Rat

FranknFurter

If there is one its very very likely there are more.
The original "field mouse" you saw was likely a baby rat.

Rats are everywhere, whether you see them or not, when they become pests like in this case there are only a few things you can do.

Make your garden as "Rat-unfriendly" as possible. Block off any holes in fences, find their "run" and put traps in their path. Hunt down all dry spots in your garage, shed, garden where they might like to nest.

If there are cats and dogs around, PLEASE do not use poisen, have you ever seen what that does to a cat or dog? Horrific.

pellet guns and black widows etc are useless, its unlikely you will hit it and even more likely there are more than one.

As a very last resort you could always call in the professionals, plenty in the yellow pages.

Oh, another trap I heard of recently.

Get a deep big (high) bin with a tight lid (smooth inside no corners to chew), make a hole high up near the top. Put some nice juicy food in, not much, just one thing.
Dig big hole, bury bin up to the high hole.
Rat goes in to investigate (they cant help themselves), jumps down into deep dark bin to get food, suddenly realises there are no ways back to that high entry hole, voila! One caught ratty!

b

Lex Luthor

What I know for sure is that it is living under my garden shed. I put one or 2 pieces of dry bread in the garden last night and stood at the kitchen window. Within minutes, it was walking about picking up the bread and taking it back under the shed.

I left out my rat cage trap last night with some bread but it didn't take it. I am getting one of these anyway (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320018397525&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:UK:11#ebayphotohosting) and while I'm waiting I'll be setting up a few more traps tonight with various baits on them. I got some great video footage of the git just standing there 6ft from me outside the window for 2-3 mins. He was there for the taking with the catapult if I had one.

The only issues I had with putting down poison last time was the damn slugs were attacking it. Every time I put out a nugget, 2hrs later the slugs were on it.

I'll try the chocoolate & bacon rind later on traps and set it back 2-3mm like suggested.

CJhaughey

Use salt to kill slugs.

Lex Luthor

CJhaughey wrote:

Use salt to kill slugs.

I don't have a problem with slugs except when they eat my rat poison...:rolleyes:

artieanna

Lex Luthor wrote:

What I know for sure is that it is living under my garden shed. I put one or 2 pieces of dry bread in the garden last night and stood at the kitchen window. Within minutes, it was walking about picking up the bread and taking it back under the shed.

He/she has a nest and is bringing food to it...can you seal up the gap under the shed? He's cute too, wouldn't go for the bread in the cage.:mad: How bout you get some of that seed (posion) and mix it with less bread an leave it about like last night...I don't think the cage is going to work, too clever for that:mad:

Lex Luthor

Result: Rattus norvegicus has been caught. I laid out 3 traps last night. 2 regular traps with sausage & nutella spread all over the sausage and a 3rd modified trap that I put a mixture of bread and crushed poison on with nutella spread all over it.

:mad: :mad: I modified the trap by soldering a few 1inch lengths of 1.5mm copper wire to the trap section so that if it was released it would impail the f*cker. :mad: :mad:

Laid all 3 traps in a triangular pattern with them all facing eachother, so it would have to go into the middle of them to get anything off them.

I also threw out 2 balls of the poison/bread balls with nutella on them for freebies.

Just looked out the window and he was snagged in the regular trap just across the bridge of the nose. So at least I got the ring leader...now I have a bit of confidence in the traps I set, I hope I'll catch another 1 or 2 soon. Also hope the freebies I left out were taken back and eaten with the crushed poisoon in them. I was having no luck with the full poison blocks...they were just being ignored, but it looks like the cocktail baits worked a treat.

Pictures to follow later

muffler

Im not joking on this but have you tried a cat or a jack rusell dog. They will try to get to the nest too if its anyway accessible

Lex Luthor

FranknFurter wrote:

The original "field mouse" you saw was likely a baby rat.

I just cleaned out the shed this morning and found a dead mouse, very much in the advanced stage of decomposition. Well, it could be a small rat or a mouse...I'm no expert. Either way it was well dead. The smell in the shed seems not to be as strong now since the rat I caught is gone. No posion/nutella/bread cocktail baits taken last night and I put out 4 small ones and right near the shed which I expected them to take them if there was any left. I'll leave them out for a week or so and if there is no movement in the baits or traps, I'll remove them. Hopefully, this is the last I'll see of the rat...Mice I can handle, but not rats.

artieanna

Well done!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rolleyes: :eek: :cool:

Monitor the situation until you sure the coast is clear of rats.....