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Full OT Any tips on rats in house!


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I am in S Calif, where it seldom drops to 32F. And Sprng is here. It is not 100% OT if they eat my keyboard!

I live in a large house. In garage area I have actually seen 4 very large mice or perhaps smaller sized rats, so far... and I hear them in the ceiling above me, they don't sound like petite mice to me. I actually think mice are cute, but rats, are another matter, and both bring disease.

 

The basics are, check all entrance points, and block them. Block them with?

Poison, traps .suggestions based on experience?

I am actualy using a youtube recording of high pitches the video claims rats dislike.

I think those sounds disturb them, but will not get rid of them.

 

I am looking for those with experience, and all manner of tips, such as your experience with most aromatic foods the critters find irresistible. Traps versus poisons, choice of poisons.. etc etc... just any tips.

 

I am not concerned much about humanitarian issues... sorry, they gotta to go.

 

Any experience with high pitch devices?

 

Is there any pet like a cat that can handle a rat?

 

This has been going on for at least two weeks.

 

If they die in the walls, it is not going to be pleasant.

 

Thanks

You don't have ideas, ideas have you

We see the world, not as it is, but as we are. "One mans food is another mans poison". I defend your right to speak hate. Tolerance to a point, not agreement

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The only thing that works are traps and poison. You need to to trap the ones you have now, and set out regular poison bait stations outside to keep the populations down and out of your house.

 

For traps use peanut butter or bacon.

 

I have an organic ranch, so for bait stations I use this stuff:

 

https://www.qcsupply.com/230097-motomco-agrid3-bait-chunx-4-lb.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItOieutnB4QIVWh-tBh1RqQWlEAQYASABEgK0S_D_BwE

 

It basically kills the rodents with Vitamin D. Apparently rodents can't process that vitamin, and they succumb to it. It's much better than the strychnine products because it doesn't pass along the poison to a hawk or dog that might potentially eat a poisoned rat.

 

Be warned though: If your dog or cat eats this directly, it will kill them too, so keep away from pets. If you use bait stations properly placed though, you should be fine.

 

My ranch is up against a hillside and forest land, so nothing for miles beyond me. When the Thomas Fire came through in December of 2017, the native rats that lived in the hills came running down just ahead of the fire. They ran into the closest safe place, which was my barn.

Good lord, they were the size of cats. We trapped 26. I hate 'em....

 

 

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And a bait station is essentially either a trap or a spot where a Vitamin D laced chemical is?

 

Does a trap, mean they are caged alive, or their necks are smashed?

 

This is helpful. thank you

You don't have ideas, ideas have you

We see the world, not as it is, but as we are. "One mans food is another mans poison". I defend your right to speak hate. Tolerance to a point, not agreement

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Professional exterminators have told me rats are far more cautious and intelligent than mice.

 

First step is to seal and block obvious points of entry (holes, cracks, gaps etc.). Second step is remove as many food sources as you can identify.

 

I have never been able to use poison due to pets, so cannot address them other than to note the times in distant past I've used poison on mice, they've died in the walls or subfloor and it's a horrible smell until you find the carcass.

 

Instead I use an electronic rat zapper, which is very effective, Home Depot link example below:

 

Rat Zapper @ Home Depot

 

I've baited with both peanut butter (which is pretty fragrant to rodents) as well as common dry dog food (kibble), both have proven effective as bait. Place in the area you find feces and droppings, bait and the first should be found in the trap within a few days.

 

..
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Another thing that can help (besides poison) are some rat pheromone sprays - we cant smell them, but apparently they can

 

Apparently, young maile loner rats will avoid some of these smells and go find somewhere else to hang out.

 

we had rats get into the outside of our converted attic where we sleep. Since we didnt want poison on the other side of the wall, we went the pheromones route for the attic. Sure enough, the rat sounds went away and never came back.

PS - I think this only works if they have not set up a colony where they are breeding, etc., as the pheromone trick seems to work best on young male loner rats that have been kicked out of (rat) house and are trying to find somewhere to hang out without the old man yelling at them all the time....

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ZAP with electricity, removes issue of dying in the wall. Brilliant. Thank you Sir, and the other Sirs too.

You don't have ideas, ideas have you

We see the world, not as it is, but as we are. "One mans food is another mans poison". I defend your right to speak hate. Tolerance to a point, not agreement

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And a bait station is essentially either a trap or a spot where a Vitamin D laced chemical is?

 

Does a trap, mean they are caged alive, or their necks are smashed?

 

This is helpful. thank you

 

Bait station is for poison only. Like this :

 

https://www.qcsupply.com/aegis-rp-bait-station-locking.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_dSdwuDB4QIVBBx9Ch0noAFxEAQYBCABEgIQpvD_BwE

 

The bait station has a little wire part inside (after you open the lid) that the bait (which has a hole in the chunk) slides on to.

 

I have had some success over the years with the zappers, but if you have quite a few it may take a while. There are newer ones like this I've heard about:

 

 

The conventional rat trap snaps their neck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I lived in Valley Center CA just prior to the horrendous fires of around 2003 that had the whole of San Diego County in the grip of destruction, fear and omnipresent smoke for weeks.

 

While living there, I put blue blocks of poison out to kill rats. I found the blocks of poison INSIDE my Nissan Sentra AIR CLEANER HOUSING! So I removed about 6 blocks, and lo, I found the Poison blocks BACK In the Air Cleaner area again!

Also during this "fun period" I was driving at night from a gig, and a baby rat dropped from the glove compartment area on to where your feet go if you are a passenger! Yes, you read that correctly.

I was creeped out, and found someone to remove the rat.

 

I am not a fan of rural areas, you might accurately surmise; after the fires, I "got the hell out of Dodge". Reference to Dodge City back in the violent cowboy era.

 

You don't have ideas, ideas have you

We see the world, not as it is, but as we are. "One mans food is another mans poison". I defend your right to speak hate. Tolerance to a point, not agreement

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I have 2 cats that live in the garage. They regularly kill rats that are bigger than they are and leave the carcasses for us to find and dispose of later. But not all cats are mousers or ratters. The 2 garage cats are essentially feral. If you get a cat, try to find one that hasn't been too pampered as a lap cat. Or get a kitten (or 2) and try to train them as mousers.
These are only my opinions, not supported by any actual knowledge, experience, or expertise.
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Like Tee, I'm in San Diego also. We had a rat infestation years ago and it was a months-long process to get rid of them all. You'll catch all the dumb ones first, but there are always a few smart ones that take a looooong time to catch. Now that it's warming up, look for holes in window screens or around the edges, and gaps under doors. They can squeeze through really small openings. If you have a cat or dog, keep the food in galvanized containers with a tight fitting lid and don't leave any food out unattended. We started keeping peanuts and mixed nuts in the refrigerator because they were going for those.

 

None of our rats went for the zap-trap, that was a waste of money. And glue traps, whoever though of those one one sick bastard. We used it exactly once, never again. The rest we got with snap traps baited with peanut butter. One of the smart ones was somehow able to lick the peanut butter off without setting off the trap. We finally got him by zip-tying a whole peanut to the trigger.

 

Once Mom was gone, the kids came out from hiding. They'd made a nest underneath a bookcase. Yuck.

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Im not a cat person, but cats help control the rat population.

Id recommend adopting a cat or rat terrier/other vermin hunting dog. They can sense rats easily from yards away.

I would avoid poison because it is harmful for the environment, and is toxic to other animals (especially the anticoagulant and strychnine based baits).

Your best bet would be a cat or rat dog (a lot of terrier breeds were meant for this, so they love killing rats and mice). Cats can kill hundreds of rats in a day if they get the opportunity.

Yamaha MX49, Casio SK1/WK-7600, Korg Minilogue, Alesis SR-16, Casio CT-X3000, FL Studio, many VSTs, percussion, woodwinds, strings, and sound effects.
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We finally got him by zip-tying a whole peanut to the trigger.

 

Agree with the zip tying! I had one smart one too doing the same. Was about to go the glue method but Youtube had a guy showing tying a walnut with the ziptie. I got it an hour later.

The key is also finding where they get in. In my case, they were getting in thru bottom of a screen door tear. I sealed it and so far so good.

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I read this the other day. It's kind of disturbing. DC has a huge rat problem. My daughter found some in her dorm at college:

 

Rats

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

noblevibes.com

 

 

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Professional exterminators have told me rats are far more cautious and intelligent than mice.

 

Thank you Tim. I certainly believe we are.

 

But seriously, periodically the Phoenix area is plagued by "roof rats" and the number one answer given every time is "seal any hole or crack in the outside surface of the house the size of a golf ball or larger.

 

My personal preference is to have a service contract so that I get annual inspection and monitoring and, should something happen, they are out making sure I'm not going to hear the pitta-patter of little feet at night.

 

I was told if I removed my fig tree, there would be less to attract them to my yard. I thought about it for 3 seconds and said, "No, I think I'll take my chances." Fortunately, the activity at my house is not even as much as homes down the street with no fruit trees at all.

 

So, eyes open, plug the holes and (if you can afford it) let the pros lend a hand. In any case, don't use inhumane methods of extermination. I would hate to see my murine friends have an ignoble death (especially my cousin Speedy).

Don

 

"Yes, on occasion I do talk to myself, sometimes I need an expert's opinion."

 

Alesis DG8, ARP(Korg)Odyssey Mk.1, Roland JU-06 & Keystation61. Stratocaster if I get tired of sitting.

 

 

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L.A. has had a rat problem for a long time and the city does everything it can to keep it quiet, but now that downtown L.A. is getting to be a hotspot the rat problem is becoming very obvious and some say could be as bad at NYC.

 

When I was a kid living in WLA there was a really big fire in Santa Monica mountains and all the rodents were heading into the city and beyond. Our house we ended up with shrubs full of field mice. Lucky then we're able to call the city and because the fire we the source hey came out and put bait traps out a couple times and since fire was out the problem went away.

 

Feral cats can be a hassle too but where I live now there are quite a few, but we don't have rodent issues. We also have a lot of big crows and they take care of the rodents that make it up to the roof of the apartments. Didn't know crow would hunt in packs but they will gang up to go after small animals.

 

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I live in a 100 year old apartment building in the city, been here 25 years. Had two rats 20 years ago, and a mouse epidemic a couple years back.

 

In my experience, traditional traps, electric traps, live traps, etc., only work sometimes. Rats are smart, mice are cautious.

 

Blocking holes solved my problem. You have to really search. I found an open pipehole way under the bathtub and a 1/2 (?) crack in the pantry wall, sealed themno more mice. They scratched in the wall near the sealed pipehole for a couple days, then gave up.

 

* Stuff the hole or crack with steel wool, then caulk over the opening so the critter cant push the steel wool out or chew through it. *

 

Im not so sure you can seal a garage, though. Seems like a rat could slip under the big doorrodents can squeeze through a pretty small gap.

 

 

 

 

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Can a mere cat take on a rat?

 

The right cat can. But it's hard to find the right cat.

 

Yup, Not every cat is a mouser you have to find them. When picking out a mouser, I bring a mouse toy (one that LOOKS like a mouse, not a brightly colored toy). The cat that grabs the mouse by the neck and shakes it is a mouser. The action of shaking it breaks their neck.

 

When I moved to the boondocks with a large yard, the yard was crawling with rodents. Surrounding the yard was a farmers field. Once the rodents figured out I let my mouser cat earn his rent, they gradually avoided my yard. Once I acquired a 2nd mouser, they became fewer and farther between.

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You could have made it on topic by asking it this way:

 

"There's a rat in me kitchen what am I gonna do?"

 

Edit. good luck with the situation BTW!

 

"Now clean up them there shambles or I'll feed you piece meal to the rats in the cellar"!!

My favorite pirate... but unfortunately eye neer learn pirate talk, but see you have matey.

 

[video:youtube]

You don't have ideas, ideas have you

We see the world, not as it is, but as we are. "One mans food is another mans poison". I defend your right to speak hate. Tolerance to a point, not agreement

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Can a mere cat take on a rat?

 

The right cat can. But it's hard to find the right cat.

 

Ah... just get a good snake.

 

http://static.victorpest.com/media/articles/images/462/vp_us_snake_iStock_000085170895.jpg

 

 

 

When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray.
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Stuff the hole or crack with steel wool, then caulk over the opening so the critter cant push the steel wool out or chew through it.

Copper wool or mesh is even better as it doesn't rust out over time. My local Home Despot didn't carry it but was you can get it on Amazon.

 

There also is an allegedly rodent proof expansion foam for large gaps. I can't attest to its effectiveness but they can chew right through the regular expansion foam. At my place in the mountains I decided to use the insect-proof expansion foam instead, put down a layer of that, let it dry, stuffed in the copper mesh, and then topped it off with more of the insect foam. Once the foam is dry it sculpts really easily with a dremel. Wear googles and a particulate mask.

 

I filled gaps around pipes with a gooey amalgam of MH Patch and copper mesh. Wear latex gloves and roll/twist the mesh/spackle mix till it looks like a big fat J and then stuff it into the gap surrounding the pipe. Let it dry for a day and then finish the job with regular MH patch, let that dry, sand and paint. Looks really good and I doubt very much Stuart Little and friends will chew their way through that.

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If you use a traditional spring loaded trap, set it inside a large paper bag. You can dispose of it without touching the rodent or trap. I had a few mice in our garage caught this way. A paper lunch sized bag worked. If the bag has moved from where you place it, youve probably caught something.
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