Rats

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ynneb

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What's the most effective rat poison? Our YO puts pink granules down which the rats eat but it seems to have little or no effect. We have spoken to him about it but nothing has been done. There are droppings all over the yard and we are getting worried about the health aspect, particularly as there are children around. We (well most of us) keep our feed in bins and don't leave anything around which would attract them. We have suggested bringing a couple of cats in but YO says they don't want cats on the yard. What about electronic repellents - do they work? Nothing too expensive as it looks as if we will have to pay for it ourselves!
 
We are on a farm and have been having terrible rat problems - never seen anything like it before. We keep poison baits, but have to be careful as we have cats as well, but they are too frightened of the big rats although they sometimes catch baby ones.

The most effective thing has been traps, lots and lots of them - cage traps which has the advantage of being able to release something unwanted like a bird, or mega mouse-traps made for rats. You can get them f rom an agricultural merchant and the Council will give you advice about getting rid of rats. The most effective bait is what they are used to eating, so for us it is wheat.

I don't know about electronic repellents, maybe the Council Environmental Health department could advise.

You are right to be worried about health issues. Rats leave a urine trail all the time, so where ever they have been is contaminated. Weil's disease is the danger. Also rats have to keep chewing as their teeth grow all the time, so they chew on anything, including electric cables with the danger of fire.
 
We have some blue powder which we put down the holes or where the rats run. It sticks to the fur and then when they clean it off they eat the poison. As always we have to be careful that we cover it so the dogs don't find it. Our traps haven't caught anything.
 
The 'Rat man' from Environmental health will come out if you call them - although I am not sure if they will charge since it is a business.

Rats give me nightmares literally so i'll do anything to keep them out!
 
Our YO had the council out to the yard a couple of weeks ago as we had a few rats. Poison put down and instructions to keep everything (rugs, saddlecloths, anything soft they could use as beds) in sealed plastic or metal boxes. You do have to make sure they can't get to any of your food - this means don't leave feeds made up either as our rats were eating the pre-made breakfasts during the night. Also make sure that you turn your banks in beds every day! I've known people not turn their banks for weeks, then go to do it and there's a rat's nest in them....
crazy.gif
 
Try another poison, rats tends to get immune against a poison that have been used at the same location for some time. Most (but not all) cats doesn't hunt rats, once they've grown above a certain size.

The electric repellents I've heard about in Sweden, haven't worked that well. Actually, I've heard about one which made the human neighbours complain, because they somehow could hear or sense it (though the manufacturer said it wouldn't be possible, test result showed that some humans very well could be disturbed by it). Another one, didn't scare the rats, but the cats, that at least could have taken some of the younger ones, left. A third one did work a little in the beginning, but the rats that first left, soon came back, and the ones that didn't leave, soon wasn't bothered at all. A fourth one didn't repel anything, except maybe on the one paying for the electricity.


from Sweden.
 
Can't remember the name of the stuff, but its something that when the rats eat it, it stops their blood clotting and they effectively drown in their own blood.
Sounds awful but because we have terriers, we can't use anything that will poision them if they eat the dying rat.

Edited to say, i have just remembered, its called Warfarin
 
We live in the fens and have a constant battle against rats. A rat can have 15-20 babies in a single litter so their number increase rapidly once they have a hold. It is important to keep a check on them the whole time, not just when you see one. They are nervous animals - not surprisingly as we are all out to kill them - and if you see one there are probably a score more lurking. We have several bait boxes around the boundaries of our property and keep them topped up the whole year round.
 
the best way to get rid of rat is get yourself a terrier or some form a hunting dog..

rat traps and poisons are abso useless
 
In all the 4 years i have been on our yard i have never seen a single rat or any droppings one reason CATS i could not tell you how many we have on the yard i would say well into the 20's YO does not like cats as such and they dont live in her house.
They have nice warm accomodation to sleep in though and are fed by YO.
 
I have 5 cats and a Jack Russell the only rats I ever see are dead ones
The local farm used to have a problem but dont really store straw there any more and when disturbed they do move on so always vigilant. Rats spoil your feed, pee on your hay and could potentially make horses ill, they can bite through haylage wrappers causing bales to be thrown away
It is worth some expense to get rid of them by getting professionals in OR
Ask your local hunt or shoot(if you have one) if the terriers would like a few hours 'fun' which is preferable to putting poison out
 
We use poison blocks from the agricultural merchants, we seem to have made a difference with them. We have seen an improvement since we haven't had poultry.
 
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Ask your local hunt or shoot(if you have one) if the terriers would like a few hours 'fun' which is preferable to putting poison out

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That sounds like a very good idea
 
I have a contract with a local Pest Controll company. They come in regularly to replemish the bate and keep the poisons book up to date (this is now a Health and Safety requirement because of the poisons used). This keeps the rat population on my yard under control. All bait is in sealed boxes so that dogs and cats can not get at them but the rats can. If the bait is being left in open containers then this is an accident waiting to happen and also strictly illegal.
 
A big thank you for all the interesting replies. A friend on the yard has a brother who breeds ferrets and apparently if you walk a ferret around on a lead it will leave a scent which frightens rats so much they pack up and leave pretty quickly! Question is though do they stay away? Thanks again for the very useful advice.
 
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