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Rodent Problem

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  • 04-12-2019 10:11am
    #1
    Fitter08
    Registered Users Posts: 10 ✭


    I am new to Boards.ie but felt I needed assistance in this topic.Unfortunately for me I live near a Stream and whilst this may be picturesque it causes Rodent problems.I have tried many approaches to help with this issue.Recently I saw an ad on Adverts for a Metal Rat/Mice Bait Station for sale.I proceeded to buy the Station and the results so far seem positive.The Station was very reasonable and I felt worth giving it a try.Every week I simply add Storm Pellets and these Pellets seem to disappear fast.I am wondering what other contributors use to get rid of the problem.


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    #2
    sweetie
    Registered Users Posts: 9,791 ✭✭✭sweetie


    A Cat - Our old cat died earlier this year. Within a few weeks we had a rat in the house (building site nearby.) Caught the bugger and then got a new cat. No issues since.


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    #3
    D3V!L
    Registered Users Posts: 2,923 ✭✭✭D3V!L


    Do you have a dog? Small ones are great for rats also.


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    #4
    gifted
    Registered Users Posts: 4,863 ✭✭✭gifted


    sweetie wrote: »
    A Cat - Our old cat died earlier this year. Within a few weeks we had a rat in the house (building site nearby.) Caught the bugger and then got a new cat. No issues since.

    Good call, we don't have a cat ourselves but a couple of neighbours have a cat each and they walk around the garden walls at night...no sign of mice or rats thank God.


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    #5
    Fitter08
    Registered Users Posts: 10 ✭Fitter08


    D3V!L wrote: »
    Do you have a dog? Small ones are great for rats also.

    Yes I have a dog that is why I tried the Bait Station so the dog would not be able to access the Poison.I reckon my dog would run the other way if it saw a rat much like its owner!!


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    #6
    peasant
    Registered Users Posts: 17,819 ✭✭✭✭peasant


    Be careful with poisoning rats when you have pets.
    A poisoned, dying rat on its last legs (or a dead one) might become a target for even a normally timid dog...and rat poison unfortunately also kills dogs, whether ingested directly or via the rat that's eaten it.

    You can make your own "poison" with plaster of paris or interior filler. You mix this with corn flour, sugar and other stuff they like to eat. They don't mind the taste of plaster as they are used to chewing through walls.

    I've used this myself and they happily tuck right into it.
    Eating this may or may not kill them, but it will certainly give them a very sore belly for a few days.
    Rats avoid feeding (again) from places where they have had a bad experience, so even if you don't kill them, you can drive them away.

    see here for a recipe

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezvoOu7hP_E


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    #7
    denismc
    Registered Users Posts: 1,410 ✭✭✭denismc


    The thing about bait stations is you don't know what is taking the bait, I once found a dead shrew in one of mine, another time I saw a small bird go into one. And like the other poster said these dead or dying animals get picked up by other animals.
    You can't beat a good old fashioned rat trap.


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    #8
    _Brian
    Registered Users Posts: 18,487 ✭✭✭✭_Brian


    A cat is the answer, or better two cats.

    We keep poultry near the house and only for the cats we’d have problems.

    I gave up on poison bait years ago, it broke my heart to find a dead barn owl near the yard that most likely died from eating poisoned rodents.


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    #9
    lordgoat
    Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 11,358 Mod ✭✭✭✭lordgoat


    peasant wrote: »
    Be careful with poisoning rats when you have pets.
    A poisoned, dying rat on its last legs (or a dead one) might become a target for even a normally timid dog...and rat poison unfortunately also kills dogs, whether ingested directly or via the rat that's eaten it.

    You can make your own "poison" with plaster of paris or interior filler. You mix this with corn flour, sugar and other stuff they like to eat. They don't mind the taste of plaster as they are used to chewing through walls.

    I've used this myself and they happily tuck right into it.
    Eating this may or may not kill them, but it will certainly give them a very sore belly for a few days.
    Rats avoid feeding (again) from places where they have had a bad experience, so even if you don't kill them, you can drive them away.

    see here for a recipe

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezvoOu7hP_E

    Didn't have a big enough spoonful.

    This is truly a ****ing horrible thing to do. There are far more humane ways to deal with rodents.


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    #10
    John_Rambo
    Registered Users Posts: 9,534 ✭✭✭John_Rambo


    I had a cat when I lived close to a railway line and a canal and she was ****e!! Caught the odd mouse and played with it, didn't really dent the rat population.

    But. Terriers. Catch - shake - kill - & move on to the next kill.
    Unbelievably efficient, clean & ruthless.

    I lived in the North East inner city Dublin area where small lurchers, Patterdales, Irish Wheatons, Staffordshire bulls, English bulls, Kerry blues & Cairn terriers were very popular family dogs. They'd be lent out to each others yards and gardens to kill rats. In the bigger gardens a terrier and a small lurcher would be a lethal combo.

    I had a rat problem that was sorted by my neighbours two Wheatons in two days!

    All these dogs were washed after killing and lived in the houses, sometimes in the bedroom with the kids! I ended up with a Staffordshire Bull Terrier and she was a dream dog to live with.


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    #11
    PsychoPete
    Registered Users Posts: 8,638 ✭✭✭PsychoPete


    Had a rat problem in the yard for ages, nothing was getting rid of them. So decided to get a cat after a week there wasn't a rat in sight


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    #12
    peasant
    Registered Users Posts: 17,819 ✭✭✭✭peasant


    lordgoat wrote: »
    Didn't have a big enough spoonful.

    This is truly a ****ing horrible thing to do. There are far more humane ways to deal with rodents.

    I'm always open to using more humane methods that work...let's hear some.


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    #13
    strandroad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,676 ✭✭✭strandroad


    peasant wrote: »
    I'm always open to using more humane methods that work...let's hear some.

    Plugging all the holes into the house and removing any edible material from the garden is what works. Otherwise the OP will be killing rodents their entire life as the new ones keep coming in. We had immediate success with plug in electric devices (indoor and outdoor) too, but the research on them is patchy so perhaps we got lucky. No rodents of any kind since we performed the above...


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    #14
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    When I moved here just over 2 years ago, the place had been deserted five years. No rodents inside as there is no way they can chew through aluminium etc.

    I had three cats then and they were swift to find the rat-run. These endure for generations. For weeks they were killing rats and leaving them for me to find. One was the size of a small cat. :eek:

    Since then ( six cats now) only ever one dead rat. But my oldest biggest cat spends many hours lurking by the run each day.

    Rats are canny and will not stay or come where there are cats. Seen this before in other houses. One got killed and the rest vanished.


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    #15
    vicwatson
    Registered Users Posts: 28,403 ✭✭✭✭vicwatson


    People advocating cats as the only solution are wrong. I’ve cats around my garden from neighbours yet still have had mice and rats. They aren’t the be all and end all. A multi approach solution is the best way forward.


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    #16
    corks finest
    Registered Users Posts: 8,636 ✭✭✭corks finest


    Graces7 wrote: »
    When I moved here just over 2 years ago, the place had been deserted five years. No rodents inside as there is no way they can chew through aluminium etc.

    I had three cats then and they were swift to find the rat-run. These endure for generations. For weeks they were killing rats and leaving them for me to find. One was the size of a small cat. :eek:

    Since then ( six cats now) only ever one dead rat. But my oldest biggest cat spends many hours lurking by the run each day.

    Rats are canny and will not stay or come where there are cats. Seen this before in other houses. One got killed and the rest vanished.

    FFS how many rats did they kill? Must have been a serious problem


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    #17
    careless sherpa
    Closed Accounts Posts: 373 ✭✭careless sherpa


    vicwatson wrote: »
    People advocating cats as the only solution are wrong. I’ve cats around my garden from neighbours yet still have had mice and rats. They aren’t the be all and end all. A multi approach solution is the best way forward.

    Really depends on the cat. Some are ferocious exterminators, others just don't bother


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    #18
    Aboppy1
    Registered Users Posts: 14 ✭Aboppy1


    Compost heaps or bins can be a big attraction for rodents. Find someone with a ferret. Cats from shelters are usually good rodent killers because they have lived wild. Don't get a kitten and don't keep it in the house. Feed it well once a day. Also tidy up any areas near the house and rake up leaves and keep lawns cut otherwise there's to much cover for rodents and the cats won't see them. I live in a cottage surrounded by barley fields.


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    #19
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    corks finest wrote: »
    FFS how many rats did they kill? Must have been a serious problem

    Lost count and as I kept stealing the bodies they stopped letting me at them!

    This is a deeply rural place with few predators for rodents as they cleared the island of cats when they got overrun a few years ago ; all mine are neutered,
    There is one fox around and we think a badger. Two local cats and my five.

    But the rats of course bred. The biggest one was small cat sized; shook me as I did not know they came so big.

    Sorted now.. . But my biggest cat likes to lurk by the old rat run. Does a wonderful job.

    It does not get classed as a problem in rural areas when as here the place is empty. They never got into the house and there was no food anywhere; was just their route.


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    #20
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    Some good advice ; some bad! Mine are indoors'outdoors as they choose. They are pure pets but keen ratters, and are well fed twice a day

    As I type, I am abed with three of my cats with me keeping me warm. Later they will ask to go out on patrol. And be fed before they do

    Predatory instinct is not created by hunger. And no need to tidy etc; mine hunt best in long grass... cats work by smell and sound.

    I am currently feeding a cat here who was neglected on the theory that a well fed cat will not catch rats. They need good food.


    Aboppy1 wrote: »
    Compost heaps or bins can be a big attraction for rodents. Find someone with a ferret. Cats from shelters are usually good rodent killers because they have lived wild. Don't get a kitten and don't keep it in the house. Feed it well once a day. Also tidy up any areas near the house and rake up leaves and keep lawns cut otherwise there's to much cover for rodents and the cats won't see them. I live in a cottage surrounded by barley fields.


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    #21
    kylith
    Registered Users Posts: 17,736 ✭✭✭✭kylith


    I border onto fields, feed birds, and have started a compost pile and we definitely have a rat or two. My dog is keen, but the rat is through the hedge and gone by the time he gets out the back door. I really don't want to put down poison for the reasons above so I'm a bit stumped.

    I could stop the compost and bird feeding, but one is handy (and saving money) and the other brings a lot of joy


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    #22
    corks finest
    Registered Users Posts: 8,636 ✭✭✭corks finest


    kylith wrote: »
    I border onto fields, feed birds, and have started a compost pile and we definitely have a rat or two. My dog is keen, but the rat is through the hedge and gone by the time he gets out the back door. I really don't want to put down poison for the reasons above so I'm a bit stumped.

    I could stop the compost and bird feeding, but one is handy (and saving money) and the other brings a lot of joy

    Stop the feeders, rodent problem will get bigger,buy a good wide angled binoculars problem solved,I miss my finches etc but rather that than rodents


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