Rats - How to deal with them?

Sir Arthur Daley

I currently have an invasion of rats in outbuildings in the farm and despite having cat this problem is getting worse.
In my opinion cats will only kill the very young rat as they are afraid of getting scratched up by the mother rat.
The devices you plug in and emit high frequency pulse acoustic waves and electromagnetic waves are a waste of time too.
I am currently using traps and live cage traps and are catching and killing but i need some thing more invasive, i know no one that has ferrets as i believe these are very effective at getting at the nests and doing wipe outs.
I also did the experiment of putting 2 live caught rats in a barrel and feeding them more dead rats or young rats and the idea i was told that the last rat living when released would only have hunger for rats and would eat the young but all the ones in the barrel did was eat their tails and all died.
All professional companies is put out poison so anyone any other methods or ideas be greatly appreciated.

Conmaicne Mara

WikiHow wrote: »

All professional companies is put out poison

For a good reason.

vermin99

Would you agree with poisoning if so I think I've exactly the thing for you!?,also you could for a start get in contact with the local gun club and a fella with a airgun and some peanut butter could take a few out. You could also ask the gunclub has anyone terriers,a chainsaw with a hose to ram it down the hole then the rats come running and the terriers go,great sport.

Sir Arthur Daley

Poison around the farm where livestock,cats,dogs and hens is not something i like, i had an excellent dog 2 years ago that died of rat poison that he got hold of.

Witcher

Put it inside a wavin pipe that's pinned down by a paving slab or such.

Ask the local gun club as suggested, they might have someone with ferrets.

Birdnuts

Blay wrote: »

Put it inside a wavin pipe that's pinned down by a paving slab or such.

+ 1

You can also get specialist bait boxes of the type professional pest controllers use that only allow access by rodents.

epfff

Birdnuts wrote: »

+ 1

You can also get specialist bait boxes of the type professional pest controllers use that only allow access by rodents.

to start
I hate cats
But I was over run with mice and rats until one strayed in
if you can get a wild one that will stay away from house serious job

Sir Arthur Daley

Rat bait stations and putting into pipes is all well and good but in the case of a neighbour where his dog ate a rat that had died of poisoning is the problem and is a common occurance.
No matter how wild or how good a cat may be the cat wont take on the female mother rat.

vermin99

where are you based?

Birdnuts

WikiHow wrote: »

Rat bait stations and putting into pipes is all well and good but in the case of a neighbour where his dog ate a rat that had died of poisoning is the problem and is a common occurance.
No matter how wild or how good a cat may be the cat wont take on the female mother rat.

Stick this up in the hunting forum and you might get some offers from lads who live near you and have access to air-guns and/or ferrets

Sir Arthur Daley

vermin99 wrote: »

where are you based?

Near cork city.

Sir Arthur Daley

Birdnuts wrote: »

Stick this up in the hunting forum and you might get some offers from lads who live near you and have access to air-guns and/or ferrets

Will do, thanks.

dh1985

A good terrier is supposed to do the job well

vermin99

WikiHow wrote: »

Near cork city.

was gonna say id go with the ferrets,corks a bit far though

tayto lover

Go to your local Council re-cycling centre and get some bags of crushed glass. People use it in gardens. It won't do your pets or people any harm to walk on but rats have very soft feet and it cuts them. They bleed like hell. They hate it.
I used this around my dog's kennel last year as there were rats underneath. It got rid of them.

syklops

WikiHow wrote: »

No matter how wild or how good a cat may be the cat wont take on the female mother rat.

Depends on the cat. We had a long haired one years ago which would take on anything and we found the bodies of some sizeable rats a few times. They were attracted to the hen feed.

Our cat Luna, a Norwegian forest cat fought off a staffy and the staffy came out the worst of it. I'd love to see what she would do to a rat invasion. Wrong part of the country though.

A couple of terriers would certainly help, but I think a few shotguns or air rifles might be called for if you don't want to put down poison(which is understandable with livestock around)

larrymiller

I have jack russel he is some dog he kills mice, rats, pigeons, crows, mag pie, bees, wasps and 2 of the neighbors cats (oops) and hes a good companion follows me everywhere everyday, would be lost without him

larrymiller

vermin99 wrote: »

Would you agree with poisoning if so I think I've exactly the thing for you!?,also you could for a start get in contact with the local gun club and a fella with a airgun and some peanut butter could take a few out. You could also ask the gunclub has anyone terriers,a chainsaw with a hose to ram it down the hole then the rats come running and the terriers go,great sport.

jesus that sounds like mad craic

moy83

larrymiller wrote: »

I have jack russel he is some dog he kills mice, rats, pigeons, crows, mag pie, bees, wasps and 2 of the neighbors cats (oops) and hes a good companion follows me everywhere everyday, would be lost without him

How is he managing to catch the birds ?

Ashill5

Cat's are the best thing for Rats!
I had problems over the years got cats about 6 yrs ago. the only rats i see around are dead ones. Don't even see field mice, small rabbits or small birds around the yard now! :)

theholyghost

I saw a farm recently on TV with a serious rat problem, his solution was to basically have an entire crew of cats. He found it was the only thing that worked. But he must haved had 10 or more of them.

syklops

Matter of interest OP, are you feeding your cat?

My uncle had a cat and he didn't feed it thinking it would hunt for food. Instead of killing mice and rats it slept 22 hours a day and then pinched stuff from the bin(or the table).

After giving out about said cat in the pub one night one of the lads told him to feed said cat well and they will have the energy to go on the hunt "for fun". Sure enough, a few weeks later he woke up to three dead rats which the cat had left on the front step as a "gift".

whupdedo

theholyghost wrote: »

I saw a farm recently on TV with a serious rat problem, his solution was to basically have an entire crew of cats. He found it was the only thing that worked. But he must haved had 10 or more of them.

Ya, same as that, i was overrun about 3 years ago and I got 4 cats and a pellet gun, i knew where they were coming out of the wall and just waited, i got about 5 in the space of a couple of hours and any i missed, the cats got the rest, I have no problem to this day and I don't ever feed the cats and their still around so their doing their job well I guess

Birdnuts

A good ratting terrier does a great job too - some great youtube vids out there of their work

larrymiller

moy83 wrote: »

How is he managing to catch the birds ?

i remember he ran away from me one day after a rabbit i walked around the corner and he had a magpie in his mouth , but what i really do is i shoot birds with those bullets for shooting indoors its stuns the birds, he have them in his mouth before theyd touch the ground. i swear he smiles when he sees me pick up the rifle

ford2600

Birdnuts wrote: »

A good ratting terrier does a great job too - some great youtube vids out there of their work

A couple of Jacks Russells is the business.

Some carefully positioned posion in a wavin pipe after for any that were missed

porter shark

1 right good cat will clean a place in no time. One strayed into us and no need for poison since.
After she had the sheds and the yard cleaned out she had kittens and used to bring rabbits in from the field to feed kittens.

periodictable

Used to have poultry operation and baited with the large blue blocks-forget the name- each week and never saw any rats or evidence of them. After a while the blocks were only taken every 3-4 weeks.

porter shark

I've been told that a Tom cat is no good for hunting and you must have the female, can anybody shed light on that?

angelfire9

Have five cats here 1 female 4 male and the lady s the only one who ever brings gifts!
OP I'd get a jack Russell from a local rescue and watch your problem disappear
They are fearless little buggers (the dog not the rat)

Bizzum

I'd a sheepdog years ago that was some dog to kill rats. A terrier is the job, your local gunclub might be worth a call.
My first port of call would be poison, in proper bait stations, that only rats can access. A little and often.

Conmaicne Mara

Three things I find are important with rats. The first is food sources, even putting feed into blue barrels if it's a small amount is a start, never had one nibbled even though they're plastic. The second is clutter, loads of junk around the place gives them great hiding places and living spaces, keep it clean and tidy. Third thing is in using poison, I find it works better when I leave a gap of about a week between all the poison being taken and me putting down more. I reckon any brought back to the nest is consumed then rather than them just dragging home more. Works for me anyway.

RobertKK

I have 5 cats too.

Two days ago one had the present of a big dead rat for me. Honestly it was either a big male rat or a pregnant female, it was big, so I was impressed with the cat that killed it. Found where it was killed, it had bits of rat fur and rat blood around the place :eek:

Now and again you see dead rats from cats, but I don't see live rats or rats droppings so they are doing a good job.

The Glass Key

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

Three things I find are important with rats. The first is food sources, even putting feed into blue barrels if it's a small amount is a start, never had one nibbled even though they're plastic. The second is clutter, loads of junk around the place gives them great hiding places and living spaces, keep it clean and tidy. Third thing is in using poison, I find it works better when I leave a gap of about a week between all the poison being taken and me putting down more. I reckon any brought back to the nest is consumed then rather than them just dragging home more. Works for me anyway.

That could help stop "overkill" one rat can eat far more poison that it actually needs to kill it so some sense in not over baiting.

I was given a large load of bait that has a hole in the middle which is handy so you can put a bit of wire through it to tie it down and stop the rats moving it.

Conmaicne Mara

The Glass Key wrote: »

That could help stop "overkill" one rat can eat far more poison that it actually needs to kill it so some sense in not over baiting.

I was given a large load of bait that has a hole in the middle which is handy so you can put a bit of wire through it to tie it down and stop the rats moving it.

I use Rodex at the moment, redish blocks with holes in them. I have Storm too when I feel like a change in their diet.

The Glass Key

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

I use Rodex at the moment, redish blocks with holes in them. I have Storm too when I feel like a change in their diet.

Storm is the name of one of out cats

Bizzum

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

I find it works better when I leave a gap of about a week between all the poison being taken and me putting down more.

We would go a little and often as long as it's disappearing. Then when it slows down leave a gap as you say and go at it again if need be.
If there's a problem with rats they're getting well fed and looked after. So it's time to change the 5* acommodation and make conditions a bit tougher for them!

Reggie.

Bizzum wrote: »

We would go a little and often as long as it's disappearing. Then when it slows down leave a gap as you say and go at it again if need be.
If there's a problem with rats they're getting well fed and looked after. So it's time to change the 5* acommodation and make conditions a bit tougher for them!

Nothing like a bit of discomfort to move them on

gozunda

Have a few cats over a good few years - and have no problem with rats around the place where they have access. Bizarrely I then had ( a short lived) fox who attempted to predate some of the cats. Also had a great ratter JRT many years but he is now ratting in the sky :-/

Read an account of the Bubonic plague in London where they issued an edict to get rid of cats and dogs and unfortunately the rats then multiplied and caused further outbreaks.

One loft area where cats had no access so used the large wired traps -amazing thing about this was that on catching each rat and leaving it in the cage and the rat was usually dead in 24 hours. Someone explained to me that wild rats will literally give up and die once caught and trapped. This happened with each rat caught.

Don't use poison as danger of other animals coming into contact / eating poisoned rodents.

foxylock

larrymiller wrote: »

I have jack russel he is some dog he kills mice, rats, pigeons, crows, mag pie, bees, wasps and 2 of the neighbors cats (oops) and hes a good companion follows me everywhere everyday, would be lost without him

Maybe he's stalking you.........

Farmer Pudsey

To control rats is not to let numbers build up in the first place. By keeping food sources in containers etc this will help.

TBH poison is best. The trick is to catch them as they enter the yard, You should have poison out from early September on. I use the plastic centres from bale wrap. these are exactly the right size. Put blocks onto tying wire that is tied thought the pipe. rat cannot take blocks way. usually when animals get poisoned is not because of eating a dead rat it because a rat take a block away and the cat/dog end up eating it.

The reason you want to catch the rat coming into the yard is that if it get a feed of poison then it goes back to where it came from to die. The other advantage of keeping blocks on wire is that a rat will eat it fill but cannot take a block back to its nest when the mother dies the young will die anyway unless they are nearly mature why waste poison on them.

Cats will control them as well but you need to feed them well and not have a serious amount of them. Very hard to get a good terrier. In the case of cats and dogs they usually need a mother to have trained them so it can be hard to get a right one.

The last thing if you see rats above ground you have a serious issue and poison is the only answer.

dodderangler

Big bag of ferret sh1t and spread around the areas the rats are in
They'll feck off.
Also yes a cat won't come near a big mother rat. She'll fight back. A big buck ferret will make sh1te of her tho. Ferrets don't back down and just talking from experience with my lads.
Poison only leads to dead rats in holes and hard t get places leading to smell and disease.

Bizzum

dodderangler wrote: »

Big bag of ferret sh1t and spread around the areas the rats are in
They'll feck off.
Also yes a cat won't come near a big mother rat. She'll fight back. A big buck ferret will make sh1te of her tho. Ferrets don't back down and just talking from experience with my lads.
Poison only leads to dead rats in holes and hard t get places leading to smell and disease.

What diseases would you attribute to a dead rat? and would you think smearing ferret sh1te around the place would either smell or spread any disease?

dodderangler

Bizzum wrote: »

What diseases would you attribute to a dead rat? and would you think smearing ferret sh1te around the place would either smell or spread any disease?

Ferret **** is clean mate.
Think of the diseases rats carry and a dead one wouldn't be to great either. Rat bite fever is one that comes not just from a bite but a dead rat can contribute to it as well. ( yeah I looked it up )
But rats will not stay in a area where ferrets are about.
A bigger predator in the area will scare off rats

Bizzum

dodderangler wrote: »

Ferret **** is clean mate.
Think of the diseases rats carry and a dead one wouldn't be to great either. Rat bite fever is one that comes not just from a bite but a dead rat can contribute to it as well. ( yeah I looked it up )
But rats will not stay in a area where ferrets are about.
A bigger predator in the area will scare off rats

I dunno would I be gone on the ferret sh1te job, but I would love to see a good ferret and a team of terriers at work.

Sir Arthur Daley

Thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions, never had rats for years till this year, they said the good year of 2013 drove the rat breeding mad, i had too much food lying around for the cats and dogs and it was a couple of months ago i noticed the dog food was getting ate like never before, seen rat droppings then and holes ate in timber rafters where they came in under the curve of the zinc roof, they are persistent.
Tightened up the food and better housing for hen feed and rations and making life hard for them now by clearing out stuff in the outbuildings that i dont need, feeding my cats well as told years ago a hungry cat wont do a thing, another poster mentioned a Norwegian forest cat, that cat sounds mean will consider it.
The main home for them seems to be nesting in old stone walls and they are living under another stone building, im tempted to knock that building but it would be sinful.
The ferret seems to be the business though, is it pratical to have a ferret i.e looking after it, feeding it, housing it?

Damo810

Have 2 jrt's here. Ones a pure monster for rats. Nothing would come into the place without him noticing. He's killed a good few rats in his time. That's exactly what they were bred for.

Once when the backdoor was left opened he managed to kill one in the back garden and land in to the mother who was on the couch. Id say ye heard the scream on the east coast even still he picked him up and left him back outside. Even caught a robin once.. Both have had their run in with the neighbours cats too.

dodderangler

WikiHow wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions, never had rats for years till this year, they said the good year of 2013 drove the rat breeding mad, i had too much food lying around for the cats and dogs and it was a couple of months ago i noticed the dog food was getting ate like never before, seen rat droppings then and holes ate in timber rafters where they came in under the curve of the zinc roof, they are persistent.
Tightened up the food and better housing for hen feed and rations and making life hard for them now by clearing out stuff in the outbuildings that i dont need, feeding my cats well as told years ago a hungry cat wont do a thing, another poster mentioned a Norwegian forest cat, that cat sounds mean will consider it.
The main home for them seems to be nesting in old stone walls and they are living under another stone building, im tempted to knock that building but it would be sinful.
The ferret seems to be the business though, is it pratical to have a ferret i.e looking after it, feeding it, housing it?

Ferrets are easy to look after but not all ferrets are rat killers.
I had a ferret that would bolt rabbits an kill rats but the doe wouldn't go near a rat hole. Only rabbits.
They need to meet a rat at a young age to be proper killers. Rats will often fight back especially a mother rat but result will only go one way. But a rat bite or scratch can lead to death of a ferret if wounds aren't treated and shots up to date.
Ferret sh1te will deter them though.
But a fame could have a big colony of rats and kinda like an army won't be threatened by much unless they're on the own

gozunda

WikiHow wrote: »

...,
The main home for them seems to be nesting in old stone walls and they are living under another stone building, im tempted to knock that building but it would be sinful

No need to knock. - find one of the entry holes - this will join a network of rat tunnels - get Hoze and flood. This will drive out the rats and later on drown young rats in the nest. Rats won't breed in holes filled with water

Rovi

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moy83

I have to go filling a big hole in the loft today where the rats ate the timber floor running into the wall where we keep the nuts .
I'm petrified of them , even dead ones I cant move when I see them