[Bev]

I seem to have lots of rat activity again and they have eaten masses of poison the last couple of nights. I have heard that next doors cats have caught at least 2.  My neighbour said one of them was huge, does the poison make them swell up?

If the rats take lots of poison and still don't go does this mean they become harmful to other wildlife and cats?

I have a toddler in my garden, and my dog is diggin massive holes every where a rat hole appears so I am determined that they have to go,  but is there a quicker/better way to put them out of their misery? I am wondering about getting some of the old fashioned snap trap type things and putting them out at night near where the feeder is hung but worried that a rat might get trapped and have a slow lingering death?

My poison feeder is behind the compost heap a few meters from the chicken house.

I am bringing my chicken feeder in at 7pm and out again about 7:30am but it just seems to be forcing the rats out in the day more.

Should I try and find some one with ferrets or is that an even worse death for them?

Hope you can help,

Bev 

[Bev]

Oh and another thing! How high can you hang a chicken feeder, the rats are getting on it even though I have it quite high. My chickens are rhode island red crossed with Light Sussex so they are reasonably big. They are not on tip toes yet but do look as though they are stretching up a bit?

[1st time veg grower]

A rat can jump almost a metre (36") vertically... so probably not high enough! 

[Tazzy]

If you mean rat traps that look like large mouse snaptraps, they are so strong that they will kill them instantly - peanut butter spread is particularly effective as it's smeared on which makes them get right onto the activator. Please beware of them though, and don't put them anywhere near where your chucks go as I lost one very recently when she got into the garden and stood on one. It was strong enough to snap her leg and I had to have her put to sleep

[leddenton]

Hi We have recently had a rat problem and think we have got it under control using peanut butter as bait on a humane trap.Have caught 5,only problem is have to shut girls in inside run before stting it as Betty helps herself to peanut butter!

[Nails]

You could try using Eradibait, it's only fatal to Rats! They eat it and it aggravates the tiny hairs in their throat and gut and sends them into a fatal coma. As far as i am aware, we use it as we have, sheep, geese free rangeing and also 7 cats! Which do help keep the rat population down as well!

[Bev]

Oooo thanks everyone!

If I get the snap traps I will just put them out in the hen pen once the chickens are shut in their house and remove them before letting the chickens out in the morning. No other animals can get in apart from some sparrows that come through the netting and the occasional blackbird.

I don't think the rats are that bothered about my scent being on them as it doesn't put them off my layers mash!!!!

Wow, how amazing that rats can jump 1 metre high, thats more than I can! Do they climb aswell, the council rat man said they would not take food off my bird table. I haven't seen them on it but don't put too much food on it just incase.

Eradibait sounds good, think I will get some!

[1st time veg grower]

Yep, sorry, rats can most definately climb - in fact they are amazing climbers! They can also jump horizontally 48" and tread water for 3 days!

At the risk of grossing everyone out:

(and for the record although she looked like a 'wild' rat, my agouti rescue Ruby was originally from a display at the London dungeon that got closed down due to extreme over population and neglect.)

[joyfull]

my eldest son when he was about 10 had a pet white rat called Sybil, she was lovely but never used to gnaw properly so we had to regularly trim her teeth, very intelligent animals.

[scabs]

Pet rats are beautiful and clever little things, and can be very affectionate.

'Pest' rats can be a nightmare though. If you are going to use 'snap' traps, why not place them inside lengths of pipe so other more welcome animals (chickens, cats, dogs, hoggies etc) can't get to 'em? 2-3" pipe would probably be about right I'd think, though perhaps someone could confirm?

I've got a baiting station for poison that pegs down into the ground and can only be opened with an allen key - £10 from B&Q.

[Draindragon]

Rats are one of the smartest animals on the planet. There is very little to get rid of them. I would suggest that you get a lockable bait station, you can get them from B and Q or many different online companies.

Remember if you bait rats and they die in the open they may be eaten by higher level predators. You may risk secondary posioning of wildlife.  Which you may be liable for. All you have todo is have a good round each morning and collect any bodies and double bag them before you put them in the bin. Rat snap traps are great and i agree peanut butter is excellent. You can also get backbreak traps in sealed boxes.

This is a web link to a great company who i have worked with and they are excellent with advice too. They are working with DIY rat controllers. 

http://www.pestcontroldirect.co.uk/

[1st time veg grower]

Pet rats are beautiful and clever little things, and can be very affectionate.

'Pest' rats can be a nightmare though.

Yep, too right, on both counts! Love my pet rats, and although my now natural response when I see rats in the wild is now no longer one of disgust (I once watched a family of wild rats by a canal for a good 30mins as I was intrigued to see how their behaviour mirrored that of my own 'colony' of pet rats), I would of course, albeit with some sadness, take every measure possible to destroy them if my chickens attracted them, as indeed we had to when my rabbit and guinea pig caused a family of rats to nest under their hutch when I was a child.

Sorry keep taking the thread in a different direction but I have in the past read on this site what I think are some really extreme reactions to wild rats and to be fair probably the reaction I would have had about 15 years a go. But I just think a lot of people's responses to rats are actually learned behaviours which are encouraged through the media/false information etc. The noises I have heard dubbed over images of rats in films for example are not actually noises that rats naturally make at all, the posters the police were using to 'rat on a rat' not so long ago with a drawing of rat with its blood stained teeth beared are totally unrealistic. Yes they carry diseases, but so do alot of other wild animals and we don't have that same extreme reaction. But it did take me owning pet rats to have that appreciation for their wild ancestors - interesting that it was in fact Queen Victoria's ratcatcher who first domesticated the wild norwegian rat.

In my eyes its because they rats are so intelligent and resourceful and clever that there are too many of them and we have to do something about it, not because they are evil or 'nasty' or anything to be frightened of.

I am just glad Bev recognises that they have the right not to suffer and be destroyed as humanely as possible, something that has not always been recommended on other threads.

Here endeth the preaching on the wonders of rats!

Have you tried your local council? When I approached mine initially about keeping chickens they said if rats became a problem to give them a call and they would 'deal with it'?

As for baiting traps, anything sweet and/or smelly will probably work well. Chocolate spread is the one thing I could get my rats to eat when they were really sick so they must love it!

[Bev]

Thanks, I enjoyed reading all your replies!

I think Rats are really nice too and fascinating to study, and am not frightened or grossed out by them at all! I had 5 hamsters when I was growing up but not all at the same time.

However I have recognised the fact that I am causing a health hazard, my garden backs onto a village playing field and there is a village hall, school that use the playing field for their pe lessons and pub in very close proximity as well as neighbours either side, one with young children. The rats seem to have been quite successful in having babies and I wish I had stopped them getting to that point!

I don't think it is possible to completely remove all food sources with my neighbour having chickens too and probably some nibbles being left in the pub garden for them. However they so seem to be taking the poison at the moment.

Found a dead baby earlier today!

Bev

[themagicaltoad1]

Make sure when you double bag them the bags don't have any holes in them. I bagged one in a Tesc* bag and put it in the bin. I forgot their bags have air holes in case a child puts one over their head. a couple of days later I went to put something else in the bin and it was alive with maggots, hundreds of them, all in the lid and crawling out over the lip. yuk 

[Bev]

Uuuuugghhh! I have been wrapping the dead rats - yes that is 5 of them now - in baby nappy bags! I have caught 2 in my snap trap and 3 have been poisoned. I still feel really sorry for them.

How many could there be in one ratty family? I have not seen them out in the day for the last 4 days and can't see rat holes but they normally appear from hiding under a big bush in my hen pen so I can't see their hole under there any way.

The last rat I caught had at least 30 fleas on it - uuuugghhhh  so I quickly de flead my dogs just incase!

I really hope that is it for now! Think I will put the snap trap out for a few more days until I haven't caught any or seen any for a week or so and then leave it a while.

Forgot to mention, I love the rat jumping photo!

Bev