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We are over run with the things at our place , the good news is we have a pellet gun that helps control the problem quite well .
the really great news is the lil lizard doing double time in the dog water bowl without a chance to get out ,was spotted as I wandered on rat patrol under the big trees looking for the target rats.
Save a lizard , NOT a squirrel is me .....:Rofl
p.s. AND so what if our pellet gun is pink , it whacks em just as good as any other color pellet gun .....:crazy:
squirrel stew, mighty tasty Outlaw
Squirrel n gravy with fresh buttermilk biscuits! Yum
Swiss squirrel is a might fine dish also. Sept. 15 is open day for us and a great way to scout for the Oct. 1 deer bow opener.
I been helping some folks with a rat infestation. I have air rifles that would absolutely slap death on them. The rats. Anyways I have chosen to pursue something other than sniping. I take a cardboard box, with low sides, and I fashion/secure one of those sticky type traps in the middle. Then sprinkle sunflower seeds on either side. Makes victim collection simple. I get lots of vermin. The ones that don't get caught get accustomed to the seeds. One day they will get in the box. The big rats move in on the trapped ones, to eat them. Those are your clever rats you never get a shot at. You should hear them squirm and writhe when you approach the box. Big eyes.
Poison leaves decomposing rats in places unreachable, but noticeable. LOL
For fun, YouTube search - “rats mink dog”. Amazing stuff.
I enjoy your wonderful contributions. Thank you. Hope your critters get some rain soon.
All manner of traps on Youtube that a fella can make himself. On of my favorites is the teeter tooter trap.
some folks have no clue how smart actual rats can be , we also have a problem with them here and them things as I have known for a while can be super tricky to ketch once they get some age on them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Micanopy
I once raised a chinese hooded rat that was meant to be snake food until my girlfriend at the time got all weepy and mad that I was gunna kill the barely weaned rat and made me keep it as a pet .
let me tell you this about that rat , she was stupid ridiculous smart ,she stayed in a big aquarium with no top and only ventured out when called and would greet me daily by licking me on my cheek while she sat on my shoulder after she ran up my arm !
trained her to do all sorts of tricks and it amazed me at how fast she learned and remembered what she was taught .
so never ever underestimate a rat and it's ability to outsmart ya ....
we got a big one in our garage that is slick as a weasel , let me find the image where she , JUST BARELY touches the big rat sticky trap with one hand and leaves a faint imprint of it on it , smart one for sure .....:banghead
much like you mentioned poison is an issue with dogs and chickens close by ,so we use other methods to keep the flea ridden rats and squirrels at bay .
and mind you this , we dont just ketch rat in the big sticky traps meant for rats , just saying .....:Rofl
some of these sure do a tremendous job on sqeaking when you approach is the word
They are very smart. They become trap shy very quickly. Then you have to dream up another way to get them.
one thing for positive , me and the one that left this here big rat print on the trap, been going at the you don't belong here for a few weeks now , that thing is determined to outsmart me and sometimes it gets on my nerves .....
this one is sure enough a super slick one ....just saying ....:banghead
yep , the large older rats rarely get in traps here , we ketch lots of half grown rats , but rarely if ever ketch the whopper ones . I tried to ketch a big one behind the garage in the wood pile for a long time with several different traps and it aint having none of it .....:bangheadQuote:
Originally Posted by DockShootinJack
Used a little dust or flour . Smart
One thing for sure. A chicken coop has all the things a rat holds near and dear for a home. Shelter, food and water. What more could you ask for
The teeter totter trap thingies work very well with mice. Rats are a little brighter than that and when they set that foot out there, and the trap is flimsy, they back right off.
In West Palm Beach I rented a home under two huge mango trees. There were rats everywhere. Huge rats. I dug a hole in the yard and put a five gallon bucket in it. Then filled it halfway with water and layered some dry dog food on top. Each morning I was dumping out about five large rats. They smell the food, gather at the edge and then lean down in to get the food. They fall in and because the water is too deep to stand, and the sides too high and slick to climb, they must swim. Well rats get tired just like us. Once full, the other rats could climb atop their buddies, eat their fill and then jump out. I always felt that those rats would come back, and i suspect they did.
Tried to get the neighborhood to adapt to killing our rats, but nope they preferred living with rats. It was amazing to see that rats lived in trees, especially palm trees. Anyways the danger with ignoring a rat infestation goes beyond them chewing things. They actually dribble urine as they move around in your garage and this will leave a very distinct smell. Their feces are also bad news in that they will generate bacterial growths that can make you sick from inhalation of spores. I can recognize these smells very easily.
At some point I will have to set out some poison packs. A varied multi tiered approach is best. The packs are meant to be chewed into and consumed. The poison looks like sprinkles we put on cupcakes. I will set these about once I finish trapping. They are no good for killing large smart rats, but the babies of those rats will fall easy prey. Most times the poisoned rat will attempt to get to a water source as it makes them very thirsty. Sometimes they just curl up in their nest and tough it out until death overcomes them.
Rats are cannibals and will eat smaller rats if they can catch them. I have seen this and it is enough to make you puke. Man I hate rats. Chicken can make a great enticement for a large intelligent rat.
When squirrel season rolls around I like to sit out back on the deck with an air rifle and take long shots at the tree rats. I always said shave their tail and you will behold what they truly are. Rats that live in trees. An intact male squirrel is territorial. He will raid the nests and chew the gonads off of any baby male squirrels. They do this to limit competition for does when they grow up. Many times the squirrels we get are males without testes. It is because of this behavior. They inbreed like crazy and suffer from bot fly infestations. Fleas and ticks of course also.
One of the coolest traps was created for use in the Australian Outback. It uses a CO2 cartridge. A small box design with a hole in the bottom. Inside is some bait. The rat smells the bait, sees the hole, inserts his head to take a peak and WHAMO. The CO2 cartridge drives a striker and smacks him in the head. Then the dead rat falls to the ground leaving the trap free and open, ready to go for the next curious rat to come along. They say they work great but they do cost a bit more than I wish to spend. It would be a possibility for someone’s garage if all else fails. Rats aren’t smart enough to guess the trick to that trap. LOL
I have seen those co2 powered traps. They seem very effective
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ketchn
My wife would have a stroke if she found this.
:Rofl mine wasn't pleased about it for sure :RoflQuote:
Originally Posted by BuckeyeCrappie
nothing creeps me out like a big rat , got into it with one when I was 4 years old , me and my cat cornered it in the garage in a turned over dry paint can , it sure didnt end well ,thought I would help the cat ketch it and ended up getting bit bad right thru my thumb ....
then the party really got going ,dad chased it all over the garage till he killed it and then drove it to A&M to get it tested for rabies,while my nanny who was a nurse had me out in the middle of the yard spinning in circles with my bit hand out like a wing trying to bleed my rat bite out !
since that time nothing quite creeps me out like a big rat ,just saying :banghead
so just trust me Micanopy on this subject , you and I might hate them with a vengeance , but in my case it goes beyond that even further after the lil kid gets bit by the big rat episode ......:Rofl
You can use glow in the dark chalk or chalk only visible under a black light to find entry/exit points…ask me how I know. :Rofl
sadly all our chickens went to my grandsons place in the country this last weekend , as stated food water and a hide and rats will be there , wife kept saying the chickens were eating some of the eggs , me thinks it wasn't the chickens :bangheadQuote:
Originally Posted by DockShootinJack
like Micanopy said the dang things will climb like a squirrel , we see them in trees sometimes and I watched one run from me across the roof of my house one night a week ago :bangheadQuote:
Originally Posted by BuckeyeCrappie
Chickens will eat their own eggs. Read somewhere it’s cause they are lacking something in their diet. :dono
this is true , oyster shell is sometimes given to them to cure it possibly ?Quote:
Originally Posted by BuckeyeCrappie
but it is way easier to put the birds to pasture on the farm and blame the DANG rats ......:Rofl
We supplement ours with oyster shell. Our chickens are like pets…plus we like the eggs and keep the neighbors in eggs.
We used to have a source for local farm raised eggs but no longer. Store bought eggs just aren't the same.
I thought New York was the only place with rat problems. Had an encounter with a huge rat in the Philippines that was pretty scary back in the 70s. Tree rats are tough but not scary.
Mine get oyster shell as well. Not much out there will pass up the opportunity to eat eggs when they have the chance.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ketchn
seen a herd one time behind a beer store when we snuck back there to go tinkle and I MEAN a herd , it was in the big D back around 1980 and I aint never seen that many rats in my life in one place at the same time , it was just not EVEN real I tell ya ....probably over a hundred inside a cyclone cage full of empty beer cases....the entire inside of it at around 8 foot tall was crawling with them !Quote:
Originally Posted by MCG1
made that there movie Willard seem like a kiddy show .....:Rofl
Funny scary. Like those stupid horror movies. Willard came to my mind before I got to the bottom of your post!