Rats Advice on how best to get rid off

Small Farmer

I have my potatoes and other vedgetables stored in a Garage behind my house.
I have a problem as I have rats or mice that have taken an interest in them.
I am using STORM to try and get rid of them and was wondering if I am going about this the right way.
The first problem i may need to sort is to block up a hole in an internal wall which seperates the garage from an open shed as apart from this the garage should be sealed off.
I have used the poison each day for the last five days putting down 12/16 blue storm blocks in three seperate locations along the wall on the concrete floor shaded off with a timber board. Each morning all is gone.
Has anyone any advice on any better way of dealing with them?
Any help in this context would be appreciated

vanderbadger

jack russells are great for killing them, trouble with the poison is its dangerous to leave around in case anything else eats it

fig mclough

tom cat

whelan1

just put the bait down once a week , they are carriers are are probably just storing the bait ... the bait that comes in grain size is very good as they have to eat that on site hth

dar31

them rats are sitting on a big pile of bait, they will carry it off and store it, as whealan1 said,
put 2 -4 pieces in a bag, find bread bags ideal, put into a 2ft lenght of pipe, to stop pets other animals getting at it, once a week is enough. do this in 1 or 2 different locations.
usually they will need access to water, due to the way storm works, shouldnt be a problem these day though
if that fails, get a lend of a good ratter(dog)
if that fails shoot them

Box09

Wrap some storm in plastic and gently break it with a hammer. Place it on small containers like old butter cartons in safe places. They won't be able to carry it but will eat it and die:pac:

Rujib1

Like you I am plagued by rats in the farm yard which straddles a stream which never helps with a rat problem. Anyway I have been baiting with storm for over nine weeks now. Initially everyday and then gradually reducing to just every 4 days or so. So far I have collected 18 dead ones, and I assume many more have died which I have not found.
It is MOST important to keep baiting untill they are all killed off. Do not stop prematurely as any which might survive small doses of poison could potentially develop immunity to the poison and pass it on. Then you are in mega trouble.

JohnThomas09

Rujib1 wrote: »

So far I have collected 18 dead ones, and I assume many more have died which I have not found.

i had a minor Rat problem this year and was told if i got any dead ones to burn their bodies close to where the Rats are.The smell of the burnt remains will make the other Rats flee.i didnt think it would work but it did,as crazy and all as it sounds.

Figerty

Had the same problem a few years ago,

Got a good killer cat in and bred from it. No rats now except for the occasional stray. Better than poison and bait!

Problem is they brought home a few pheasants as well!

Along with a lot of small birds,, but no rats or mice now.

JohnThomas09

Figerty wrote: »

Problem is they brought home a few pheasants as well!

they have killed a few pheasants. is this the kind of cat you have.

Figerty

Not far off it! I watched them stalking the pheasants for a few days, I never thought they would catch one... they did,, and then brought home second one the following day!

I sent some of the off spring up to a friend in Sligo and warned them they were natural born killers...

His brought home a couple of 'hawks' click the link to see the photos. he spares you the blood an guts..

http://www.verticalbones.com/2007/07/and-then-there-were-three/#more-261

irish_bob

Small Farmer wrote: »

I have my potatoes and other vedgetables stored in a Garage behind my house.
I have a problem as I have rats or mice that have taken an interest in them.
I am using STORM to try and get rid of them and was wondering if I am going about this the right way.
The first problem i may need to sort is to block up a hole in an internal wall which seperates the garage from an open shed as apart from this the garage should be sealed off.
I have used the poison each day for the last five days putting down 12/16 blue storm blocks in three seperate locations along the wall on the concrete floor shaded off with a timber board. Each morning all is gone.
Has anyone any advice on any better way of dealing with them?
Any help in this context would be appreciated

you need to break up the pieces of storm into suggary little bits , that way the rat cannot bring the rock off with him , place the rocks of storm inside a pot or a bucket , get a lump hammer and press down on each rock and mash it up untill its dust like , then put a desert spoon full of poision in each corner of the shed , loft etc , trust me , it works

Rujib1

irish_bob wrote: »

you need to break up the pieces of storm into suggary little bits , that way the rat cannot bring the rock off with him , place the rocks of storm inside a pot or a bucket , get a lump hammer and press down on each rock and mash it up untill its dust like , then put a desert spoon full of poision in each corner of the shed , loft etc , trust me , it works

Agreed, but best to put out full blocks initially, as they will carry them back to base and you are assured the whole family will get a feed. I think that is the logic of the instructions on the storm package. Feed every day for a few days. Rats will haul the stuff back to base. Then stop baiting for 4 days and make sure there is no other available food stuff for them to eat such as meal etc. Rats will then eat some of the stuff they have in storage. Now you have a good chance of getting poison into as many as possible of the bastsrds.

aristo

fig mclough wrote: »

tom cat

is very good, but if you mix icing sugar, flour and plaster paris altogether equally, lay it in little trays. The sugar and flour draws them to it, and the plaster paris goes solid inside them and they die. or the plaster paris can be substituted for baking soda which forms gas in the rats system that it cant get rid of and they bloat up and die:D

vanderbadger

Figerty wrote: »

Not far off it! I watched them stalking the pheasants for a few days, I never thought they would catch one... they did,, and then brought home second one the following day!

I sent some of the off spring up to a friend in Sligo and warned them they were natural born killers...

His brought home a couple of 'hawks' click the link to see the photos. he spares you the blood an guts..

http://www.verticalbones.com/2007/07/and-then-there-were-three/#more-261

jaysus you would want to watch them kitties you have, next thing packs of them will be bringing down sheep

bbam

Hi...
Have just got ours under control this week...
Had rats in the farm yard and mice in my garage...

Storm is great but as previous posters said it needs to be broken up and I never put down more than 2 pieces in any place, refill when empty.

I made bait points with a gallon drum on its side, cut a hole in bottom so a 4" sever pipe about foot long will fit snug inside, in the end of the sewer pipe I ran in three screws at 120 degrees to each other. Rat/mouse can get in but not childs hand. Put them down on the runs and yuo can't miss.. Keeps storm dry for outside bait points..

Best of luck..

Figerty

yeah, and they give you the odd dirty look...would want to watch my back..

Even the dog looks nervous at times..

vanderbadger wrote: »

jaysus you would want to watch them kitties you have, next thing packs of them will be bringing down sheep

spoutwell

If you train them (the rats) to eat meal out of a barrel or a wheelie-bin, you can put water in the barrel, meal floating on the top, the rat jumps in and can't get out.

westwicklow

spoutwell wrote: »

If you train them (the rats) to eat meal out of a barrel or a wheelie-bin, you can put water in the barrel, meal floating on the top, the rat jumps in and can't get out.

Any "rat trainers" in The Golden Pages?



Can't rats swim and/or jump?

Rats around here (Wicklow) seem to be great at both... nothing like a skelp of a shovel though to break their eh..... concentration!!



No animals were hurt in making this post!!

Birdnuts

Since buzzards started breeding in my part of Kildare 10 years ago, many local farmers are commenting on what a good job they do on the hordes of rats we usually get around here at harvest time:)

spoutwell

Maybe the buzzards heard what they're going to do to the farmers in the budget ............:eek:

vanderbadger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy7C9oq-Bmw&feature=fvw
rat zapper

Dusty87

Just a tip that might come in handy,
liquidize tinned cat food in a blender or whatever. They love it, i got the tip from a shooting magazine. Im trapping them goodo with it. Dont use blender inside the house, smell is fairly rough.

kfk

I have a jack russell and a cairn terrier with the past 12 years and they dont leave a rat near the place. A few years I saw a rat run in between bags of nuts that were stacked on a pallet. Called the dogs and they smelled the rat straight away. As I was taking the top few bag off the pallet, the jack russell pulled one of the lower bags right off the pallet. kg is a lot of weight for a small dog. Amazing strength. They seem to live for killing rats, and the odd rabbit too!

leddpipe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxMlRWMqLXM&feature=PlayList&p=37DEA9ADE077FF76&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=35

whelan1

our jack russell got lepto from killing rats:(

ivanthehunter

If you had acess to air rifles as they do in the uk then you'd have hours of joy shooting the little bassttaads.

Regards ivan

westwicklow

whelan1 wrote: »

our jack russell got lepto from killing rats:(

Ah nuts, sorry to hear this.

Figerty

I can give you a few good cats if you want!!!!:D

whelan1 wrote: »

our jack russell got lepto from killing rats:(

k mac

Have problems with rats in my slatted house probably cause am feeding meal . As its a open shed am afraid to put down storm in case anything else gets at it the dog or even the cattle if its left in a block the rats could bring it and if it is in dust could it blow in to where the cattle are feeding ? Any suggestions would be appreciated .

MI5

k mac wrote: »

Have problems with rats in my slatted house probably cause am feeding meal . As its a open shed am afraid to put down storm in case anything else gets at it the dog or even the cattle if its left in a block the rats could bring it and if it is in dust could it blow in to where the cattle are feeding ? Any suggestions would be appreciated .

They obviously do not live in the slatted house. You need to figure out where their run is. Look around at nearby sheds, hay sheds, places of potential shelter which are within striking distance of your slatted shed.

Bait a number of points with blocks. If no takers after a few days, move the bait around, until you find their run.

As well as that you could set up a nicely covered bait point or two on or near your feed passage, but out of reach of cattle and other small animals and birds.
Believe me, the rats will find your bait sooner rather than later.

They will carry off the storm blocks rather than eat on site. Let them do that for the first 10 days or so. Then stat crushing the stuff and make them eat on site.

Job done.

can take a while though for full clear out. I have been baiting for over 2 months now, and only this week has there been a significant reduction in activity.

k mac

Thanks mi5 i have made a run near the feeding passage ,i crushed the block though i would be afraid if they brought away the full block it could become available to other animals and poison them

eorna

i use poison but and also use cage to trap them..with the poison is hard to know what happens..with the cage is simple..the one who goes in doesn't get out..
Got a good few this year..

johngalway

I would be inclined to use a trap such as the Monarch on >this< site. Bait it with peanut butter or nutella and you'll have your own army of kamikaze rats in no time. The good thing about it is when ratty goes for the prize, you have him, it'll catch multiple rats at a time, no worries about them hauling away and storing up poison.

eorna

yeah jhongalway i use one of them alright.. bit of fat from a chop or stake they can't resist..might try the auld nutella:D

John_F

heard a story once that if you catch one rat, starve it and let it free it'l eat all the other rats?? but what would happen when letting it free

johngalway

John_F wrote: »

heard a story once that if you catch one rat, starve it and let it free it'l eat all the other rats?? but what would happen when letting it free

Old wives tale, or rather, auld fella propping up the bar with nothin better to say tale.

If you let a rat go, it'll go back to eating what it's always eaten, you're not going to brain wash it.

John_F

johngalway wrote: »

Old wives tale, or rather, auld fella propping up the bar with nothin better to say tale.

If you let a rat go, it'll go back to eating what it's always eaten, you're not going to brain wash it.

:D:D

k mac

Seen something in ncf its a device you plug in to a socket and it emits some sound or wave thats supposed to keep rats ,birds etc away .Has anyone tried them can t see it working myself think it would be £46 down the drain

fastrac

johngalway wrote: »

I would be inclined to use a trap such as the Monarch on >this< site. Bait it with peanut butter or nutella and you'll have your own army of kamikaze rats in no time. The good thing about it is when ratty goes for the prize, you have him, it'll catch multiple rats at a time, no worries about them hauling away and storing up poison.

Dingle Poultry have a good range of traps for all varmints.Check website.

johngalway

fastrac wrote: »

Dingle Poultry have a good range of traps for all varmints.Check website.

Often bought stuff off them myself, good service, their one let down is no photos of what you're buying!

johngalway

k mac wrote: »

Seen something in ncf its a device you plug in to a socket and it emits some sound or wave thats supposed to keep rats ,birds etc away .Has anyone tried them can t see it working myself think it would be £46 down the drain

Sister of a friend of mine (yesh, it's one of them stories ) bought two of those. They had problems with rats in a shed near the house, think they had some feed stuff in there. Plugged in the devices and never seen so many rats in the place until they switched it off again :eek:

I'd have left them on and applied for an air rifle

aristo

JohnThomas09 wrote: »

i had a minor Rat problem this year and was told if i got any dead ones to burn their bodies close to where the Rats are.The smell of the burnt remains will make the other Rats flee.i didnt think it would work but it did,as crazy and all as it sounds.

Has anybody else tried this? did the rats come back to the burrows after a while? or did they just move to a different area of the yard?
Had rat droppings on the seat of the loading shovel yesterday!

Indubitable

Double-Barrel + Cat + Poison.


Dont forget to change brands of poison after a few weeks as rats are smart and may figure out it kills them. If you use poison that only effects them when they drink water i dont think that is an issue though.


Never tried this but : Snake in hole where rodents come from

Dusty87

Was chatting a fella the other day about rats and he said his uncle years ago half filled a big bucket with grain and skim coat mixed!!!! After three days of the rats eating it he was rid of them:eek:

westwicklow

aristo wrote: »

Had rat droppings on the seat of the loading shovel yesterday!

Ate chunks of wiring loom on TA-40 Terex over our way!!

aristo

westwicklow wrote: »

Ate chunks of wiring loom on TA-40 Terex over our way!!

Yeah they are bastards on wiring, ate through pollen filter got into the combine cab and chewed half the wiring inside it, used to put moth balls into it over the winter to keep mice and rats out but cant get them anymore, the smell of bounce tumble dryer sheets are ment to deter mice but im convinced of it!

DerMac

We have re-seeded and are infested with rabbits. they are destroying the whole crop. Has any one ideas other than shooting as we have tried that but you would be a year there!!
Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks,

reilig

DerMac wrote: »

We have re-seeded and are infested with rabbits. they are destroying the whole crop. Has any one ideas other than shooting as we have tried that but you would be a year there!!
Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks,

There's no easy solution to rabbits. Australia has been blighted with them for many years. They introduces Maximatosis, a disease which killed rabbits after years of trying to rabbit fence. I understand that rabbits are now immune to this strain and in recent years are breeding very well again. You could have a 100 acre field wiped out overnight in Australia. There could be hundreds of thousands of them in the one place. There's some very interesting reading about it if you want to google it.
As for a solution to your problem, well you will have to keep shooting I'm afraid.

johngalway

DerMac wrote: »

We have re-seeded and are infested with rabbits. they are destroying the whole crop. Has any one ideas other than shooting as we have tried that but you would be a year there!!
Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks,

First off, I suggest you visit the Hunting forum, and perhaps ask for a helping hand, many rifles make light work

So your options include;

Shooting by day & night.
Ferreting.
Lamping using running dogs.
Drop nets.
Snaring (only only only use someone who knows what they're doing regarding snares).
Rabbit proof fencing used in conjunction with rabbit drop boxes (fencing would be expensive).

Good luck

DerMac

Thank you very much - I will get on all these
Appreciate the help and response