Rat control-Help
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Elder User
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 543
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Rat control-Help
My garage has had a huge rat problem this year, including them chewing my wiring , plastic parts etc.,. I have never had a problem like this but apperantly the conditions are right as I live near a tree shelter belt and hundreds of acres of sorghum. I have tried traps, store bought bait and nothing is working. Does anyone know of a homemade solution to kill these pests. I really can't afford the damage they are doing to my stuff and particulary the vehicles. THanks..
Elder User
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 800
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From: Ontario, canada
Rat control-Help
Sounds like it's time to call an exterminator.
It may seem like an expense, but if he solves your problem quickly, it's worth it. The stuff they use is far more effective than anything you can buy off the shelf.
Just be sure to tell him if you have pets.
It may seem like an expense, but if he solves your problem quickly, it's worth it. The stuff they use is far more effective than anything you can buy off the shelf.
Just be sure to tell him if you have pets.
Posting Guru
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 1,297
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From: Billings MT
Rat control-Help
I would tend to agree with Fordzlla. Call an exterminator. Let them know if you have pets. They have some very high potent "rat medicine".
I don't know how effective it is on rats, but soda(like Coke or Pepsi or the local store brand because it is cheap) will kill mice. Mice don't have the ability to burp, so their insides explode when they drink soda. I would assume that rats don't either, since they are in the same genus.
And for anyone that wants to hell at me for not being humane, rat poison is an anti-coagulant, it forces them to bleed to death from the inside out. I would think that a stomach explosion is much more humane.
And with soda, you don't have to worry if another animal should eat the carcass because there is no poison in it.
I don't know how effective it is on rats, but soda(like Coke or Pepsi or the local store brand because it is cheap) will kill mice. Mice don't have the ability to burp, so their insides explode when they drink soda. I would assume that rats don't either, since they are in the same genus.
And for anyone that wants to hell at me for not being humane, rat poison is an anti-coagulant, it forces them to bleed to death from the inside out. I would think that a stomach explosion is much more humane.
And with soda, you don't have to worry if another animal should eat the carcass because there is no poison in it.
FTE Chapter Leader
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 42,578
Likes: 3,121
From: Fraziers Bottom, WV
Rat control-Help
The local Farm Supply houses here in West Virginia sell a product called "Just One Bite". It is a wafer bar about 5" wide 7-9"long and 1" thick. Looks like a peanut bar. I live in the country and have horses. That means I have feed and where you have feed you have mice and rats. No with this stuff! It works very well and I don't see many rats. The barn 200 yards down the road reported fewer rats and mice!
Also I see a product that looks like this but it is green. I used it one time and it did not work on the mice around the house. I switched back and "NO MICE"!
Also I see a product that looks like this but it is green. I used it one time and it did not work on the mice around the house. I switched back and "NO MICE"!
Postmaster
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 2,881
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From: North of Tulsa, Oklahoma
Rat control-Help
Well, my house is at the north side of the subdivision and there is a cow pasture just 30ft from our front lawn and we haven't had mice or rat problems yet. My guess is that the local snake and free roaming cats take care of that.
In the military we had great success using regular wooden snap killing traps and the glue traps. I preferred the glue traps; no bloody mess or noise, relatively inexpensive, and they smelled like some kind of peanut butter.
I remember living on the coast and shooting wharf rats with a bb-gun. But those suckers were as big as the average house cat, but if you've got great aim you probably could alleviate yer rodent infestation with a .22 or bb-gun. Though your target rats would be pretty small.
Something else to think about; what is the ground coverage like immediately surrounding your garage? Is it dense thick underbrush or regularly mowed grass? Is there a distance barrier between your garage and the fields?
In the military we had great success using regular wooden snap killing traps and the glue traps. I preferred the glue traps; no bloody mess or noise, relatively inexpensive, and they smelled like some kind of peanut butter.
I remember living on the coast and shooting wharf rats with a bb-gun. But those suckers were as big as the average house cat, but if you've got great aim you probably could alleviate yer rodent infestation with a .22 or bb-gun. Though your target rats would be pretty small.
Something else to think about; what is the ground coverage like immediately surrounding your garage? Is it dense thick underbrush or regularly mowed grass? Is there a distance barrier between your garage and the fields?
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Senior User
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 135
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From: Morgan Hill, CA
Rat control-Help
I suggest you go carefully all around the garage and seal up any opening larger than a dime. Use tin. 1/4" wire screen, concrete grout, whatever it takes that they can't chew through. You need to keep them from getting inside first, otherwise you will be trying to kill every rodent in the neighborhood! Then you can use some of the methods suggested in the other posts to kill the ones that are still inside. I'm partial to spring traps baited w/ peanut butter.
mike
mike
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Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 1,236
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From: Vancouver Island
Rat control-Help
Poison is bad. The rats die slowly, get disoriented and crawl into illogical places where you don't find them until they're leaking and smelly. The big spring rat traps will kill them, but you should screw them down to the floor or staple them to a chain. Otherwise the traps disappear. I don't know why. Either the dying rats crawl away with them, or the surviving rats drag the corpse away to eat it.
Or just put out a bowl of cat food, and get a cat from the animal shelter.
Or just put out a bowl of cat food, and get a cat from the animal shelter.
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 230
Likes: 1
Rat control-Help
A handful of mothballs spread around the garage keep mice away, don't see why it wouldn't work for rats also. They don't like the naptha smell.
& as for rat traps....
Let your friends know where they are.... When I was about 10 I reached under a bench in my grandfathers shed to retrieve something I'd dropped.. BLAM! broke my gosh darnn thumb!
& as for rat traps....
Let your friends know where they are.... When I was about 10 I reached under a bench in my grandfathers shed to retrieve something I'd dropped.. BLAM! broke my gosh darnn thumb!
Posting Legend
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 30,255
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Rat control-Help
Mothballs... I was thinking of using them in the boxes I am taking to a public storage facility to keep insect critters out of them. If they work on mice etc also that would be a plus. There seems to be a rodent problem in this storage area. There are holes in several places and bags of rodent poison around.
Posting Guru
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 1,297
Likes: 3
From: Billings MT
Rat control-Help
Mothballs deter most rodents, including mice, squirrels, chipmunks, etc. We put them on the intakes of cars that are not driven regularly, i.e. motorhomes, ete, to keep the varmits from chewing the wiring, making dens, etc. It's better than keeping the hood up.
But, just remember to remove them before you go on a trip. They smell absolutely awful when they get hot and make a terrible mess. And it lasts a long time, the smell that is.
But, just remember to remove them before you go on a trip. They smell absolutely awful when they get hot and make a terrible mess. And it lasts a long time, the smell that is.
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 334
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From: Brampton Canada
Rat control-Help
I used to work in a heavy truck garage that had a rat problem in the winter months. One day a mangey looking cat wandered into the shop and we gave it some water and food. Just like the stories go, it kept coming back after that. When it started getting cold out, we gave him a sandbox to do his business in and always left fresh water.
Although we did feed him, our rat problem all but disapeared that first winter. I think the cat just liked stalking and chasing them in the night hours when the shop was closed.
In the spring, he started going outside again and didn't come back inside untill the temperature started getting cold at night in the fall. This "relationship" went on for 4 years, even though he never had a name and would NEVER let anyone pet him, etc.
One spring he wandered off and never came back. I always wondered what happened to that mean little cat.
Mabye you should just get a cat?
Although we did feed him, our rat problem all but disapeared that first winter. I think the cat just liked stalking and chasing them in the night hours when the shop was closed.
In the spring, he started going outside again and didn't come back inside untill the temperature started getting cold at night in the fall. This "relationship" went on for 4 years, even though he never had a name and would NEVER let anyone pet him, etc.
One spring he wandered off and never came back. I always wondered what happened to that mean little cat.
Mabye you should just get a cat?
New User
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5
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Rat control-Help
Go to a local hobby shop,and get a gallon of what is called nitro fuel.It is a combination of nitromethane,methanol,and oils.It is VERY poisonous,and if you get the right brand,is clear like water.If it doesn't work on the rats, you can use it to kill any plant you want!
Freshman User
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 47
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Rat control-Help
I have a suggestion, aibet it's not very humane, but nor are rats... Take a 5 gallon bucket fill it about half full of water. Punch 2 holes across from each other in the top of the bucket. Now, poke a hole in the bottom of a coke can then run a peice of wire through the coke can and secure it between the two holes in the top of the bucket with the coke can in the center. now, smear some peanut butter on the can. the rat will smell the peanut butter and go out on the wire to check it out. He will jump onto the can and it will spin on the wire dumping him into the water which he will eventually drown in.
