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Author Topic: Rats - need advice on poison  (Read 4829 times)

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
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Rats - need advice on poison
« on: April 24, 2018, 12:23:33 pm »
As well as rats I have ducks, hens, cat and dogs. Can anyone suggest a reat eradicator that won't affect my dogs or cat if the eat one?  The dogs are retrievers but I think only the young one might eat them.  The cat is a hunter so might well do.
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

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Rats - need advice on poison
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2018, 01:49:27 pm »
It'll probably need to be a trap rather than poison.  Place it where you know they feed or along a wall where you've seen their droppings or a line of grease where their fur rubs as they pass.  It'll need to stay in place for several days as they're neophobic but as soon as the alpha male and female start to feed the younger ones will follow.

doganjo

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Re: Rats - need advice on poison
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2018, 06:21:10 pm »
I've tried the  snap traps like mousetraps. Killed two, but there's a lot more than that I imagine and they sussed out how to get the meat without springing the traps
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

docsal

  • Joined Feb 2017
Re: Rats - need advice on poison
« Reply #3 on: April 25, 2018, 11:18:33 am »
I've had some success with a tip I read online. Bait UNSET traps with cat biscuits until rats are reliably taking the bait. Then use a hot glue gun to glue the biscuits to the traps and set them..........

Also, if you shoot, a tip from a gamekeeper - liquidise tinned cat food and spread it on a solid surface. The rats can't grab it and run off (and it's very smelly, so they will find it easily). Once they have become regular visitors to that spot, get ready with the air gun...........

Terry T

  • Joined Sep 2014
  • Norfolk
Re: Rats - need advice on poison
« Reply #4 on: April 25, 2018, 01:23:03 pm »
We use Tom Cat poison in blocks - use bait station so blocks can’t be removed.
None of our animals have had any problems, in a year I have only seen one dead mouse.
We don’t have a cat but there are plenty arpund and they don’t seem to have a pribkem.

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
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Re: Rats - need advice on poison
« Reply #5 on: April 26, 2018, 12:39:27 pm »
Thanks, Terry, they've reassured me that the rats are unlikely to come out in the open when they've taken the bait so I've ordered a pack.
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

Terry T

  • Joined Sep 2014
  • Norfolk
Re: Rats - need advice on poison
« Reply #6 on: April 26, 2018, 08:44:05 pm »
Good luck then!  I’ve found it usually works within a week. If the blocks aren’t touched after 2 weeks, it may be where you have sited the bait box.

AnnS

  • Joined Aug 2011
Re: Rats - need advice on poison
« Reply #7 on: April 28, 2018, 08:38:36 am »
We’ve just trapped 10, took a few weeks but think they have all gone now. They were quite brazen and out and about during the day, they seemed to have a sort of timetable as to when they were seen in the garden. We used a trap from amazon, baited it with peanut butter, chocolate, and dog biscuits. Couldn’t use poison because of the dogs. Apparently a bit of a problem locally at the moment. I’m keeping the trap baited just in case.

doganjo

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Re: Rats - need advice on poison
« Reply #8 on: April 28, 2018, 07:22:55 pm »
I cannot trap rats live and kill them.

But I wish I'd seen this before I bought bait boxes and blocks - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Victor-Electronic-Trap-100-Kill/dp/B000LNX06C/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?s=outdoors&ie=UTF8&qid=1524939501&sr=1-2-spons&keywords=rat+trap&psc=1

I was assured by the TomCat people that the rats would go to their nests to die so my dogs wouldn't see them to retrieve them.  So I hope they're right.
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

AnnS

  • Joined Aug 2011
Re: Rats - need advice on poison
« Reply #9 on: April 28, 2018, 07:43:47 pm »
After having one leap out at me from the plastic bin I keep my bird seed in, it was war. These rats are scary. Hope your ones disappear quickly.

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
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Re: Rats - need advice on poison
« Reply #10 on: April 29, 2018, 04:31:20 pm »
Found a local lad who has just cleaned my duck shed for me and will take down the taurpaulins and insulation above the runs - it was put there, when I moved in here 10 years ago with 6 dogs, to keep them cosy.  Rats are using it as a nest so once it's down hopefully we'll see less of them.  I've told him he can have the bait boxes for his business in return and I'll get one of the electronic ones in case they come back.
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

Terry T

  • Joined Sep 2014
  • Norfolk
Re: Rats - need advice on poison
« Reply #11 on: April 29, 2018, 06:38:15 pm »
I tried the electric trap prior to resorting to poison. It is for indoor use only and says not to use in a garage or outdoor building. Having bought it I tried in my stable anyway, the batteries lasted a day or two at most out there and it didn’t catch a single rat.
I also tried humane traps - 0 rats caught, snap traps - 1 rat caught (we could see 15 rats at a time in our neighbours garden, so there were plenty to catch), electric trap - 0 rats caught, feral cat - good deterrant while we had her caged but ran off once released.
We didn’t resort to poison lightly - it was a last resort. All signs of rats disappeared in a week.
I now put bait out at the first sign of rats - getting rid of them before they make a home and multiply means I put less poison out in the long run.
My advice would be, don’t offload your bait boxes too soon.

doganjo

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Re: Rats - need advice on poison
« Reply #12 on: May 01, 2018, 03:33:55 pm »
I tried the electric trap prior to resorting to poison. It is for indoor use only and says not to use in a garage or outdoor building. Having bought it I tried in my stable anyway, the batteries lasted a day or two at most out there and it didn’t catch a single rat.
I also tried humane traps - 0 rats caught, snap traps - 1 rat caught (we could see 15 rats at a time in our neighbours garden, so there were plenty to catch), electric trap - 0 rats caught, feral cat - good deterrant while we had her caged but ran off once released.
We didn’t resort to poison lightly - it was a last resort. All signs of rats disappeared in a week.
I now put bait out at the first sign of rats - getting rid of them before they make a home and multiply means I put less poison out in the long run.
My advice would be, don’t offload your bait boxes too soon.
That's fine but I can't risk harm to my two champions and my youngster or my cat - all of whom would retrieve a half dead rat.
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

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Rats - need advice on poison
« Reply #13 on: May 01, 2018, 05:27:06 pm »
Hi Doganjo, when we had a rat problem a few years ago, I was similarly worried about our cats, and neighbour's dog. However, when I did the calculations as to the amount needed to kill a rat, and then the number of dead rats a dog or cat would need to eat to get a fatal dose, I satisfied myself that any issues were pretty unlikely, provided the dog couldn't eat the poison itself. Your mileage may vary of course, but that was my own conclusion.

The blocks got rid of the rats very quickly, and since then, we've put bait boxes around the barn etc, and check them regularly. This seems to have prevented any re-infestation.

HTH!
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

Maysie

  • Joined Jan 2018
  • Herefordshire/Shropshire Border
Re: Rats - need advice on poison
« Reply #14 on: May 02, 2018, 09:24:55 am »
Hi Doganjo, when we had a rat problem a few years ago, I was similarly worried about our cats, and neighbour's dog. However, when I did the calculations as to the amount needed to kill a rat, and then the number of dead rats a dog or cat would need to eat to get a fatal dose, I satisfied myself that any issues were pretty unlikely, provided the dog couldn't eat the poison itself. Your mileage may vary of course, but that was my own conclusion.

The blocks got rid of the rats very quickly, and since then, we've put bait boxes around the barn etc, and check them regularly. This seems to have prevented any re-infestation.

HTH!
I agree with the above approach, which worked for me too.  Different bait types have differing toxicity levels for their target species, so if you get the correct bait for rats, then the dose required to impact on dogs/cats/birds would require numerous carcasses to be consumed to have any impact on the non-target species as Womble says. 

I cant remember the specific bait now, but there was some very good information on toxicity levels for target/non-target species available from suppliers online. 
« Last Edit: May 02, 2018, 11:26:25 am by Maysie »

 

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