Need Rat control please help!

[roar9roar]

I am surrounded by neighbors with rats that do not control thier livestock feed. So the rats run between our properties. They are tunneling rats so they undermine everything. I have chickens and dogs so I try and limit the poisen.

So far I have tried:

1. Standard trap with peanut butter
2. Jaw traps with PB and rat attract
3. flares
4. bait poisen down holes
5. oxy/propane blowing (2 weeks)
6. Every type of mole trap made
7. poisen chunks thrown into the wood pile
8. Cat (fail)
9. dogs (fail)
10. Baited bucket fall trap. Works great for mice.
11. snares

I had great initial success with the standard and jaw traps, now they dont care. There is an occasional leg I find in a tripped one but that just tells me it is in the way of whereever they are going to feed. I need a new good bait.

I dont blame the cat for not catching any of these by the way. They are 2/3 his body weight. My record size is 17 inches nose to tail. The body of these rats is the length of a shovel head. I can post a pic if need be. I never would have thought a rat would be that large. In any case, if you have any tips n tricks, old timers especially, please chime in. I am open to anything legal.

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[KONE KILLER]

Invite some of you best friends with .22's over for bbq then rat shoot. Or reverse order if you like... I never have been a fan of nasty rat though...

 

[M67]

We raise hogs for food for our family, but unfortunately the rats and mice also love to eat the hog feed.

We have found that rodent poison inside of a 4" x 4' pipe works very well. We cut a hole into the middle of the pipe and then cut a section of pipe larger than the hole and put hinges on it so you can refill the poison as needed and keep the rain out.

 

[Swedish K]

only risk there is if you have cats and they get the poisoned mice/rats before they die you have poisoned cat. I vote for 22s with cans and night vision or thermal - kinda expensive but a boat load of fun I'm sure.

 

[deadeye]

Go buy some cheap dryer sheets crumple them up and throw them around, they hate the smell. Other than that try the sound makers that plug in.

 

[slimmer13]

When you push for Rat control, then it only keeps law abiding citizens from getting rats.

 

[coop44]

1: Dachshunds, bred for "going to ground" they are hell on bunnies too. I have two they catch anything that moves, are perserverant and boy can they dig.

2: Carbon Monoxide- A hose+an automobile+rat hole. Works on gophers and moles pretty quick too! The CM dissapates quickly so no danger to livestock.

3: I have used 22 shorts in an old bolt action, or find some "Sub caliber conversions" I have a set of six for 9mm, solid steel. even look like a 9mm round except they only have room for a pistol primer in one end and a single piece of #4 shot in the other. btw it's rifled too pretty accurate to 20ft. Problem is these were not made for long and are pretty rare.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Problem with poisons is your dog or cat may eat the poisoned rodents

Sounds like Nordic rats, they are huge and very hard to deal with

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

When I get off work I'll delve further into why us pest control technicians have licenses and get paid to do what we do.

You did not give the rats credit for being as intelligent as they actually are. Mice on the otherhand are as dumb as a sack of hammers. You may have run the risk of making the alpha male and female (if this is a centralized position ) trap shy. There is most definitely a method to which needs to be done in order to gain the confidence of the rats. Most likely that occasional leg is left there because the alpha male and female ate the juvenile that was caught. There are also many variables that come into play. Food sources, subterranean tunnels, the populations size and the possibility of misidentification of the possible pest at hand.

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

Most of the rodent bait is non secondary poison. a dog eating the said rat isn't all that possible . Second, the poison for the said rats can kill a dog but it'll take quite a bit. raccoons eat heaps of the stuff and come back for more I've NEVER seen a cat eat the stuff . ever. Lastly those things you can plug into the wall that make a high frequency noise are a joke. Many lawsuits were filed after those came out.

 

[SteelyDan]

The dryer sheets or mothballs never worked for me. In fact, nothing has really worked except eliminating the food source. Trapping does keep them relatively under control but they get wise to them quickly.

Maybe it's time to call the health department. With the latest case of plague that happened in Oregon they may be more receptive.

 

[roar9roar]

Yeah, I believe they are nortic rats too from what I have read. I just tried to upload an image of one I shot that was leg-caught in a jaw trap but I guess NWFA doesnt like Iphone images.
They have figured out the poisen block bait and now dont eat it. I have run out of local brands to try.

I have not tried the carbon monoxide yet, but from the lack of production from flares and mole gas I doubt it would work. I would shoot them all day but they are mostly night active. And trust me I have hunted. But they are underground. And when you do catch them in the light they are gone in a flash.

 

[Rascals]

Put the bait into balls of peanut butter. Seems to always work well.

 

[roar9roar]

I like the thought of health dept but I dont want govit involved. Might be a huge headache for the neighbor friends and make me enemies. Plus nothing really good ever happens when the code enforcement people walk on your property. I like to be self reliant.

 

[roar9roar]

They are wise to PB and commercial rat bait.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

We have a few around my neighborhood.. they like to sit in the sunlight on cold days and soak up the rays. Almost got a few with a shovel but they move fast. I believe the neighbors feeding the non native squirrels and also leaving dog food out are the culprits.. boobs

I am not surprised about anything raccoon related.. they are pretty tough customers..

 

[roar9roar]

Had a skunk that went through 4 chickens in 2 nights.. Live trapped him and had a shootout. I won. I know to drown but shooting was safer.

 

[taylor]

Having a meeting with your neighbors and working to eliminate food thats accessable to them is the only thing that works. There are special rat-proof feeding containers available.
There may be some high frequency projector that chases them away? I've heard of them.
Its funny I've had pet Rats and there the cleanest animal I ever saw 10 times a day cleans from tip of tail to wisker, and sweet pets. But I also can see the problem they can cause.

 

[Grunwald]

The right cat would work. Check out craigslist for working cats - these are ferral barn cats that you can get. If you get the big ones, they will take down any rat that comes their way.
My cat is over 15 lbs and thinks that rats are toys.

 

[boxer13]

Just go buy some snakes then a couple of ferrets to keep the snakes in check. Win-Win.