Rats in woodshed??? GRRRRR how to get them out

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I think Iam going to try my bird/rat feeder idea,.. If its stout enough, Iam bettin pets arent going to upset it, 4x4 post 6 feet off the ground, 3x3 foot platform, acses hole next to the post only, 2 in round, boxed wood bait station, 24 in square, flip up top, bait in center, I think that covers the cats, and the dogs, Eric

Post some pics when you get'r'done.
 
sounds like fun with a night vision scope and a pellet gun. Or you could put out a bait station under a small light and sit back for pellet poppin fun...

Ian

"License to kill gophers" The only good gopher is a dead gopher" "hi mr gopher its mister squirrel, oh don't worry about this, doctor's orders" "cinderella boy,... from out of nowhere... about to become..... the masters champion."
:hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:
 
We had rats something terrible in the chicken coop this summer. When I went in there after it got dark, about a dozen or so would jump out of the feeder and scurry away. They were eating more chicken feed than the chickens!! Disgusting creatures. I shot one or two, but that was it ... they are fast ... and they multiply like rabbits. It felt like I was attempting to empty a swimming pool with a tablespoon during the rainy season.

I finally picked up a plastic bait station from the feed store and about a dozen pouches of the pelleted bait. The bait station is made to be secured to a wall, plank, board, etc. It has small openings and baffles inside so that just rats and mice can get in and the animals you don't want to kill (in this case our chickens and cats) don't upset the station.

I set up the bait station, secured it to the wall, filled it with the bait and eagerly awaited getting up the next morning to check it. In the morning, not a single bite of the poison was touched. Next morning, same thing. It took over a week for the rats to finally start taking the bait. Once they did, I had to put two pouches in every morning for a little over a week before I got them all.

Rats, unlike mice, are extremely intelligent. After seeing first hand how smart they are, it's no wonder why they are the most populated mammal on the the earth. They are very wary of anything new placed in their surroundings and have a very keen sense of danger.

If you choose to try rat traps, you must first place them out unbaited for three days. Then bait them, but do not set them for three days. Check the traps every day to see if the bait has been taken and replace it with fresh. Finally, on the sixth day, set the traps. That is the only way to catch them with a snap trap.

I wish you the best getting rid of them, they are not fun to deal with!
 
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Pro Bait boxes

We had rats something terrible in the chicken coop this summer. When I went in there after it got dark, about a dozen or so would jump out of the feeder and scurry away. They were eating more chicken feed than the chickens!! Disgusting creatures. I shot one or two, but that was it ... they are fast ... and they multiply like rabbits. It felt like I was attempting to empty a swimming pool with a tablespoon during the rainy season.

I finally picked up a plastic bait station from the feed store and about a dozen pouches of the pelleted bait. The bait station is made to be secured to a wall, plank, board, etc. It has small openings and baffles inside so that just rats and mice can get in and the animals you don't want to kill (in this case our chickens and cats) don't upset the station.

I set up the bait station, secured it to the wall, filled it with the bait and eagerly awaited getting up the next morning to check it. In the morning, not a single bite of the poison was touched. Next morning, same thing. It took over a week for the rats to finally start taking the bait. Once they did, I had to put two pouches in every morning for a little over a week before I got them all.

Rats, unlike mice, are extremely intelligent. After seeing first hand how smart they are, it's no wonder why they are the most populated mammal on the the earth. They are very wary of anything new placed in their surroundings and have a very keen sense of danger.

If you choose to try rat traps, you must first place them out unbaited for three days. Then bait them, but do not set them for three days. Check the traps every day to see if the bait has been taken and replace it with fresh. Finally, on the sixth day, set the traps. That is the only way to catch them with a snap trap.

I wish you the best getting rid of them, they are not fun to deal with!

Ive got 4 of thoes pro boxes, And an agressive Dog will destroy them,. Thats why I said make them out of steel, If you want to be sure your dog wont be poisioned, plywood, maybe, If you are going to be right on top of it daily to monitor his intrest,.Still a risk, Eric
 
Try the 5 gal pail with a wire run thru a pill bottle . Fill the pail up half way with water and make a ramp of some sort up to the top of the pail. smeer the pill bottle with bait. Peanut butter works good. They jump onto the bottle and fall into the water.:cheers:
 
pill bottle

Try the 5 gal pail with a wire run thru a pill bottle . Fill the pail up half way with water and make a ramp of some sort up to the top of the pail. smeer the pill bottle with bait. Peanut butter works good. They jump onto the bottle and fall into the water.:cheers:

That sounds like a pretty cool trap,.explain the wire threw the pill bottle, is that straight accross the top, wood anything round work? Thanks Eric
 
Make a large steel box with ground and cover it with plywood,
put hot wire in the middle to where, it hangs two inches above
the floor a hole big enough for the dirty rat. Now the fun part,
put peanut butter on the end of the bare hot wire, and lets see
if the 110 will fry his azzz!


Revision, plywood box with a steel or copper floor with ground
attached! Then the hot as said earlier, Make sure its unplugged
before putting the pb on the hot wire. I think I will give it a try!
 
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Make a large steel box with ground and cover it with plywood,
put hot wire in the middle to where, it hangs two inches above
the floor a hole big enough for the dirty rat. Now the fun part,
put peanut butter on the end of the bare hot wire, and lets see
if the 110 will fry his azzz!

Ill sleep on it,..
 
Just use the 5gal bucket idea, with the wire through the pill bottle , just liven up the wire with 220!!! Maybe you could sell your kills to this restaurant??

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I did a variation of the bucket once,with an aquarium and plastic
lid with cheese and pb floating on it, water deep enough to prevent
jumping! It worked but they got smart to it!
 
Try the 5 gal pail with a wire run thru a pill bottle . Fill the pail up half way with water and make a ramp of some sort up to the top of the pail. smeer the pill bottle with bait. Peanut butter works good. They jump onto the bottle and fall into the water.:cheers:

Hmm, I have used something like that before and only caught mice. Didn't have rats. Does it work on rats?
LOL - In this weather they probably smack into the ice in the pail and knock themselves out - LOL
 
The rats in my woodpile don't leave any droppings behind, they just take the wood. 2 legged Rats!!! Even when caught taking the wood (infrared night vision cameras on a digital recorder) the Youth Criminal Justice Act seems to do very little to them. Trespassing, Prowl by Night?? just a joke. I would rather have 4 legged rats. Some people have them a pets!!

Like stealing cattle.Not a joke.

Method #1
1. Drill 9mm ( 38 or 45 will also suffice) hole about 4" deep in the outside sticks of wood that you mark.
2. Insert 9mm round into said hole.
3. Plug hole with sawdust and glue.
4. Enjoy.

Method #2
1. Get shotgun filled with rock salt and round.
2. Get night vision goggles or very large spotlight and camera.
3. Wait.
4. Shoot low around crotch height or butt.
5. Enjoy.

Method #3
1. Set overhead net trap that is weighted.
2. Wait.
3. Drop.
4. Get pics.
5. Call the Law that does not take stealing seriously.
6. Enjoy.
 
You build a better mouse trap and you'll become a millionaire.

Rats are tough. If your not a farmer the best thing to due is eliminate the food source. I always found that people with rat problems had a bird feeder. I would tell them to get rid of that first.

As far as poisins, traps, cats, dogs, whatever. Take your pick. Rats have been the scurge since the beginning of mankind. Good luck.

Google some wildlife pest control sites. I used to have some luck with a product called Tom Cat. But chances are the EPA has done away with it. I used glue traps made from a company called Catch-all. They worked allright. Sometimes you would find just there feet stuck to the trap. Stay away from the store bought D-con stuff. Not very potent. If a Rat gets a piece of it and just gets sick and doesn't die, it will never touch poisin of any kind again.

On your snap type rat traps, stay away from the ones with the yellow plastic petal. Go with the curled metal trigger type and put your peanut butter under the trigger. Look for some kind of rat or squirrel bait from a trappers supply place. It is more effective. I always modified my rat traps by putting some wire mesh around the trap so only about 11/2 inch of the trigger could be gotten to. That way they only came at the bait from the side. They wouldn't be climbing over the bar to get at the bait setting off the trap getting flung or pinched and not caught. There hard to catch after that. I always set my traps with the trigger against the wall with the bar away from the wall because they like alot of small animals run along walls and that sort of guides them over the trigger.

Good luck
 
Snakes? Not many snakes here big enough to eat rats. Rattle snakes are about the only ones that could kill rats here, and they can also kill us and the livestock. No thanks.

I am actually interested in building some owl boxes down at the barn, and hope to attract some barn owls down there. The eagles and hawks do a reasonable job on the squirrels here in summer, but the rats run around mostly at night. Good time for owls to hunt.

The cats do OK, but they never kill off the entire clans. In the meantine its green bar bait in the feed room again. The toxic stuff. Too many to deal with again this year. And its only the beginning of March! Of course, looking at that photo from Asia, maybe we should be breeding and raising rats as an export food item. Probably be easier than raising sheep!!
 

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