Farm Rats everywhere eating my feed and destorying my life

TheRatMan

I'm new and as you can see from my username rats are the vain of my life. I can't sleep without thinking about them.when I wake up there there and when I eat they're there. It all began last year when I began seeing a few rats nothing special, nine months on and my farm is covered in them. i think they bread or my neighbour the dirty **** put them there after we fell out over land. I went down to his farm but he just laughed it off:mad:. I have two lads coming who specialize in rat/vermin farm control during the week. Hopefully the can solve the problem, other wise I'll just sell the farm :mad:

Have any of you had the same problem with rats or other vermin?

hoochis

TheRatMan wrote: »

I'm new and as you can see from my username rats are the vain of my life. I can't sleep without thinking about them.when I wake up there there and when I eat they're there. It all began last year when I began seeing a few rats nothing special, nine months on and my farm is covered in them. i think they bread or my neighbour the dirty **** put them there after we fell out over land. I went down to his farm but he just laughed it off:mad:. I have two lads coming who specialize in rat/vermin farm control during the week. Hopefully the can solve the problem, other wise I'll just sell the farm :mad:

Have any of you had the same problem with rats or other vermin?

So you went to your neighbor to accuse him of putting rats on your farm? Im not surprised he laughed it off!

Ger8

Buy a good terrier problem solved. Or il give ya my 2 lads for a week.

Dr Turk Turkelton

Staffordshire bull terrier would go through a wall to kill a rat and won't hassle any of your other animals.

TheRatMan

Ger8 wrote: »

Buy a good terrier problem solved. Or il give ya my 2 lads for a week.

Thanks Ger. But I'll see how the lads get on. I've heard good things about them. A friend of mine was having the same problem and they came and sorted it.

whelan1

i do what everyone else does, put down posion

5live

September is the time of year rats look for cover after the summer outdoors so they will start to look for some nice warm dry spot for the winter. I doubt your neighbour has anything to do with the appearance of rats, it happens every year around this time.

Off to town and get a few bait boxes and rat poison, the ones with holes in and fix them in the boxes. Place the boxes around the feed. The rats will eat the bait and wont carry it to their lair and they will die there. If you are farming make sure to draw a map marking the location of the bait boxes.

While you are there get a pair of good gloves and tidy up around the houses. Rats love cover so take away as much of it as you possibly can. Be careful as they carry Leptospirosis disease (Weils disease) which can be fatal and every thing they walk on will carry traces of urine which will have lepto in it if they are infected:eek:

Next get a few cats and start feeding them around the houses. Call it biological pest control.

Because you have rats already any new rats looking for cover will follow the trails already marked out so you should look for a new storage area or sealed container for any feed after the rest have been wiped out. And bait it well!

You will have the same problem every year at this time so start september every year with a bit of tidying and baiting.

And good luck getting the little feckers:mad:

patjack

if i was your neighbour i'd probably fall out with you too. your neighbour might have "planted" them there. I never heard such s%^*e. And your understanding of vermin control is mind numbing. U'l be getting those vermin control guys in periodically and paying out regularly for poison etc. As a previous poster said get a few terriers or few cats, problem solved. Christ if our ancestors seen this thread and farmers wondering how to control rats, they'd be glad they are not around.

Rovi

[MOD]
On the off chance that the OP here is serious, and in the interests of providing useful information for anyone else coming here with a rat problem, I've tidied up this thread a bit (quite a BIG bit! :mad: ).

Among the content removed were a lot of 'smart' comments, speculation as to the OP's motives in posting in the first place, and a bunch of cribbing about the moderation of another Boards.ie forum.
If you have a gripe with the moderating of another forum, TAKE IT UP WITH THE MODERATORS THERE, don't go dragging it in here!
[/MOD]

dodderangler

Where are you living
I have 3 big strong ferrets there that are proven rabbit and rat killers

TheRatMan

dodderangler wrote: »

Where are you living
I have 3 big strong ferrets there that are proven rabbit and rat killers

Hey I'm based in the midlands. Thanks for your offer but I've called the professionals in and hopefully my problem will be gone next week. These two lads have special dogs that can smell a rats from 100yards. I don't mind paying as I know this will be a good investment in my farm. I think every farm should have this done once or twice a year.

Farmer Pudsey

The most effective way to kill rats is poisen. If you see a rat you have a major problem. Best way is to get 3" pipes (plastic centres from round bale silage ideal). get a bucket of rat bait blocks that have holes or that you can pierce centres with wire you can do this with most the only you could not with was the old storm. Now thread 3-5 blocks onto wire ( use disposable and kitchen gloves over them preferable the one not being used in kitchen) through plastic pipe.

Put them along walls around bale silage in old houses. chech twice a week and refill after 2-4 weeks you should see the take up of bait reduced. If there is a lot of them it may take a 3-4 kg bucket to get control and after that bucket is finished change to a bucket with a different ingrident ( not name)

1chippy

TheRatMan wrote: »

Hey I'm based in the midlands. Thanks for your offer but I've called the professionals in and hopefully my problem will be gone next week. These two lads have special dogs that can smell a rats from 100yards. I don't mind paying as I know this will be a good investment in my farm. I think every farm should have this done once or twice a year.

i could probably take down the cost of the suckler up keep by removing the exterminaters twice a year and maybe getting a couple of feril cats.
sorry just thinking out loud.

Manoffeeling

If you have a black rat, he is endangered.

Figerty

Manoffeeling wrote: »

If you have a black rat, he is endangered.

If I had a black rat around the place he would be endangered....

Manoffeeling

Figerty wrote: »

If I had a black rat around the place he would be endangered....

Tis in the reps manual book

Richk2012

Posion is the most obvious option but i was talking to a rep for the local co op last year and he was telling me that the rats are getting harder and harder to control as some of them are starting to build an immunity to the posion .

I bought two rat traps off DoneDeal last winter and put one in the shed where i keep the meal and barley , and the other where the straw is kept .
Those humane traps where the rat walks into the trap , and steps on a trigger to shut the cage door .
Then into a barrel of water when caught...
Good value at 16Eur each . But i found that bait was the main problem .
Cheese , Ham , or Bread wouldnt lure them in .
Peanut butter is the only man

eorna

Richk2012 wrote: »

Posion is the most obvious option but i was talking to a rep for the local co op last year and he was telling me that the rats are getting harder and harder to control as some of them are starting to build an immunity to the posion .

I bought two rat traps off DoneDeal last winter and put one in the shed where i keep the meal and barley , and the other where the straw is kept .
Those humane traps where the rat walks into the trap , and steps on a trigger to shut the cage door .
Then into a barrel of water when caught...
Good value at 16Eur each . But i found that bait was the main problem .
Cheese , Ham , or Bread wouldnt lure them in .
Peanut butter is the only man

lump of fat/some sort of meat works 100%

pakalasa

Richk2012 wrote: »

...Those humane traps where the rat walks into the trap , and steps on a trigger to shut the cage door .
Then into a barrel of water when caught...

I don't think that is what the designers of the trap had in mind as 'Humane'.

TheRatMan

So I had the two lads down today. Just a few lines to tell you how I got on.They arrived on time at 10pm and began what can only be described as a mass genocide. They had three dogs with them. They were barking from the moment they drove in the yard. They knew the rats were around and nothing was going to stop them.
They sent in the sniffer dog who picked out key locations which were marked and the search continued on until they were happy that all the rats had been found. The sniffer dog was put back into the car and the beasts were let loose. they ran in and grad rats by the neck like the were going out of fashion and shook them, this continued on for 4 hours. By the end they nhad a pile of rats to fill 3 turf bags.
The lads then put down a special powder to stop any rats from returning. They left at five and told me to burn the rats as the other rats can smell this and it will keep them away.
I was out there checking a few cows tonight and no one rat to been seen. I can start living again thank god

Juniorhurler

Richk2012 wrote: »

Posion is the most obvious option but i was talking to a rep for the local co op last year and he was telling me that the rats are getting harder and harder to control as some of them are starting to build an immunity to the posion .

I bought two rat traps off DoneDeal last winter and put one in the shed where i keep the meal and barley , and the other where the straw is kept .
Those humane traps where the rat walks into the trap , and steps on a trigger to shut the cage door .
Then into a barrel of water when caught...
Good value at 16Eur each . But i found that bait was the main problem .
Cheese , Ham , or Bread wouldnt lure them in .
Peanut butter is the only man

I did laugh at this but in truth tis better than letting the hoors out to run straight back to where you caught them.

Minky 123

TheRatMan wrote: »

So I had the two lads down today. Just a few lines to tell you how I got on.They arrived on time at 10pm and began what can only be described as a mass genocide. They had three dogs with them. They were barking from the moment they drove in the yard. They knew the rats were around and nothing was going to stop them.
They sent in the sniffer dog who picked out key locations which were marked and the search continued on until they were happy that all the rats had been found. The sniffer dog was put back into the car and the beasts were let loose. they ran in and grad rats by the neck like the were going out of fashion and shook them, this continued on for 4 hours. By the end they nhad a pile of rats to fill 3 turf bags.
The lads then put down a special powder to stop any rats from returning. They left at five and told me to burn the rats as the other rats can smell this and it will keep them away.
I was out there checking a few cows tonight and no one rat to been seen. I can start living again thank god

RatMan could you please pm me there phone number asap as I am having a similar problem with rats eating all my feed.:mad:

royalmeath

Rats no what burning rats smell like are you for real, thats as logical as shooting a crow and hanging it at the door of a shed
so other crows dont rob the meal.

yellow50HX

Now that the rat kill is over, get yourself a few cats. Even if they are wild ones they will keep the rats at bay. My dad had a sheepdog years ago that was a great ratter.

Black Smoke

TheRatMan wrote: »

So I had the two lads down today. Just a few lines to tell you how I got on.They arrived on time at 10pm and began what can only be described as a mass genocide. They had three dogs with them. They were barking from the moment they drove in the yard. They knew the rats were around and nothing was going to stop them.
They sent in the sniffer dog who picked out key locations which were marked and the search continued on until they were happy that all the rats had been found. The sniffer dog was put back into the car and the beasts were let loose. they ran in and grad rats by the neck like the were going out of fashion and shook them, this continued on for 4 hours. By the end they nhad a pile of rats to fill 3 turf bags.
The lads then put down a special powder to stop any rats from returning. They left at five and told me to burn the rats as the other rats can smell this and it will keep them away.
I was out there checking a few cows tonight and no one rat to been seen. I can start living again thank god

Hang on a minute there! Burning is illegal. You will have the helicopter down on top of yourself and all the neighbours.
Now it gets complicated, because burial is also illegal, without a permit from the dept!

You will have to fill out a movement permit, and get them off to the knackery.
That's about €40 a head, ..,,. How many did you say you have to go-:)

bbam

Damn it I'm going to wade right back in here and probably get a warning or ban..

Earlier in this thread I predicted where this would go but my post was deleted to tidy things up...

These lads came to the rescue... rats all gone...
Then ... another lad, looking for the contact by PM as he too is over run..

Oddly the second lad has a huge number of posts over in the hunting forum, has a .223 and hunting dog.. would he not know how to dispatch a few rats himself.

I know I've a suspicious nature but usually if something smells like a rat then it is a rat..

This whole thread has been to the effect as to show us how great these lads are and we really shouldn't be turning down their requests for hunting, shooting crows, rabbits, foxes or catching rats for us..

I've spent years reviewing cases where lads were spinning stories for one reason or another and that's what this thread stinks of.

I call shenanigans on the whole damn thing!!

Dont be daft

bbam wrote: »

I call shenanigans on the whole damn thing!!

Im with ya there bbam, I smell a rat.....oh no, wait...

dodderangler

yellow50HX wrote: »

Now that the rat kill is over, get yourself a few cats. Even if they are wild ones they will keep the rats at bay. My dad had a sheepdog years ago that was a great ratter.

Do not get wild cats
Why replace one problem with another
Wild cats are vicious bast**ds and can populate way to fast
So don't get them get an ordinary cat if that's the case Or get a jack Russel or in my case get a ferret or two
The smell of ferrets keep rats at bay

Pulsating Star

"Turn again Dick Whittington...."

redzerologhlen

bbam wrote: »

Damn it I'm going to wade right back in here and probably get a warning or ban..

Earlier in this thread I predicted where this would go but my post was deleted to tidy things up...

These lads came to the rescue... rats all gone...
Then ... another lad, looking for the contact by PM as he too is over run..

Oddly the second lad has a huge number of posts over in the hunting forum, has a .223 and hunting dog.. would he not know how to dispatch a few rats himself.

I know I've a suspicious nature but usually if something smells like a rat then it is a rat..

This whole thread has been to the effect as to show us how great these lads are and we really shouldn't be turning down their requests for hunting, shooting crows, rabbits, foxes or catching rats for us..

I've spent years reviewing cases where lads were spinning stories for one reason or another and that's what this thread stinks of.

I call shenanigans on the whole damn thing!!

Your a right little sherlock holmes bbam

endacl

There's nothing those lad's terriers did that your own terriers wouldn't do. If you had your own terriers....

yellow50HX

dodderangler wrote: »

Do not get wild cats
Why replace one problem with another
Wild cats are vicious bast**ds and can populate way to fast
So don't get them get an ordinary cat if that's the case Or get a jack Russel or in my case get a ferret or two
The smell of ferrets keep rats at bay

bit of a generalisation there on the cats, but i know what you mean. We have 3 cats at the moment, a stary that wandered in about 5 years ago, lovely little cat and the folks got her nuetred, be also have a young kitten that was given tot he folks as a present and we also have a wild cat that hangs around for food but not really intrested in being handeled. That on top of a few dogs and there are no rats about the place. The uncle has about 7 cats in his place all bar 1 are wild but he has not trouble with them and he dosent have a problem with rats either.

there was a animal santuary in limerick that were looking to rehouse feral cats. dont know if they still do. they would nueter the cat to stop them from breeding. i heard of a few lads that got the cats and were happy enough. the cats stayed around as the were feed and rats stayed away.

reckon the boys above with the suspisions of foul play may have a point though, have never heard of a farmer having such a bad rat problem that they would need to call in professional without trying to get rid of the rats by themselves 1st

Conmaicne Mara

Put some storm out in the shed this morning, noticed a bag nibbled. They'll be moving in now with the cold weather.