themes!
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<<Between the two extremes there is a range of personalities that leave you in the battle of wills that we are all enjoying on this thread! :)>>
The BEST thread on the forum. You have almost surpassed the thread from the guy who had a scammer move in to his vacant rental house and refuse to leave. Hey! Similar themes!
Can you give a link to the scammer thread? I missed it.
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I've been trying to come up with ideas for a blog, I wonder if I should start one dedicated to my adventures in extermination. We've also dealt with fleas (which I was suspecting the rats were actually harboring and spreading before I applied several doses of IGR and permethrin and haven't seen since). Roaches, ants and lizards are regulars although I don't consider lizards as pests really - I've had a few come into the garage/house and I do my best to capture and release those guys because I'm sure they're helping with insect control around here. Rats on the other hand, are awful. Ironically, I used to have several rats *as pets* when I was younger. They're super intelligent creatures and the domesticated ones are cool but I don't want to mess around with these wild rats.
Anyway, the bucket trap has seen no results and the snap trap hasn't been set off. This "Mr Conservative lone survivor" seems to be dodging completely. The last I saw he just stuck his nose outside the notch and then ran off after. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to get it short of a pellet gun or some other method. I'm not sure how I should deal with blocking off the purported entrance because it's not easily accessible to work on the areas where I think these things are coming in. I guess I could just get a bunch of gravel and pour it around the deck area. Not sure if they'll just come and dig it all back out of course.
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<<Between the two extremes there is a range of personalities that leave you in the battle of wills that we are all enjoying on this thread! :)>>
The BEST thread on the forum. You have almost surpassed the thread from the guy who had a scammer move in to his vacant rental house and refuse to leave. Hey! Similar themes!
Can you give a link to the scammer thread? I missed it.
Speaking of scammers:
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/p-p-p-powerbook
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Can you give a link to the scammer thread? I missed it.
Squatters / fraud!! posted by Tbill.
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/real-estate-and-landlording/squatters-fraud!!/msg909155/#msg909155
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Any updates on your nocturnal visitors?
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Any updates on your nocturnal visitors?
Not much to report. The last survivor seems to be avoiding the area in general and if it does come back it'll peek it's nose out or occasionally step out for a few moments before going back into the hole. It doesn't seem interested at all in what's on the snap trap or in the bucket. I'm guessing there's a food source elsewhere and it's just stopping by to see what's up at my place LOL.
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Quick report. I haven't re-baited the trap for over a week now and last night the rat decided to show up again. Very cautious but did come up to the trap to check it out. Also stepped/jumped right over it without setting it off...smh. I just need to get another one of those traps with the jaws and where it's harder for the rat just to leap over. The Tomcat, when set in the same position, was way more effective than these Victor snap traps.
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I wonder if rats like beer? A little beer might slow his reflexes and maybe make him hungery. ;)
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Got another one! Finally on one of the newer Tomcat traps. I used a piece of raw bacon buried in homemade PB (the homemade PB was not made solely for catching rats BTW haha). I was dreaming about something and heard a loud "crash" - in my dream it was that catering trays from a buffet had exploded from off the buffet table and came crashing down on the floor.... guess I was hungry. I woke up a few minutes later to a thumping noise and realized it was a rat and cleaned up. This was at around 3:40am PST hahaha. This appears to be a younger rat from what I can see and I think there's probably a bigger (and smarter) one lurking still. Maybe this was just a 'sentry' that was sent to investigate.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/YsWXVnNbtxGiUCMkkcr8WKm0PPo-br2w3FlzHm3CvU3Q5ZM2dPi1iz0KUMcFKJpwEi7EbFHOXrRgSAknYppArfax6bln1A33Dnf-k5_KeXU3BX_cBoV6wuu7c1Uz8UJ-Ynv03x0YodLw74mc3dIINETY6MeXgw66PUy0HxU4KZ8REC1-_QpC4A83gcLpYfhW56UZi1XcAnOZYMuoyeUTW4KdK9bJW6LCMME_0Hh1ufoQX64a7omoVCCcgaheHWZs3uZ6P20jLwb2ArdejKWK7P-K-8qk8Tjz1UYnxhhHZidOaBdf1KTNfkIvxtPPHxS31DMuIX3bfrtRSwqbyCMbKcHYjlUkGwC-25-o7kg17-XMrYVp-bZxkb0Kb8FzgVmKSvPX000scUVMp0ja_DcJ-qAFDq7yXZ8A57_NQtngsIv2bSzQQBSE9xHmqQN0pDR9ZU-e4-uJ06-C_IfOp5ItMt7fnA_SqTSM1qbIxhgQV0HlB-wZwUw84mnPF38rChTwKJlu6VJp_7EK_O341XPdqsVX46gRNwld7T0ylMbDTbj2vAABKsL72hCFdwigoNZIUyCBTlP-pCVkPMuWbD122N82lzfDsGqRFJ62ZTxUow8eGTWqbTMh5iGES-ZOokFKf71-r-XFFqL5l8wXd3diMSXqSXEbmJniu1WWaGiS2Gbsp4U3DTVR7tV30g=w502-h669-no)
Video of the ordeal:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/J19zXEmA9UE5nNNp6
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Awesome! Score 1 for the humans.
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Maybe this was just a 'sentry' that was sent to investigate.
Don't volunteer for anything.
I just finished a 5 day surveil of my basement, where I had mice, chipmunks and rats for years. Temporarily repositioned a security camera down there at all different angles. Happy to report that all I have now is moths.
Painted the basement and in the process of doing that I found and plugged every single possible hole with steel wool and rags. It was so so gross since some former entrances still had mouse fur on the edges, and a poop trail. It was worth it though. You too will prevail!
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Just a quick update in case anyone is interested... there's still at least one more rat out there that occasionally shows up. This one is definitely the smart one - it just peeks its head out from the notch every now and then but won't venture further. Actually, the other night I was woken up to some super loud noise as the traps went off. I thought it was a big rat that had gotten away. In reviewing the footage, it was a darned CAT! I'm not sure if the cat smelled the scent of the rats around the trap or if the traps/baits themselves were interesting but it ended up pawing at them and setting them off! Fortunately it was able to shake the traps off:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/KwVCGacQK6jSuHKh8
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Still interested! Sort of a gruesome fascination really. Happy hunting .
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Still interested! Sort of a gruesome fascination really. Happy hunting .
Yes, we're still interested! Keep posting.
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I figured the cat one would be interesting and was contemplating whether or not to share it, as some of you cat lovers out there may abhor it and might be offended. But as a dog lover, I figured why the heck not...LOL! Just kidding... I got over my fascination with owning a dog after signing up to volunteer at the local animal shelter, attending orientation, and not stepping foot back in ever since (and subsequently having my volunteer status revoked). This not because I decided it wasn't for me but more so because at the time we were expecting our first child and priorities shifted. Anyway, I digress. I will continue to post updates every now and then, and hopefully with some dead rat pics/vids for your viewing pleasure. :D
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Got another one this morning! Not sure if this is the one rat was always cautious but it was definitely a larger one:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/A6stUvrpmfD5AZgo6
Raw bacon and peanut butter - it was sitting out for days too haha.
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Was that a rat? it looked enormous. Good catch!
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Was that a rat? it looked enormous. Good catch!
Yep - it was definitely on the bigger side too. Hoping it's the same one cautious one that was previously trying to sneak around the traps. I've reset the trap with the same bait in it so we'll see what happens next.
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Rat stick?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzj6EeFi_7U
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Got another one. This one is going to be nasty because we're currently out of town so it's going to decompose as-is...not sure what I was thinking but I couldn't stand the thought of not leaving the traps set.
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These things look HUGE from the pictures.
A normal mouse that dies inside a wall takes 2 weeks to stop smelling. Sad that I know that. But I have no way of knowing the interval between death and first stink. Maybe there is a gap! Hope so for your sake.
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These things look HUGE from the pictures.
A normal mouse that dies inside a wall takes 2 weeks to stop smelling. Sad that I know that. But I have no way of knowing the interval between death and first stink. Maybe there is a gap! Hope so for your sake.
From nose to tail these are probably at least 10-12 or more inches on average. Pretty disgusting... I'm pretty sure it's just going to stink bad by the time we're back. I'll probably just need to make a water/bleach mixture in the garden pump sprayer, hose down the area, spray and let sit, then hose down again and hope it's OK if it's really that bad.
Video of the action: https://photos.app.goo.gl/o65z1uPGt2CtogUD6
I think I've figured out the secret to increasing the effectiveness of these traps and that is to 'funnel' the rats into the baited area, else they are cautious enough to go around and hop over the other side. Once I started blocking the back-side of the trap off (using the scrap pieces of 2x4s as seen in the pics and vids) the rats were forced to try to jump or step over the baited part, if they weren't interested in the food, and were almost always stepping on the trigger plate.
I think I've only seen one instance of a rat actually going for the bait and getting caught versus all the other times where the rats just tried to step or jump over/through the trap.
So if you can force them to step through the baited side you'll almost always get them. This I think is particularly effective when dealing with rats who are taking advantage of natural narrow passage ways between two walls. Since I could move the shed further out, this was even better as I could line the traps up perpendicular between the shed and the wall. And then easily drop the 2x4 scraps into create the funnel
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I totally thought I posted this other one but I guess I didn't (or I just can't find the post):
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FByAk2jtPrdFWzou5
That was a young one I got earlier in October. Definitely smaller than these most recent two.
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I just got a basement French drain put in this past summer. And since the basement was completely torn up and everything moved away from the walls I took the opportunity to plug any hole with steel wool or hardware cloth. I put a camera down there for a week afterward and nothing moved except moths. Yesterday I was sweeping and washing the floor and I found a couple of mouse turds and dirt spray coming from a section of the French drain behind the furnace. Even though the drain space is only a 1/2 inch along the perimeter of the wall, for about 6 inches behind the furnace it is about 1 inch wide. They are coming up through the French drain there!! Arghhhh.
I put a poison bait there to see if they take it. I am so disappointed. I was mouse-free for approximately 3 months, while they regrouped. The only way I can fix this is by hardware-clothing that opening and eventually the entire perimeter of the basement.
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I just got a basement French drain put in this past summer. And since the basement was completely torn up and everything moved away from the walls I took the opportunity to plug any hole with steel wool or hardware cloth. I put a camera down there for a week afterward and nothing moved except moths. Yesterday I was sweeping and washing the floor and I found a couple of mouse turds and dirt spray coming from a section of the French drain behind the furnace. Even though the drain space is only a 1/2 inch along the perimeter of the wall, for about 6 inches behind the furnace it is about 1 inch wide. They are coming up through the French drain there!! Arghhhh.
I put a poison bait there to see if they take it. I am so disappointed. I was mouse-free for approximately 3 months, while they regrouped. The only way I can fix this is by hardware-clothing that opening and eventually the entire perimeter of the basement.
Ugh... my brother had a mouse issue too. His house is a mouse-haven because they have so much crap and junk laying around. He saw at least three mice running around so laid some traps out and got them. He thinks that was all of them but who knows. He was blaming it on the neighbor cutting down their ivy, which "forced" the mice to find refuge. I just think they had mice in their house the whole time because he said they saw one prior to all that and even hired and exterminator. Every time he said he saw a mouse in a certain area, he would say "oh yea and there was a cracker [or candy] sitting behind in that area." I'm sure there are more mice in his house and he has no idea. He left the traps sitting out too when we brought our kids over...smh. I told him about how when we were visiting a friend, my son picked up a *SET* RAT (not mouse) trap and brought it over to show me. Our friend was super embarrassed and felt awful about it...rightly so as my son could have lost his finger(s). We are so fortunate the trap didn't go off. Supposedly they had a possum in their house(!!!) and had tried trapping it but this was a while back and they apparently forgot about the trap. They put it inside an old Amazon shipping box and my son just happened to go exploring and find it. Granted, mice traps are much smaller but knowing someone has set traps in their house while our kids are there takes things to another level.
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Ugh... my brother had a mouse issue too. His house is a mouse-haven because they have so much crap and junk laying around. He saw at least three mice running around so laid some traps out and got them. He thinks that was all of them but who knows.
Nope. Traps are not the answer unless you can buy enough for the whole outdoors. It probably makes it even worse because you are culling the most stupid ones so more food for everyone else and the smarter ones breed smarter future pests.
I am glad I am not a parent. Who is going to think about possible rat traps and poison when visiting a friend?
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So glad to report I'm out of that last place - no more of those rats to deal with. Since I had last posted, I think I caught over half a dozen more rats -
The Archives (lol) - WARNING: GRAPHIC MATERIAL!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/f5Eqc6EbUdyPRd137
Anyway, we sold the place last August (2020) but just closed escrow on a new place last month. We're renting it back to the sellers now but we should be getting the keys on 10/2 and per a short check-in last week (had to get a couple quotes for things to do), we apparently might have new friends to deal with...
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLXsJvnwSkn8ob3MdxzZxZBvcwakSl1UfGuGYZhLc6ssImEFJzAvoKpni1OOFQ3NwpoPtMmlfRwB09gTUxkIol82DR8_g6g5QrDvf6pa92w6-f-zlWTQe4HLkAaByHw4jzuxvP72VAtLo7QAdODgWna4Sg=w711-h947-no?authuser=0)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLVGZOuggza_38M-eYW5x-SlD3KuefiWcIl2QHWAd91wJGEpQZ1UryH9FucwQ5wKUQh8EBZKlnrSRP1KQfr4rXR5tRiLoK9hqGnAJ8KKdbAElwgMkwVYcy-woIHKNtZZTVy3AB6ZHCAv7RL6YR796bAKgw=w711-h947-no?authuser=0)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLWH5Ntp0s7y7qfDYWivbAMhW9pNUDWyLmHLCh83LgyDqoSmgGFibtYsZbRKDiVhcGrOeIV9u-5OsQlo6kqN3NrMtYB4h099CmY7yXOrVGYhaPmw4A6cPjAQiTz2ETU9c-wfi2FF-xlVLXOSSQCnuwj4xQ=w711-h947-no?authuser=0)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLVNjwrf2ul7RPpqh1si-p9v27TNrmPOrZEMy4xXlYqSK_0P3glOv_-1z0wyjlKRAh4-DPz-vMLF0fRMbLE_cqK3f6AHdqWTY6QWVRvQPMGnrgIZoRU9sj1koFdodbIpVMJfNxoukGleiBHPlz8zzqCHFQ=w711-h947-no?authuser=0)
...To be continued...
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OMG, I didn't realize this old rat thread was yours when I posted in your new rat thread!
I can't believe you have to deal with rats again!
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OMG, I didn't realize this old rat thread was yours when I posted in your new rat thread!
I can't believe you have to deal with rats again!
Yea, I forgot about this gem of a thread. Time to bring it back to life hahahaha
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Just do the 5 gallon bucket thing...it is so simple and so amazing.
Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of water. Float raw sunflower seeds on the surface of the water thick enough that the water is totally covered. Lean a small board against the lip of the bucket to make a ramp.
The next morning, dump the 5 or 6 mice that have Geronimo'd into your bucket out in the woods somewhere.
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Just do the 5 gallon bucket thing...it is so simple and so amazing.
Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of water. Float raw sunflower seeds on the surface of the water thick enough that the water is totally covered. Lean a small board against the lip of the bucket to make a ramp.
The next morning, dump the 5 or 6 mice that have Geronimo'd into your bucket out in the woods somewhere.
I tried this at our last place and it didn't work at all. After having much success with the snap traps, it's easier just to set those up versus the 5 gallon contraption that wasn't even working. If I have to deal with these things again on my own, I'm going with snap traps and or an electric shock trap for indoors.
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California mice must be smarter than Washington mice! I have had so much success with the bucket thing I don't use anything else...and I don't have to worry about cats eating the poison or something. Snap traps do sometimes work though.
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California mice must be smarter than Washington mice! I have had so much success with the bucket thing I don't use anything else...and I don't have to worry about cats eating the poison or something. Snap traps do sometimes work though.
Rats are not mice. Rats are orders of magnitude smarter than mice. Mice are dumb fuck stupid.
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Yea, for mice I've heard the bucket traps work very well. What we're dealing with here has been rats though. I had to go through several iterations of snap trap strategies/layouts before I was actually catching these things consistently. The ones I dealt with at the last place were on the larger side so the Victor snap traps weren't cutting it - I think the rats were just too big/strong for the jaw to even clamp them and if they did get caught they could just force their way out of it. The plastic Tomcat traps were far more effective, especially when used in series. Basically I had it down to where I was leveraging the narrow passageway they were already traveling and setting the traps, in series, along that path. I would "funnel" them into the traps by forcing them to try to squeeze by an even narrower area (which is where the traps were, facing the wall, and blocking the back of the traps off so they couldn't go around or behind the trap. Almost all of the time they would set one or both traps off (they were spaced about 4-5" apart from one another):
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLUOhQyhJ4REGp_JM1ItaPAXOGw0FretwpQnO09ki_mxoshb-ILnpHGjQ9XDG-CWxPrzeTnJcHbeVvikGFTGc525qMHJMVoZTYTJQU60hwE3cBGIe9_zkgSxEDLJ-qpvdwEHli104gMnrvzvwPUrx46_pQ=w994-h707-no?authuser=0)
Hard to tell but there's another trap on the other side of that wood block. The wood block is there to prevent them from jumping over the back of the traps. This is the "funnel" scenario I'm referring to.
If you give them any space they'll just jump over or go around the traps in most cases. Forcing them to jump over one trap, with another trap on the other side, is normally what did the trick. Adding peanut butter with goodies (seeds, bacon, cheese, etc) buried inside was also key - this forced them to really go at it and spend more time "indulging" which increases the likelihood of getting a good clamp on them.
The only downside to this was that I'd get woken up usually sometime between midnight and 4am any given night to the sound of the trap thrashing around... kind of like an alarm clock but a lot more disturbing hahaha. This was right outside the sliding glass door of our master bedroom, so it couldn't have been any more than 10-15' away
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Well, it's confirmed... rat(s) at the new place. We were there today cleaning up and my wife was outside when she saw something scurry across the kitchen floor with a LONG TAIL. They are entering/exiting through the undersides of the lower cabinets. There's probably one or two nests in the place by now.
I'm going back to setup at least several snap traps. I want to TRY to get one before they fumigate tomorrow... smh
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Are they the same rats? Did you notice any tiny luggage?
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Are they the same rats? Did you notice any tiny luggage?
I went back to the house earlier tonight armed with the traps and was walking upstairs to turn off a light that we left on earlier... Thats when I saw the MFer scurry into the loft. I quietly walked back downstairs to grab some weapons. All I could find was a rubber mallet and bug zapper racket. Wth?! Anyway, I grabbed both and my handheld flashlight and slowly walked back up wondering how the hell I'm supposed to juggle a handheld flashlight, rubber mallet, and bug zapper in my two hands while trying to kill a friggin rat. Needless to say, I had it 'cornered' behind a door and tried to coax it out so I could smash it. The plan failed miserably and it raced right around me and downstairs back to the kitchen presumably where it came from. I was too slow to track it. It's times like these I wish I had a cat.
Anyway, I proceeded to serve up 6 traps full of delicious peanut butter, parmesan, turkey bacon, watermelon, and sunflower seeds. I like to go all out for these little bastards. I hope there are rats to clean up tomorrow morning. Else fumigation will get em and we'll be smelling dead rat for the next couple weeks or so. :(
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Oh you do have the best rat stories.
I am literally laughing over here picturing this one.
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Can you get a cat? And/or can you get a Jack Russell Terrier rescue to send you a loaner dog?
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Can you get a cat? And/or can you get a Jack Russell Terrier rescue to send you a loaner dog?
I think all of this may not matter after they fumigate today. What I'm not fond of is the likelihood that there are old rats' nests in the void spaces of our kitchen cabinets :(
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Can you get a cat? And/or can you get a Jack Russell Terrier rescue to send you a loaner dog?
I think all of this may not matter after they fumigate today. What I'm not fond of is the likelihood that there are old rats' nests in the void spaces of our kitchen cabinets :(
Gross. You might be able to pull the kickboards off so you can at least get underneath the cabinets.
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Can you get a cat? And/or can you get a Jack Russell Terrier rescue to send you a loaner dog?
I think all of this may not matter after they fumigate today. What I'm not fond of is the likelihood that there are old rats' nests in the void spaces of our kitchen cabinets :(
Gross. You might be able to pull the kickboards off so you can at least get underneath the cabinets.
Good idea, we might just opt to do that. BTW: I had multiple dreams (or nightmares?) of catching rats last night, but when I got the house earlier this AM I was elated because it turns out that I got the little rat bastard after all... well, at least one of them. The little MFer chewed up part of the carpet on the staircase landing, and when I pulled out the oven drawer, there were bits of insulation in random places. So I'm wondering if it was a 'new' rat looking for a place to nest and was in the process of gathering materials. I'm not sure if there are more but I didn't notice any more 'fresh' droppings after cleaning the dead one up and all the other droppings. Yesterday after cleaning up droppings, we saw new ones appear, so I think it was the same rat running around and avoiding us in the process.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLWSWC8wUn7tXaWKbDkqnh4doJd3Szdf10Sv5gLh5KBgII47RdZhka2LaPUA0ZLQYwI_bCm6x0W1xYwMkmT2F5B3Zn06gvBDErL3GLmqXuFTG-wSDv1h9MFml8BPhYrHEQJEwLupmX0LeDny9kX5znK0sQ=w1684-h947-no?authuser=0)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLUEjK99RoqWh9Z1sR95OQsO_6Ngh-DdSVY8eX1ikocu3xpkjrxKbMYhvwTWn3_hl_9d7y47lDsqu-EV6RmsCk2LPHoMmxNBehBlPB07iIKXLv64rM95rXbmxoJGebDJtLQx7LvmxRLwzxgcNaTHMH39bA=w533-h947-no?authuser=0)
Here's an image 'to scale' - I wear a size 9US shoe, which translates to 10.25". This rat was very close if not longer (including the tail).
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLXl8GegLqcpfin5a0iwpHXFnkybbqpl7H6YMqyOpZKNGq4LGIxbWT802tb9Q48mxC-bQ1ISfdEEAX9tLd2aGZCbeYdCRo4u4XfXh0Rm0WAxok_D6KO9O-MFztfxxArJUj71SYyrRi71XQX0rdLFpAPNPQ=w533-h947-no?authuser=0)
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I am begrudgingly happy for you if this is the end, but I would have loved to follow another heroic rat adventure.
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I am begrudgingly happy for you if this is the end, but I would have loved to follow another heroic rat adventure.
You want me to call off the fumigation? It's super tempting. Maybe after fumigation I'll leave a bunch of doors open, just like the previous owners, then we can have the next chapter. LOL
I must say that I am impressed by how fast I was able to get this one. I guess my prior experiences helped out a lot. Hmmm, maybe I should start a pest control business...
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I am begrudgingly happy for you if this is the end, but I would have loved to follow another heroic rat adventure.
You want me to call off the fumigation? It's super tempting. Maybe after fumigation I'll leave a bunch of doors open, just like the previous owners, then we can have the next chapter. LOL
I must say that I am impressed by how fast I was able to get this one. I guess my prior experiences helped out a lot. Hmmm, maybe I should start a pest control business...
It is quite impressive. You have become a formidable rat hunter, your story of chasing it with ridiculous weapons aside, LOL
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Just do the 5 gallon bucket thing...it is so simple and so amazing.
Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of water. Float raw sunflower seeds on the surface of the water thick enough that the water is totally covered. Lean a small board against the lip of the bucket to make a ramp.
The next morning, dump the 5 or 6 mice that have Geronimo'd into your bucket out in the woods somewhere.
I wish I'd known this when I had my farm house. We went through so many glue traps, and caught the dog and toddler in them a few times. I do know that baby oil is good for cleaning mouse trap goo off toddlers, dogs, and various surfaces.
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I am begrudgingly happy for you if this is the end, but I would have loved to follow another heroic rat adventure.
You want me to call off the fumigation? It's super tempting. Maybe after fumigation I'll leave a bunch of doors open, just like the previous owners, then we can have the next chapter. LOL
I must say that I am impressed by how fast I was able to get this one. I guess my prior experiences helped out a lot. Hmmm, maybe I should start a pest control business...
It is quite impressive. You have become a formidable rat hunter, your story of chasing it with ridiculous weapons aside, LOL
Getting Kevin McCallister vibes
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I am begrudgingly happy for you if this is the end, but I would have loved to follow another heroic rat adventure.
You want me to call off the fumigation? It's super tempting. Maybe after fumigation I'll leave a bunch of doors open, just like the previous owners, then we can have the next chapter. LOL
I must say that I am impressed by how fast I was able to get this one. I guess my prior experiences helped out a lot. Hmmm, maybe I should start a pest control business...
It is quite impressive. You have become a formidable rat hunter, your story of chasing it with ridiculous weapons aside, LOL
Getting Kevin McCallister vibes
I thought I was home alone last night... apparently not. I felt the creeps after seeing it scurry across the hallway floor. That image has been forever etched into my brain. The worst part is that our backyard is completely pitch black at night and we have French doors and a kitchen bay window with no shades. I think I'll feel more comfortable once we get some curtains up over the French doors and something to cover up the kitchen window haha.
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I had a rat eat my Marigold flowers this year. I kept trying to figure out why a Marigold blooms then disappear after reaching its peak. I set up a camera and found the answer, a rat. I used one of these live traps outside (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07331WZ6G/6). I waited until one Marigold peaked, snapped it off, put it in the trap plate, and next morning I had the guy. He was nicely disposed of on the other side of the freeway near me (~ 2 miles). Marigolds bloomed great for the rest of the year!
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I had a rat eat my Marigold flowers this year. I kept trying to figure out why a Marigold blooms then disappear after reaching its peak. I set up a camera and found the answer, a rat. I used one of these live traps outside (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07331WZ6G/6). I waited until one Marigold peaked, snapped it off, put it in the trap plate, and next morning I had the guy. He was nicely disposed of on the other side of the freeway near me (~ 2 miles). Marigolds bloomed great for the rest of the year!
Marigolds! I woul dhave never thought. I'm going to grow some just so I can use those in future traps LOL... that is, if they don't eat all the flowers before I can pick them hahaha.
On that note, for anyone who is interested in keeping up with the latest fallout/aftermath of fumigation and a pre-existing and obviously persistent infestation/nest via pictures, here you go!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/SEG6HAg4woPw1ssX7
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Oh my, that is so much worse than I thought it would be. I'm extremely impressed with your restraint. If this were my own house I'd have just lit a match and walked away. You should have seen how badly I lost it when a lizard got in the house 2 summers ago.
I bet you have a fairly large hole somewhere that they were using to go in and out. Where else would all those leaves and sticks have come from?
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Oh my, that is so much worse than I thought it would be. I'm extremely impressed with your restraint. If this were my own house I'd have just lit a match and walked away. You should have seen how badly I lost it when a lizard got in the house 2 summers ago.
I bet you have a fairly large hole somewhere that they were using to go in and out. Where else would all those leaves and sticks have come from?
Well, the owner would leave a french door cracked apparently most of the day. He had a dog so I think it was easier to do that. Half the time we came to look at the place during and after escrow, these French doors were cracked open. So I can't help but think that was part of the problem. We're having a pest company come out tomorrow to inspect otherwise. Not quite sure how we'll handle the cleanup - if it isn't much more worse, we'll probably just DIY it.
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(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ADCreHeQbisu3Ez6rmrshuaECOSm8YsRWfQvqTnT1dyRJRV739mevtVxlnsXhDfwmr95Mg5A5Rcht70YmdcKQEbXDkITVQ6vrFHXFjpzfNAx29kWhSWqHw0GREOAf9sQKQWBNzSS1PCB99GwtpsfVaOb7UpnUg=w1440-h822-s-no?authuser=0)
Here we go....again
>:D
Unfortunately, this one was too light to trip the plate. They are more elusive at this property and have been avoiding my snap traps. Fig butter seems to do the trick in terms of attracting them though (tip from my friend down the street who has been live trapping rats).
NOTE: the live trap pictured was originally intended for squirrels but I've caught some rats in it as well.
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Omg, this is my favourite thread ever.
How does one person have so many rat adventures??
Are you still in the same place? The house with all of the problems and the rats that got in because the previous owner left the door open all the time? Am I remembering that right?
So now you have rats in that house again??
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That is an outside picture, isn't it? (For your sake, please let it be an outside picture.)
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That is an outside picture, isn't it? (For your sake, please let it be an outside picture.)
Ah, you missed the house thread with all the dead rats inside
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Omg, this is my favourite thread ever.
How does one person have so many rat adventures??
Are you still in the same place? The house with all of the problems and the rats that got in because the previous owner left the door open all the time? Am I remembering that right?
So now you have rats in that house again??
That is an outside picture, isn't it? (For your sake, please let it be an outside picture.)
Fortunately this one is outside... *Knock on wood*
Yes this is the same house where the owner left the door open all the time for his dog and rats got in. I trapped the mother rat the night before fumigation and the following week found her dead litter (and the remains of the grandparents) after it started smelling foul in the kitchen. I still have PTSD from that experience...
I need to clean the backyard area up though as it's cluttered, and clutter attracts rats ;)