Serious replies only. I need advice on how to catch and kill rats

[ultimatebob]

Wow, a "serious" Mayne thread.

I'd recommend snap traps, personally, since they're more humane than glue traps and are reusable. Victor makes some nicer ones now that are easier to reset than the old pull bar ones.

 

[whm1974]

You do realize they breed way faster than your going to pick them all off with a pellet gun right?

The answer is poison and traps even then it can still be hard to get rid of the bastards.

Well that is what they do in the UK with both rats and rabbits. They actually let older teens with pellet guns shoot the damn things.

Shooting Rats – Rat Extermination Tips from RatControlTricks.com

The trick is to shoot as many as you can. But cleanup afterwards as the rotting bodies will stick up the place.

 

[PingSpike]

I've haven't used them on rats (Never had rats, thank god) but I use those electrical traps on rodents. They go off sometimes because of moisture but its the cleanest kill I've used. The rodent dies fast and then you just dump it in the garbage can and put more bait.

I've had mice run off with snap traps stuck on their heads. I started tying the traps to a brick so I didn't have to play "find the mouse" but even then smashing mice with a shovel before I go to work is not what I'm looking to do. Setting them up is to much work anyway. And who wants to remove dead mice from the traps, scrape off the gore and reload? Seems like a waste to toss them but that's what I always did.

Around here they stopped selling bags of poison pellets because people's pets were eating them. Now they have these useless poison blocks you put inside some kind of reloadable trap. The only reason I used poison was laziness. I just tore open a bunch of bags and tossed them around the problem areas then forgot about them so these things are pointless.

 

[HomerJS]

I had 2 mice in my house years ago. Humane traps didn't work. Went with 2/.99 Victors. Baited with peanut butter. Caught in 2 days.

 

[Tormac]

I live in a rural area, and have had rodent issues.

The home-made bucket o water trap is the best trap I have seen. The snap traps work well, if you make sure the bait is very securely connected. Glue traps work very well. Also a hungry, half wild, homeless cat is effective, but it can't be a well feed, good looking cat from the pet store, it has to be an angry beast that grew up on its own without human love, and now kills for the fun of it. Female cats of this variety are better than male cats, the male cats will eventually wander off in search of female cats. Shooting them with a pellet gun is fun, but if you are not staying up all night constantly popping them you are not as effective as a trap. Poison has not been very effective from my experience.

Edited to add (Although if you are going to leave pizza crusts laying around you are always going to have rodent issues. I hate to blame the victim here, but I mean, left over pizza will always attract rodents and teenage boys no matter what you do).

 

[SKORPI0]

 

[BoomerD]

My wife HAD a bolt of some very fine "wedding veil" mesh in her sewing stuff. I "appropriated" a piece of that for use with mice/rat traps. Take a chunk of apple, wrap it with the mesh to hold it together, poke a hole in it, feed a thin piece of string through the apple/mesh, tie that to the snap-trap trigger, put a thin coating of peanut butter on the mesh, set...and wait. Remove the dead rodent, add new peanut butter...repeat as necessary.
I usually nail/stake the trap down outside with a piece of wire so the bastages can's drag the trap away if they get caught but not killed instantly.

 

[whm1974]

You do realize they breed way faster than your going to pick them all off with a pellet gun right?

The answer is poison and traps even then it can still be hard to get rid of the bastards.

Here is a video of three guys shooting the damn vermin.

 

[randay]

build a bullet proof fence to keep them out

 

[whm1974]

build a bullet proof fence to keep them out

That won't work as that is still not rat proof. However there really no such thing as rat proofing since like mice, vermin will always ind ways in.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Get a cat, or a small dog.

Bonus, the smell of predatory animals keeps them away (or at least more away). We moved into a place that had a couple mice last fall. They were dead within two or three weeks, haven't seen anything since.

Addition if you have the scratch: replace pink/yellow garbage insulation with cellulose. Mice hate that shit.

 

[whm1974]

Get a cat, or a small dog.

Bonus, the smell of predatory animals keeps them away (or at least more away). We moved into a place that had a couple mice last fall. They were dead within two or three weeks, haven't seen anything since.

Addition if you have the scratch: replace pink/yellow garbage insulation with cellulose. Mice hate that shit.

A dog breed that is known for catching rats is one the best dogs to get. They don't eat much and will kill rats like there is no tomorrow.

 

[Mayne]

my bro has done all the traps...glues/springs...hasn't done the water bucket thing though. I feel real bad for him though...he just wants to hang out and have a beer or 2 and smoke some week in the garage and watch some shit on tv....but knowing there is rats around you would ruin my vibe bigtime.

 

[Mayne]

he's done the poisoin thing...crushes it up and mixes it in peanut butter...works for a few days but more keep coming...he lives by a ravine forested area...the news was saying the new highway that went up has driven them off their lands but that seems like bullshit.

 

[nakedfrog]

Get the rats high too.

 

[Mayne]

Just seems so fucked up...rats were never a problem a couple years ago...now they are every fucking where. just gives me chills thinking about it right now.

 

[whm1974]

Just seems so fucked up...rats were never a problem a couple years ago...now they are every fucking where. just gives me chills thinking about it right now.

Check the State and local laws in your area, but a pellet gun and some decent marksmanship should take care of the problem real nicely.

 

[Fir]

Get one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Victor-Electronic-Rat-Trap-Reusable/dp/B000LNX06C

They do actually work.
Poison works but if/when they die in a wall cavity, you're going to realize fast it was a mistake! The stench is bad, real bad and takes a while to clear out.

 

[skyking]

came in to post the bucket trap, first used it at my dad's place almost 40 years ago.

 

[whm1974]

Hey what is wrong with using a low powered pellet gun?

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

he's done the poisoin thing...crushes it up and mixes it in peanut butter...works for a few days but more keep coming...he lives by a ravine forested area...the news was saying the new highway that went up has driven them off their lands but that seems like bullshit.

I didn't know they were outside. Have him get an outdoor cat/barn cat. Just buy a cat, toss it outside, and assuming he doesn't live too close to a road, it'll clear the land of anything fuzzy.

 

[Tormac]

Mayne, if you guys are killing bunches of rats, but there are always more coming into the garage I think you need to attack the issue from the other side. There is something in the garage that is attracting the rats. You guys need to figure out why the rats are there, and secure it or get rid of it.

I used to have a bag of bird seed in my garage, and I found that was attracting mice. I had to lock that plastic bag of birdseed in a metal locker with a positive locking latch to finally get rid of the mice. I had sticky traps and other traps out, and my mean mouser cat would regularly bring me a dead mouse for the cat treat bounty I pay her, but it took locking up my stash of bird seed to finally fix the issue.

Is there a stash of food that is attracting the rats? Bird seed, left over y2k survival meals, or maybe a garbage can in the back with pizza crusts and old sub sandwiches that time forgot?

Maybe you guys need to clean out the garage, and then go to the shelter and adopt a pack of mean hungry looking rescue cats.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Get one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Victor-Electronic-Rat-Trap-Reusable/dp/B000LNX06C

They do actually work.
Poison works but if/when they die in a wall cavity, you're going to realize fast it was a mistake! The stench is bad, real bad and takes a while to clear out.

I have this exact trap and been using it for years. It's clean and easy to use. Throw some dog food or pb on one end and turn it on. I've rarely set it and found the bait to be gone without a victim. We had a mouse problem when we first moved to our house because we're on the edge of town so there's some ag fields. I haven't had to set it in a while because now there are a few cats roaming the neighborhood (including our backyard) so we haven't had a problem in the last year, but I do know it's killed 2 rats as well as countless mice in the past.

 

[HenryC]

I don't view it anymore cruel than having a cat hunt them

Except that a cat can't comprehend what suffering is, so has no qualms about doing it. They don't know any better.

Whereas people deliberately place a trap that should by all means, be outlawed in a civilized society, because is especially notorious for its level of unnecessary cruelty.

Quite frankly, with the wide variety of effective traps available on the market (as well as "how to" videos), there's absolutely no reason to use a torture device known as a glue trap. I couldn't give a rats how "effective" people might think it is; they're barbaric. I've seen birds, lizards, rodents on them with detached limbs, or eyes, etc due to their injuries trying to escape. It's a form of animal abuse. When you consider the average joe doesn't have the balls to dispatch the animal, they just throw it in the garbage, even more the reason why they shouldn't be used.

A well-baited and positioned snapping trap will work most of the time, that is generally my go-to when I've got a rodent problem. But please don't pretend that a glue trap is no worse than a cat. Fucking things should be prohibited.

 

[IronWing]

Except that a cat can't comprehend what suffering is, so has no qualms about doing it. They don't know any better.

Whereas people deliberately place a trap that should by all means, be outlawed in a civilized society, because is especially notorious for its level of unnecessary cruelty.

Quite frankly, with the wide variety of effective traps available on the market (as well as "how to" videos), there's absolutely no reason to use a torture device known as a glue trap. I couldn't give a rats how "effective" people might think it is; they're barbaric. I've seen birds, lizards, rodents on them with detached limbs, or eyes, etc due to their injuries trying to escape. It's a form of animal abuse. When you consider the average joe doesn't have the balls to dispatch the animal, they just throw it in the garbage, even more the reason why they shouldn't be used.

A well-baited and positioned snapping trap will work most of the time, that is generally my go-to when I've got a rodent problem. But please don't pretend that a glue trap is no worse than a cat. Fucking things should be prohibited.

I agree with this. I used glue traps once and am very remorseful for the suffering I inflicted on one hapless mouse. Never again.