Click Banner For More Info See All Sponsors

So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!

This site is now closed permanently to new posts.
We recommend you use the new Townsy Cafe!

Click anywhere but the link to dismiss overlay!

Results 1 to 9 of 9

  • Share this thread on:
  • Follow: No Email   
  • Thread Tools
  1. TopTop #1
    paultous
    Guest

    Discouraging Rats From Entering Trailer Nirvana

    I have a situation I need helpful suggestions on. Situation
    is that I have a domestic rat that I'm caring for and I find
    that feral rats are actually entering my trailer through holes
    they've crafted (to get to the domestic rat food perhaps)
    and I have been trying various humane unharmful ways
    of discouraging the ferals. Trying, unfortunately, without
    success. So if anyone can give me guidance on this,
    believe me, I shall be immensely grateful.
    Paul, 829-6913
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email

  2. TopTop #2
    Tars's Avatar
    Tars
     

    Re: Discouraging Rats From Entering Trailer Nirvana

    Quote Posted in reply to the post by paultous:
    I have a situation I need helpful suggestions on.
    Is your rat female? That may be your problem.

    I suppose I'll get slammed on this particular board for my "inhumane" attitude towards feral rats. I recently solved an infestation around my home. The wild rats totally trashed the walls inside & out, on a studio cottage next to our main house. I'm having to replace wallboard inside, and siding outside. They got into the walls of our main house, where some of them apparently died, and began to stink disgustingly. They ran, thumped, and destructed inside our walls, mostly at night.

    They went after our chickens, attacking them during the night, killing some of them.

    Be aware that if you don't deal with feral rats, they will continue to breed, spread and infest, at a horrendous rate.

    Our cats are totally intimidated by wild rats, who can grow to a weight that can equal a small cat. We have one terrier breed dog that will go after them ....sometimes.

    I got sick and tired of the damage they cause, and took hostile action. I tried snap traps. Those will work on some of the younger rats, sometimes. the adult rats spring the traps, swipe the bait, and flip me the rat finger as they head home to feed their new brood.

    What finally worked for me was poisoned bait. It took a couple of months. I had to remove all other potential food sources - dogfood, veggie garden, etc. There was a stink problem for awhile. But I haven't seen any sign of rats at our house for several months. I was careful to put the bait where dogs, raccoons, etc. couldn't get to them. I already knew as well, that our dogs would not eat dead rats. Remove dead rats ASAP, so natural scavengers won't get to them.

    We also have a large infestation in our horse barns. I can't/won't put poison there for a number of reasons. There, I am going to use live traps, for raccoons as well as rats. I'll re-locate the 'coons out away from civilization; caught rats will be removed from the barn area and disposed of.

    Since we have a fairly good amount of fenced acreage, we had decided to breed dogs. Because of the rat problem, we decided to breed rat terriers. These won't be show dogs, but will be working dogs, trained to go after rats. I won't describe that training here, as the local "animal rights" people would come after me with pitchforks and nooses.

    Perhaps this isn't the type of suggestion you were looking for. But, it worked for me - no rats.

    Tars
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email

  3. TopTop #3
    Mountain Creek
     

    'THE BARRIER METHOD' for Discouraging Rats

    A few years ago we finally solved our rat problem in our home with - remember this? - the 'barrier method'!

    The man that was working with us around our house (Robert Breyer, 824-1015; hear now a shameless plug for a great all-around carpenter/fixer-upper type man) came up with and executed the plan. He plugged ALL little holes around the perimeter walls at the foundation with very fine steel wool. They can't get through it. Remember their skulls are flexible like a baby's at birth and they can enter through a hole as small as a fingernail (can't remember which finger :)) So there were a lot of little places they were getting through...

    The biggest breakthrough came when he discovered a missing board between the foundation and the floor joist!! A regular rat highway. No matter how many I was trapping they could just send in their reinforcements (and any of you who have been through this know how horrible it is - not just the trapping which is bad enough but lying awake nights listening to them in the walls. Shudder....)

    Anyway that really stopped them. After the perimeter was secured we had no new entries. There was just one more hanger-onner. When cleaning behind the refrigerator we found she had made a nest behind the refrigerator in the motor, where there was just enough water from condensation to have all the creature comforts a mammal needs. We wired that doorway up with rat wire and voila! I hate to remember it but I do, vividly - she was the last one to succumb to the spring trap.

    I had gotten to the stage (three years into trapping) where I did use poison, but actually this barrier method proved superior to that. Even with poison we still had rats, and though the poison was well hidden I was always anxious that a small child or other animal would find it.

    With steel wool there is no worry like that.

    Since then we have had NO rat problems, something for which I remain grateful each and every day.

    Let this be a public thank you to Robert Breyer and also a passing on of one lore and trick that really worked for our family. Sometimes low-tech really is great. It required a very thorough and systematic approach, and Robert took a few days to inch by inch inspect the perimeter of the house.
    He also plugged holes in interior walls so they no longer had free run of the place once they'd gotten inside. He used his eyes and (surgical gloved? - I forget) hands to do this.

    Best to you. It is worth it to persist. Rats and humans have evolved together, but we were meant to have a VERY clear boundary between our territories, I say, from my human side. I figure they can have the rest of the forest and woods around our house, but no entry! So yea for the 'barrier method'!! It worked for me in my youth and again in my middle years!

    LuAnne
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email

  4. TopTop #4
    earthywoman's Avatar
    earthywoman
     

    Re: Discouraging Rats From Entering Trailer Nirvana

    Hi LuAnne! Just want to let you know that I called Robert Breyer twice- and got NO call back...Don't know what's up with that.....Gail P.S. I have a rodent problem too
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email

  5. TopTop #5
    Braggi's Avatar
    Braggi
     

    Re: Discouraging Rats From Entering Trailer Nirvana

    The rats that invade homes are not native to this area, are pests in many ways, and should be exterminated.

    Poison should be avoided since poisoned rats kill predators such as hawks, owls and snakes that feed on rats which can increase the population you wish to eliminate.

    Snap traps are next to useless with rats. The big ones are strong enough to get out of them unless the lucky snap breaks their neck which seldom happens.

    The near perfect trap (in my experience) is the Have-a-Heart brand cage trap sized for squirrels. Use peanut butter for bait. After you catch a rat put the trap in a water container large enough to cover the entire thing, such as a utility sink. The rat will die a relatively peaceful death (much more humane than poison) in a few minutes. Toss the dead rat on top of your roof where carrion birds will be happy to remove it within hours which is a natural method of carcass elimination and doesn't smell. Rebait the trap and wait for the next one.

    I used this method in Hawaii on a property that was severely infested. We caught a rat about every fifteen minutes for hours on end.

    The traps are about $22 each at hardware stores.

    Good luck.
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email

  6. TopTop #6
    Tars's Avatar
    Tars
     

    Re: Discouraging Rats From Entering Trailer Nirvana

    Quote Posted in reply to the post by Braggi: View Post
    The traps are about $22 each at hardware stores.
    I purchased cage traps at the Harbor Freight outlet on Piner Road. Rat-size traps were about $12, and raccoon-sized traps were $18. Don't know if they were on sale or not.

    Excellent suggestion about tossing the rats on the roof for the carrion birds!

    Tars
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email

  7. TopTop #7
    wildflower's Avatar
    wildflower
     

    Discouraging Rats From Entering Trailer Nirvana

    If you clean up all potential food sources, you won't have rats. They only come to eat and survive on your "surplus". No need to KILL if you keep area clean and block all entry ways into your home/trailer after they are outside.


    Quote Posted in reply to the post by Tars: View Post
    I purchased cage traps at the Harbor Freight outlet on Piner Road. Rat-size traps were about $12, and raccoon-sized traps were $18. Don't know if they were on sale or not.

    Excellent suggestion about tossing the rats on the roof for the carrion birds!

    Tars
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email

  8. TopTop #8
    Braggi's Avatar
    Braggi
     

    Re: Discouraging Rats From Entering Trailer Nirvana

    Quote Posted in reply to the post by wildflower: View Post
    If you clean up all potential food sources, you won't have rats. They only come to eat and survive on your "surplus". No need to KILL if you keep area clean and block all entry ways into your home/trailer after they are outside.

    Wildflower, I'm sure you mean well, but the rats in question are invaders in our fragile environment and should be exterminated entirely and completely. They eat everything edible, not just "surplus." They climb citrus trees and gnaw off the leaves which they eat and the small branches to make their nests out of (must like the smell of the wood). They steal fruits and vegetables from farms and home gardens and break into storage sheds and garages to steal seeds and stores of foodstuffs. They eat the acorns and seeds that should be feeding native species and they foul everything they contact with their copious quantities of bacteria laden feces and urine. Their excrement destroys millions of dollars worth of property each year in Sonoma County. They shouldn't be here. They should be dead. We should employ the most effective methods we can find that minimally effect the environment and protect native predators.

    Trap them, drown them and toss them on the roof to feed the birds. If you know of more effective or humane methods, please share them here. The bottom line is: we do need to KILL them.
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email

  9. TopTop #9
    Braggi's Avatar
    Braggi
     

    Re: Discouraging Rats From Entering Trailer Nirvana

    Yes, the rats are European invaders and came along with the two leggeds you mention, who, admittedly, cause even more harm than the rats. Controlling that kind is even more challenging.

    Quote Posted in reply to the post by tacitus: View Post
    Wow. Dangerous aliens! They sound a lot like the Europeans invaders who came to these shores, extirpated both the native people and their food sources and went on westward, now found railing against other alien species such as European birds, cats, both feral and domestic and certain grasses.

    Braggi, please give us your resources on these feral rats? I know Paul and know he's not the kind of person who is going to trap and drown another living creature. Perhaps a barrier will work for him - Paul, can you chime in here?

    Dian
    To begin with, I live here and I've suffered all these problems here at home so I'm reporting first hand. (OK, they've only crapped on thousands of dollars worth of my property, not millions.) I have a friend in Santa Rosa whose valuable parrot was killed by rats (while I was visiting).

    Need "experts?" Try these Dian:

    https://ucipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74106.html
    https://www.msmosquito.com/PD060700.html

    If Paul is unwilling to kill the rats, he should hire someone who will. The best thing we can do for our environment with regard to the rats is to do away with them. It's possible through community effort.
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email