OMG rat in the yard!

Dizzykizzy

Dizzykizzy

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Stupid I know but I am shaking like a leaf!
Dogs caught it but it wasn't dead, just blood everywhere and one of the dogs was sick?? I hit it with a spade but I don't think it was dead still Oh I hate the thought of them out there though I suppose I knew they were.
Rang the council and waiting for a call back. Aaaarrggghhhh.
 
Last winter I was mucking out to find a squished one in my bed!! The pony who's stable it was, was a chunky welsh C and very spooky so we think he spooked and squished it!!
Horrible things rats are - we need a jack russell up our yard!!
 
They will be every where around horses I'm afraid - its a fact of life but at least we don't have to see them very often - I found one in my water bucket a while ago and it made my skin crawl ! Yuck yuck yuck !
 
get some cats!!! we have 4 yard cats and no sign of rats. we have mice but the cats catch roughly 4 a day. They brought back their first rat last week but i think that was from the farm next door where they are wintering their cows.
 
I had a dead rat in my water bucket yesterday so I know how you feel.I don't mind them,nor do I mind mice and know that where there is a warm bed and a good source of food you are going to get rats and mice. I felt physically sick though at the thought of a dead rat in my horses water.I disinfected and cleaned his bucket very thoroughly afterwards eugh!
 
We do have a cat but the rat was nearly as big as her!
Just seen another one and my daughter, who was mucking out has absolutely had hysterics.
All my feed is in freezers so they can't get it but I guess the cold has driven them out, uuurrggghhh.
 
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One of our labradors has a pet one from Ikea - very realistic - especially the tail. He left it in the garden shed the other day - nearly had a heart attack.

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ps Mum- stop wasting time on HHO and do some work!!!
 
OP, no-one has put rat poison down at the yard, have they? i'm just a bit suspicious because you said 1 of the dogs was sick... if in doubt, take dog(s) to vets.
1 of my jrts killed a fairly big rat and gulp the whole lot down when 1 of the others approached to take it off her, and she wasn't sick.
rats on the yard are a fact of life with horses, unless you have loads of traps down etc. 'orrible things.
 
Unfortunately, where there is feed and warmth there will be rats!! They are horrible creatures but a fact of life.

Our dogs catch them and we have three feral cats which keep the population down, I rarely see rats or mice now, thank God!!
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Finding one in the water bucket fills me with dread, after my experience with "Bob" the rat, I thought it's tail was a piece of straw!!! Aggggggghhhhhh!!!!
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Be careful if you put poison down and have dogs or cats
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Our dogs don't eat the big ones, they just kill and drop them, but the pinkies, ummmm yum yum!! They crunch those, it makes my skin crawl!!!
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all our rats, when we get them are bigger than our rather small yard cat!

we use eradirat which is corn which basically makes the rats inside pop after consumption, in a bait box, and I normally coat it in oil to make it more tempting. but is pet safe

We also keep any spare feed/bags etc in the conservatory in the house rather than in the barn though they did eat a dustbin once

have found 2 in waterbuckets.
 
Rats are part of our lives althiugh most people dont know this. Wherever you are, even at this moment, there is a rat no more than 20 metres away from you. Rats are much maligned but in fact are highly intelligent and extremely clean in their personal hygene. I have had them in the past as pets and they were lovely-much more interesting than a rabbit or GP. Rats are creautures like all others and it is silly to be frightened of them. It is also very difficult to pick up a disease from them.
 
We pretty much daily have to remove v large squished rats from the stables and slightly smaller ones from the water buckets. The horses all have different ways of eradicating them from lying on them to finishing them off a bit more violently!!
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One clearly doesnt like sharing his space with a dead rodent as more often than not he throws them out over the door!!
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We also have 4 dogs and 3 cats who do their fair share of ratting. Dread to think how many are squatting in the barns but as everyone says, unfortunately where there are horses there will always be monster rats...guess they are just trying to survive (but would be nice if they could cohabit quitetly without being seen or running across your feet!!
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Well W-B, I admire you but sorry, I am scared of them! Probably irrational but there you are.

We haven't put poison down yet but I am waiting for the pest control man to bring some boxes, they told me they are safe for the dogs and cat.
Our neighbours have had a rat problem and I think they have been putting poison down, my dog was sick straightaway so I am hoping it wasn't cos the rat was poisoned. She seems ok.
 
Remember that for every rat you see there are 20 out of sight! I hate them but they are oart and parcel of country living. When the crops are harvested the rats move into the gardens...and they love places where horses and chickens mean a regular supply of food. Sadly they do spread disease, in particular Weil's disease in humans and Leptospirosis in dogs. We maintain a number of poison 'bait boxes' around the boundaries of our property but there are always rats about and they terrify me. None in the house, not yet anyway. My friend had the fright of her life when she opened her bread bin and a huge rat leapt out. I think that would have been the end of me!
 
a few years ago when i had my mare, i opened the feed bin to get a scoop of chaff and it seemed to be moving- on closer inspection it was a litter of baby mice on top layer of chaff! i threw it all on the muck heap. >shivers remembering it
 
When my mum and aunty used to have horses when they were younger my grandpa was always out there in the stables catching the big giant rats.
Their spaniel Suzie was a complete wuss so never managed to catch any so My grandpa used to shoot them with his gun :O

No-Nonsense grandpa true to form!
 
A few years ago, I was trying to get a scoop of chaff out of my bin when I hit something hard. I looked only to see what looked like a big stick poking out, so without thinking ( and having the slight nark that there was a twig in my newly filled up bin
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) I grabbed and tugged

It suddenly slid out of my hand before I realised I had hold of a rats tail, which had chewed through the bottom of the hard plastic bin
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Luckily I dont mind rats or mice, although I was darn hacked off that I had to get new chaff & a metal bin!
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My old yard was always infested with rats despite at least 4 feral cats, two terriers, and lots of rat poison down all the time
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You almost got used to going into the feed room and them disapearing out of sight under the pallets
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- obviously most of us were meticulous about keeping our feed in bins etc, but some of the students used to leave out made-up feeds with no covering then give it to their horses the next morning
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New yard is brilliant and has no obvious rats at all (although I dont doubt they are still there!) although I did find one in Bob's water bucket the other morning
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Good job I am not squeamish
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I know there will be a lot more than one and I always knew they were there....I can live with that IF they don't show themselves to me <shudder!>
Blinking pest control man never rang back, dunno if it is worth paying £25 a month for someone who will come monthly to maintain the boxes of bait.......
Me and daughter did the stables together tonight, I don't think either of us wanted to be on our own out there. Wussy!!
 
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Rats are part of our lives althiugh most people dont know this. Wherever you are, even at this moment, there is a rat no more than 20 metres away from you. Rats are much maligned but in fact are highly intelligent and extremely clean in their personal hygene. I have had them in the past as pets and they were lovely-much more interesting than a rabbit or GP. Rats are creautures like all others and it is silly to be frightened of them. It is also very difficult to pick up a disease from them.

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I have to agree with you 100%
It's not the rats you have to be scared off, but certain people around you are more deadly.
 
on a yard i used to be on, i opened my feed bin to fid 10 baby rats, i was on the phone to my friend at the time poor girl was deafened by me screaming lol. my lovely YO at the time sorted them out for me. they make my skin crawl. i used to work at a petshop and it took me well over a year to even go near the pet rats.
 
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