THE HUNT IS ON!

[tnt-k9]

Mods feel free to move this post but all the folks I know who can appreciate my current issue are here!

Several weeks ago I'm sitting on the patio and I see a silhouette running across the top of my backyard wall. Strange, I think to myself. It looked like a rat. I HATE RATS!

I HATE RATS!!! I grew up in a house that was infested with them.

Laying there on a hot summer night, hearing them scurry through the walls, chewing on things and worst of all fighting with each other. That was the worst. Hearing them fight and squealing. I HATE RATS!!

So the other night after not seeing a rat thinking a boa got him I'm walking out to do laundry and what do I see. 2 of the little b8$+turds climbing up the wall.


Yesterday afternoon I went out to the hardware store a picked up 2 traps. This afternoon when I came home I found one loaded with my prey and the other trap's bait had been cleanly eaten.

Tonight buddy, tonight you will meet your demise!!!

DID I MENTION I HATE RATS!

 

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[fredinbelize]

I'm afraid I'm one of 'those people' who like all animals, but I can understand how you feel. Rats definitely have a bad reputation.
I had a family living in my RV. Used to keep the dogs up at night. I tried everything...smoking them out, 'humane' traps, regular traps but nothing worked, and they started eating the plastic plumbing! I had to poison them in the end.

 

[Midas_touch]

I can see how it could make your FURious. Cheesy joke. Couldn't help it.

 

[KONO]

They usually don't rat each other out...

 

[Brother Al]

lol

They usually don't rat each other out...[/Try to think of them just squirella with a disadvanted tail issue?QUOTE]

 

[Blskypilot]

If you are seeing them they probably have a bunch of friends you aren't seeing.

I like snap traps if you can get them that way but alot of rats develop bait shyness. Sometimes you have to bait the trap for a week without setting it so they get all comfy eating the free food. Then after a few days set them with more fresh bait and whack. If that doesn't get them any of the anticoagulant rodenticides usually work pretty good so long as you aren't giving them lots of competing food sources, so no bird feeders. Be careful with it though, stuffs pretty bad when it comes to killing non target species.

 

[bigscoop]

as the old man in the south use to say, "Dare's deer lures, dare's fox lures, dare's coons lures, and so on. Sounds like you just need to use the right rattlers."

 

[firemac]

ive found if i secure the trap down, screw or nail it to a larger board, it keeps the trap from jumping , good hunting

 

[lorraine]

What are you using for bait?

Hank sets up the traps with a small bit of salt pork.

Good luck..keep us posted on the round-up.

Maybe hire out the "Pied Piper of Hamlin".

Lorraine

 

[war-digs-it]

I have the same pure hatred for rats too, they are the little, dirty home terrorist that needs to die and in any fashion is fine by me.

I lived in an apartment that had a drop ceiling, at night I could hear them running full length of the ceiling and then their little party got started. I swear they had a nightclub up there, even thought I heard music from their D.J., later in the night it sounded like they were good and drunk and began to fight or get down.

I hunted them with traps and stayed up, dead still, for nights with my pellet gun aimed at their peek holes.
Hours waiting for one shot as they are pretty smart little terrorists.

Feel your anger as I too hate the rat!

 

[tnt-k9]

Here's an update from the front

Enemy forces - 2 KIA (killed in action)
1 innoncent victim of collateral damage. A lizard wandered into the ambush kill zone.

I like lizards because they eat insects, have never chewed on a baby in it's crib and to the best of my knowledge have never been responsible for a plague.

I'm sure if there were 2 insurgents lurking around there is probably four. If there is four there are probably more.

 

[SonnyFl]

NOW! That's funny!

 

[SonnyFl]

Try this trick!

 

[Sir Gala Clad]

They usually don't rat each other out...[/Try to think of them just squirella with a disadvanted tail issue?QUOTE][/QUOT

That's not true.
My dad had a remote small banana plantation and had a love for cats which I did not understand till he was hospitalized.
To make a long story short , he got sick, the cats went away and the rats came to play and stay.
I had to figure some way of getting rid of them before I could clean up the shack and move in.

I first tried using a large number of finger breaker style rat traps overnight.
I knew things were tough on the island but did not think that it was that bad that someone would covet and steal my traps.
Had to return to civilization next morning, kinda sore from sleeping in car all night and bougth two backs of traps.
Put the traps out at night, stayed guard outside, next morning same O - all the traps were gone.
You know the routine back to civilization this time bought four bags of traps, but this time screwed all the traps to the floor.
Stayed guard outside all night, flung open the door at day break, flipped on the lights - Oh what a sight.
Looked like a scene out of helter skelter, there were furry body parts, in the few traps that were not ripped out of the floor and blood every where.

Poison was out of the question, as a Pueo (Hawaiian threatened short eared brown owl) perched in a Mango tree near the shack.
Also, there were wild boar on then property, which would eat any dead rats found outside, and we hunted the boar for meat.

I found the best and safest traps were cage like traps (expensive) that humanely caught the rats for your disposal.
The rats could easily be drowned by dropping the closed trap into a five gallon pickle barrel 3/4 full of warm water (soapy works best).
Or if you are a kind hearted type of a person, you can relocate the rats to the wilderness areas where they care raise havoc and destroy what little wild life there still is. Being kind hearted in not my strong suite.

The next best traps were large glue traps, which also catch the bugs.
The problem is one of collateral damage as they also catch camilians and gegos which are beneficial lizards.
Again the most humane way of handling a caught rodent is to drop trap and rat in a 5 gallon pickle barrel full of warm soapy water.

After a while, it became safe enough for the cats to return and us to move in.
Unfortunately, we had a pet kangaroo rat, who is not longer with us, it was kidnapped by a rat pack soon after we moved in , which had chewed through the top of the cage. Oh bye the way, we never call them rats in front of tourist(s), they are island squirrels