Rat Problem: Rats Smarter than Me

@livinglava,

I have been considering a trap that appears in several variations on Youtube. I think I have enough on hand to make one. The real problem is how to bait it. The rats avoid everything I do.

1 Reply

@edgarblythe,

edgarblythe wrote:

I have been considering a trap that appears in several variations on Youtube. I think I have enough on hand to make one. The real problem is how to bait it. The rats avoid everything I do.

Peanut butter or if you don't keep PB on hand, anything that the rats like to eat. If they are invading your house and food, then it should be obvious what is attracting them.

1 Reply

@livinglava,

They were eating our cracked corn and dry dog food. Since I killed one using that as bait, they no longer respond to it. Lately I got them eating raw peanuts, but they avoid the traps with peanuts in them. They are suspicious of everything I try so far. The live trap is next.

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@edgarblythe,

if all else fails, try those pest repellers.

they are dog safe...

1 Reply

@edgarblythe,

edgarblythe wrote:

They were eating our cracked corn and dry dog food. Since I killed one using that as bait, they no longer respond to it. Lately I got them eating raw peanuts, but they avoid the traps with peanuts in them. They are suspicious of everything I try so far. The live trap is next.

How many are there? Also, how are your floors? I know it would be a lot of work, but you might consider pulling up all your carpet or other floor covering and adding a layer of plywood to the floor. Also you should store all food in plastic containers.

Mammals make nests in protected/insulated spots for the winter. So the warmth may be all they are wanting by invading your house. You could build a little dog-house type structure in your yard and make it cozy with lots of old clothes/blankets and they would maybe make nests in there instead of in your house.

Of course, you don't want to have a rat breeding hotel next to your house, so you would then want to still use the live trap or other methods to reduce their population once they are living in the dog house.

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@Region Philbis,

I will get some. I haven't found the brands you named is the reason I haven't tried it as yet. I watched some videos about them and they showed that some of those things do nothing at all and some do put out a signal. I don't want to get some that don't work.

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@livinglava,

It's a mobile home. I put down a plywood floor and covered it with vinyl throughout. But it's an old home and there are lots of ways for varments to make trouble. I had a squirrel problem until I put cement siding. I had a possum problem until I redid all the skirting. But rats are coming here now, of a kind hard to control. I think they migrated this way when the land was stripped bare of a remnant of pine forest at the head of the subdivision.

1 Reply

@edgarblythe,

edgarblythe wrote:

It's a mobile home. I put down a plywood floor and covered it with vinyl throughout. But it's an old home and there are lots of ways for varments to make trouble. I had a squirrel problem until I put cement siding. I had a possum problem until I redid all the skirting. But rats are coming here now, of a kind hard to control. I think they migrated this way when the land was stripped bare of a remnant of pine forest at the head of the subdivision.

If squirrels aren't getting in, how are rats? Are they maybe coming through the plumbing? You could go around filling any little gaps you find with clay/plumber's putty.

1 Reply

@livinglava,

I know where they get in, but so far they get around my patches. I have some hardware screen to put there today.

1 Reply

@edgarblythe,

edgarblythe wrote:

I know where they get in, but so far they get around my patches. I have some hardware screen to put there today.

That's a good idea.

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Nothing new to report. I have monitored the dog's stool ever since the lids came up missing. No plastic evident. And he seems normal in every way.

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@edgarblythe,

I forgot you said they were plastic......if he chewed them he probably demolished them...maybe he stashed the pieces somewhere around the house. If he did eat them, hopefully you will see it in his stool, but if he gets sluggish and stops eating it may have gotten stuck in his gut. Hopefully he didn't swallow any of it...my Vizlas have eaten so many foreign objects it's become a joke at the Vet. I'm becoming conflicted...I don't want Rocky to be harmed and I'm starting to feel some affection for that clever rat....I'm rooting for Rocky.

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@glitterbag,

There may just be one rat. When I killed one with a trap, I began smelling something I judged to be a litter of dead little ones. Dead because the mother that cared for them was dead. I used bleach to kill the odor.

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@edgarblythe,

I know, I know I know we can't allow rats or mice to live in our homes....when Mr.G'bag and I got our first house we started to hear scrapping in the walls. We set out traps and killed 4 rats, it sucks both ways..you have to get rid of them...but crap

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@glitterbag,

It hurts me to kill something so smart. I bet this brand of rat is as smart as a dog. But this house ain't big enough for all of us.

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@edgarblythe,

I agree. It has to be done. I would worry if it were fun.

Like Glitterbag, I'm coming to have a lot of respect, and even respect for that rat.

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@edgarblythe,

edgarblythe wrote:

It hurts me to kill something so smart. I bet this brand of rat is as smart as a dog. But this house ain't big enough for all of us.

Then don't kill it/them. Use live-traps and take them somewhere you can set them free where they won't be able to find their way back to a building.

1 Reply

@livinglava,

This part of the country is too settled to let them go. I would just be shifting the burden to others. I have the makings of a live trap, however. Just haven't put it together. So far they avoid everything I try.

1 Reply

@edgarblythe,

edgarblythe wrote:

This part of the country is too settled to let them go. I would just be shifting the burden to others. I have the makings of a live trap, however. Just haven't put it together. So far they avoid everything I try.

There's not a nearby forest, game preserve, conservation area, etc. where you could release them?

If it's far from where you live, you could get a cage and keep them in there until you have enough to justify going out to the conservation area.

Of course, unless they are really smart, they're going to get eaten by predators out there pretty quickly.

But at least then you don't have to feel guilty about killing them yourself.

1 Reply

@livinglava,

They are steadily commercializing and suburbanizing everything. I can't go driving off looking, since I don't know what they are going to bulldoze next.

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Rat Problem: Rats Smarter than Me

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