trapping rats

[rhoda_bruce]

My story:
I only have a seasonal problem. Obviously it is very hot in my area over the summer and no animal in their right mind would stay in my attic when I could probably bake a dish up there. But in the winter, thats another story. I did have a problem a while back where I knew something was actually in the house, but I tended to that, myself, with traps and killed 5.
But it sounds like I have a rat town hall meeting going on on top of me at night. I have been wishing I still had a rat terrier. I finally couldn't take it anymore and called my nephew over to climb the ladder and put my Dachshund with her sister and all the rats went into the walls after the dogs were there, but they don't operate like a rat terrier would.
I won't put poison. Been there....done that. Not happening again. I rather live with live ones, that smell dead ones. What the manufacturers claim will happen and what actually happens are two different stories.
I have ordered a repeating rat trap which should come in before the 20th and I have a repeating mouse trap already up there, along with one single rat trap.
DS wants me to call an exterminator, but I can't see he will do any better than me.
So how do you keep rats under control?

 

[baymule]

I use One Bite. Never smell dead rats or mice. It works.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

What happens to them? I have used different types of poisons and they all claim that the rodents will eat them, get very thirsty, leave the house to find water and drink themselves to death.....has not been my experience.
IDK....maybe mine get disoriented and lose their way to the water. But regardless, I have very bad luck in that area. Well, DS went up because a rat got in the trap, but it got away. Probably it was mixed with a doberman....idk.
Again, he says we need to call an exterminator. I've been here before, without an exterminator. I told him, I ordered a repeating rat trap and we will see what it will do for us. In the meantime, I have a ladder in the middle of my house, so we can run up when we need to.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

We have had a persistent problem with rats in our workshop and we ended up having to set a trap daily which was a big pain. They got smart and learned to set it off and eat the food without getting caught. Let me know if you find anything that works!

 

[rhoda_bruce]

In my shed, I knew I had a problem, but didn't know how bad until I cleaned it up. I was down to the very last sheet of plywood to get out and I told the boys to get ready. They were 10 and 11 at the time and I had armed them with sticks, but the dog was with us....rat terrier. When I moved the sheet, the place was alive with rats and the boys started striking them dead, but the winner of the contest was Spot. As I can recall, one of the boys killed 5, one 6, I killed 7 and the dog got 23. In a shed, I wouldn't be afraid of using poison, but not in my house. I used to have a repeating rat trap and after seeing how the dog killed them, I wanted to keep her instincts alive, so I let him have whatever the trap caught.
I know they supposed to hate the smell of peppermint.....Well, on my part, I am just waiting for a trap to go off or for the repeating to come in, which I only ordered yesterday. Hope someone has some kind of inspiration for us though.
If my attic was made in such a way that I actually had useful space up there, and a good set of stairs, I'd make sure I kept it free of rats.....I'd be up there, making them uncomfortable.

 

[sumi]

Poisons and traps, though that dog sounds like a keeper! This trap is a set-and-forget (for a day or 2 at least) type and from what I heard it works very well:

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/747201/5-gallon-bucket-mouse-trap/0_30

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Awesome sumi.
Well, DS didn't tell me what he was up to, but he went out and bought poison. He said, the smell will go away eventually. He already threw a few big clumps of poison in the attic. He is supposed to throw some in both sheds, the trailer, the bus and the loft of the barn also.
I still have the repeating rat trap on the way.
DS also told me of a way Jamaicans got rid of rats, that sounds totally horrible in a sense......starve 2 of them, close together and then turn them loose on each other and the one that survives gets released. Apparently it turns cannibal. I said,"You learn something new everyday. Thats sure not what I was planning on learning though."

 

[Denim Deb]

Do you have a friend that has any type of terrier that you could borrow? I'd be looking for how they get into the house and trying to make it so they can't get in.

 

[sumi]

Awesome sumi.
Well, DS didn't tell me what he was up to, but he went out and bought poison. He said, the smell will go away eventually. He already threw a few big clumps of poison in the attic. He is supposed to throw some in both sheds, the trailer, the bus and the loft of the barn also.
I still have the repeating rat trap on the way.
DS also told me of a way Jamaicans got rid of rats, that sounds totally horrible in a sense......starve 2 of them, close together and then turn them loose on each other and the one that survives gets released. Apparently it turns cannibal. I said,"You learn something new everyday. Thats sure not what I was planning on learning though."

Yes, the smell will go away… EVENTUALLY. He has obviously not been in the same room with a long dead mouse yet lol No comment on the Jamaican method. Goodness, whoever thought that one out clearly had either too much time on their hands, or a serious rat problem. Or both?

 

[rhoda_bruce]

He claims its a historical fact. Thats nice, but I never heard it and now I can't unhear it. Create a serial killer rat. He said Jamaica no longer has a bad rat problem and that is why. I didn't ask him for his facts. Well, I don't get much company anyway.