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Author Topic: Rats! - what poison to use in Hampshire?  (Read 16338 times)

NZelmo

  • Joined May 2012
Rats! - what poison to use in Hampshire?
« on: October 23, 2012, 07:47:16 pm »
Hi, we have a few chicken and they have attracted some rats.

We have been to Scats and picked up some blue rat poison called Difenacoum.....

Does anyone know if the Super rats in Hampshire are resistant to it?

Many thanks  :chook:

alpacaman

  • Joined Nov 2012
Re: Rats! - what poison to use in Hampshire?
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2012, 10:46:21 pm »
hi, I also live in Hampshire. We've been in the same house for 22 years, and only this year had a problem with rats. Firstly in April. I used some poison I got from Amazon:
"Pest Stop Mouse and Rat Killer Loose Wheat-Based Bait (Difenacoum)" and a bait station

I think it was pink, but it smelt of anaseed, which I think attracted them, although a pest control man has since told me it doesn't help. At the same time I contacted Winchester council Environmental Services dept and a man came and put down a lot more poison, but I can't confirm what it was. The problem went away after a couple of weeks.

Then recently (Oct 2012). I saw 3 rats near our house in a different location. I'd run out of  Difenacoum, and I got some Bromadiolone from Scats (I couldn't find any Difenacoum there) . After 2 weeks the rats didn't show much interest in it, so I called out Environment Health again (£35 for up to 3 visits). I've just realised that he's also put down more Bromadiolone and it doesn't seem to be working. Although it's in a bait box it keeps getting covered up with leaves inside the box and I suspect the rats are doing it! 
I'm waiting to hear from him again, and I'll see if he can put down Difenacoum otherwise I'm going to get some more from Amazon.

alpacaman

  • Joined Nov 2012
Re: Rats! - what poison to use in Hampshire?
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2012, 11:07:44 pm »
Another possible solution - I have a Pest-Stop Untrasonic Outdoor pest repeller (Amazon £20). I currently run it off a car battery and it's set to repel badgers, which used to cause huge damage to my lawn, and it has been 99% successful for several years. I could 'retune' it to repel away rats, but I'd rather kill them than send them next door!   

(the badgers still cause a lot of damage to my field, which is outside the range of my pest repeller).

Mrs Snoodles

  • Joined Aug 2012
Re: Rats! - what poison to use in Hampshire?
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2012, 11:18:25 pm »
We have those repellant things in our outhouse and in our roof.  They have done an amazing job of keeping rodents away; squirrels in the roof and rats in our outhouse.  A foot up the critters had made a tunnel the whole length of the wall and it was a small miracle that the building had not collapsed.   Repaired it all and have never had a problem since. 

alpacaman

  • Joined Nov 2012
Re: Rats! - what poison to use in Hampshire?
« Reply #4 on: November 07, 2012, 12:26:11 pm »
The Environmental Health man reckoned that rats (at least in Hampshire) are now unaffected by Difenacoum, and that the rats are covering up the poison because they have enough food. Presumably they're planing on coming back to it later.   

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
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Re: Rats! - what poison to use in Hampshire?
« Reply #5 on: November 07, 2012, 12:45:21 pm »
Try bicarbonate of soda in some rolled oats or chicken food - rats can't burp!  Must be kept dry and out of the way of the hens.  OK for most other animals though
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

Foobar

  • Joined Mar 2012
  • South Wales
Re: Rats! - what poison to use in Hampshire?
« Reply #6 on: November 07, 2012, 02:10:55 pm »
Metal rat traps with peanut butter / rolos / peanuts / chocolate as bait worked for me as an instant fix.  And then we got a cat.


Ask at the Cats Protection or RSPCA for a mouser/ratter, they will do a much better job than any poison in the long run.  The pile of dead mice/rats/moles/rabbits on my doorstep will vouch for that :).

tizaala

  • Joined Mar 2011
  • Dolau, Llandrindod Wells,Powys
Re: Rats! - what poison to use in Hampshire?
« Reply #7 on: November 10, 2012, 08:41:13 am »
Mix wheat or any other grain with builders plaster ,place in a tube to keep it dry and away from other animals, this sets hard in their guts and they can't get resistant to it , the dead bodies can't harm other animals.
And it works in other counties :innocent:
« Last Edit: November 10, 2012, 08:42:50 am by tizaala »

sabrina

  • Joined Nov 2008
Re: Rats! - what poison to use in Hampshire?
« Reply #8 on: November 10, 2012, 12:49:21 pm »
We get the odd rat over the winter but the cats or our jack russell get them. Mice are more of a problem for us.

Bumblebear

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • Norfolk
    • http://southwellski.blogspot.co.uk/
Re: Rats! - what poison to use in Hampshire?
« Reply #9 on: November 13, 2012, 11:04:56 pm »
I'm with the terrier cat solution.  Even though they are only rats I couldn't think of one dying a cruel death. Blossom (dog) is amazing and McDuff (cat) had caught and was eating one between my getting the buckets from the paddock and bringing them back to fill - a 2 mins walk! Not a nice sight to greet me before my evening milking  :innocent:

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
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Re: Rats! - what poison to use in Hampshire?
« Reply #10 on: November 14, 2012, 11:55:11 am »
I'm not sure being played with by a cat or a JR wouldn't be a cruel death  :innocent:
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

SteveHants

  • Joined Aug 2011
Re: Rats! - what poison to use in Hampshire?
« Reply #11 on: November 15, 2012, 12:22:18 am »
Terriers kill rats pretty quickly.


If the Difenacoum doesn't work, use Benzamidole.


I use both in rotation, and terriers... best thing if you dont have too many is fenn traps though. .

Buffy the eggs layer

  • Joined Jun 2010
Re: Rats! - what poison to use in Hampshire?
« Reply #12 on: November 18, 2012, 04:42:21 pm »
Hi,
             I had rats in my garden and my compost bin a few years ago which moved there from a neighbouring pig farm. The things that rat killer man from enviromental health told me were,
Rats are smart. They only eat a little of any new food and test the effects. If it dosent hurt them they tuck in. So a poison needs to be potent in order for a small amount to kill them.
Once they have a food supply that they trust, they wont eat anything else unless that supply runs out. So you need to prevent them getting hold of any other food in order to get them to eat the poison.
The rat poison that enviromental health officers in my area were using at the time could be neutralised through the digestion of foods containing vitamin K such as peanuts. The rats instincively knew this and would scale a wall and climb a tree to get to the nuts in the bird feeder. So bird feeders of any type had to be removed.
Although they are suspicious of some things they have an insatiable curiosity around others and cant resist anything in a bag. So placing poison in a tied up plastic bag inside a compost bin for instance would persuade them to eat it.
The colour of the poision is a result of the dyes used to prevent it being confused with animal foodstuffs.
 The things that worked for me were,
snapper type rat traps with a lump of softened mars bar pressed firmly on the spike and then allowed to harden again. Rats are fast. Anything that can be easily pulled from the spike, springs the trap but spares the rat.
And...
Neosorexa Gold available from the feed merchants. place it in a piece of pipe against a wall or building and check it every day. Dont let it run out. While ever they are eating it , keep feeding it to them.
And...
A couple of cats who love to hunt ;)
I did notice that Ascott supplies were selling battery powered, electric rat and mouse killers which seemed like they would be effective.
I hope that helps
 
 
 

 

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