32 chunks of poison = totally gross question

[meanwhile]

Last week I bought what I thought was a whole year's worth of rat/mouse poison. It was two large bags of Tom Cat solid chunks. Apparently someone up and decided there should be a "law" that we cannot buy those nice little granules of poison and so now it all comes in these solid chunks.

So - I bought two bags = 32 chunks of Tom Cat solid poison.

I left them in the basement and two days later = NO MORE POISON!!!!! It is ALL gone! Something bit a hole in both bags and every single chunk of bait is GONE!!!! Those chunks are 1 ounce each and totally too big for any little ole mouse to haul off.

So? What took all those chunks of Tom Cat Poison????

There is no stink of dead bodies in the basement. I could not find any chunks any where. There was no "poop" near where the bags were torn open. I did not see any signs of anything else moved around.

No dogs or cats were in or near the basement and no humans could get in there. There was also a bag with 4 boxes of plain old DCon next to the Tom Cat bags and those were not disturbed at all.

So? What in the world????

Could rats have carried off 32 chunks of poison weighing 1 ounce each?? Squirrels?

Suggestions?

I bought some more Tom Cat since....apparently something liked it.....and I put out two chunks of it just to see if something eats it or hauls it off tonight. ( I hid the rest of it so they cannot haul it off too)

Now what?

[wolffeathers]

Rats will haul them off to their tunnels and hiding spots.

Just because they haul them off, doesn't mean they're eating them. I think 32 pieces scattered around the house(by the pests) will do the trick.

[tinknal]

If you have a serious rat problem they will have a colony. There may only be a few of the colony members who come into your house, but they bring food back to the colony. Those chunks are doing exactly what you want them to do, killing all the rats, not just the ones who come into the house.

[Minelson]

Please be careful with your other critters. If they were to eat a poisoned mouse or rat it could be really bad for them. Even worse would be getting into the poison it's self. I work at a vet clinic and we see it happen A LOT.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Pack rats.

[HilltopDaisy]

No kidding, this would be a "nail biter" here, What the heck????????

[Astrid]

Originally Posted by Minelson

Please be careful with your other critters. If they were to eat a poisoned mouse or rat it could be really bad for them. Even worse would be getting into the poison it's self. I work at a vet clinic and we see it happen A LOT.

I agree. An aquaintance of mine lost her cat after he ate a poisoned mouse.

[calliemoonbeam]

Originally Posted by Alice In TX/MO

Pack rats.

This! I had a problem when I first moved out here, they drove me crazy. I went through the same thing with the "Just One Bite" bait bars. It took months and a small fortune in poison, but I did finally get rid of them...and a nice side effect...the abundance of snakes that apparently were drawn to the rats. :shudder: I had never lived anywhere with so many snakes in my life, and no one seemed to know why...they apparently had a smorgasbord at my house, lol!

P.S. You need to get rid of them because they'll chew through your insulation, wiring, plastic pipes, rubber hoses, you name it, if it's not steel or some kind of metal, they'll chew it up and haul it out for their nests.

[mom in oklahoma]

I have been told recently that all the poison does is dehydrate them, supposedely(sp) if the cat eats a mouse and has access to water the cat should be fine. I was just wondering if anyone knew for certain? maybe it depends on the kind of bait used.

[clong]

Active ingredient is bromadiolone. A list of symptoms: Bleeding problems
Hemorrhage - severe poisoning
Eye irritation
Easy bruising
Bleeding gums
Bleeding nose
Blood in urine
Blood in feces
Fatigue
Shortness of breath on exertion
Shock

Sounds like it works just like warfarin.

[SilverFlame819]

We found out that our HORSE liked the bar bait, and dogs also think it's a neat treat. So the worry isn't just who is going to eat the dead rat, but who is going to eat the bar bait themselves! Be careful!

And you won't think any are dying now, but you just WAIT until the stench starts up! Man, oh man!

[renee o'neill]

we are being over ran this year w/ mice.I thought it was only mice well I was very wronge its rats too.I have put traps out and every night They are filled YUCK.I am affraid to use bait cause I dont want them dead in the house but what else is there to do?I put all feed in metal trash cans,no bird feeders near the house,no trash near house what else is there? Oh do not use those sticky traps for rats go ahead ask why????they scream!!!then your stuck w/ a stuck rat screaming and noway to pick up the trap thing along w/ a few little humans freaking out all of this right before bed yep dont use them!

[fixer1958]

Pack rats will steal anything. They have an incredible work ethic. I'm surprised they get any sleep at all with what they can get accomplished in a short amount of time.

[meanwhile]

Oh gross - I hate rats and mice and this is just gross. Last night I set out two more chunks in the basement (I put the rest of the bag up so that nothing could get to it this time) but nothing ate or moved the two chunks. So......maybe we got them.

My boys are going to crawl under the house today and search around for the 32 chunks that disappeared. Surely rats could not eat that many chunks of poison in just two days?

We have cats and we need to find those chunks to be sure the cats don't get them.

Pack Rats? Are they the same as regular barn rats?

Thanks.

[fixer1958]

Dunno. Looks like a rat.
They don't necessarily eat it always, just store it away.
You are liable to find all kinds of things if you find the hiding spot.

I found a couple of pounds of sheetrock screws in the chicken house that were in the garage. The chicken house is 100' from the house. Found my best work gloves and about 2 dozen 1/4" sockets and a couple of drill bits.
I guess his plan was to start remodeling.

[willow_girl]

I found a couple of pounds of sheetrock screws in the chicken house that were in the garage. The chicken house is 100' from the house. Found my best work gloves and about 2 dozen 1/4" sockets and a couple of drill bits.
I guess his plan was to start remodeling.

[foxtrapper]

Next time, pick up those tomcat bait station boxes. They keep curious pets and kids out, and make the rodents eat instead of hoard.

Rats, mice and other rodents will hoard poison bait instead of eating it, if given the choice. They will drag it down into a hole for winter food, and go eat something else. This rather defeats your aim of killing them. Poison stations that hold the poison in place force them to eat it because they cannot drag it off. This successfully kills them, which is actually the goal.

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by foxtrapper

Next time, pick up those tomcat bait station boxes. They keep curious pets and kids out, and make the rodents eat instead of hoard.

Rats, mice and other rodents will hoard poison bait instead of eating it, if given the choice. They will drag it down into a hole for winter food, and go eat something else. This rather defeats your aim of killing them. Poison stations that hold the poison in place force them to eat it because they cannot drag it off. This successfully kills them, which is actually the goal.

I have to disagree. By dragging the bait home, it not only kills the rat that comes in your home, it kills the other rats that use that nest, and any rats that try to use that nest in the future,

[Pony]

Originally Posted by mom in oklahoma

I have been told recently that all the poison does is dehydrate them, supposedely(sp) if the cat eats a mouse and has access to water the cat should be fine. I was just wondering if anyone knew for certain? maybe it depends on the kind of bait used.

The poison causes them to hemorrhage internally, because it prevents their blood from clotting.

That's why we keep Vitamin k on hand. The dogs love the baits and have, in the past, dug them up from tunnels and eaten them.

If your pet gets hold of the poison, induce vomiting by drenching with peroxide mixed with salt (a tablespoon of salt to a half cup of hydrogen peroxide). Once you're sure the dog is clear, dose with vitamin k for two weeks (I don't have the dosage handy, but I'm sure you can find it if you google).

Bait stations are nice, but I agree with Tinknal that the best way is to get the rats to take the goodies home to share.

[Wolf mom]

YouTube

The SAFE for pets water bucket rat/mouse trap. I've used it - it works!

I put a 2X4 board as a ramp for the critters to climb to the top of the bucket.
On line, some have said to use anti-freeze, but that's bad for pets.

This past fall, I went all around the house (double-wide) and stuffed steel wool between the house and the block foundation and caulked other places where I thought they might get under the house.

To wake in the middle of the night hearing a rat chewing on your house is nerve-wracking.