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Post by ThisletonStud on Mar 11, 2015 10:35:30 GMT
We have an infestation of RATS Despite having two yard cats the problem is getting worse and the poor cats can't keep up! The rats haven't been trying to get food, albeit my feed room is very clean with each feed in a bin, they are just pooping everywhere! Nesting in the stables! And seem to be taking over! What can I do? Although I can't stand the thought of killing an animal they have to go, but without poison as my cats do catch and kill a few and I couldn't endanger them with poison on site. Help please! Would be eternally grateful
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Post by sjw87 on Mar 11, 2015 12:10:22 GMT
Bait is safest with cats around but you do have to be careful when disposing of the dead ones. Choose one type of bait and stick to it for a while (different brands/types use different 'active ingredients' so if you swap and change aren't effective). Put it in areas you know they are using as runs that are also safe from the cats and any other animals (hedgehogs, birds etc). Try not to meddle with the area too much as rats don't like new things so will be most likely to take the bait if you change nothing for now and just add bait.
Continue baiting until no more is going, then have a good clean/tidy up, filling in areas they use as runs etc. It's always then a good idea to keep bait down as a permanent measure as if you see some going, that will usually be your first indication that you've got a problem developing. Every 6/12 months, change bait (making sure to change active ingredient) as rats can become resistant to bait.
If the problem is really bad, get a professional pest controller in. It will save money in the long run.
Sent from my GT-I9195 using proboards
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Post by judyh on Mar 11, 2015 15:45:48 GMT
I was told by an old farmer to always keep poison down so they don't get the chance to become established and nest. This year has been really bad. I find it takes about a week to kill one once it takes the poison. Fasten it down or they will take it away and you can't see what is happening. Slaymore is good as it is in a waterproof sachet. I always put at least 6 under the hay( which is on pallets in a loose box). Mine is always where other animals can't get it
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Post by ThisletonStud on Mar 11, 2015 15:51:41 GMT
Thank you both!
My only concern is second poisoning to my cats or other wildlife. My cats will still go after, kill and eat a lethargic dying rat! Is there such thing as a poison that's safe for other animals?
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Post by abigail on Mar 11, 2015 16:26:33 GMT
Heard on the radio once before, we tried irish soap ! We just put it around our feed bins and apparently rats don't like the smell ! It smells lovely to us ! Worked ! No more rats for us !! We order ours off amazon !
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Post by gilbertgrape on Mar 11, 2015 17:08:51 GMT
Soap sounds a better option than having poison around with other livestock. In Spring the rats head out into the fields again and may well exit of their own accord!( was told this by a pest controller)
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Post by Louise Dixon on Mar 11, 2015 20:17:43 GMT
You can get poison with no second kill, so much safer for the cats if they get a rat that's eaten it. We use that, but I can't remember the name, will try to remember to ask my husband when he gets in. It is locked up when not in a bait station so the cats can't get it, and we made bait stations very cheaply (free, in fact) by using empty sheep lick tubs with holes of about 3cm diameter drilled into the sides so the rats can get in but the cats can't, and the lids taped on.
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Post by catkin on Mar 12, 2015 15:42:48 GMT
Ice cream tubs with holes cut in either end work well as do drain pipes too.
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Post by Karen, garrettponies on Mar 17, 2015 21:56:08 GMT
There's been loads more this winter, horrible things. I feel your pain although Ive only had half a dozen or so of the blighters. I have rat boxes, which only rodents can get in and out of. I top them up with bait and hide them where they usually lurk, making sure the box is under a couple of old roof tiles just to make sure cats/dog cant get at it. Our cats wont touch anything that's been poisoned. They seem to know. I use Neosorexa Gold which bumps them off PDQ!! Not sure about ones that don't kill something that eats the dead ones.
I wage war on them every winter, sure they laugh at me - last year one chewed through one string each on bales of hay so when I picked it up it fell to bits, grrr! It sounds terribly cruel but someone once told me to grind up glass in something they would eat, that kills them too. Haven't done it but apparently it works.
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Post by Karen, garrettponies on Mar 17, 2015 22:00:16 GMT
You can get cages to catch them in, although Ive not had much success with that, they're clever. You can also get the big rat traps, like mouse traps but bigger. Unfortunately, when you have a couple it can soon become hundreds, they breed at an alarming speed. If theyre in your stables, theyre probably picking up left over food. Touch wood, my problem has gone away (to ratzilla heaven) but I'm always mindful that they soon come back!
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sarahp
Happy to help
Posts: 9,510
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Post by sarahp on Mar 17, 2015 22:10:14 GMT
Our neighbours set the cages once, and caught our feral yard cat. Gosh it was cross!
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Post by gtr121 on Mar 17, 2015 22:11:52 GMT
Shoot them. Excellent sport.
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Post by Philippa on Mar 18, 2015 7:36:21 GMT
Our neighbours set the cages once, and caught our feral yard cat. Gosh it was cross! Lol oops.
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Post by ThisletonStud on Mar 18, 2015 9:37:13 GMT
Thank you all.
I just can't bare the thought of killing any living being, call me soft but it's just the way my brain works.
I know we have to kill them to rid them, so I need something that will kill them instantly so they don't suffer!
I need to get a grip I know lol!
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Post by chalky284 on Mar 18, 2015 11:41:57 GMT
Get some weasels in!!!! Never before have I seen an attack by a weasel but despite the rat being 5 times its size the weasel won!!!
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Post by brt on Mar 21, 2015 21:35:15 GMT
I have a contract with Rent o kill, not had a problem in the last 12 mths since having them come, they come out 6-8 times a year and are very good
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Post by ponymum on Mar 21, 2015 22:21:29 GMT
I had a main drain running under my yard and when the weather was really wet they would come in droves. I bought a plug in high frequency thing from B+Q and never saw another rat - don't know if you can still buy them , but it worked for me
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Post by junetimp on Mar 28, 2015 20:58:21 GMT
Specially for rats B & Q sell a small plug like thing that emits radio waves, you do need to plug it into to an electric source. Rats wont go anywhere near them. I bought a pack of four and have them placed strategically round my tack room. They can affect other small animals and I make sure there is a 1/2 wall between the rat plug and my horses.
Do be careful because Humans can get Viles disease from rats and it WILL kill you. My husbands cousin was a farmer and he died from Viles disease caught from rats.
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fredaf
Junior Member
Posts: 173
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Post by fredaf on Mar 29, 2015 9:10:26 GMT
We had rats last year - they were coming out of the river into the wood shed. Eventually got the pest control guy in who was excellent, he went round the place looking for 'rat runs' - if you know what you're looking for they are easy to locate - basically tracks in the ground almost look as if you've marked a track with a small stick. He used bait and seems to have sorted the problem. Worth getting someone in and wasn't very expensive.
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Post by lucynlizzysmum on Mar 29, 2015 9:37:11 GMT
Think rats have been particularly bad this year. We have never had a problem until this year. My friend who is a pest controller is coming round this week again !! I know poison would be the best thing, but hate using it, and I am always bothered that something else gets hold of the poisoned animal :-(
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Post by ThisletonStud on Mar 29, 2015 22:19:15 GMT
Thanks again all.
Some one ie. A neighbour must be having the same problem has have found three dead this week!! I hope to god they haven't used poison because My girls (cats) have caught three also!!! I am panicking like mad incase they have eaten any that could have had poison!
Why are people so thoughtless!!!
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