[Craigx]

hello,

i am wondering if anyone has had a issue with rats and if they used eletric fencing to get rid of them.... also (please dont be mad) but what volt is required to kill them? its currently running off a car battery and a tricle solor panel, plus i put it n ncharge in house every few days to give it a boost,


 i have put pellets down, to also try kill them, ut is hard to get to the rest of the family as theyre comming from 2 doors down, snd theyre animal lovers, including rats...

we also rebuilt the chicken run plus rabbit enclosure to put skirts under slabs to stop them burrowing in, and now in he process of puttina roof on chick run'

Craig

[Mrs Bee]

We have had a rat issue recently. We use to leave the chicken feed out over night  and the hen house door open so the chooks could get themselves up in the morning.

We do have an electric fence plugged into the mains and I thought that it would stops the rats getting in as well as the fffffff foxes.

I am not sure if the electric fences will stop the rats so will be interested for others thoughts on this one.

Since the rats we take the food in at night and put stored veg in metal dustbins with holes in.

Also have the place littered with rat traps and have a rat bait box now which seems to be working.

[Sassy]

I have electric poultry netting and the rats burrow beneath it. I have to be vigilant. Removing the food at night is the right thing to do.

[joyfull]

using fen traps is probably the best way to catch and kill rats.
I was once told by a pest controller that they can smell food over 1/2 mile away 

[Mrs Bee]

using fen traps is probably the best way to catch and kill rats.
I was once told by a pest controller that they can smell food over 1/2 mile away 

Clever little beggars really. We watched one wandering around the garden recently and actually thought it was interesting to watch.

I like mice too, and feel quite sad when we have to kill them.

What is a fen trap?

[joyfull]

they come in different sizes depending on what you want to kill - mk4 for rats and I think mk6 for mink. The death is instant but when setting watch those fingers.
Take a look here

[Craigx]

hey,


They dont go under, as the weldmesh is under slabs, but we have heard one squeel,

but the smaller ones seem to be able to get past the tape and still get in

Craig

[Mrs Bee]

they come in different sizes depending on what you want to kill - mk4 for rats and I think mk6 for mink. The death is instant but when setting watch those fingers.
Take a look here

BLimey, Joy you don't mess about with little rat traps do you

Thanks for the link.

Would they do for squirrels too do you think.
Mind you there are a lot of cats around here and I am not sure how I would stand if anything happened to someone's pet cat. 

Would'nt want to end up in court.

Will look into this a little more though. Could have done with this when I had all the trouble with rodents and my spuds in the garage.

Actually, something stole one of our rat traps recently.

Will look into this a little more.

[joyfull]

they do work for squirrels too. I have a bigger one to try and catch mink but I think the local farmers have taken care of those that were around thank goodness. You could set a trap inside a box with a restricted entrance to keep cats safe (or make a wooden tunnel to pop over it). 

[Mrs Bee]

they do work for squirrels too. I have a bigger one to try and catch mink but I think the local farmers have taken care of those that were around thank goodness. You could set a trap inside a box with a restricted entrance to keep cats safe (or make a wooden tunnel to pop over it). 

Now that  is really useful to know.
Thanks for the advice

[digga666]

Traps are best for rats and although a leccy fence will stop them they will soon find a way to get past it.  I put multiple traps down around certain places. I will put 3 or 4 down together in the one spot so if they go to trap in the wrong direction, at least one of the other traps will get them.   Also never put the traps in the same place twice after catching one of them as rats and mice are cute as hell and learn very quickly.

Traps are quite cheap and last a fair while so are quite cost effective and safer than poison i think.

[Mrs Bee]

Traps are best for rats and although a leccy fence will stop them they will soon find a way to get past it.  I put multiple traps down around certain places. I will put 3 or 4 down together in the one spot so if they go to trap in the wrong direction, at least one of the other traps will get them.   Also never put the traps in the same place twice after catching one of them as rats and mice are cute as hell and learn very quickly.

Traps are quite cheap and last a fair while so are quite cost effective and safer than poison i think.

That would account for us not catching the blighters that were making free with my spuds earlier this year

We have been moving them around and catching more. Rat bait box seems to ebworking well too.  

[nerdle]

I was concerned about rats at first and a pest controller said if its all left clean at night -(no food anywhere) I shouldn't have a problem - and... none seen yet.

Do you have a problem despite no food left out?

[Mrs Bee]

I was concerned about rats at first and a pest controller said if its all left clean at night -(no food anywhere) I shouldn't have a problem - and... none seen yet.

Do you have a problem despite no food left out?

Yes, we did. But we think we have it sorted now.
 
We have the bait box and check the bait to see if it has been taken and keep it topped up. We put the food waste in our green bin before taking it to the lotty and any food stored in the garage is stored in metal dustbins.

An elderly neighbour leaves food out for the squirrels and the foxes which doesn't help.

And the guy next door is doing a lot of garden work and that may have some bearing on the number of mice.
We have several rat traps around the chickens (not where the hens can possibly get hurt of course) and in the garage and have caught lots of mice in them.

We must be winning tho' 'cos we haven't had any more mice chewing my curtain linings and no more sightings of the dreaded rats.

 

[digga666]

Couple of things are using poison.

Some other animal can eat a dead or dying rat/mouse and end up poisoned themselves and this ranges from pets to other wild animals.

Also they have a habit of dying in inaccessable places and stinking the whole place out for 2 weeks as they rot.

This is why traps which may a bit gruesome when they work but are much better for the reasons above.........saying that i have had traps which have disappeared obviously stuck on the rat which could have been quite large ...........hope i dont meet up with them again in case he wants revenge.