How do I get rid of this (roof rat?)?

[jeromedawg]

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)

[Thinkum]

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.

[jeromedawg]

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.

[jeromedawg]

More pics, just cause... he just popped out again. Getting a little braver haha

[MDM]

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 and then the plain ole won't seem so bad. ;)

[jeromedawg]

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 and then the plain ole won't seem so bad. ;)

LOL! I'm gonna get one of those! jk...

[Lanthiriel]

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

[Fishindude]

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.

[Dancin'Dog]

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).

[Thinkum]

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?

[Bill76]

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.

[Spork]

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.

[Travis]

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.

[jeromedawg]

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)

[jeromedawg]

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

[Mother Fussbudget]

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.

[Reynolds531]

Another vote for 5 gallon bucket homemade trap. I once caught six mice in one bucket in one night.

[Reynolds531]

And I'm curious what did you name him? Lol

[Travis]

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.

[Travis]

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.

[Spork]

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.

[Catbert]

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. 

[dragoncar]

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?

[Spork]

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.

[RosieTR]

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!

[jeromedawg]

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.

[jeromedawg]

Here we go!!!! Cmon, just take it lol

[dragoncar]

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)

[jeromedawg]

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 :)

[jeromedawg]

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.

[jeromedawg]

Video of the endeavor....

[attachment deleted by admin]

[jeromedawg]

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.

[Spork]

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.

[Dancin'Dog]

 or you could wait up with a pellet gun and give it high velocity lead poisoning....

That's the most fun idea yet! 

[jeromedawg]

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?

[jeromedawg]

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.

[Spork]

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.

[Dancin'Dog]

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.  ;) 

[jeromedawg]

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 :)

[BTDretire]

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.

[jeromedawg]

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"

[Goldielocks]

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".....

[jeromedawg]

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

[Radagast]

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.)

[canadian bacon]

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.   

[canadian bacon]

oh, I deal with Norway rats if that matters...

[jeromedawg]

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?

[dragoncar]

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

[Butterfingers]

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!

[Phil_Moore]

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.