Rat in garden, advice please.

Fuh Q

There is a large rat living in my garden, it has been there months.
My wife thought the dog was trying to get something under the decking a while ago and the kids said they saw something go under the shed ages ago, two days ago my son saw it in the middle of the garden in daylight.
Every time I let the dog out she chases something around in the bushes and she goes nuts sniffing around the place,I thought she could just smell the cats that pass through the garden.
Im concerned that it will get into the house.
What is the best way to get rid of it ? is rat poison an option with my dogs or will I get some traps ?

bbam

Fuh Q wrote: »

There is a large rat living in my garden, it has been there months.
My wife thought the dog was trying to get something under the decking a while ago and the kids said they saw something go under the shed ages ago, two days ago my son saw it in the middle of the garden in daylight.
Every time I let the dog out she chases something around in the bushes and she goes nuts sniffing around the place,I thought she could just smell the cats that pass through the garden.
Im concerned that it will get into the house.
What is the best way to get rid of it ? is rat poison an option with my dogs or will I get some traps ?

I'd be going for traps first...
LAst thing you want is a dead rat under decking or somewhere stinking the place up for a few weeks..

Oh, and rats aren't really solitary creatures, you probably have a nest nearby if your seeing them often.. A guy in the extermination business once told me that by the time your regularly seeing either rats or mice you have a serious problem, in small numbers they're rarely seen, this he said is why you should act immediately when you see one, there are always more.

wexie

You'll also immediately want to make sure your dogs vaccinations are up to date.
Contact with rat urine can give dogs Leptospirosis which can be deadly (and not just to your dog) and also make sure your kids properly wash their hands if they've been in the garden.

Personally I'd be less concerned about a smelly dead rat under the deck than a live one in the garden.

RubyGirl

Buy a good rat poison and put it in a few places in the garden, they come in blocks so break the block down or they'll only store it if not hungry. Check it the following day to see if it was taken, if so don't but down any more for a day or so, otherwise your just wasteing it.
Most rat's look for water when they eat these poison's so leave a bucket of water out and hopefully he'll drown.

Fuh Q

Thanks for the replies, where will I get a trap ? I can get some bait/poison in Woddies but dont think they sell traps.
I was having a read online and a trap is recommended as there are often more than one to catch.
Im guessing that if I use poison and my dogs find the dead rats before I do they will be poisoned too ?

RubyGirl

A dog would have to eat it's own weight in rat poison to get poisoned.
http://www.woodiesdiy.com/Product/PreBaited-Rat-Trap/12140/4.4.8

Good luck with the rotten buggers, I always have poison out, saw my lab dog kill one last year, she threw it up in the air and must have broke it's back one the way back down.

Witcher

Put the poison inside a bit of Wavin pipe if you can get it and put a brick against it so the dog can't move it if you're afraid of them eating it.

Dtp79

Fuh Q wrote: »

There is a large rat living in my garden, it has been there months.
My wife thought the dog was trying to get something under the decking a while ago and the kids said they saw something go under the shed ages ago, two days ago my son saw it in the middle of the garden in daylight.
Every time I let the dog out she chases something around in the bushes and she goes nuts sniffing around the place,I thought she could just smell the cats that pass through the garden.
Im concerned that it will get into the house.
What is the best way to get rid of it ? is rat poison an option with my dogs or will I get some traps ?

Are you sure it's a rat?? Is your kid old enough to know it is definately a rat? Maybe it's a ferret, weasel, squirrel???

Fuh Q

RubyGirl wrote: »

A dog would have to eat it's own weight in rat poison to get poisoned.
http://www.woodiesdiy.com/Product/PreBaited-Rat-Trap/12140/4.4.8

Good luck with the rotten buggers, I always have poison out, saw my lab dog kill one last year, she threw it up in the air and must have broke it's back one the way back down.

I dont want to use that type of trap as I sont want the dogs to have an accident with it.
Im looking for a cage trap..

Patsy fyre

Get a cat for a few days. There lethal for clearing out rats and mice.

3ndahalfof6

Rat cage would be the way to go.

Fuh Q

Dtp79 wrote: »

Are you sure it's a rat?? Is your kid old enough to know it is definately a rat? Maybe it's a ferret, weasel, squirrel???

Yes, he is 19. I though it was rats before he saw it because of the way the dog chases on the ground as opposed to chasing up to the top of the fence when its cats.

Fuh Q

Patsy fyre wrote: »

Get a cat for a few days. There lethal for clearing out rats and mice.

Cats pass through my garden every day and at night too, I think the rat is hiding when they are around.

Black Dog

Go to any of the DIY shops and buy a bucket of "Storm". It is a bait/poison for rodents. It comes as a blue nugget with a hole it the centre. Tie a few onto a length of wire and tie it near where you know the rats are. They will come and eat the bait - replace it everyday until it is no longer taken. It is a good idea to place the bait/poison inside a length of Wavin piping. The rats will get to it there but it will keep it away from cats, dogs and birds.

I live in a farming area, garden surrounded by fields where wheat was grown this summer, so we have loads and loads of rats. I have found traps useless. "Strorm" works - I have lots of dead rats who will attest to this.

RubyGirl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV9woxUshuA home made trap. If you cant find one, could you not put the timber traps in a pipe or hide them from the dog.

3ndahalfof6

Black Dog wrote: »

Go to any of the DIY shops and buy a bucket of "Storm". It is a bait/poison for rodents. It comes as a blue nugget with a hole it the centre. Tie a few onto a length of wire and tie it near where you know the rats are. They will come and eat the bait - replace it everyday until it is no longer taken. It is a good idea to place the bait/poison inside a length of Wavin piping. The rats will get to it there but it will keep it away from cats, dogs and birds.

I live in a farming area, garden surrounded by fields where wheat was grown this summer, so we have loads and loads of rats. I have found traps useless. "Strorm" works - I have lots of dead rats who will attest to this.

The problem with poison is they can die anywhere, this could lead to your home being stinky pooed for a couple of weeks.

sundula

Got large old school traps to catch a rat I saw in my garden a couple of weeks ago. Baited them and put two of them under an over turned wheel barrow. I blocked all around the wheel barrow and put a piece of pipe as the only way into the traps. Got the little f*cker. Used peanut butter as bait and plenty of it.

The beauty of traps is that you have a body for proof,with poison your wondering if it worked and where the body might be.

Fuh Q

sundula wrote: »

Got large old school traps to catch a rat I saw in my garden a couple of weeks ago. Baited them and put two of them under an over turned wheel barrow. I blocked all around the wheel barrow and put a piece of pipe as the only way into the traps. Got the little f*cker. Used peanut butter as bait and plenty of it.

The beauty of traps is that you have a body for proof,with poison your wondering if it worked and where the body might be.

Ive been watching some youtube videos on homemade traps and gave me the idea that you had, I am going to cover where I put traps.
I also found a family member with a cage trap so I will go with both options, wont get to do this until Wednesday at the earliest, I will keep everyone posted on the results.

Thanks..

Audioslaven

Fuh Q wrote: »

Ive been watching some youtube videos on homemade traps and gave me the idea that you had, I am going to cover where I put traps.
I also found a family member with a cage trap so I will go with both options, wont get to do this until Wednesday at the earliest, I will keep everyone posted on the results.

Thanks..

Don't go messing with traps. Get some nice blue sweets for him and his buddies and leave them in a 4" sewer pipe. Refill after about 3/4 days and that will be the end of them. Lay some more sweets down for them every few week to make sure their bellies are full.

sundula

No saying you can't do both. I have poison down but I still got traps, they are only about €2.50 each. I had poison down a few days before I got the traps. But I am happier I saw at least one dead body and none of the poison seems to have been touched since I found it.

Fuh Q

Today I had time to get started on this problem, I bought a bait box, a snap trap, and a box of bait (blue blocks).I also borrowed a cage trap. I had a look around the garden and found some obvious signs on rat activity, the first was a hole chewed in the fence about the size of a tennis ball, its right beside my neighbors shed at the back of the garden. second is a gap under the decking with a track worn in the grass from rats walking on it and there are others around my own shed.
I put the bait box in the back corner of my garden where the hole in the fence is and covered it with a tyre and a cement slab to keep the dog away, I set the snap trap and put it under the shed with some bait blocks and I set the cage behind the shed covered with a another cage I made to stop the dog setting it off.
Now the waiting begins..

Audioslaven

Fuh Q wrote: »

Today I had time to get started on this problem, I bought a bait box, a snap trap, and a box of bait (blue blocks).I also borrowed a cage trap. I had a look around the garden and found some obvious signs on rat activity, the first was a hole chewed in the fence about the size of a tennis ball, its right beside my neighbors shed at the back of the garden. second is a gap under the decking with a track worn in the grass from rats walking on it and there are others around my own shed.
I put the bait box in the back corner of my garden where the hole in the fence is and covered it with a tyre and a cement slab to keep the dog away, I set the snap trap and put it under the shed with some bait blocks and I set the cage behind the shed covered with a another cage I made to stop the dog setting it off.
Now the waiting begins..

Fresh meat for the dinner tomorrow!!!

Sikpupi

As a matter of interest... if using a Rat Cage- how do you kill the live rat that you catch.

Actually - it would scare me senseless to see it trying to escape - so I would be afraid even to pick up the cage!!

Wils110

He eats a special biscuit in the cage and goes to the rat playground at the dail with all his rat friends and lives happily ever after

EURATS

Sikpupi wrote: »

As a matter of interest... if using a Rat Cage- how do you kill the live rat that you catch.

Actually - it would scare me senseless to see it trying to escape - so I would be afraid even to pick up the cage!!

Blow torch or big bucket of water. If ur drowning them..be careful lifting the cage..that the flap doesn't go down and let them out or that they don't scratch or bite u through the cage. is best to use a pitch fork or at least a heavy duty glove if handling the cage.
blow torch is more hands off(I would imagine) and would be very effective.

dodzy

EURATS wrote: »

blow torch is more hands off(I would imagine) and would be very effective.

Jasus, sadistic.

Dicky Pride

They say, and yes this is sadistic, that you should pour boiling water over them so their buddies hear the screams...

JJJJNR

Reminds me of that time in 'nam...

turkeysouls

EURATS wrote: »

Blow torch or big bucket of water. If ur drowning them..be careful lifting the cage..that the flap doesn't go down and let them out or that they don't scratch or bite u through the cage. is best to use a pitch fork or at least a heavy duty glove if handling the cage.
blow torch is more hands off(I would imagine) and would be very effective.

You're just plain and evil scumbag and if you do this or have done it, I hope Karma visits you soon.

turkeysouls

Dicky Pride wrote: »

They say, and yes this is sadistic, that you should pour boiling water over them so their buddies hear the screams...

What is wrong with you? You're insane and cruel. Why else would you want to torture them? HOw can you get pleasure from it.

You're more vile than any rat and a much greater drain on the earth's resources. Oh I've a good idea.....Go and get another sicko to pour boiling water all over you till you drown.

turkeysouls

Dicky Pride wrote: »

They say, and yes this is sadistic, that you should pour boiling water over them so their buddies hear the screams...

What is wrong with you? You're insane and cruel. Why else would you want to torture them? HOw can you get pleasure from it.

You're more vile than any rat and a much greater drain on the earth's resources. Oh I've a good idea.....Go and get another sicko to pour boiling water all over you till you drown.