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Dealing with rats!

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  • 16-12-2019 12:47am
    #1
    digzy
    Registered Users Posts: 3,049 ✭✭✭


    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.


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    #2
    CPTM
    Registered Users Posts: 1,300 ✭✭✭CPTM


    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.


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    #3
    alps
    Registered Users Posts: 4,941 ✭✭✭alps


    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.


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    #4
    Still waters
    Registered Users Posts: 1,166 ✭✭✭Still waters


    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


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    #5
    Birdnuts
    Registered Users Posts: 9,645 ✭✭✭Birdnuts


    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!!


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    #6
    148multi
    Registered Users Posts: 1,416 ✭✭✭148multi


    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.


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    #7
    _Brian
    Registered Users Posts: 18,493 ✭✭✭✭_Brian


    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.


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    #8
    wrangler
    Registered Users Posts: 11,066 ✭✭✭✭wrangler


    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


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    #9
    digzy
    Registered Users Posts: 3,049 ✭✭✭digzy


    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 ?


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    #10
    yosemitesam1
    Registered Users Posts: 2,946 ✭✭✭yosemitesam1


    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


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    #11
    Berserker5
    Closed Accounts Posts: 248 ✭✭Berserker5


    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


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    #12
    Berserker5
    Closed Accounts Posts: 248 ✭✭Berserker5


    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


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    #13
    yosemitesam1
    Registered Users Posts: 2,946 ✭✭✭yosemitesam1


    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


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    #14
    Bass Reeves
    Registered Users Posts: 18,207 ✭✭✭✭Bass Reeves


    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.

    Slava Ukrainii



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    #15
    Thargor
    Registered Users Posts: 17,881 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


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


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    #16
    Welding Rod
    Registered Users Posts: 244 ✭✭Welding Rod


    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....


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    #17
    wrangler
    Registered Users Posts: 11,066 ✭✭✭✭wrangler


    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


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    #18
    Berserker5
    Closed Accounts Posts: 248 ✭✭Berserker5


    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


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    #19
    CPTM
    Registered Users Posts: 1,300 ✭✭✭CPTM


    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.


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    #20
    TooOldBoots
    Closed Accounts Posts: 604 ✭✭✭TooOldBoots


    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


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    #21
    Albert Johnson
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 1,874 Mod ✭✭✭✭Albert Johnson


    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.


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    #22
    Berserker5
    Closed Accounts Posts: 248 ✭✭Berserker5


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

    Just depends on the cats instincts


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    #23
    Albert Johnson
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 1,874 Mod ✭✭✭✭Albert Johnson


    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.


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    #24
    iamtony
    Registered Users Posts: 3,801 ✭✭✭iamtony


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


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    #25
    decky1
    Registered Users Posts: 975 ✭✭✭decky1


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


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    #26
    Jb1989
    Registered Users Posts: 2,432 ✭✭✭Jb1989


    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.


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    #27
    Albert Johnson
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 1,874 Mod ✭✭✭✭Albert Johnson


    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.


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    #28
    Berserker5
    Closed Accounts Posts: 248 ✭✭Berserker5


    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


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    #29
    Still waters
    Registered Users Posts: 1,166 ✭✭✭Still waters


    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


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    #30
    49801
    Registered Users Posts: 1,844 ✭✭✭49801


    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


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    #31
    Straffan1979
    Registered Users Posts: 214 ✭✭Straffan1979


    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.


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