Rats...

ABEasy

Hi all, hope you can help me before I pull my hair out (and the missus moves out). Had a small rat/big mouse (hoping it was a mouse) in the house before Christmas, managed to kill him and sealed up where I thought he was coming in. All good until about 3am last night, I woke up to a scratching under the floorboards of the bedroom. So I have reset the traps and had a good look around the outside of the house, can't figure out where they are now getting in. As I can't figure out where they are getting in I've decided to lay poison outside which I have been resisting doing, to prevent any more coming/killing them before they get in. So now you know my story can help me with the following;

-Can you recommend a poison that won't secondary poison family pets that might find dead rats (have lab that has full access to 1 acre site) and are they any good?

-I'm going to buy bait stations like the ones I have linked below, how many would you use on a 1 acre site, where would you position them and any recommendations on type of station (need stations secured as I have a young family)

http://www.verminstop.ie/the-tunnel-rat-bait-station/

http://www.verminstop.ie/lk-compact-bait-box/

-Looking online / donedeal and came across verminstop.ie, they seem reasonable, has anyone used them before, I won't be able to get to the Co-op till the weekend and want to get set up before as soon as possible.


Would really appreciate your help on this.

Mods, not sure if this is the right forum, please feel free to move.

berger89

Not being smart, but I genuinely think the best answer is to get a cat. We have one here and we honestly;y haven't had so much as a field mouse in the yard for the last 4 years.

Yoiu could lay all the bait in the world but doesn't mean that it will work. The cat will sniff the dirty rotten vermin quicker

And don't forget they can climb so they could be getting in the roof or attic and walking down between the cavities in the walls

ABEasy

berger89 wrote: »

Not being smart, but I genuinely think the best answer is to get a cat. We have one here and we honestly;y haven't had so much as a field mouse in the yard for the last 4 years.

Yoiu could lay all the bait in the world but doesn't mean that it will work. The cat will sniff the dirty rotten vermin quicker

And don't forget they can climb so they could be getting in the roof or attic and walking down between the cavities in the walls

Thanks Berger, its this line that freaks me out a bit.....

The wife hates cats, the dog isn't too fond of them either, so think that wouldn't work atm (may very well change, think we'd all prefer cats than rats). We had a neighbourhood cat that kept them at bay but he disappeared 12 months ago.

berger89

ABEasy wrote: »

Thanks Berger, its this line that freaks me out a bit.....

We had a neighbourhood cat that kept them at bay but he disappeared 12 months ago.

Jaysus…I really hope the rats didn't get the cat!

Try Rentokil perhaps? Not sure if they do personal home or if they are just commercial/industrial?
Yeah they are sneaky feckers. If the walls of the house are insulated though, the cavities should be filled. If not, it may be something worth looking into?

Genghis Cant

It seems likely to me that this recent mouse came in with the previous one. So if you sealed the entry point you locked him in. And perhaps he's not alone. Stick with the traps, you'll get him.
The poison I'd use for rats is Storm. Thread a block or two through tying wire and inside an 18" length of wavin pipe. Make up a few pipes and set them about you place.

Tail painter

We had a problem with rats in the house a few years ago. we had plenty of cats around but that didn't stop them. We tried trapping them but they were too smart to go into the trap. We eventually poisoned them with storm. They died, but the smell was incredible. We had to lift floorboards to get rid of the bodies. If it happened again, I would try glueboards or get someone with ferrets to hunt them out. Not sure if glueboards are available (inhumane) but you can make them up yourself.

sh1tstirrer

Use storm rat bait outside and traps inside, most cats are useless. Don't put down too much bait as they will only stockpile it.

Milked out

Rentokill will do houses, they also have this poison in paste form which is the business. I think they are dear at about 500 but that allows for a couple of calls until the job is done. No harm to give them a shout and see what they quote you. Traps will only catch young rats and cats only hunt proper when they have kittens to feed I find anyway

Connemara Farmer

Deceased rodents and central heating do not mix.

Farmer Pudsey

If you can see a rat or mouse you have an issue. poison baid used correctly is the best way. 4'' wavin is a bit big get 3'' drain pipe cut into 18'' lenghts. Get tying wire ( this is a light wire available in most hardware or co-op shops). Thread bait through wire this prevents rats storing it or moving it they eat it at site. It will take rats 3-4 days before they start to use bait as they are wary of new objects.

Lay along walls of house and shed. Unless you can find how they are getting in it is a difficult task preventing entry. They can get in under footpaths, climb walls etc. Poisoning before they enter is your best solution as they will go back to previous nest and die there. Try to trap the few insider. Rats are harder to trap than mice. The self set traps are billernt for mice just lay along paths they travel. Not sure if bigger version for rats. no need to bail mice traps however bacon is good to catch rats.

Reggie.

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

If you can see a rat or mouse you have an issue. poison baid used correctly is the best way. 4'' wavin is a bit big get 3'' drain pipe cut into 18'' lenghts. Get tying wire ( this is a light wire available in most hardware or co-op shops). Thread bait through wire this prevents rats storing it or moving it they eat it at site. It will take rats 3-4 days before they start to use bait as they are wary of new objects.

Lay along walls of house and shed. Unless you can find how they are getting in it is a difficult task preventing entry. They can get in under footpaths, climb walls etc. Poisoning before they enter is your best solution as they will go back to previous nest and die there. Try to trap the few insider. Rats are harder to trap than mice. The self set traps are billernt for mice just lay along paths they travel. Not sure if bigger version for rats. no need to bail mice traps however bacon is good to catch rats.

The best way to lay poison

sh1tstirrer

For trapping them put the traps in place without bait and not set so they can get used to them and not see them as a danger.

Charliebull

eircom box, frequent point of entry

keep going with trap you will get them, but you need to find their run so you might need to move trap

also if wife moves out for a while isnt that an added bonus

my3cents

A mate works in pest control and one thing he always checks is the bird feeder out in the garden. It never ceases to amaze him how many people will keep filling bird feeders and bird tables and leaving a nice pile of food below them for rats to feed on. In many cases just putting less on the bird table and keeping it clean under the feeders gets the rat problem sorted.

djmc

Put nutella on mouse traps under beds behind lockers hot press etc.
Female cats work well if not over feed the males are useless
Poison will work but they will leave a rotten smell when they die under floor etc.
Walk around house and seal any openings no matter how small they will fit through the smallest opening under garage doors etc. 1 cm hole will do them and they will squeeze through.
They love nutella works better than cheese or anything else I have tried.

ABEasy

Hey guys OP here, thanks for all the replies & suggestions, appreciate them.

I was onto rentokill earlier today, nearly got sick with what they were charging!! So ordered a box of 3kg pellet type poison from the online crowd and a load of keyed bait boxes ( have 2 toddlers in the house so prefer having a keyed box bolted down than the pipe & wire option) it ended up a fraction of rentokill. The pellets seem small so shouldn't be taken away & stored by the rats like the blocks!

I have a live catch & a bear trap type trap indoors baited with bacon rinds so hopefully they will work, had another look around the house this morning and no gaps visible so hopefully this guy came in with the last as someone suggested!! I know I run the risk of them dying indoors and smelling with the poison but I'm gonna go with it anyway!

I've ordered 12 boxes (overkill I know but once you have them you have them), what distance would everyone recommend to have them apart from each other? Was planning 1 at from of house, 1 at back & 10 along the ditches around the house. Would 10 be enough for a 1 acre site? How often should you bait them & should you leave water around (read they need water to die).

Finally anyone know do they die in their nests or in the open, worried the dog will eat one & get secondary poison.

Thanks again!!

my3cents

OP Rats are around for a reason, because there is food so have you found and removed what they were eating? They won't bother much with the rat poison if they have another source of food.

ABEasy

my3cents wrote: »

OP Rats are around for a reason, because there is food so have you found and removed what they were eating? They won't bother much with the rat poison if they have another source of food.

Good point 3cents, have been feeding the dog outside, will have to start feeding him inside, apart from that I live 200-300 meters from stables that would have 10-12 horses.

my3cents

ABEasy wrote: »

Good point 3cents, have been feeding the dog outside, will have to start feeding him inside, apart from that I live 200-300 meters from stables that would have 10-12 horses.

They are probably feeding and breeding well down there so this is going to be an on going battle. Have a word with them at the stables and see if they can't tidy their act up. If they don't have decent rat proof storage for feed there isn't much that can be done but they may have done something without realising to encourage the rats. They might have even been putting down poison themselves and just forgotten to keep up with it.

sorcha2015

Just wondering how u got on with catching them, I'v one in my attic and it has come down the cavity in the wall and chewed into my kitchen behind my units, it won't go near the snap traps, put glue boards behind units and outside the hole it has made in my kickboard, and when I got up this morning it had a small brown paper bag it must of stolen from d kitchen floor over the glue trap so it can run over it, left a camcorder out on fri night because we have never seen it, just heard scratching over the last 2wks den last weekend the hole appeared in kickboard my dog sleeps in the kitchen so every time it comes out she chases it back in, I'm about to go off my head

thegreatgonzo

djmc wrote: »

Female cats work well if not over feed the males are useless

Don't agree with this. We've mostly had neutered males over the years and they've been very good. I keep them well fed and dosed because they need to be fit to hunt. The fella I have now catches something every other day and that's just what we can see.

rangler1

We always have a lot of meal in bags around during the winter, and always have vermin problems, we have changed to this product this year, and it seems to have wiped out everything, I have two dogs here and they don't seem to touch the dead rats/mice or the poison.
http://www.lambertspestcontrol.ie/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=13&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=71&vmcchk=1&Itemid=71
might be worth atry
They're also very helpful with advice

djmc

thegreatgonzo wrote: »

Don't agree with this. We've mostly had neutered males over the years and they've been very good. I keep them well fed and dosed because they need to be fit to hunt. The fella I have now catches something every other day and that's just what we can see.

I said if not over fed not starved
If they get fed every time they come to the door they will not hunt for food just for fun.
IMO female cats are better hunter's and have a lot more kills than males and you will see the same with there bigger cousins in a pride of lions in aficra.
The males can and do kill but not as much as females maybe if neutered it might help as they would be less time after females trying to breed.
The only thing I have seen male cats here kill are kittens. http://www.differencebetween.net/science/nature/difference-between-male-and-female-cats/

Farmer Pudsey

rangler1 wrote: »

We always have a lot of meal in bags around during the winter, and always have vermin problems, we have changed to this product this year, and it seems to have wiped out everything, I have two dogs here and they don't seem to touch the dead rats/mice or the poison.
http://www.lambertspestcontrol.ie/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=13&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=71&vmcchk=1&Itemid=71
might be worth atry
They're also very helpful with advice

It is always important to change bait products not just the product but the active ingriedient. This prevents rats building up immunity to the poisoning agent. . Sounds like you had an immunity issue.

ABEasy

OP here, just a quick update, looks like they are nearly gone! I started setting the bait boxes with neosorexa pellets, changing the bait every 2-3 days. At first all stations had some movement, after a week only 2 had bait being taken both the furthest from the house. Down to just the one now which is cleared out each time!! I'm going to keep them topped up throughout the year now, happy to leave the stations down as well as I was able to secure them to the ground and they are key locked so the kids shouldn't be able to get at them!

The fella in the house has disappeared, I'm guessing he went out for water had some poision and died outside, no sign of him inside and thankfully no nasty smells.

Plus I have practically a full tub of poison left, bought a 3kg box of pellet type pision (€30) and have used feck all of it, should be able to keep them at bay for the next few years with the amount I have left! Overall happy with result, would recommend anyone else reading this to DIY it rather than calling rentokil or the likes, worked out at less than half of their call out charge to buy the pision and bait boxes!!

Farmer Pudsey

ABEasy wrote: »

OP here, just a quick update, looks like they are nearly gone! I started setting the bait boxes with neosorexa pellets, changing the bait every 2-3 days. At first all stations had some movement, after a week only 2 had bait being taken both the furthest from the house. Down to just the one now which is cleared out each time!! I'm going to keep them topped up throughout the year now, happy to leave the stations down as well as I was able to secure them to the ground and they are key locked so the kids shouldn't be able to get at them!

The fella in the house has disappeared, I'm guessing he went out for water had some poision and died outside, no sign of him inside and thankfully no nasty smells.

Plus I have practically a full tub of poison left, bought a 3kg box of pellet type pision (€30) and have used feck all of it, should be able to keep them at bay for the next few years with the amount I have left! Overall happy with result, would recommend anyone else reading this to DIY it rather than calling rentokil or the likes, worked out at less than half of their call out charge to buy the pision and bait boxes!!

Bait in boxes may go stale aftera while make sure to check and get rid of any stale wet bait. Not sure if I would keep using same bait that long. Change bait (ingredient) at least every two years or if you have issue with rats surviving with bait points filled.

frazzledhome

Another important point is that once rats have stopped eating ie dead remove all poison for 3 wks and start again. The young will be dead but the adolescent rats may still be in the nest. Wait 3 wks and hit it again rats gone.

It's important not to have poison down 365, so a guy that specialises in their removal told me.

Another tip is they don't venture out in snow. If you get snow on the ground for a few days they'll come out ravenous and if poison is there they'll be dead very quickly

Dickie10

would putting poison grains such as the pied piper stuff i see the father buying be a good job mixed in paste like paste ? i heard rats go mad for paste like bait

red bull

Best product for indoors is a RAT ZAP its an electric bait box as soon a the rodent enters the box 1000 volts fries it. Works on batteries or mains

mahoney_j

red bull wrote: »

Best product for indoors is a RAT ZAP its an electric bait box as soon a the rodent enters the box 1000 volts fries it. Works on batteries or mains

I like the sound of that !!!!,where can it be got

red bull

Got in the local HOMEVALUE hardware store, I think Arrabawn stock them or at least used to. Very effective gadget use peanut butter as bait. No smell !!

bpmurray

Are you certain you have rats in the house? It's far more likely to be mice. Try setting a few mouse traps around the kitchen (or wherever there's food). As mentioned above, peanut butter is good, although I've found that a lump from the Lidl Christmas chocolate/marzipan bars is pretty amazing.

We had 2 very noisy scratchy pitter-pattering field mice a few weeks ago, which I caught in humane traps using that bait & released down the road near a less popular neighbour :-)

L1985

I second that zap trap we got it here it's brilliant.you can get it online we got ours on amazon I think.get the rat one as it does both-just keep an eye on the batteries and it's brilliant. Reading through this Nutella would prob work but we used peanut butter as well. No messing with bait if you have dogs or kids-it's a lot better.

f140

L1985 wrote: »

I second that zap trap we got it here it's brilliant.you can get it online we got ours on amazon I think.get the rat one as it does both-just keep an eye on the batteries and it's brilliant. Reading through this Nutella would prob work but we used peanut butter as well. No messing with bait if you have dogs or kids-it's a lot better.

do the rat zaps do the whole house or just a single room?

L1985

The one we got is just a box and isn't off the mains it's off batteries. It's handy cause you can move it around to different points we got three rats in less then a week with it-don't know how many mice. We were having no luck with the bait. We have a v good cat now do so don't need it as much.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B000FII3YW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1446844065&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=electronic+rat+trap&dpPl=1&dpID=41bz+Wuz2TL&ref=plSrch
This is the one we got actually it's v good.