Rats!

[spotty_pony]

yes it must’ve been scary for him being stuck. And your right, if they feel cornered they apparently go for your neck.
I kinda would’ve liked to feel his strength. Never thought of them being overly strong. But a brand new haynet!!! I would’ve been worried for it too ?
Hopefully his fright (and yours ) will make him think twice about going back in the stable.

omg! Your neck? That’s a horrible thought! Yes the power of those jaws when I tried to take the haynet off him. There was no way he was letting go, which is what pulled him out in the end. I am glad In a way as was wondering how I was going to get my stuff to muck out! Had been putting it off as long as possible. And yes I hope he thinks twice about going back but I’m not sure how clever they are? I certainly hope he thinks twice about trying to get through that hole again before I have a chance to block it up!!

 

[Andie02]

I think that there are rat catchers with terriers who deal with this sort of problem, it might be worth you googling to find out if there are any around your area. I see that you are E Midlands, which area are you? Not that I 'm coming to help with your rats lol.

 

[spotty_pony]

I think that there are rat catchers with terriers who deal with this sort of problem, it might be worth you googling to find out if there are any around your area. I see that you are E Midlands, which area are you? Not that I 'm coming to help with your rats lol.

? I am in Lincolnshire. Yes I think that may be the best way forward. I will look into it! There was a feral cat here when we moved in living in and around the outbuildings but she rehomed herself in the village when she saw the dogs! So that may be why I didn’t see any last winter.

 

[Shysmum]

My rats and mice commit suicide in the stable water buckets ? They also bite through the string on the hay bales ?‍. I would never use poison, it's a very cruel death. We've tried live trapping and sonic radars with no success. It's a work in progress...

 

[spotty_pony]

My rats and mice commit suicide in the stable water buckets ? They also bite through the string on the hay bales ?‍. I would never use poison, it's a very cruel death. We've tried live trapping and sonic radars with no success. It's a work in progress...

what is it (obviously apart from horse feed) that they actually eat? I am wondering what he was doing in there in the first place as there was nothing in there to eat really.

 

[Andie02]

what is it (obviously apart from horse feed) that they actually eat? I am wondering what he was doing in there in the first place as there was nothing in there to eat really.

Surveying the scenery and looking for somewhere to set up home !

 

[Quigleyandme]

I lived in a beautiful weatherboard Queenslander near a river in Australia. One winter the rats moved into the cavity between the walls. I would lie in bed at night listening to them scuttling and chewing the insulation and wiring knowing they were inches from my face and imagining them coming through the wall. The council sent the rat man out. He had all these tiny terriers with cabriole legs, hides covered in scars with torn ears, missing eyes and gouged noses but they clearly loved their work and they were very good at it. The rats were either dispatched or ”shot through” and never returned.

 

[spotty_pony]

Thinking back just now, I am pretty sure he didn’t have a tail when he ran away! I am guessing it may have got pulled off today when he was stuck. I didn’t notice any blood though so not sure and I am not about to go and check the hole! He probably won’t survive without a tail anyway from what I’ve read.

 

[Peglo]

they maybe eat the seeds in the hay and left over barley in the straw? That’s what I always assumed. But hay and straw will make a nice cosy bed either way.

I thought rats often pulled their tails off to avoid capture and lived perfectly fine. Is that an old wives….tail? ? will have to check my facts I see.

 

[spotty_pony]

they maybe eat the seeds in the hay and left over barley in the straw? That’s what I always assumed. But hay and straw will make a nice cosy bed either way.

I thought rats often pulled their tails off to avoid capture and lived perfectly fine. Is that an old wives….tail? ? will have to check my facts I see.

hmm I’m not sure either - I know it’s true in the case of pigeons!

 

[Pebble101]

Cats. I have two ferals that live on my smallholding. They are well fed and the rats and mice are their "sport" and they like to leave the parts they don't eat proudly in the stables, definitely not for the squeamish! They are much better than terriers as they are on the property 24/7 and apparently having the presence of a cat will stop rats choosing to move in.

My neighbours either side have cats who often come onto my property. I still have rats.

 

[rextherobber]

yes it must’ve been scary for him being stuck. And your right, if they feel cornered they apparently go for your neck.
I kinda would’ve liked to feel his strength. Never thought of them being overly strong. But a brand new haynet!!! I would’ve been worried for it too ?
Hopefully his fright (and yours ) will make him think twice about going back in the stable.

I was told the reasoning behind them "going for your neck/face" is because when they are cornered, you ate often either in a doorway, or between the rat and the door. Your silhouette, which is all the rat will see, will show your neck as being the thinnest, least escape blocking part of you, so that's where the rat will aim, in the hope of getting away. I've worked in a fair few stables and farms, and I've never met anyone that this has actually happened to so it may be a bit like , "if you get stung by a hornet, your arm will fall off" The rats just scarper, on the ground, they don't suddenly get airborne. But I guess stranger things have happened!
OP, where did you used to store your hay and straw before you used this stable? What was different about it, that you didn't have a problem then, but you do now?

 

[spotty_pony]

I was told the reasoning behind them "going for your neck/face" is because when they are cornered, you ate often either in a doorway, or between the rat and the door. Your silhouette, which is all the rat will see, will show your neck as being the thinnest, least escape blocking part of you, so that's where the rat will aim, in the hope of getting away. I've worked in a fair few stables and farms, and I've never met anyone that this has actually happened to so it may be a bit like , "if you get stung by a hornet, your arm will fall off" The rats just scarper, on the ground, they don't suddenly get airborne. But I guess stranger things have happened!
OP, where did you used to store your hay and straw before you used this stable? What was different about it, that you didn't have a problem then, but you do now?

it’s currently just in a lean to but makes a big mess when it’s windy and since gaining a spare stable have decided to clean it out and use as a storage room for now. The hay and straw is on pallets in the lean to… and I daresay rats could go through it, I guess they just wouldn’t get cornered with where it is now…. although I am pretty sure he wouldn’t have stayed where he was and would have gone out the back of the stable where there is another big hole had he not been stuck.

 

[Sossigpoker]

If a cat gets a rat that's been poisoned , it will be very sick or die. The poisoning isn't a nice way to die either, I know it's a rat but I couldn't in good conscience do that.
You could ask around if there's a farm hand who could come and do some shooting or alternatively, a working terrier pack? With terriers it would be instant and no poison involved. Maybe just leave your dogs at home on the day.

 

[Sossigpoker]

what is it (obviously apart from horse feed) that they actually eat? I am wondering what he was doing in there in the first place as there was nothing in there to eat really.

I think they're largely attracted to grain and seeds so horse feeds would be appealing to them.

 

[spotty_pony]

If a cat gets a rat that's been poisoned , it will be very sick or die. The poisoning isn't a nice way to die either, I know it's a rat but I couldn't in good conscience do that.
You could ask around if there's a farm hand who could come and do some shooting or alternatively, a working terrier pack? With terriers it would be instant and no poison involved. Maybe just leave your dogs at home on the day.

my stables are at home! But yes could look into this, thanks.

 

[scats]

The ‘going for your neck’ is not true. It derives from the fact that they will jump towards the light to escape, which is usually over a persons shoulder.

Before we got our yard cat, YO would put poison down for the rats. It was horrible. A truly awful way to die.

 

[Prancerpoos]

That sounds like a horrible experience, but I think you just have to live with them, and I suspect that the rat found it a far more horrifying experience than you!

There is no nice way to kill rats, but keeping all the highly attractive food locked up, as you are doing, should limit the numbers. Rats are everywhere and if you kill these ones then more will come along. At my yard, I always found it best to just accept they are around and make sure they are not getting free food.

We had a load of them in our back gardens earlier in the year. There had never been an issue before, just an occasional sighting, but then one of our neighbours started putting out, literally, kilos of bird food every day. The resulting rat explosion took six months of poisoning (not approved by me) to get rid of and everyone in the terrace had to stop all bird feeding. It was all rather grim.

 

[spotty_pony]

That sounds like a horrible experience, but I think you just have to live with them, and I suspect that the rat found it a far more horrifying experience than you!

There is no nice way to kill rats, but keeping all the highly attractive food locked up, as you are doing, should limit the numbers. Rats are everywhere and if you kill these ones then more will come along. At my yard, I always found it best to just accept they are around and make sure they are not getting free food.

We had a load of them in our back gardens earlier in the year. There had never been an issue before, just an occasional sighting, but then one of our neighbours started putting out, literally, kilos of bird food every day. The resulting rat explosion took six months of poisoning (not approved by me) to get rid of and everyone in the terrace had to stop all bird feeding. It was all rather grim.

But if I ignore them won’t the problem get worse as they bred? I’ve read that one can have up to 50 babies in a year!

 

[Carrottom]

But if I ignore them won’t the problem get worse as they bred? I’ve read that one can have up to 50 babies in a year!

If your stables are near your house I would definitely not ignore the problem.

 

[Birker2020]

Even the word makes me shudder!

I’ve recently cleaned out my empty stable into am turning it into the hay/straw storage room. It currently just has my mucking out tools in it. Anyway, I went in their this morning and there was a lot of scuffling and then I saw a MASSIVE rat struggling as it was stuck in a hole in the wall! I didn’t know he was stuck at the this point so ran out, then went back for a look but he was struggling and growling at me. I couldn’t bring myself the hit with a shovel which is what my friend suggested. So I left the stable door open and went riding in the hope he would get free and disappear.

Came back an hour later and he was still there. Definitely stuck. I chucked at haynet towards him in the hope if I scared him a bit he would free himself but he grabbed it and started to chew it! I managed to hook the haynet with my poo picker rake but he hung on… the power in those jaws… wow. The rest of the story is I managed to pull him out, ran off and thought he had ran out, went back and he was hiding under my crate… ran out the door right past me and I screamed in horror and waved the sweeping brush at him.

I am absolutely terrified it’s going to happen again. I’ve never had an encounter with a rat like that in all
my years with horses. So my question is will he avoid that area now that has happened or will be be likely to come back? And obviously there may be more.
Are there any traps/bait I can get that is not poisonous to dogs? I would rather go down the bait route as can’t see me being very good at removing a dead rat out of a trap either!!

What do you all use? Thanks

We have a contract with Rentokill at the yard and have bait boxes all over the place.

I was able to procure 2 bait boxes and a load of 'flapjacks' from a chap from Rentokill that used to service our construction site. I got chatting to him and told him we had massive rats and did he have 'any spare boxes' and he was only too happy to oblige, free of charge! Lovely man, very helpful. The 'flapjacks' were in a plastic wrapper and they are round rat bait cakes with a hole in the middle and you cable tie those into the bait box and then cable tie the bait box shut so dogs or cats can't get into it. He explained to me how to do this to make it safe for pets as we have a number of yard dogs and a yard cat.

The trouble is, he explained, the rats get used to the flapjacks so they get immune to them or they get suspicious so they won't eat them. They are very clever animals.

So what Rentokil do is every so often they put real flapjacks that they buy from Asda or Sainsbury's into the bait box. The rats love those so next time they visit they will put the poison ones in and the rats think they are safe and eat those and then die.

The

 

[Goldenstar]

I have been attacked by a rat .
I was in the loft of a traditional stable building the hay was stored up there and we filled the nets and threw them down to ground floor through a hatch at the opposite end of the lost to the door I had checked the nets down and turned to leave there was a large rat in between me and the door it was watching me and behaving oddly .
I could not really skirt round it as the hay filled the loft and the walk way was narrow .
I moved to wards it making a noise expecting to disappear into the hay .
It did not it ran straight at me .
I moved backwards quickly caught my foot on the edge of the hatch and fell backwards through it to the ground floor luckily I landed on the huge pile of nets .
I assumed it was poisoned or ill in some way it was terrifying and I have a huge fear of rats now .
We poison them if there’s a problem ,if done well they you should never see poisoned rats alive .
Mainly management by dogs and cats make it an unpleasant place to settle is enough here .

 

[Birker2020]

He was squeaking so he may have been acting out of fear or pain and I guess the sight of me walking into the stable would be scary if you were stuck and unable to run. I couldn’t bring myself to kill him even though I was terrified. It’s the strength he hung onto that haynet with that is the worst bit. I was more worried about my new haynet being chewed at that point to think about what would happen if he got loose and ran towards me. ?

They only 'attack' if you corner them, they wouldn't deliberately go for you. If rats run very close to you or towards you its because you are blocking their escape route.

Poison is the best form of killing them. Or the ultrasonic devices are meant to be quite effective but sometimes they can adjust to those and get used the them.

There are loads of videos on YouTube to show how to humanely catch and release them but that is not advisable. There are also numerous videos of how to kill them including making traps to electrocute them or drown them. I think these are inhumane but unfortunately so is posioning them. The issue is if they chew through electrical wiring they can start fires, so they can be extremely dangerous as well as the diseases they carry.

 

[spotty_pony]

If your stables are near your house I would definitely not ignore the problem.

they are not far away, not directly joined but a short walk away.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I just googled this "A female rat typically births six litters a year consisting of 12 rat pups, although 5-10 pups is more common. Rats reach sexual maturity after 4-5 weeks, meaning that a population can swell from two rats to around 1,250 in one year, with the potential to grow exponentially."

Before my time, but my gran told me about a relative who accidently cornered a rat which went for him and bit his face. He got Weil's disease as a result. Can't remember if he survived.

 

[Squeak]

they are not far away, not directly joined but a short walk away.

I would be another who would deal with it sharpish if they are near your house. I'm always really careful with feed etc and have feral cats but we still end up with rats around the stables every year.

I know it's not a kind death but I do poison as you said they present a huge risk with disease and they can also cause huge damage to properties with wiring etc. As EP was just saying re numbers if you don't keep on top of them you can have a massive problem. It might be best to get pest control out for starters and run through all your concerns re dogs etc with them. You're also not able to buy the stronger poison over the counter.

 

[Squeak]

I’m one of those weirdos who loves rats. I had a resident one a couple of years ago who used to come and join me for a coffee (well, he would run along the wall behind my every evening while I was having a drink)
We have a farm cat now and she keeps on top of the mouse and rat population.

OMG that would be my worst nightmare Scats!!

 

[Andie02]

But if I ignore them won’t the problem get worse as they bred? I’ve read that one can have up to 50 babies in a year!

I definitely wouldn't ignore.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Been thinking a lot about this rat. Are you absolutely certain it was a rat and not a different sort of rodent? I ask because rats don't usually get 'stuck'. I am sure I have read that anything they can get their head through their body can follow, they can definitely get through very small holes. Very odd to have lost its tail too. As I say makes me wonder if it isn't actually a rat.

 

[spotty_pony]

EP - I have got a photo of him stuck, I will upload in a second, although it is a bit dark. He was squeaking like a rat ??‍ not sure what else he could be?