War of the Rats

[AJ]

Oops, can tell from the picture I need to align ramp and dowel slightly better.

I was just wondering about that

That's some nasty wire chewing, definitely time to get tough! I hope the bucket trap and food lock-down works to stave them off until you can call in the reinforcements (barn owls and peeny)

Good luck!!!

[somegirl]

Better:

[Popeye the Sailor]

I'mma make the beast with two backs up some rats when I get home.

Night vision goggles and my crossbow.



Peeny the impaler.

[lethe]

I'mma make the beast with two backs up some rats when I get home.

Night vision goggles and my crossbow.



Peeny the impaler.

I'll laugh if they all tie you down like Gulliver

[RAT900]

I am curious to see if any of SG's rats kick the bucket

Be patient remember that rats are neophobic

and might need a day or 3 to get tempted enough to go for the bait

[TiNi]

fingers crossed for you paula 

[Stella]

 





Cant say I've ever looked forward to rat capturing stories.

[RAT900]

Cant say I've ever looked forward to rat capturing stories.

Here at NMC,,,, One's horizons are always widening, not always in a wholesome or family-oriented manner   

[somegirl]

Oh, the rat went for it the first night.

Loved the peanut butter.  Then proceeded to have the runs in the kitchen.

I redid trap yesterday to make bottle spin even faster.  Set it up with smaller amount of PB.

And it enjoyed it again last night, no digestive issues this time thankfully.

Time for a new approach.

Since it does seem to like this arrangement, I am thinking about bungeeing the rat zapper to the top of the bucket.

Give it a free meal for a night or two.  Then turn it on.

Alternatively I will dig out my clicker and work on training it per Stella's earlier idea.

[Artful]

Ok, I'll join this discussion. A good friend of mine had a rat infestation in his house downtown. Instead of taking the passive approach and setting traps we decided to make this very personal. We sprinkled dog food along the edges of all the kitchen walls. We set up the kill zone with two sniper nests, one at the mud room door, one at the kitchen door. We turned out the lights, cracked a beer... and waited.

We were armed with air riles, old Daisies with hollow point pellets. Our eyes adjusted easily with the ambient light from the streets outside. The sounds of small skittering feet were above us, hidden safely in the ceiling. Safely. For now.

After an hour and a half the first rat struck.

His sleek body emerged from the corner behind the washing machine, a dark silhouette against the stark white enamel. He lumbered along the wall, sniffing greedily at the dog food they had feasted on for weeks now. He found the morsel that lured him to his doom next to the pantry door. Inches more and he would have found safety within its walls, but not this one. This one had forgotten his training in the presence of what appeared to be easy pickings.

The shot cracked out from across the kitchen. My friend had taken the shot. A ear piercing squeal filled the room as he flipped the lights on. The death was quick though, and within seconds the convulsing form on the floor lay still, a bright red splash framing his corpse on the wall behind him.

This would be the first of many. We considered impaling him on a pike outside the village as a warning to the others, but we figured nah, too dramatic 

Click at your own risk, it's gory.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v432/theartfuldubber/Carnage.jpg

[fastwin]

Beautifully written tale (tail?? ). You are obviously talented with the pen and Daisy. I love stories like this. Baited killing field. And there was beer involved. More good thinking! Revenge is a dish best served cold. Hopefully the beer was cold too.

I like the impaling idea! I once had an ongoing jihad against pigeons vs my songbird bird feeders that was dealt with in a similar fashion. Scoped pellet rifles. I would occasionally leave a carcass laying around as a warning to the others. I assumed the smart ones figured out the message, the dumb ones joined the carcass.

[RAT900]

Better:

I think you need to move the spinning bottle closer to the side without the ramp

He/she can probably reach the peanut butter with its hind legs planted on a stable bit of the bucket or ramp and stretch keeping its front legs on the wood dowel

[fastwin]

Again, more good advice. Catch/kill a rat = think like a rat.

[RAT900]

This rat has entitlement issues, didn't hesitate to hit the bait first time out...then crapped the floor as a thank you

probably should put the bait more towards the far end of the bottle too

[somegirl]

I think you need to move the spinning bottle closer to the side without the ramp

He/she can probably reach the peanut butter with its hind legs planted on a stable bit of the bucket or ramp and stretch keeping its front legs on the wood dowel

This was last night's version.

Putting bait on far end is a good idea.

I was also thinking about coating the whole bottle in oil.