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Time to bump this thread. We've had a rat in the house recently and I've finally dealt with it in hand to hand combat.
The problem with out rats is they don't seem to be that numerous or hungry. You just see the odd fat one wobbling around from time to time. This means they are very hard to trap. I've even got a fenn trap in a wooden tunnel and when I last inspected it the trap was still set and a rat had build a nest in the tunnel!
As we are not over run it is pointless waiting with a gun, even if I bait an area. I'm wondering what else can be done apart from poison.
Anyone tried the automatic Good Nature trap? I would hope it could stay safely set somewhere and get the odd rat when they first move in.
Any other ideas that are not harmful to other wildlife? (So, not poison, cats or dogs).
The problem with out rats is they don't seem to be that numerous or hungry. You just see the odd fat one wobbling around from time to time. This means they are very hard to trap. I've even got a fenn trap in a wooden tunnel and when I last inspected it the trap was still set and a rat had build a nest in the tunnel!
As we are not over run it is pointless waiting with a gun, even if I bait an area. I'm wondering what else can be done apart from poison.
Anyone tried the automatic Good Nature trap? I would hope it could stay safely set somewhere and get the odd rat when they first move in.
Any other ideas that are not harmful to other wildlife? (So, not poison, cats or dogs).
Grandad had a good method for killing mice and rats.
Equal amount of castor sugar, plaster of Paris and a really good pinch of salt, mix dry. Then leave somewhere sheltered in a dish with a dish of water next to it. When I was a kid I went into the shed one day to find a mouse as hard as a rock. The method worked well for grandad, but just mind out for the pets.
Cheers
Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk
Equal amount of castor sugar, plaster of Paris and a really good pinch of salt, mix dry. Then leave somewhere sheltered in a dish with a dish of water next to it. When I was a kid I went into the shed one day to find a mouse as hard as a rock. The method worked well for grandad, but just mind out for the pets.
Cheers
Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk
around christmas 2007 i worked in an organic apple orchard in New Zealand. we got an issue with a rat which had chewed a hole through the floor behind the cupboard in the kitchen so the owner bought a rat trap (made in the us of a...). it had a REALLY weird trigger which nobody managed to set and a very powerful spring (guess HOW i know... 
), finally we gave up on that thing and i wheeled a clean garbage bin in the kitchen, placed a small stick on it and smeared peanut butter on the end... the next morning Bob the farmdog dispatched the trapped rodent...
), finally we gave up on that thing and i wheeled a clean garbage bin in the kitchen, placed a small stick on it and smeared peanut butter on the end... the next morning Bob the farmdog dispatched the trapped rodent... 
You can work with a barrel with screw closure. It has to be pretty high.
You construct something like a bridge that falls down if the rat walks on it, with a rotating axis.
You put afterwards a screw lid on it and bring the rat some where else and let it free.
But bring it a few kilometres, if not it will come back perhaps.
Or just leave the rat where it is.
I prefere them over cats.
You construct something like a bridge that falls down if the rat walks on it, with a rotating axis.
You put afterwards a screw lid on it and bring the rat some where else and let it free.
But bring it a few kilometres, if not it will come back perhaps.
Or just leave the rat where it is.
I prefere them over cats.
When I was a kid we had a couple of dachunds that would hunt anything (they can be vicious little terriers) - but, one got bitten by a rat in the coal shed and later died of Leptospirosis; not pretty and very upsetting. I wouldn't use dogs on rats after that.
The simple solution is to take their food source away, put food stuffs in an air tight container.
Make sure the rabbit debris doesn’t fall out the cage.
Poisons are bad for the environment, plus rats are getting an immunity to them.
Your fighting a losing battle with traps as they will just keep coming.
Make sure the rabbit debris doesn’t fall out the cage.
Poisons are bad for the environment, plus rats are getting an immunity to them.
Your fighting a losing battle with traps as they will just keep coming.
Reminded me of my brother’s place in the Dordogne in France..the old farm was at least 600 years old. At night it sounded like the roof space was alive.Funny this topic should come up right now. Last week I heard a lot of scrabbling in my loft at night. Thought was probably rats or mice. Sounded like sherman tanks up there! Got my neighbour to put a trap up there. About 9.30 tonight there was a commotion and a half above my head I almost fell out of my chair! Called neighbour and he came round to look and we got a little mouse!
The river is canoe paradise at the moment so I asked him to haul my inflatable canoe down too which he kindly did... only to find mousy has knawed a massive hole in the gunnel. Totally unrepairable. Realy topped off my grumpy day! Its put out for the binmen now....a cuppa is not gonna cut it tonight! Where is that bottle of southern comfort?
I used to have voles & slow worms in my composter, ‘twas a little haven for all sorts of invertebrates & fungi.
I live in a very close boating community, the cats are killing everything.. kestrels, rabbits, voles, green woodpeckers, young water fowl, pigeons, to name a few.
Please put a double bell on the cats neck & don’t assume yours does not kill.. it’s in the nature.
There's plenty of natural food about for rats, for example I've found piles of snail shells on the past where rats have eaten the snails.
Along with mice, voles and even shrews, rats come in for shelter as well as food.
i've heard "neighbour's cat makes good hat" more than once in Australia and on a friend's place on THE Kangaroo Island the "c-word" was forbidden... understandable given their negative impact on the wildlife -- several species of small marsupials in the deserts have been (almost) wiped out by them....
on the subject of rat control: anyone knows how to reach the Pied Piper?!
i rather like his solution...How do you know it was rats, what where the gnaw signs
My lil sis lives in Westun Stralia(see what I did there)i've heard "neighbour's cat makes good hat" more than once in Australia and on a friend's place on THE Kangaroo Island the "c-word" was forbidden... understandable given their negative impact on the wildlife -- several species of small marsupials in the deserts have been (almost) wiped out by them....
on the subject of rat control: anyone knows how to reach the Pied Piper?!
They have one massive problem with introduced species. Can you also imagine coming across a male feral camel..doesn’t bare thinking off?
I’ve seen a lot of feral cats hanging by fences as they are literally decimating the native wildlife.
Sounds cruel to despatch them, but it is the only way forward I’m afraid.
Rabbits/ rats/ mice/ foxes, all introduced by man.
I hope we learn.
When I came recently along in Hameln I watched out the whole day but didn't see or hear him.
Should I meet him next time I will tell him about you.
en.m.wikipedia.org
Should I meet him next time I will tell him about you.
Pied Piper of Hamelin - Wikipedia
Yes, and the fact there was a great big rat running about the house.
If you mean the snails, yes they were gnawed from the middle and left in a pile with rat droppings etc.
... not to mention cane toads -- hopefully they find a way to control them soon... (interestingly they're native in my current location but i've so far not found out what keeps them under control)
i've come across feral camels just beside the road on my way to Uluru -- fortunately in broad daylight and on visible ground, my faithful Ford "festiva " was definitely smaller (friend of mine hit a brumby with his car, fortunately no serious injury but the car wasn't in a good shape afterwards...); the butcher in Humpty Doo (NT) makes some awesome camel curry sausages btw. ....
given their payment policy and his "revenge" i'm not particularly surprised he's given the town a missWhen I came recently along in Hameln I watched out the whole day but didn't see or hear him.
Should I meet him next time I will tell him about you.
Pied Piper of Hamelin - Wikipedia
