How to get rid of rats in your home?

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Swing

Swing

Porch Lover
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Hi all

In my old home some rats took up residence. I did use sprays that were suppose to repel them, and fancy rat traps (that did work). But these rats doubled every time I killed one.

The sewing room with fabric and yarn was a delight to them. And any foods put back, well they can chew threw many things.

It was to the point of needing to move out and have the place cleared out, then cleaned and starting over again.

So, have any of you lived with rats and how did you get rid of them? What poisons did you use if no other animals or small people in the house?
 
Those buckets of green bait chunks. Just put them where the pets and kids can't get at them. I put them for example in one empty kitchen drawer that used to have towels in it. The rats were eating the towels when we first moved here. Now I put the bait chunks in there and they magically disappear overnight. No more rats in the house.
 
We ended up having an exterminator come in and he gave us some suggestions, this was in Pennsylvania in an old house many years ago. One was to plug up any holes where they might come in with steel wool. They can skinny themselves to the circumference of a quarter and cannot chew through steel wool. We only found one dead on the property, suppose there could have been others. We had heard them crawling in the walls by our heads, one ran across husband’s foot late one night.

:cry:Gross
 
Swing said:
Hi all

In my old home some rats took up residence. I did use sprays that were suppose to repel them, and fancy rat traps (that did work). But these rats doubled every time I killed one.

The sewing room with fabric and yarn was a delight to them. And any foods put back, well they can chew threw many things.

It was to the point of needing to move out and have the place cleared out, then cleaned and starting over again.

So, have any of you lived with rats and how did you get rid of them? What poisons did you use if no other animals or small people in the house?
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If you want "natural" rodent control, I'll gladly send you some of my rattlesnakes.
We don't have rats here, but we do have mice, chipmunks, pine squirrels and pack rats. We've never had any in the house yet, but the out buildings are another matter though. I use traps, poison and a 10-22 rifle. We also get mice in our vehicles, so we keep traps set under the seats.
 
Mountain trapper said:
If you want "natural" rodent control, I'll gladly send you some of my rattlesnakes.
We don't have rats here, but we do have mice, chipmunks, pine squirrels and pack rats. We've never had any in the house yet, but the out buildings are another matter though. I use traps, poison and a 10-22 rifle. We also get mice in our vehicles, so we keep traps set under the seats.
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I used to tie one of those little blue/green poison blocks under (on) the frame somewhere easy for them - seemed to help.

Sorry, rats never lasted long with the dog. Jack Russells are annoying dogs, but they were bread for killing varmints.
 
I haven't tried it but peanut butter mixed with baking soda.. Rats evidently can't burp so they injest the yummy peanut butter then pop.
We did have packrats in one cabin we lived in so I set large sticky traps up places where the cat didn't go (exposed rafters). they would get stuck then I would shoot them with the 22. I kept a bucket handy to catch the blood.
 
My cats are the rodent control team... and they do a good job. Every now and then I gotta police a dead rodent and bury it under a tree, but otherwise, I'm good to go. I was surprised to find a dead pack rat in the yard the other day, guess one of the cats caught the rodent while it was trying to access a ground feeder on the west side of my property. I'm thinking Tiger must have killed it, because pack rats can be tough customers for smaller cats like Black Diamond, and Crackhead simply isn't that good of a hunter. Tiger, however, is a stone cold rodent killer, lol. He's a wild child (now about 5 years old), he was feral in his youth, so maybe that's what made him such a good hunter. He has that good camo too, so he blends in with the brush and is difficult to spot. 😒
 
If "ALL ELSE" fails, remember no RATS in Alaska. Or snakes.

I just remembered there are some islands that have RATS.
 
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I have for sale/trade a dozen custom (never used) Victor "Survivalist" Rat Traps. They are custom painted camouflage, with a skillfully drilled 3/16" hole for attaching 550 parachute cord. The design is fully tested and works for Ermine/Weasel, & Tree Rats.
 
Sorry that I can’t help you with the rat problem but I suspect there are good traps for such a purpose. I am not a fan of the poisons. As Sourdough said, no rats in Alaska but everything from a porcupine to squirrels can be a nuisance. I posted a thread here a few years ago with my epic battle with a genius and resourceful little shrew.
 
My two dogs ate a whole box of poison mouse bars. The GSP climbed up on my work bench and grabbed the box off the window sill. When I saw what they did I gave each of them a shot of peroxide. They puked up all the poison. The GSP was fine but the lab cut his mouth and we couldn't stop the bleeding. Took him to the vet and and after a couple of days he turned out fine.
 
Sourdough said:
I have for sale/trade a dozen custom (never used) Victor "Survivalist" Rat Traps. They are custom painted camouflage, with a skillfully drilled 3/16" hole for attaching 550 parachute cord. The design is fully tested and works for Ermine/Weasel, & Tree Rats.
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I have quite a few weasel boxes that I made. It's just a square wooden box with a 2" hole in front and a removable top. I put a Victor rat trap inside baited with muskrat or beaver meat. For summer I bait the trap with peanut butter and use them for trapping chipmunks.
 
Because of all my fruit trees, I keep 6 rat traps loaded with dog food kibble. It was really bad for the first few years, but I'm down to getting maybe one rat a week. I also have 5 loaded mouse traps, but I haven't caught any of them varmints in maybe a year.
 
I never had a problem until they completely tore up a golf course of many acres close to me. A neighbor told me that we ALL got mice after that. It is a never ending problem. I have put out electronic traps and caught a couple in that. I have put out many snap traps and caught a couple that way. I have put out many glue traps and have caught some that way. But some traps never caught anything.

I think the pandemic also changed things for rodents when many restaurants were closed. I have had so many people tell me about the rodents they have or had.

BTW, a squirrel is a furry tailed rat!

Any food in plastic or cardboard is easily accessible for them. One day, a loaf of bread on the counter had a tunnel chewed through it. Ugh. If I have a mix for cornbread or something, I now keep it in the fridge or freezer. Nothing is safe otherwise. They have even been on the top of my fridge!
 
Weedygarden said:
I never had a problem until they completely tore up a golf course of many acres close to me. A neighbor told me that we ALL got mice after that. It is a never ending problem. I have put out electronic traps and caught a couple in that. I have put out many snap traps and caught a couple that way. I have put out many glue traps and have caught some that way. But some traps never caught anything.

I think the pandemic also changed things for rodents when many restaurants were closed. I have had so many people tell me about the rodents they have or had.

BTW, a squirrel is a furry tailed rat!

Any food in plastic or cardboard is easily accessible for them. One day, a loaf of bread on the counter had a tunnel chewed through it. Ugh. If I have a mix for cornbread or something, I now keep it in the fridge or freezer. Nothing is safe otherwise. They have even been on the top of my fridge!
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I had many of those experiences but with the rats instead of mice. Don't you think you'd have to completely clear out your home and live somewhere else for a couple of months, and just keep killing them before moving back in?
 
My Maine Coon cat died in April 2015. She was 19.5 years old. I think the neighbor killing off the rat snakes that use to live out in the leaves and brush, may have allowed the rats to get more aggressively looking for fun places. I would have liked to get another, but was not set up for another animal.
 
Swing said:
I had many of those experiences but with the rats instead of mice. Don't you think you'd have to completely clear out your home and live somewhere else for a couple of months, and just keep killing them before moving back in?
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Maybe, but what a job! The problem is that the same neighbor told me they have worked hard, but have never been able to get rid of them either. I wonder if there isn't underground ways that they keep getting back and forth.

Daughter has lived in two buildings where there were mice. One building was a new building, built in an a large area of new development that had previously been acres of fields. I helped her with setting out traps. If everyone in a building or area doesn't work on it, then they move around. We think she had a neighbor who never did anything. We would see droppings in the mornings, and no sign of a rodent all the rest of the day. When we set traps, we would catch mice, but they must have been all through the 5 units in the building. They had probably been living in the fields forever, and their homes had been disrupted as the building kept happening. Not her building, but next door to her was a woman who had an incredibly clean home. She had mice! Another home, close by, also immaculately kept had mice. The women in these homes were incensed that they had mice because they were so clean and careful.

I've had problems with squirrels going after my bird feeders, but I have also seen mice in the area. I have been feeding these things.

I won't use poison because there are too many dogs that stay at my home. It could end up killing one of them, or making them very sick. Not good!
 
I use bucket traps outside around the house and garden. The mouse infestation is extreme this year. I have never seen anything like it.

Mice are everywhere. Mowing the lawn it's like lemmings going over a cliff. A rat ate the lawn mower seat. Inside, they will run over your feet while walking down the hall. I have snap traps inside because buckets of floating mouse bodies are gross.

I feel like a Montana Bill wannabe, checking my trap line three times a day.

We were in town last week looking for more snap traps but they were all sold out in every store and there was a line of people looking for them. It was funny because a mouse ran by at the sold out trap section of the farm store.

There are actually road kill mice along with the grouse and squirrels, now.
 
Wingnut said:
Millennial rats won't get a job, and they don't have money to pay the rent... can't evict 'em either, not in Kalifornia anyway! ;)

Rent-boycotting rats would rather sit on the couch, smoke dope and play video games... :oops:
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Follow this 5 Step Program to become Rat Free in no time

1-cut off the internet, phone and cable
2- put a lock on fridge door.
3-remove any alcohol on site stating its bad for the climate
4-putflags & trump 2024 signs up all over inside and out
5-play Very loud gospel music 24/7 and sing along

they will magically find other oppertunities
;)
 
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