Dealing with rats!

digzy · 16-12-2019 12:47am #1

Live in a country house which has a number of sheds. One has proper doors/windows, which we use to store the Xmas decorations and the previous owner used to accommodate a snooker table. Another one houses our oil tank. I leave the ‘pink’ poison blocks out to control vermin in that shed and it’s nibbled.
Rats damaged the Xmas decorations in the ‘better’ shed. So I decided to put more poison there using a clothes hanger for it. It’s disappearing at a faster rate there!

I don’t have any animal feeds/ waste food so I dunno what they live on but the sheds are providing shelter.

So, ought I persevere with the ‘pink poison’ blocks, get different poison, get a cat or call in a professional pest control firm?

I’m hoping I can get advice from a fellow ‘country’ dweller with sheds not used too often.

CPTM · 16-12-2019 12:58am

From someone who lived where the buses don't go for more than 20 years, the best solution we found was to have a few outdoor cats. They mind their own business, clean enough, cheap enough, and the mere smell of them put the rats/mice off. We inherited them from a distant neighbour from down the road after they moved and we never had a mouse again.

alps · 16-12-2019 1:08am

We used to do the rat bait boxes and 4"sewer pipes along the rat runs etc. but never had control on rats until we got a few cats.

I wouldn't be fond of bringing anything from an outhouse in home (bar firewood). I'd be inclined to keep decorations inside or in the attic. Just too many nasties in outhouses..

If you're using bait, I'd recommend you get proper bait boxes or put down inside pipes where it is completely inaccessible by other animals or kids.

Still waters · 16-12-2019 1:10am

Poisoning rats nearly always kills more than rats, try to keep them out rather than laying down poison, birds will eat certain types of poison or a rat delirious from being poisoned is easy hunting for a fox or bird and killing whatever eats it also

Birdnuts · 16-12-2019 1:44am

Still waters wrote: »

Poisoning rats nearly always kills more than rats, try to keep them out rather than laying down poison, birds will eat certain types of poison or a rat delirious from being poisoned is easy hunting for a fox or bird and killing whatever eats it also

This why I use traps in tunnels instead - also avoids the risk of the rats dieing in the likes of caviety walls and stinking the place out for weeks!!

148multi · 16-12-2019 7:27am

There is a few things to consider, rats will store the bait if they can, that leads to bigger problems. Cats are a great and cheap method, a healthy rat is scared of a cat, but a rat with lepto is attracted to cats, the only place lepto can reproduce is in a cats gut. The old and the very young would be most at risk. There is a great rat trap that kills by mechanical means. Check out the good nature rat trap, wildlife can feed off the kill safely.

_Brian · 16-12-2019 8:14am

We stopped using poison here after finding a dead barn owl that had probably fed on a contaminated mouse.

I was gutted.

Got a few cats and problem solved.

wrangler · 16-12-2019 8:34am

148multi wrote: »

There is a few things to consider, rats will store the bait if they can, that leads to bigger problems. Cats are a great and cheap method, a healthy rat is scared of a cat, but a rat with lepto is attracted to cats, the only place lepto can reproduce is in a cats gut. The old and the very young would be most at risk. There is a great rat trap that kills by mechanical means. Check out the good nature rat trap, wildlife can feed off the kill safely.

We give two feeds of poison, they bring it off so we don't give them anything for a week or ten days then, very easy keep them fed after that, still only replenishing bait points once a week

digzy · 16-12-2019 9:10am

Cheers lads. Thanks for replies. I didn’t mention that I’ve 2 dogs. Alsatian and a lab. Would they send a cat ‘running for the hills’.
Would you just get a cat and let it roam wherever? Regarding feeding them, do you call em like a dog ?

yosemitesam1 · 16-12-2019 9:45am

Birdnuts wrote: »

This why I use traps in tunnels instead - also avoids the risk of the rats dieing in the likes of caviety walls and stinking the place out for weeks!!

+1 on the traps. Well sited and with a little bit of dog food catches a lot of rats here.
Generally leave the rats die in it as it seems to make the trap smell more attractive

Berserker5 · 16-12-2019 9:48am

yosemitesam1 wrote: »

+1 on the traps. Well sited and with a little bit of dog food catches a lot of rats here.
Generally leave the rats die in it as it seems to make the trap smell more attractive

Wouldn't they breed faster than you'd be trapping them

Berserker5 · 16-12-2019 9:55am

The DIY traps with the large barrels and water in the bottom were supposed to be good for catching lots of them

You have a ramp up and something over the barrell causing them to fall in

yosemitesam1 · 16-12-2019 12:03pm

Berserker5 wrote: »

Wouldn't they breed faster than you'd be trapping them

Would probably catch about 40 per year around the house. Don't think poison would be any more effective and don't want cats around

Bass Reeves · 16-12-2019 12:39pm

digzy wrote: »

Live in a country house which has a number of sheds. One has proper doors/windows, which we use to store the Xmas decorations and the previous owner used to accommodate a snooker table. Another one houses our oil tank. I leave the ‘pink’ poison blocks out to control vermin in that shed and it’s nibbled.
Rats damaged the Xmas decorations in the ‘better’ shed. So I decided to put more poison there using a clothes hanger for it. It’s disappearing at a faster rate there!

I don’t have any animal feeds/ waste food so I dunno what they live on but the sheds are providing shelter.

So, ought I persevere with the ‘pink poison’ blocks, get different poison, get a cat or call in a professional pest control firm?

I’m hoping I can get advice from a fellow ‘country’ dweller with sheds not used too often.

Controling rats is all about not letting them in. While loose bait (grains) is very effective it can get damp and unpalatable very fast. Poison bocks are very effective but must be tied throught with a wire to prevent them storing bait. Change active ingredient in the bait every time you but a new bucket of blocks.

Lay bait in pipes 3'' diameter is ideal I use hollow plastic tubes from silage plastic roll with tying wire through the blocks. Lay along outside walls of sheds as rats run along walls etc so will use these as cover and feel safe inside them.

If you poison a rat when he first arrives in your yard he will return to his original habitat to die. If it's a female any young she has will die there as well. This is why it is important to put out rat bait on September before rats start to migrate into yards and sheds. They are killed before they find a new habitat on your sheds or walls.

Thargor · 16-12-2019 1:16pm

Won't letting cats run wild on farmland kill way more birds than poison?

Welding Rod · 16-12-2019 1:31pm

Thargor wrote: »

Won't letting cats run wild on farmland kill way more birds than poison?

That’s a point. We have two cats here. One in particular spends a fair bit of time in and around the sheds. I’ve only seen one rat so far this year. I stopped putting down poison a few years ago, in favour of having a few cats around. Also a Jack Russell here. I think he is a bit of help also in the battle.

However, the cats do kill a lot of birds I’m afraid...
I mean a lot....

wrangler · 16-12-2019 1:35pm

Thargor wrote: »

Won't letting cats run wild on farmland kill way more birds than poison?

so so true
We've a lovely lot of small birds here now since the neighbours got rid of the cats, The cats never left an egg in their nests all summer, neighbours used to let them breed wild, often had up to twenty, there wouldn't be a birds nest left in fifty acres

Berserker5 · 16-12-2019 1:39pm

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Controling rats is all about not letting them in. While loose bait (grains) is very effective it can get damp and unpalatable very fast. Poison bocks are very effective but must be tied throught with a wire to prevent them storing bait. Change active ingredient in the bait every time you but a new bucket of blocks.

Lay bait in pipes 3'' diameter is ideal I use hollow plastic tubes from silage plastic roll with tying wire through the blocks. Lay along outside walls of sheds as rats run along walls etc so will use these as cover and feel safe inside them.

If you poison a rat when he first arrives in your yard he will return to his original habitat to die. If it's a female any young she has will die there as well. This is why it is important to put out rat bait on September before rats start to migrate into yards and sheds. They are killed before they find a new habitat on your sheds or walls.

You can buy loose bait in small packet packets that stay dry until eaten

CPTM · 16-12-2019 3:24pm

digzy wrote: »

Cheers lads. Thanks for replies. I didn’t mention that I’ve 2 dogs. Alsatian and a lab. Would they send a cat ‘running for the hills’.
Would you just get a cat and let it roam wherever? Regarding feeding them, do you call em like a dog ?

We had 2 house dogs who had the run of the garden whenever they liked. The cats seemed to outsmart them though. Always on roofs or tucked away. We had no issues with that. Try to make a secure place the cats can sleep, especially in the area like the barn where you think the rat issue is the worst.

TooOldBoots · 16-12-2019 3:30pm

Cats are over rated when it comes to rats. A lot of cats will not bother when there's easier wildlife like young birds in nest to get at.
Terrier X Dogs like the Jack Russel or the fox terrier are far better at routing out the rats. They will also double up as house security too

Albert Johnson · 16-12-2019 3:32pm

wrangler wrote: »

so so true
We've a lovely lot of small birds here now since the neighbours got rid of the cats, The cats never left an egg in their nests all summer, neighbours used to let them breed wild, often had up to twenty, there wouldn't be a birds nest left in fifty acres

+1 on this. The countryside is over run with cat's locally and they've decimated a lot of the smaller mammal and bird species. I'm assuming cat's were introduced to this country by the Romans or similar and weren't a native animal although there now "naturalized". A few neutered cat's might help with rodent control although they'd want to be feral and hungry imo, a well fed domesticated cat won't have much interest in a rat that's liable to fight back. Some well placed poison and a jack Russel or similar might be as effective. Having said that if there's a ready source of food available then rodents are going to be an ongoing issue so anything palatable will need to be removed or placed in rodent proof storage.

Berserker5 · 16-12-2019 3:38pm

Doesn't matter about the cat being well-fed or hungry

Just depends on the cats instincts

Albert Johnson · 16-12-2019 4:05pm

Berserker5 wrote: »

Doesn't matter about the cat being well-fed or hungry

Just depends on the cats instincts

It probably does to a degree although I still would argue that a hungry feral cat would have more motivation to take on a rat compared to his fireside dwelling brethren who gets his nutritional needs courtesy of "Whiskas". Instinct will of course play a part, the better half has 2 Jack Russell's, both fed and treated the same in every way. One is a super rat catcher and the other would run away at first sight of a rat.

iamtony · 16-12-2019 4:15pm

I read a source of food for rats is slugs. Poison the slugs and you may help the rat problem.

decky1 · 16-12-2019 4:19pm

anyone around you that does a bit of hunting , get them over with their terriers could clear some of them.

Jb1989 · 16-12-2019 4:42pm

Albert Johnson wrote: »

It probably does to a degree although I still would argue that a hungry feral cat would have more motivation to take on a rat compared to his fireside dwelling brethren who gets his nutritional needs courtesy of "Whiskas". Instinct will of course play a part, the better half has 2 Jack Russell's, both fed and treated the same in every way. One is a super rat catcher and the other would run away at first sight of a rat.

As ever there's an opposite, tradition here is to keep the cats well fed, as a full happy cat is better humour to hunt,
You Would not be happy to go to the mart all day working, and only get a plate of bread and milk at bedtime, just hard to know, as poster above said, instinct is key.

Albert Johnson · 16-12-2019 6:19pm

Jb1989 wrote: »

As ever there's an opposite, tradition here is to keep the cats well fed, as a full happy cat is better humour to hunt,
You Would not be happy to go to the mart all day working, and only get a plate of bread and milk at bedtime, just hard to know, as poster above said, instinct is key.

It would be a very mundane world if everybody had the same mindset although you're quite possibly correct with the above. I was of the opinion that if there's that much available to hunt then the poor cat won't have any reason to be hungry but perhaps I'm wrong. For anyone worrying about the plight of any poor moggy at the Johnston residence the truth is I detest cat's and therefore don't keep them. Between the better half and myself there's currently 5 dogs and thankfully very few rats.

Berserker5 · 16-12-2019 6:23pm

Albert Johnson wrote: »

It would be a very mundane world if everybody had the same mindset although you're quite possibly correct with the above. I was of the opinion that if there's that much available to hunt then the poor cat won't have any reason to be hungry but perhaps I'm wrong. For anyone worrying about the plight of any poor moggy at the Johnston residence the truth is I detest cat's and therefore don't keep them. Between the better half and myself there's currently 5 dogs and thankfully very few rats.

The cure is worse than the disease if.you.have to get cats in
Hate.them

Still waters · 16-12-2019 6:24pm

iamtony wrote: »

I read a source of food for rats is slugs. Poison the slugs and you may help the rat problem.

I've loads of slugs and 3 cats, so maybe that's an indicator that I've no rats although the cats turn up at the door with 1 or 2 a month still

16-12-2019 8:41pm

These are expensive but look effective and no secondary poisoning

https://goodnaturetraps.co.uk/shop/a24-rat-trap-with-counter/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIo_Sw5_W65gIVFODtCh0VjAkkEAAYASAAEgI6YvD_BwE

Straffan1979 · 16-12-2019 8:51pm

digzy wrote: »

Cheers lads. Thanks for replies. I didn’t mention that I’ve 2 dogs. Alsatian and a lab. Would they send a cat ‘running for the hills’.
Would you just get a cat and let it roam wherever? Regarding feeding them, do you call em like a dog ?

BEWARE...A half dead or poisoned rat will kill your dogs very quickly if they were to bite into him- the poison in the blood of the rat seems to act very readily when transferred to a dog; I’ve seen a dog getting a terrible death from it like this-

Tbh I’ve found having dogs invariably attracts rats- your best option is to build a small rectangular box from blocks along a wall or the dog run- put a pipe into it at each end and have a lid on it- put 2 of the plastic type large black rat traps inside at the end of each pipe with a small drop of bacon fat dripped on the trigger - leave it set all year round and you’ll be catching and disposing of them whenever they arrive- the dead poisoned rat is risky big time for your dogs and other animals.

this trap will work better the more ‘naturalised’ it becomes with moss etc growing around it over the years.

forgottenhills · 16-12-2019 8:59pm

iamtony wrote: »

I read a source of food for rats is slugs. Poison the slugs and you may help the rat problem.

What a terrible idea. What other wildlife that eat slugs are you also going to poison if you do that?

dePeatrick · 16-12-2019 9:13pm

I had same problem, got a cat and problem gone, I try to balance out the bird kill by feeding birds every winter. I got sick and tired of putting down poison and no matter how much I put down still did not seem to solve the problem.

wrangler · 16-12-2019 9:19pm

Straffan1979 wrote: »

BEWARE...A half dead or poisoned rat will kill your dogs very quickly if they were to bite into him- the poison in the blood of the rat seems to act very readily when transferred to a dog; I’ve seen a dog getting a terrible death from it like this-

Tbh I’ve found having dogs invariably attracts rats- your best option is to build a small rectangular box from blocks along a wall or the dog run- put a pipe into it at each end and have a lid on it- put 2 of the plastic type large black rat traps inside at the end of each pipe with a small drop of bacon fat dripped on the trigger - leave it set all year round and you’ll be catching and disposing of them whenever they arrive- the dead poisoned rat is risky big time for your dogs and other animals.

this trap will work better the more ‘naturalised’ it becomes with moss etc growing around it over the years.

I've saved my dog twice this year after she took poison, she's 11 years old,.
It cost €350 each time to save her
As if that wasn't bad enough I had to take a full bait box from her in the last two weeks

16-12-2019 9:24pm

Cats are much better at catching mice than they are at catching rats.

_Brian · 16-12-2019 9:36pm

Thargor wrote: »

Won't letting cats run wild on farmland kill way more birds than poison?

They really just patrol the farmyard rather than the whole farm so it’s not much of a problem.

Doctors room ghost · 17-12-2019 2:34am

The best job I find for old ratty is the luna timber rat trap with the picture of the cats on it.
A good dab of aldi crunchy peanut butter on it and you will have ratty in no time.
Work 4 traps at the time and set them around 5 in the evening.check them around bed time and remove any dead rat
Fire them over the hedge for a fox or a magpie to eat.
Trap them hard for a fortnight and then when things slow down do week on week off.
And put the traps where the dog won’t put his foot.

Jb1989 · 17-12-2019 2:52am

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

The best job I find for old ratty is the luna timber rat trap with the picture of the cats on it.
A good dab of aldi crunchy peanut butter on it and you will have ratty in no time.
Work 4 traps at the time and set them around 5 in the evening.check them around bed time and remove any dead rat
Fire them over the hedge for a fox or a magpie to eat.
Trap them hard for a fortnight and then when things slow down do week on week off.
And put the traps where the dog won’t put his foot.

Am I the only one with a slight phobia of rats? I hate looking at them and would find it hard to open a trap with a dead one inside, very little scares me, but I hate the sight of rats, don't mind knowing there about, but hate haveing eye contact with them. Mice aren't near as bad to me, I think it's the big long tail on the rat that turns my stomach.

Tileman · 17-12-2019 10:46am

Jb1989 wrote: »

Am I the only one with a slight phobia of rats? I hate looking at them and would find it hard to open a trap with a dead one inside, very little scares me, but I hate the sight of rats, don't mind knowing there about, but hate haveing eye contact with them. Mice aren't near as bad to me, I think it's the big long tail on the rat that turns my stomach.

Same as. Not much turns me queasy but those ****ers do.

wrangler · 17-12-2019 10:49am

Tileman wrote: »

Same as. Not much turns me queasy but those ****ers do.

At least with the poison you never see them again

whisky_galore · 17-12-2019 11:10am

Tried trapping before with success once put in the right places and now with three cats on patrol, haven't seen a rat nor a mouse since, bar dead ones.
Have put away the traps now that the cats are doing such a good job, the two females are crackers for mousing.

Thought about dogs, but they're needier than cats and need attention, I can't stand dogs being left to their own devices all day by their owners, there's two across the road and all they do is bark their heads off, owners aren't arsed. If you cant look after a dog properly, don't get one, it's that simple.
My female cats are neutered so there won't be batches upon batches of surplus kittens.

Poison causes other problems and they become resistant to it anyway. Had rats and mice dying inside the walls of the dwelling house and stinking when we used it before. Would never go back using it.

AntrimGlens · 17-12-2019 11:23am

Jb1989 wrote: »

Am I the only one with a slight phobia of rats? I hate looking at them and would find it hard to open a trap with a dead one inside, very little scares me, but I hate the sight of rats, don't mind knowing there about, but hate haveing eye contact with them. Mice aren't near as bad to me, I think it's the big long tail on the rat that turns my stomach.

I got two pigs during the summer for fattening, put them in a field adjacent to the house, baited under their ark and thought everything was hunky dory. Fast forward to three weeks ago and i saw about a dozen rat holes and runs where the rats were going to the pigs trough. Stuck the head torch on one night and counted at least ten of the feckers. Now I can handle snakes, spiders, grizzly bears, crocodiles or any living thing except rats so I near ran for the hills.

When I was a student working in England I had to clean out the mobile grain dryer, opened the slats and two rats ran out up my arm and over my shoulder. I hated them before that but that gave me a massive phobia about them, so I can barely build up the courage to open the bait boxes I have down to refill them.

Have moved the pigs inside now and I see the rats have followed them but I have five concrete bait boxes filled regularly (by my father)

and I'll wipe the fookers out.

The problem is that you can't buy any more poison than 300g at a time unless you have undertaken training in rodent control at a cost of £70 to get the certificate.

Even writing this gives me the heebie jeebies. :eek::eek:

patsy_mccabe · 17-12-2019 11:25am

I'm putting down poison once a week, bit by bit. Thinking is, they will eat it better that way, rather than just hoard it.
The cattle shed has cavity blocks and they have created runs inside them. You can get the smell of the dead ones now, from inside the wall.
I keep the meal in plastic barrells and they are rodent proof, but the small bit of meal the cattle spill sends numbers mad every winter.

Jurgen Klopp · 17-12-2019 11:29am

Any chance there's any foxes passing through your land/premises?

Had a problem with rats coming from a river in the field and a fox passed through and started leaving leftovers where it's little path was through the field.

Rats gone within a few weeks and nothing in the last couple years

Or if you know anyone with a pet ferrret I've found scattering there bedding around teh shed will clear them out too. Think the scent of the ferret frightens them

iamtony · 17-12-2019 11:46am

forgottenhills wrote: »

What a terrible idea. What other wildlife that eat slugs are you also going to poison if you do that?

I've never actually used slug tox but its common.

Ok maybe slug beer can traps might work better.

simx · 17-12-2019 12:12pm

Was a bit late getting going this year with bait and seen loads of them around the yard at night time so went he’ll for leather with bait boxes and blocks, felt intakes we’re still slow so put a dab of peanut butter on blocks for a few weeks, 6-12 blocks every 24hr’s I was refilling for about 3 weeks

Bass Reeves · 17-12-2019 6:51pm

simx wrote: »

Was a bit late getting going this year with bait and seen loads of them around the yard at night time so went he’ll for leather with bait boxes and blocks, felt intakes we’re still slow so put a dab of peanut butter on blocks for a few weeks, 6-12 blocks every 24hr’s I was refilling for about 3 weeks

Werethe blocks fixed to something to prevent removal. What bait did you use

Doctors room ghost · 17-12-2019 7:47pm

Jb1989 wrote: »

Am I the only one with a slight phobia of rats? I hate looking at them and would find it hard to open a trap with a dead one inside, very little scares me, but I hate the sight of rats, don't mind knowing there about, but hate haveing eye contact with them. Mice aren't near as bad to me, I think it's the big long tail on the rat that turns my stomach.

No I’ve no bother with catching them.
I do get them in the timber Luna traps.release the spring then and drop them out.in over the hedge with him then and at least whatever eats him gets no poison.
Poison is too expensive anyway.
If you mind your traps they last years.

Melodeon · 17-12-2019 8:52pm

Terriers. That's all I'm saying, terriers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Pyu-Cj0gg

Bass Reeves · 17-12-2019 8:59pm

Melodeon wrote: »

Terriers. That's all I'm saying, terriers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Pyu-Cj0gg

If you have that many rats you are in deep deep deep deep.......sh!te.

They still have to be dug out for the terriers. Put in stone walls and old sheds and terriers are not the answer. Rats will not naturally come out out when terriers are around. terriers like taht have to be locked up at night as they will travel and attack sheep.

Good cats are a patience hunter. They will sit on top of a ditch hide behind a barrell or wheel and pounce when rats appear. Cats that have the instinct that are well fed hunt for the pleasure alone. They will kill for the fun of it alone.

Ard_MC · 17-12-2019 9:58pm

Albert Johnson wrote: »

It would be a very mundane world if everybody had the same mindset although you're quite possibly correct with the above. I was of the opinion that if there's that much available to hunt then the poor cat won't have any reason to be hungry but perhaps I'm wrong. For anyone worrying about the plight of any poor moggy at the Johnston residence the truth is I detest cat's and therefore don't keep them. Between the better half and myself there's currently 5 dogs and thankfully very few rats.

I had the same mindset as you. But anyway I have ended up with a neutered Tom cat. That has to get fed twice a day or I don't! And it's the best killing machine ever. Granted a few birds get it. Only problem is, he thinks it is great to drop his kill usually headless at the back door!

Dealing with rats!

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