Severe rat infestation

[mrmike]

I made myself several live catch traps based on or around the Monarch rat trap really quite easy to knock up out of half inch monoweld and a bit of garden wire. the beauty of these is you can get multiple catches, (especially young rats) you know exactly where you stand as to what is being killed and what isn't and the traps last for years...the only problem is they are not for the squeamish.

D.B.

One thing to consider for anyone who is considering using live capture traps for rats is what to do if you catch any?

Drowning is a definate no-no as it is illegal and if prosecuted will land you with a hefty fine at best (Wild Mammals Protection Act)

Releasing the 'detainees' - All you are doing is moving the problem somewhere else, they may well just come right back to you....

If you do not have the means to humanely dispatch the quarry then do not set the trap.

 

[Nice65]

Admire them as much as you like but preferably at the moment of slipping the trigger on a 177 pellet.

K

I'm with you. Our next door neighbour kept hens and had a bad infestation living in a disused cesspit under the run. She cleared the hens out and got the pest people in, but we still have a few in the compost heap and down the bottom of the garden. Air rifle, make an evening of it.

I'm after a better scope for low light.

 

[Samon]

I'm with you. Our next door neighbour kept hens and had a bad infestation living in a disused cesspit under the run. She cleared the hens out and got the pest people in, but we still have a few in the compost heap and down the bottom of the garden. Air rifle, make an evening of it.

I'm after a better scope for low light.

There's always batied areas under a red light. Red light being less of a deterant than normal white or yellow light. I've managed well with a normal scope under red light. A bit of red felt tip pen over a torch taped over the bait area is what I've used. Red felt pen or a red sweet wrapper.

 

[Nice65]

There's always batied areas under a red light. Red light being less of a deterant than normal white or yellow light. I've managed well with a normal scope under red light. A bit of red felt tip pen over a torch taped over the bait area is what I've used. Red felt pen or a red sweet wrapper.

Ah, Mr Longstriders missus worked in a theatre, she gave me some red filter film. Thanks for the reminder, now where on earth would that be amongst my stuff

 

[daveO]

I've found shooting to be the only option here. We tried live traps and caught birds and hedgehogs but very few rats. I refuse to use poison because we have quite an active clean up crew in the garden who will grab a corpse before they can be disposed of properly. The picture below is a still from a trail cam video showing a raven taking one of the shot rats away.

 

[Toddy]

I've been reading this thread with interest because I'm pretty sure I have rats in one of the compost bins These bins are the sitting straight onto the ground dalek shaped ones that the Council gives out to households who ask for them in this area. They've been as sound as a bell for years, occasional evidence of mice, but the cat took care of that, but I'm pretty sure the only thing able to make tunnels near fist sized in diameter is a rat.
Not particularly happy about it. Last time we had any my brother shot them with an air pistol. He's not around to do that now, so I need to think of another way to get rid of these.

M

 

[Drain Bamaged]

Toddy if it is a relatively new problem and you are sure that it is rats then the tunnel network will probably not be to extensive, a very simple solution can be the green house smoke bombs available at a lot of Garden Centres....Block what holes you can see and then bung a smoke bomb down the last hole before blocking that too. Even those that are not killed should be persuaded to leave and because of the lingering smell they are generally reluctant to return. You used to be able to get Mole Bombs which worked even better (though not very effective on actual moles) but I am not sure if these are still available.

D.B.

 

[Toddy]

Oh now that's a good idea

I think a visit to a garden centre is in the offing.

Thank you

M

 

[Drain Bamaged]

dave0, I too am always reluctant to use the poisons because of secondary poisoning (though according to the sales pitch this is not supposed to happen) If you are catching birds and especially Hedgehogs in the live traps then your entry holes are much to large.....I would think 2" diameter 2.5" at the most it's amazing how small a hole they need and possibly the reason the traps didn't work well for the Rats is because they were getting out the same way as they got in with the larger hole.

D.B.

 

[Joonsy]

so I need to think of another way to get rid of these.

M

mark 4 fenn traps work very well (provided you can or don't mind handling a dead rat), they are ''time'' efficient as they work unattended of course so you don't need to sit and wait like you do with a gun. they kill instantly so are humane and as you can see the dead body you know you've got rid of it. You must use them in a tunnel to work properly, when you have got rid of the rats you can leave the trap set in tunnel but with safety catch on to encourage any newcomers to use the tunnel and then if you see signs of it being used again reset the trap by removing the safety catch. I have used both mark 4 and mark 6 fenn traps, 4 is designed for rats/squirrels and 6 is far rabbits.

 

[Toddy]

The only sign I have of tunnels (mind I live right next to woodland and a burn) is in the stuff in the compost bin itself. I'm supposing that they are coming up underneath the bin, but I can't see any signs around the bin. It's right underneath a gean and a beech and about a foot from the lane fence.

It sits just the other side of this fence line.

M

 

[Joonsy]

Toddy if it is a relatively new problem and you are sure that it is rats then the tunnel network will probably not be to extensive, a very simple solution can be the green house smoke bombs available at a lot of Garden Centres....Block what holes you can see and then bung a smoke bomb down the last hole before blocking that too. Even those that are not killed should be persuaded to leave and because of the lingering smell they are generally reluctant to return. You used to be able to get Mole Bombs which worked even better (though not very effective on actual moles) but I am not sure if these are still available.

D.B.

rats which are persuaded to leave or scared away will always return, smoke bombs are only a temporary measure, first you do not know if you have killed all the rats as you can't see down the hole and second not all the rats may actually be down the holes when smoke bombs are placed, any rats that survive will soon return. Poison works but you can't often see their bodies to prove it and rely on visual evidence like damage/sightings etc to know if it has worked, with fenn traps (humane dead catch) you see their bodies so know for sure you've killed them and dead rats don't return. Shooting works too but only when you sit and wait so is time consuming whereas fenn traps work while you are doing other things.

 

[Macaroon]

Well, I have to report that today, for the first time in weeks, I've only seen one rat and it was almost dead from the poison; soon dispatched and wrapped away. The uptake of bait has all but stopped, apart from the place which I'm sure they were coming in from where they seem to be taking as much as I can put down. The claim on the poison I've been using, that they will take the bait to their nests and die there, seems to be holding good so far. I've spent a lot of time on this so I'm dead sure that there are no stray bodies about to pass on the bad stuff to non-target species.

I've also been reassured that the stuff I'm using is not taken up by the roots of plants; the bright green/blue colour also shows up extremely well when and if they've spread it about so the clear up is nothing like as bad as I had feared, thank god!

The poisoning route, if carried out properly, is not as bad as people say.........I think there's a bit of a hangover from the bad old days of Warfarin and Diclofenac et. al..

 

[daveO]

dave0, I too am always reluctant to use the poisons because of secondary poisoning (though according to the sales pitch this is not supposed to happen) If you are catching birds and especially Hedgehogs in the live traps then your entry holes are much to large.....I would think 2" diameter 2.5" at the most it's amazing how small a hole they need and possibly the reason the traps didn't work well for the Rats is because they were getting out the same way as they got in with the larger hole.

D.B.

They're just the big cage traps with an open door at one end. It seems odd that they make the doors that large but I guess there must be a reason. Hopefully the reason isn't giant rats...

You can keep rats out of composters by wrapping the bottom in chicken wire or similar mesh. As long as you're not putting cooked food in there they don't seem bothered about chewing their way in.

 

[Drain Bamaged]

dave0, I assume the traps you are referring to have some sort of trip plate or trigger then, these have bigger doors to allow them to be used for bigger prey such as Mink and Feral Cats etc. The ones I mean are based on a lobster pot design...a funnel leading in that they cannot get out of. with young Rats especially you can get anything up to a dozen at a time in one trap, with no moving parts there is nothing to scare the first ones to enter, the others then see them getting a free meal so follow them in. Monarch rat trap is similar to what I based my original ones around but most have been modded or altered since, mostly just basic shapes etc so I can fit them into corners of pens, sheds and runs without them sticking out like sore thumbs.

D.B.

 

[Toddy]

Macaroon ? that sounds very practical. I liked the idea of the smoke bombs but could see problems keeping the blighters away long term using those.
At the end of the day, a deid rat's not breeding any more rats, and if they die in their nests then I don't need to worry about handling them or weil's disease, etc.,

How do I get hold of this stuff please ?

M

 

[Macaroon]

I went to my local hardwear place and got the Rentokill - branded stuff, I bought both of the modern anticoagulants which seem to have worked very well. The one is "Rodine" mouse & rat killer, in a cardboard box containing six large sachets of whole wheat bait and the trays to put it in; this one is Bromadiolone and has an extremely bitter taste added as an extra deterent to non-target species.

The other comes in a plastic tub containing 25 sachets of a block-type bait and is sold as mouse & rat killer Pasta bait and this one contains Difenacoum as the active ingredient. The two products cost me £20 give or take a few pence and had I not had such a huge infestation they would have done the job with plenty to spare for follow-up treatments in the future, if required.

I bought some baiting stations from ebay, these are a weatherproof box that open with a key to replenish the bait, but they are about a tenner each and in hindsight it's easy to achieve the same result using a bit of old guttering or anything to stop the birds and other non-target species getting at the bait, which you place on the trays provided and then cover. Both of these are wrapped in individual portions and are easy to handle with gloves on as a precaution, and this makes it almost certain that the "sleekit wee beggars" will take it into their nest to consume.

 

[Toddy]

Thank you

M

 

[santaman2000]

Matbe we should add some recipes and merge this thread with the exotic foods thread?

 

[bilmo-p5]

Matbe we should add some recipes and merge this thread with the exotic foods thread?

Ragout Roland ?