Woodpile rats

[Philbert]

Must be Karma. I now have a dead mouse (or something) in my wood pile in my garage. Hope the smell does not last too long.

Philbert

 

[3fordasho]

I have to dispatch 2 or 3 woodchucks every year - they love to dig under my yard shed. Pellet gun works ok for the young ones but won't touch the adults. Need a 22 for that but my neighbors would complain. I actually had one ignorant neighbor tell another that my wood stacks are the reason for woodchucks in the area - like woodchucks do anything with wood ;-) Now the apple tree next door? maybe that has something to do with it??

Had a woodchuck move in under the wood shed a couple weeks ago. Amazing how many rocks he was excavating from under there. Didn't really need that going on under my wood pallets. Dispatched him with a .22 last Saturday.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Get a cat...

... or a flat-coated retriever:

These are amazing hunting dogs that destroy rodents as a hobby.

 

[Philbert]

Nice looking pooch!

Philbert

 

[svk]

There are many variations on the '5 gallon bucket mouse trap' that might work with rats. Low tech. No poisons or firearms involved. I guess it only works above freezing.

IF you don't have dogs/cats around, put green antifreeze in the bottom of the bucket. Won't freeze and also keeps the smell of dead mice to a controllable amount versus water. RV antifreeze would work too but not sure if it will keep the smell down.

 

[chuckwood]

hey just wondering if anybody has had an ishue with rats in the woodpile. my meighbour come over to tell me he seen one. Just wondering how to get rid of them if i can.

I have mice in my woodpile, and they aren't the problem by themselves. What happens is my golden retriever hears them in there and goes nuts and tears down the pile trying to get them. She can easily spend an entire afternoon trying to dig groundhogs out of their holes, so tearing down a woodpile is no big deal.

 

[BillNole]

Yep, any of those little terriers would work, or some of the other breeds. Pygmy swamp wooky here is mostly cairn terrier, she'll nail a rat fast if she picks up on one while out walking around.

...Mountain lions, eeek! Ya, bring the little dogs and cats inside at night for sure! The coyotes are bad enough.

There are a number of breeds that are pretty good and tenacious hunters. Surprising to most, our oldest Chihuahua (9-lbs) keeps our yard clear of any and all critters, including chippies, moles, mice, rats and rabbits larger than him! He can catch anything presented so far, except the rabbits unless he gets lucky in a turn, but will usually just run them to ground, unless they find a hole in the fence somewhere. Our middle Chihuahua (also 9-lbs) has no interest in the chase, the kill, or the results. We just got a new Chihuahua puppy last week and at 8-weeks old, she's looking like she'll be a better hunter than even our first!

We've had the occasional coyote and red fox wondering through the neighborhood, probing the fences, but our Golden has kept them at bay so far. They have no interest in her and she's not quick enough to get the small game, which is where the Chi's come into play.

 

[zogger]

There are a number of breeds that are pretty good and tenacious hunters. Surprising to most, our oldest Chihuahua (9-lbs) keeps our yard clear of any and all critters, including chippies, moles, mice, rats and rabbits larger than him! He can catch anything presented so far, except the rabbits unless he gets lucky in a turn, but will usually just run them to ground, unless they find a hole in the fence somewhere. Our middle Chihuahua (also 9-lbs) has no interest in the chase, the kill, or the results. We just got a new Chihuahua puppy last week and at 8-weeks old, she's looking like she'll be a better hunter than even our first!

We've had the occasional coyote and red fox wondering through the neighborhood, probing the fences, but our Golden has kept them at bay so far. They have no interest in her and she's not quick enough to get the small game, which is where the Chi's come into play.

Our border collie "Bouncing Bonnie" (because she can jump so good) nails quail pretty regular. She sniffs them out, runs them, when they flush she leaps and snaps 'em up. down the hatch. Saw her get two within five minutes before. She does rats in the field, too, but likes quail better.

 

[svk]

Our border collie "Bouncing Bonnie" (because she can jump so good) nails quail pretty regular. She sniffs them out, runs them, when they flush she leaps and snaps 'em up. down the hatch. Saw her get two within five minutes before. She does rats in the field, too, but likes quail better.

I have a friend who has sled dogs that live in a communal pen during the off season. A skunk very foolishly decided to break into the pen to steal their food one night and was summarily devoured but did have enough time to hit 8 of the dogs full force. Not a pleasant place for about 2 weeks afterward.

Had another friend who had a husky that would catch and swallow grey squirrels whole. He did this several times while being chained to a tree (obviously a fairly intelligent, although crazy dog).

As long were talking about dogs eating things, another friend had a crazy black lab. It ate half of a couch down to, and including part of the wood frame. Digested it too. Another time it ate 5 poinsettia plants and the bottom three feet of a balsam Christmas tree in their house. That did cause a bit of indigestion as it was everywhere in the house. Funny now but not at the time lol.

 

[wahoowad]

Get em before they multiply

 

[Jutt]

Well, I finally caught the pack rat (woodrat) that had set up shop behind one of my stacks that's right next to my house. I used one of the larger Havahart traps my neighbor let me borrow but had to counterweight the trigger plate with quite a few rocks to make it sensitive enough for something as small as a rat. I used dog hair I brushed from my siberian husky for bait as this guy was building a nest and apparently appreciated the hair's insulating properties. Don't blame him as it works well enough to keep a husky warm in the coldest conditions.

Caught him last night and dispatched him this morning with a quick head shot via pellet gun.

Notice the hairy tail and big round ears specific to a pack rat: