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Got a producer for having a headlight out a couple nights ago, when I went to change the bulb next day found rat poop lying about the engine bay and the wires to one of the light pods was chewed away. Already seething by this stage I started checking possible places they have been lurking. When I opened the shed every surface is covered in poop and all the insoles of my shoes have been eaten.
Thankfully they have only nibbled at some easily fixable things but I want them gone before anything else gets it, anyone have any good suggestions for quick solutions. Poison? Shooting? Black widow etc?
Nuking from orbit not an option in this case.
poison & traps though make sure the poison is properly placed to keep dogs etc safe
Do you or a friend have an air rifle that works? Reliable, humane and 100% sure you've got it- my ratting option of choice. Set up enough light to see by at dusk and put some bread or dog food out, set up quite close so as to ensure a humane kill. They are hungry at dusk cos they've been holed up all day so will come out
I don't use poison cos I have dogs and animals and the poison can be bought out by the rat and contaminate the surrounding area.
Live traps are good for the dippy youngsters but the older wily ones won't go near iin my experience. And then you have to dispose of said rat by driving it miles or shooting it which I don't like doing in the box.
The Old fashioned neck breakers are ok but they are bloody deadly to set if you get your finger in them whilst setting them.
Yours,
An experienced ratter!
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[caveat] not child safe [/caveat]
My preferred bait for ratting with an air rifle is some custard poured into the frog of a brick. Put it out for a night or two before you actually plan to shoot so they get used to it. They can't drag it away to eat in elsewhere, and you can put it in a place where you will be able to plan your shot.
Smelly fish is a good bait for rats or most vermin, a tin of sardines with a pew holes punched in the lid. Then shoot them with an air rifle.
Where are you based? I have a Patterdale terrier who is just honing his ratting skills....... We're in Bristol.
Sod humane the dirty horrible buggers (rat poison definitely does not meet the definition). Rat traps are great as they are reusable but screw it down as one of mine disappeared. A couple of weeks later I saw a rat deficient one of its legs, a good chance there was relationship between the two events. As rats tend to run a long walls (using the whiskers to navigate) then thats where you should leave them. Now to contradict the latter, I catch more rats in rabbit traps which are placed in the middle of the grass? Baited with carrots for the rabbits.
Air rifle sounds good but you have to sit around waiting for them and if there is no clear line of site you may never see them.
Personally If in a hurry to get rid use rat poison and a trap/s. The poison should make the wary older ones less wary and easier to trap. Poison is expensive and not reusable like a trap. The way to lay poison is to get a plastic pipe 6" diameter about 2 foot long. Screw 2 pieces of wood each end to stop it rolling about. In the top drill a hole big enough to put a sink waste pipe through cut v notches in it so the poison doesn't get stuck in the pipe. This should stop other animals getting in. Make sure the sink waste pipe is a decent length to allow a good fill each time. Seal the top if putting outside.
What sort of area we you shooting in? How do you stop ricochets on you and surrounding objects
You can get prebaited traps from Wilko. The bait plate just has a smell which attracts the rats. The best bait is something that won't go off, therefore you can leave them about long term in case they come back. For mice raisins I suppose for rats prunes? Don't worry about the strength of the smell if only dealing with an infestation in a small enclosed area, they will smell it.
nothing will ever ricochets back to the firer!.benp1 - Member
What sort of area we you shooting in? How do you stop ricochets on you
we are talking lead pellets they crumple on impact and anyway the reduction in power wouldn't hurt a mouse.and surrounding objects
When using any weapon you should look what's behind the target in case you miss and hit what is behind instead. So firing from above would in most cases be very safe.
So firing from above would in most cases be very safe.
Even safer from orbit - but thats not an option apparently.
Air rifle and liquidised cat food are my choice when I'm after rats. Simply put a tablespoon of liquid cat food on one of their runs and they have to sit and lick it since there are no chunks to run off with. Pre bait for a few days and lay in wait for the bugger.
Had mice attacking various things in our garage, so got a pair of traps & poison from [url= http://www.wickes.co.uk/eraza-mouse-traps/invt/222133/ ]Wickes[/url].
A tiny bit of Cathedral Cheddar lured them to their untimely demise.
They do a poison too, so my death toll might have increased, but after I hunted down the first two, they got the message.
Sprung rat traps, against the walls of the shed. Sweet bait that they can't remove, nutella and peanut butter work well.
Do you access to an orbital weapons platform?
Clearing out the shed resulted in three incidents when manly screaming was required. One dirty wee ****er was even inside a cardboard tube I picked up, imagine me and a rat bouncing off the walls trying to avoid each other while getting out the door 1st.
Poison blocks have been liberally applied about the place I'll give it a few days to see if they get nibbled before I deploy some kind of scull smashing neck snapping device.
A long time ago when i worked in a scrap breakers we had a rat infestation. First rat was caught in a large humane trap - horrible thing filled it! No one wanted to get the rat out so we threw it in a 25 gallon drum of water, upon fishing it out half an hour later the bugger had bitten through one of the bars 😯
Couple of days later i moved an old car seat and it squeaked - there was a nest hollowed out in the back of it. Took it outside and poured kerosene over it. Not a great idea as we then had half a dozen burning ratlings hammering about the yard like exocets!
Last adult was caught in the humane trap - boss put it on the workbench and wound up the transformer we used to charge a series of truck batteries. Couple of welding rods in the clips, wait til the transformer was humming then ZAP!! one ex-rat. Didn't think it would work to be truthful.
Poor thing Rats, are incredibly clever and intelligent, alwys looking for a new home or food, you just need to make it a new home or make it unwelcome where it is currently in abode.
Killing any animal is totally against my Karma think of it as a life that was born just like you,it is a sentient being, it feels pain,hunger and cold,just like all us do.
Getting rid of rat is first thing,
Must remove habitat or ratty will return.
Ferret is what you need, it'll kill anything it finds plus leave a scent that will stop anything coming back for months.
nothing will ever ricochets back to the firer!
Killing any animal is totally against my Karma think of it as a life that was born just like you,it is a sentient being, it feels pain,hunger and cold,just like all us do.
Rat Korma anyone?
b r - MemberFerret is what you need, it'll kill anything it finds plus leave a scent that will stop anything coming back for months.
Next month- there's a ferret in me shed, what am I gonna do? Send in a coyote.
That's a dangerous route to go down. 6 months time the OP could be back asking if the forum has a big game hunter.
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Will also remove rat home and habitat.
... Fix that rat, that's what you're gonna do...
Catch rat in live trap. Starve said rat for a week or so. Catch another rat in a live trap. Add this to the one that's hungry. It'll eat the new one. You now have a cannibal rat that will eat the rest
Play some sh8t faux reggae by UB 40 to lure the rat form shed .May end up in kitchen though.
Opened the curtains this morn to find two of the little poop machines swinging from the bird feeders. I'll make them rat proof but I'm afraid I'm gonna have to go down the skull smashing neck snapping route now.
. Send one in of the opposite sex so they breed that will stop the dirty filthy things from coming back. And they won't eat through cables for no logical reason..Northwind - Member
b r - Member
Ferret is what you need, it'll kill anything it finds plus leave a scent that will stop anything coming back for months.Next month- there's a ferret in me shed, what am I gonna do? Send in a coyote.
that was a .5 calibre if hit it you direct you would be dead. It was multiple ricochet which did the firer no harm. I was writing about an air rifle pellet. Also it was on YouTube that doesn't mean it is true!5thelephat
nick1962 - Member
Play some sh8t faux reggae by UB 40 to lure the rat form shed .May end up in kitchen though.
I don't think you like UB 40?
They do ricochet, I've seen it first hand. Literally returned to sender but there was no pace in it
I asked because there's no way I fancy shooting an air rifle inside my garage - too much stuff I might hit by accident and too much stuff to go to the effort of emptying it and putting it elsewhere
Have you tried reasoning with them?
You need a couple of jack russel rat exterminators
Muddydwarf I like your style but you might want to lay off watching torture movies for a while !
Spitting coffee at the idea of Cannibal Rat.
🙂
And that weird Paedo Piper fella...
do what Jekkyl did and stab it to death with a knife!! 😆
I doubt you would stand much of a chance of even seeing them. Get them outside or poison and traps.I asked because there's no way I fancy shooting an air rifle inside my garage - too much stuff I might hit by accident and too much stuff to go to the effort of emptying it and putting it elsewhere.
it feels pain,hunger and cold,just like all us do
Not for much longer it won't
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My preferred bait for gunnery practice is the cheapest of the cheap cat food. It's cheap, smells, so attracts them, and should have no solid bits for them to carry off, so they stay at the same place while you shoot. keeping them still means a better chance of a clean kill = as humane as it gets, unless you want to catch them and dump them round at project's place
Spitting coffee at the idea of Cannibal Rat.
When bothered with large numbers of crows, shoot one, put the body someplace obvious, the rest get the idea and don't come back for a while.
Shoot a rat and leave the body, the rest seem to think "oh look free food"
Shoot a rat and leave the body, the rest seem to think "oh look free food"
Yeah, I get that bit - I've had to deal with many a rat over the years. What tickled me was the deliberate conditioning to turn it into Cannibal Rat. Y'know, not just eating dead or dying but actually attacking and devouring a fellow rodent. Possibly with fava beans and a nice chianti...