How to do I catch rats?

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happihorse

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I think we have a few rats on the yard and I need to get rid of them before they multiply and take over!

Any idea how to catch them - I have two cage traps down and the extra large snap traps but nothing! What bate would you use on the traps?

I can't use poison because of the horses and dogs about the place.
 
I was told by an old man that a way of catching rats was to put a smooth sided tub full of water (so they can't climb out again) in the barn surrounded by bales, then float bran on the top of the water so that it completely covers the water and looks solid. The rats go into the tub for the bran, can't get out again and drown.

When the old man (he's dead now, so I can't get more details!) was a boy, a local farmer used to pay a penny per tail for rats, and he used to shoot them or go ratting with his dog, until one day he heard of this trick and apparently wiped out an entire barnful of rats in one fell swoop. The farmer paid up for the bumper harvest of tails, but stopped the arrangement for good! I don't think that he'd bargained on having to pay out more than a couple of pennies a week!

We use a metal live trap bought from a farmers co-op - so that we don't inadvertenly kill a hedgehog.
 
Ditto the terrier. If you ask about you will probably be able to find someone with a good ratter who would be happy to come and reduce your rat populatioon.:)
 
Easier than a terrier (tho I have a great Border T bitch who never gives up until shes had her target), is a couple of feral stable cats from Cats Protection, the ones they havent been able to tame. They are quite happy to rehome them to suitable stables, you feed them once a day, they sleep on the hay and no more mice or rats! The only place I had to use the spring traps was in the feed room as thats shut so they cant get at the mice in there. Choc raisins works first night every time. both the above methods quick, no danger to other animals and effective.

Bucket of water method effective but I believe deemed cruel and I think now illegal. Quite how warfarin slow miserable death isnt just as 'cruel' is beyond me, but there we go!
 
Another vote for a small furry animal obsessed terrier. My Border is the neatest, quickest rat dispatcher I've seen and I've got lurchers - they're not a patch on him:D
 
Get a lurcher! Ours are all far better at rats than all the terriers we've ever had and we thought the terriers were good before then.
Echo things like Mars/Snickers, you want something gooey which won't fall off the trap when they grab it.
If you do use poison, then please, please put it somewhere safe like right inside a drainpipe so other animals can't get at it. If that's what kills the rats then please dispose of the bodies safely, preferably on a fire too as other animals can die from eating at them even if long shrivelled up.
 
defo get a good ratting dog- our doberman is an expert at killing rats!

the rats used to eat all of the poison we put down (variety of brands) but it never seemed to kill them!
 
our doberman is useless! He runs this way and that, ears flapping, poking his nose down holes but utterly ineffective; the only thing he has ever got was a poor nest of tiny baby mice. Hes all activity and no finesse! Poor lad.
 
Please, please, please make sure your dogs have been jabbed for Lepto before allowing them anywhere near a rat! I have lost 2 terriers in the past through lepto caused by rat-bites (jabs out of date) and it is a really unpleasant way for a dog to die.
 
Thank you all for your replies.

I do have a JRT who is extremely good at catching rats but we think they are nesting under the buildings so she can't get in there - I suppose a ferret might help!

I won't use bait because of the animals.

Good point about Lepto rangerover - my JRT is up to date with her boosters but I still try to keep her away from rats - she got bitten on her ear before and it didn't stop bleeding for ages!

I'm going to try Rolo's on the cage traps and some large spring traps and see how I get on!
 
I once read that a popular "old fashioned" way of getting rid of rats in rural America was to catch one and torture it to make it squeal. The theory was that the others heard the noise and packed their bags. Sounds far-fetched (and rather cruel, depending on how much you HATE rats) but lots of people then responded and said that it worked really well. Ooooohhh!
 
we have got a cat she is very good at killing rabbits and mice but never seen her with a rat. i think a terrier is the way to go or if you can find someone with a ferret we had a couple of old men come up with there ferrets and they were catching all sort of rodents!!
 
There's a charity that will provide you with feral cats. We have one at our yard & we regularly find 'presents' left just inside the barn for us to find....sometimes part eaten.

Additionally try & be tidy where the feeds are prepared & don't leave any food of any kind out otherwise you'll attract more. You certainly don't want that because they breed rapidly anyway.
 
ditto re feral cats... we found neutered females the best and they killed the younger rats so kept the population from getting out of control . it was no problem to get ferals, the charities are only too pleased for them to go to stables. i seem to remember them advertising in h & h recently....
 
You can buy a special rat bait feeder that other animals and chickens can't get into. It's a long tube (about 18") with a half width baffle a few inches in from each end. A smaller, clear tube enters the main tube at the top and you put the bait in there. It falls down into the main tube and is held in by the baffles. Rats can squeeze in and over the baffle to reach the bait. One of the problems of rat poison is that you have to keep putting it down as 1 belly full isn't always enough. So you can see via the clear tube, when it needs topping up. You do need to prop it securely with bricks or something near or in a regular "rat run". It is extremely effective! I kept finding dead rats all over the place. The gold Neo-thing bait is best - tiny blue granules. Can't remember the full name. Can't remember the name of the tube either but they sell them over the internet - someone on the Forum told me about them. If you're innovative with search words on Google, you should find it. Rat poison, chicken proof, should get you almost there.
 
Ditto feral cat. We had one & he got rid of the rats in no time at all, & then decimated the mouse population. That was no mean feat as the horses lived on my grandad's farm before they lived at home, so it was ideal for mice/rats.

We lost him in November & I got 2 'rescue' cats, a BSH & a Bengal which had only ever been kept indoors, so I was planning on getting another feral, but they have turned into prolific mousers & I haven't seen hide nor hair of a mousie for ages.
 
RobinHood said:
Fill a swing bin with water and put something tasty on the lid - works brilliantly.
Click to expand...

This is a successful method! Put peanut butter on the swing bin lid. Once the rat is in the bin, despatch it with an air-rifle (you don't need a licence for one and you can pic on up fairly cheaply).
I don't like the idea of filling the bin with water as some do as the rat will swim, swim and swim til it is exhausted and drowns - too much suffering for my liking!

Having said all this - I now rely on my friend to come up with his terrier - she LOVES ratting (will check about the lepto jab tho' thank you)
 
I have a little dog that love rats if you want to borrow him he will spend all day at it. he came to me a little while ago and spends all day looking for pests in my garden and would love to go on holiday to a place with vermin.:D
 
I think the idea of any animal drowning is a bit cruel to be honest, no matter how much annoyance said animal has caused you. I think the fairest way is to borrow a terrier; get a few ferrets up if you know an owner and where the main residences of the rats are; or get a couple of feral cats, at least this way death will be quick?
 
I use Neosorexa. Over the last 3 nights they have eaten loads. I fill up each morning, and next its gone. Well hidden away from cats/dogs. In a locked room, which is where their nest is under.
 
another vote for the yard / ferral cats

we have 7 yard cats - (all neutered through the help of cats protection) and never have a problem with rats or mice even though we live next door to a butchers and are surrounded by arable farmland

only nasty part is when they lay out their kills in a row right in front of my hay barn! :eek:
 
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