Ugg! Rats!

lonelyfarmgirl · #1 04/13/10, 06:48 PM

We have a rat problem. Over time there was always a few. This past winter, it seems they've just moved into the barn. Taken over like illegals (HA!).

We have tried live traps..nope..with yummy people food, various sorts..nope.

Started keeping the cats in the barn, nope..today, DH saw the girl cat actually fighting with one, and she eventually ran away.

Poison, they wont touch, rat traps with PB, Chocolate, cheese..nope.

DH shot at one last night, and it escaped.

HELP!

Native87 · #2 04/13/10, 07:26 PM

I understand Florida has a horrible Python epidemic. Find a friend there and get some Pythons in your barn. (Put the cats up though)

SueMc · #3 04/13/10, 08:27 PM

My sister had a rat problem under her raised deck. She read that mint repels rats and tried it with success. I've never tried it. We had rats in the barn pretty bad 30+ years ago. Alot of poison bait and a gun took care of the problem over time. I had a chicken "room" in the barn instead of separate coop and I think that was part of the problem.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5335999_mint-repel-rats.html

Nina · #4 04/13/10, 09:24 PM

I had a friend whose Welsh Corgie did in their rats. I'd prefer to bet on an Irish Terrier.

Nina · #5 04/13/10, 09:52 PM

(I should mention that Irish Terriers can be a bit of a handful.)

springvalley · #6 04/13/10, 10:01 PM

do they have a water source? if not give them soda (pop) they can`t belch, and will blow up from the bubbles. If you have water source this may not work. And it won`t bother the cats. Thanks Marc

Joshie · #7 04/13/10, 10:24 PM

Poison WILL work. You have to place a lot of it down the hole that leads to their nest(s). Again, it takes A LOT of poison. If you put it down the holes you shouldn't have to worry about your cats. The rats should die in their underground nests.

Wolf mom · #8 04/13/10, 10:25 PM

Ewww - :smiley-laughing013: Pop! like a rat balloon.

Willowynd · #9 04/13/10, 11:18 PM

Do a search on my posts for my rat problem. Mine is finally under control. I ahve lived here for 15 yrs with no rats until this last fall. It is frustrating- especially when they kill your young chickens, adult bantams and litters of bunnies. Live traps do not work for long- they are smart and learn to avoid them no matter what the treat. Find thier trails and set conibear traps with no bait...place them along thier runs. I have caught the most this way. Also, you can shoot them. I did not want to use poison...they say the vitamin D poison is safe for other animals, but then again if it isn;t there is no antidote. You can use buckets of water and place a board up to the lips...the rats will go in to drink and drown when they can't get out. I could not do that this winter of course

You can use poison if you don't have dogs or cats that your afraid will eat the carcasses....they have bait boxes to keep animals out of them or use PVC pipe with elbows on them....place a screw in the center of the straight pipe to attach your bait to so the rats don't drag it out.

TedH71 · #10 04/13/10, 11:39 PM

Get a dog bred to kill mice/rats. Usually terriers. Rat terrier, jack russell terriers (also now known as Parson Russell terriers), and the other usual terrier breeds. They are obsessed about hunting!

lonelyfarmgirl · #11 04/14/10, 10:49 AM

We have considered a dog, but will that same dog do in our cats and our free range birds?

Again, we've been down the poison road. none of it works.

If we feed them pepsi, will they explode in their holes? stinky rat bodies under the barn floor? The only trails and paths we have been able to ID are on the very narrow rafters. they are everywhere. a conabear, I dont think would be workable. we tried that with rat traps and no bait. they jumped over them...

the mint might be a good idea, but thats an awful lot of mint the handle our whole barn..

Navotifarm · #12 04/14/10, 11:19 AM

About the terriers - I used to have cairn terriers. They were wonderful hunters, afraid of nothing. They used to try to get a ground hog which was much bigger than they were. They were excellent ratters and mousers but several times they had what seemed like epileptic fits. These ran me up big vet bills for shots. The vet said they caught leptospirosis from catching the mice.
I have a big mouse problem in my home now. I do not want to use poison because, as has been already mentioned, of the terrible stink if a rat or mouse dies where you cannot retrieve the corpse like under the floor boards. Another problem is, if you use the blue corn, your dogs or some other animal may eat it. You wouldn't think a dog would eat blue corn but mine did. I found out in time to get to the vet to save them but not everybody does. Also of course is the secondary poisoning of whatever animal finds the poisoned body and eats it.
Glue boards - the big rat-sized ones, not the dinky-sized mouse boards - are the only things I have had any success with. I have caught rats, mice and snakes with them. They are hard to find. Sometimes Lowe's has them or Southern States. They have a problem in that the ones I can find, the Tom Cat brand, have a terrible stink. They have added something called "Euthanol" which is supposed to hasten death. I am obviously not the only person who hates to see the poor, stuck critters struggling for days (sometimes getting loose) while they slowly die of thirst and starvation. I HATE the stink of the euthanol and do not think it is effective, anyway. But the glue boards work better than the other alternatives.
I never tried it because of the expense but local exterminators may have some efficient ways to kill your rats.
I don't think much mint is available this early in the season but there are other stinky things like moth balls that spposedly repel rats and mice and snakes. And people!

Little Quacker in OR · #13 04/14/10, 12:34 PM

This is sometimes a problem that needs help from a local source. Call your COUNTY EXTENSION SERVICE and what do you have against an exterminator? I am guessing it is not practical where you are located? Just curious.

About getting any kind of animal to deal with another. This gets me really upset when people just lightly tell you to get a dog, or a cat, or ferrets or whatever they may want to blather on about. It takes a special home to raise a dog, train it and have it be a good dog for everything you have around you except for what you want the dog to get rid of.

These things should not be taken lightly! A dog is something to commit to for many years and we all want any pet we get to fit in with our lifestyle and not be a pain in the rear. We only get out of dogs what we put into them.

So forget the dog unless you are a dog person and love them and are prepared to put in training and work. Instead do as above, calling your extension service and considering a pest control company. They know what they are doing if you pick a reputable company. Many times this is just not a one time thing, and some places need treating all through a particular season. A good pest control company will show you what you may be doing to draw in the rats and help from that angle too.

Good luck with this, I hate the things myself and shudder when I think of the diseases they carry! Ugghhh!!!! Be extra careful about hygiene now until you get rid of the nasty things, like handling any pets that may have access to rat urine and feces etc.

LQ

TedH71 · #14 04/14/10, 12:44 PM

Jack russells may or may not be aggressive to your cats but if you get them young enough and they're from calm working stock, they should be ok but I would go with rat terriers. Much easier to deal with and more obedient for a terrier plus they don't stray off property when they're adults...as pups, they do need training. I just happen to like the looks of JRTs but also the rat terriers. I would go with a rat terrier that has Decker Giant bloodlines in it because it means the dog will grow up bigger than your usual rat terrier that has had chihuahua or some other small dog bred into it.

farmmom · #15 04/14/10, 01:08 PM

My folks set up a barrel trap (just like the 5 gallon bucket trap for mice, except with a large trashcan or barrel) They caught about 30 mice in just a couple of days! They haven't seen any since. It was inexpensive, didn't need fed, and didn't involve poisons or other chemicals. They had about a foot of water in the bottom.

bjorn · #16 04/14/10, 05:33 PM

We keep sheep food etc in a barn where a barn owl nests. Never seen a mouse or a rat

FoghornLeghorn · #17 04/14/10, 07:03 PM

CO2 powered pellet gun and patience. Lots of patience.
Actually, I'm thinking about planting mint around the whole house and barn. I did the pellet gun method and it's very slow and I'd rather they didn't get in at all. Have another one in the basement right now.

Pops2 · #18 04/14/10, 07:08 PM

you don't necessarily have to go buy a dog, if you look around you can find terriermen that will clean out the barn for you. often as an exchange for hunting priveledges on other game like fox or coon. if you can access a dog or two they are a hundred times more efficient than cats. the biggest haul i have heard of was 711 rats, 8 rabbits & a stoat by a brit on a poultry farm using 7 dogs & 2 pups in ONE DAY.
for an idea of what this sort of thing looks like check out the pics on this page
http://www.terrierman.com/ratdog.htm

lmrose · #19 04/14/10, 07:21 PM

When we bought our farm it was over run with rats because we are not far from a fish plant that attracts rats. Two good farm cats and a good part border collie and no rats now in years! The collie also kills other rodents and hedgehogs and chases off cyotes and foxes. In the root cellar we put rat poison because the cats and dog can't get in there to kill them.

lonelyfarmgirl · #20 04/14/10, 08:51 PM

Good grief, I'm no dummy. I don't need to pay someone to tell me the reason we have rats is because we have a BARN full of HAY and GRAIN..DUH...This is a farm. Pest control people are a joke. I know, I used to be one.

Sounds like the glue boards are the best option at this point. I will see if I can find some. I wonder if they stink so bad, wouldn't the rats avoid them?

BTW, I hate JRT's and rat terriers. If I had to choose, it would be a patterdale terrier. I really like those little buggers.