I got rats.
Outside at lease. And my house is brick and block so I am less worried that I would be.
The neighbor loves squirrels and she feeds them half a pound of peanuts every day. I don't think it's just squirrels eating those nuts.
I found a burrow right at the fence line, so the nest is on the neighbors side, but the fence is the front door INTO my yard. Lots of bushes and stuff protect it as well as the fence.
What to do...
Anyone got a poison or non-cat non-owl abatement method they like? Like granules or...? I'd prefer #7 12g birdshot, but the County prefers I not.
My county has this on their website: "Rat control is managed by the Department of Health and Human Services. Call (240) 777-3986." And I pay property taxes. Can't hurt to call.
They call it rat shot for a reason... those with a .22 revolver are plenty of fun for rats at five yards.
ReplyDeleteRats...ugh. Fill the hole with concrete?
ReplyDeleteWhen we had a rodent problem we wanted to fix we would always go get some corn meal and a smige of sugar and mix in a liberal amount of plaster of paris.
ReplyDeleteSaid rodent would ingest the the meal and the moisture from their slavia and insides did the rest. The rodent would die from the inside out.
It goes without saying that where ever you place the "Rat Bait" needs to be dry and free of moisture otherwise is will harden up before it is ingeated by by your rats.
Also if you have a large squirrel population around that you don't want to see dead or any other animals you need to keep this out of their reach.
You can use a live trap with some peanut butter on the pan. Once trapped, put a hefty bag around the trap and hold the bag around the end of your car exhaust pipe with the engine running. Less than a 30 seconds should do it. Dead rat, and into the garbage can, or, pitched onto your neighbor's property to make a statement. cats or rabbits caught in the live trap can simply be let out.
ReplyDeleteBob57
Be careful what you use that other animals can't get hold of it. But I would call the Health Dept. I've known of them being helpful. Unless you are in Baltimore. Then you are on your own.
ReplyDeleteI had a rat problem and didn’t want to do away with the wife’s pet squirrels. After some experimentation, I ended up with the following solution:
ReplyDeleteTrap: Live trap of the kind which has a door at each end. This lets the rats see all the way through the trap and they think it is a tunnel.
Bait: Started with peanut butter but was really messy and attracted ants. Bought some “Gourmet Rat and Mouse Food” at a pet store. Dry seeds, pellets, etc. Placed a little in the trap pan and a very small amount outside each door to lure them into the trap. Ants did not bother the dry food.
Termination: Found a plastic tub that the trap would fit into. Fill tub with water and submerge trap/rat for about 15 minutes. Dead rat. Clean trap. [Captive rat will urinate on trap which may discourage next visitor]
Option A would be a 410 shotgun.
ReplyDeleteOption B fabricate a drwoning trap.Use an empty 5 to 7 gallon plastic bucket with a snap on plastic top. Cut hole in top of lid, use pop rivits to put together your one way entrance.
Napalm.
ReplyDelete