War of the Rats

[RAT900]

you need some gap also so you can see if termites are building tunnels into the wood,

less than the diameter of a quarter though as that is all a rat needs to work with

[brimo]

#6 confirmed kill at noon today.  This year has been the year of the rats.  I swear they eat the poison and shit it out without effect.

That is actually true, I understand they can build up an immunity, however there is no immunity to a lead injection.

[muskrat]

That is actually true, I understand they can build up an immunity, however there is no immunity to a lead injection.

Dam, I read the package and it didn't disclose that.  Is there an Attorney here?   
No matter, the Academy Sports pellet gun has served me well.  I do admit to hitting one with a 410 though.  The little bastard was hiding and fast as hell. 

[somegirl]

@#$%^& rat ate into water bottles in pantry!   

Will have to get another steel can to put emergency water supplies into.

Guess I will also have to try a snap trap in the pantry.  I was hoping to avoid that.

[Scooter Montgomery]

I was just had this picture of Rat posting one of those old time style photos of all the rats he kills hung on a line and him standing in front of them armed with a pellet guns and a box of D-Con posion. 

[fastwin]

I have a problem with field mice/vols at my farm getting in the barn and into tractor equipment and setting up house, chewing wires and hose lines. I even have a GSXR stored in the barn in case I ever have time to go for a ride. The bike, lawn tractor and the Masey Ferguson are all surrounded in moats of rat death. I have a ring around the bike and each piece of equipment that has 2-3 types and flavors of poison.

Last spring I was checking on the scooter and noticed tiny mice foot prints in the dust on the rims. I thought uh oh, trouble. Pulled the bike cover off and popped the rear seat cowl cover and sure enough there was a miniature field mouse condominium. They had chewed up my insurance card, part of the owner's manual and a couple of red shop towels. And they had packed the area with a double handful of grass to make their nest. I can't imagine how many trips they took back and forth to carry that much grass into the barn, up the bike frame and into the seat cowl area! How in the world did they resist the moat of death every time they went back and forth. Amazingly they didn't do anything to the bike other than build the nest. Didn't chew on any wires or hoses thankfully. Everytime I see a rat snake or Copperhead I just leave them alone. They are there to help me so I just let them be. I have no pets or livestock there so they are welcome guests.

[akmnstr]

Everytime I see a rat snake or Copperhead I just leave them alone. They are there to help me so I just let them be.

+1  Glad to hear it.  Trouble with those snakes is that they are cold blooded and don't have to eat many rodents.  I lived with a friend that kept a rat snake.  He fed it
a mouse about once a week.  His feeding made for an excellent show, nature in the raw. 

[RAT900]

I was just had this picture of Rat posting one of those old time style photos of all the rats he kills hung on a line and him standing in front of them armed with a pellet guns and a box of D-Con posion. 

I would think something along the lines of an old sepia daguerreotype,

me perched on a pile of rats ala the old Great Plains buffalo shoots of the 19th century

They love the poison....so far...

going back down there in 2 or 3 weeks and I plan to dust the outside of the burrow holes in the dirt side of the cellar

with talc or plaster powder or something to see if they are active at all

I toyed with the idea of pouring concrete in there....I may get to that sooner than later

[RAT900]

as a side note rats require between 2 and 4 ounces of water a day....which is a good amount considering their size

remove water access/availability and they will move

they will drink standing water in rain gutters or anywhere it collects like downspout run-off hoses,

dryness is not their friend

[somegirl]

All water bottles and soda bottles moved to spare fridge in garage, 3 different types of traps set up last night.
No destruction but it did push one of the traps around.

[RAT900]

All water bottles and soda bottles moved to spare fridge in garage, 3 different types of traps set up last night.
No destruction but it did push one of the traps around.

Cheeky Bastards

If you know where/how their slips and holes into the house are

you can try packing them with steel wool....they hate that stuff

ya can't gnaw your way through steel wool (not that I have tried to)

[somegirl]

Cheeky Bastards

If you know where/how their slips and holes into the house are

you can try packing them with steel wool....they hate that stuff

ya can't gnaw your way through steel wool (not that I have tried to)

Thanks, I already did that as much as I can find the holes but there are obviously some I missed.

Ratzapper company suggested I give it a free meal, turn it off and put bait in the front and back.
Then when it is confident enough to go inside, turn it back on.
Guess it is worth a try at this point.

[RAT900]

Rats are indeed neophobic

and it takes them a few days or so to get used to the idea of something new in their theater of operations

once they acclimate to the new object then they will explore it...just has to stay put unmoved and untouched

until the idea/aroma of its contents overrides their instinctive caution

personally I will use any and everything to get them...glue traps, snap traps poison, firepower

oddly the exterminator told me glue traps are regarded as unethical....I sputtered at him and said...what is there some sort of make the beast with two backsing Geneva Convention?

Not like I am looking for a truce and will ever be inviting them over to dinner (intentionally)

When it comes to rats I bayonet the wounded and will blast any I get in a glue trap

[swampduc]

^^^ It is, after all, war. 

[fastwin]

Unethical? WTF? We are talking about rats, right? Not baby seals or baskets of kittens. What, that dude has a conscience? He needs counseling.