RATS!

[julie t]

Have just been on another site and read that rats are enjoying a bumper season, so much so that some county councils have a three week waiting list of people desperate to be rid of the beasties!

All my feed is in metal dustbins but by golly, nothing seems to phase them (obviously eating me out of Equilibra shows that they are of the Super New Improved Top Line type of Rats). Normally I leave poison to OH, however in desperation I took my Child Benefit money and bought a bucket of big blue block like things and began to distribute them around the Rat Estate. Must confess to a bit of surprise that one block disappeared within 4 hours of being left....now have the problem of keeping the big sods out of the cavity wall that adjoins House-that-is-still-For-Sale as the last rat extermination attempt saw the .....ers decide to die there, which meant my utility room and downstairs loo smelt like.....well, you can guess. Cat is useless and to be fair the rats are as big as him, they've even been eating my nice fleecy rugs which daughter had chucked over old hay bales to dry out. Anybody else suffering?

[spot]

julie t i had a problem last winter, they obviously don`t like the wet and cold! The blue blocks of poison do work but you have to keep putting it out, i smothered them in peanut butter the little B`s love em like that.

[stinkpig]

we've got them at the yard and they are bloody huge, cats are catching but not fast enough, they're not trying to get the hard feed but oh boy are they enjoying the carrots and parsnips !

[seahorse]

do you know any one with a good ratting terrier it a quick end to the rat

[thecremellosociety]

shoot the little buggers

[stinkpig]

there are so many rat holes in our muck heap it looks like a bloody colender !

[stinkpig]

you are a hero, the little buggers terrify me. have given you a karma for being so brave

[marshmallow]

We have had a few sightings recently as its got colder and they are HUGE this year - my o/h thought they were coypu's (rat x beaver i think ) - cheeky b*****ds sit by the grain store by our feed room on top of the rat bait box put there by council rat man watching us until they get the opporutunity to sneak in the feed room and feast on whatever they can find! Makes my skin crawl

[lolly]

Were lucky we dont seem to have any rats due to four good yard cats, downside is they occassionally pee on your rugs

However once had a rat in our Erics stable, I thew the fork at it and screamed and to my absolute horror the fork peiced the rat and killed it quiet dead, I was immediately sick as this was the first and only creature i have even killed, was so mortified I went and rescued one from the rspca, a homeless pet rat we called Rodney and gave it a fab home until its demise and costly vet bill some time later.

My good friend rescued a baby mouse off the cat three years ago, nursed it and put it in the tank with the iguana under the lamp, it lived for two years, was called Stuart and was quiet tame, the iguana loved stuart and when stuart died Igs the iguana stopped eating and died two weeks later of a brocken heart....

It was so so sad wasnt it.... but bet one of you buggers laughs at this story

[lils]

lolly said:

Were lucky we dont seem to have any rats due to four good yard cats, downside is they occassionally pee on your rugs

However once had a rat in our Erics stable, I thew the fork at it and screamed and to my absolute horror the fork peiced the rat and killed it quiet dead, I was immediately sick as this was the first and only creature i have even killed, was so mortified I went and rescued one from the rspca, a homeless pet rat we called Rodney and gave it a fab home until its demise and costly vet bill some time later.

My good friend rescued a baby mouse off the cat three years ago, nursed it and put it in the tank with the iguana under the lamp, it lived for two years, was called Stuart and was quiet tame, the iguana loved stuart and when stuart died Igs the iguana stopped eating and died two weeks later of a brocken heart....

It was so so sad wasnt it.... but bet one of you buggers laughs at this story

Brilliant..

[viking]

Sorry lolly

[frogjane]

We are over run with the beastly things and my 2 Jack Russells can't keep up. Had one scurrying around under the pallet I was standing on the other night whilst filling haynets - yuk. Anyway, here is a tip for you. Get some polyfilla/plaster of paris or anything that sets hard when mixed with water and put it in a bowl with a equal quantity of gravy granules. The rats will eat it and then it sets inside them blocking their digestive tract and kills them. Not nice finding rock hard rats about the place but it's an alternative to poison if you're worried about your animals.

[beckylock]

I dont see any or find anything to say they live at my place but we have a rat poision thing under the feed shed and every other day I have 2 fill it up. Farmer next door say his rat must be coming over 4 tea. lol
Farmer said when he was harvesting his crops last year the rat ran out of the field and they had lots in the field.

[halfpass]

we've had a real problem this year, we have put bait boxes every-where but still dos'nt seem to be working, we have a very good terrier but even he won't take on the big ones have spoken to rentakill and they said have a word with the game keeper and get him to come and gass them so he's been booked for next week

[stinkpig]

Our rats are living in the muck heap so i guess that as usual when its moved they will move out, means that at the moment the little buggers not only have a constant food supply but central heating as well !!

[pipandflo]

Our local council now charge us £35 plus VAT to come out for rats. My problem is my free range chickens so have to hide all my poison in drainpipes and put all the feeders away in bins at night, only now the rats are coming to lunch.

[julie t]

Here's an update:

Now run out of poison and the .......s appear to have eaten every block I've put down as some sort of appetiser, now they have set their sights on the dengie hifi, havent found any bodies yet....all very mysterious (and expensive!). Now going out to buy more poison.

Lolly, yes I did laugh, trust you to make me smile on a foggy Monday!

[dun4u]

My two terriers used to love ratting. Stinkpig - try to get someone with terriers there before you start to move the muck heap. They'll be in their element!!!

Halfpass - that's just an excuse to eye up the gamekeeper. Perhaps he'll be a Mellors lookalike!!!!

[spot]

We have the most useless yard cat called porteous, although i call him portly as he is so fat and over fed! I think i have caught more mice and rats than he has

[halfpass]

our gamekeeper is getting on for 60 and that bandy he could never stop a pig in a alley so I think he's safe from any advances from me,

[overatdaknee]

The rats at my place are so big that the search for a lead rein to show would be over if I could catch one of the blighters................

[halfpass]

we have just got some new poison that is not harmfull to other animals only rats and mice will let you all know how it works and if it is any good

[Milliesmum]

Anyone tried those sonic plug-in rodent repeller thingies? We have a sonic thing to stop cats pooing in the garden, can't say it's done much good!

[halfpass]

You know they don't work when a stonking big rat is sitting under one cleaning it's whiskers

[merlod]

We've used an ultrasonic rat repeller for the last few years. They will come by but won't stay. Haven't seen droppings or any other evidence of Furry Freinds since we began using it. Ponies and dog are not at all bothered. Best twenty odd quid we have ever spent!

[try]

I bought an ultrasonic rat repeller too. I was very sceptical about them but it seems to have worked! We were having awful trouble with the furry blighters , they even chewed through the heavy plastic bins that house the horse feed but since i plugged the ultrasonic thing in they seem to have gone! Took about thre weeks for them to move out but it seems to have evicted them!

When my son was younger he attached two metal plates to the wall either side of the rats entrance hole in the feedroom and then wired them up to the mains! Fried rat isnt a pretty sight first thing in the morning! Have to say if i'd known he was doing it i would have throttled him!

[skint]

We are in-undated at present I bet I have spend nearly 60 quid on poison and they are still taking it. The ratman who comes to work says that its not that the poison isnt working but its the sheer numbers that are taking it. Let me know how you go on with the new poison Halfpass. We have got a terrier but she has only shook dead ones so far. We never seem to see any live ones

[dpl]

Took about thre weeks for them to move out but it seems to have evicted them!

I'll wait a bit longer then before I give up on the one I bought!

PS The rats here seem to prefer Badminton Alpha Lite to Dengie Hi Fi! LOL!

[dpl]

Took about thre weeks for them to move out but it seems to have evicted them!

I'll wait a bit longer then before I give up on the one I bought!

We never seem to see any live ones...

Thats a slight plus point!! If you start seeing live ones rather than just the evidence that they've been around, then you know you have a real problem!

PS The rats here seem to prefer Badminton Alpha Lite to Dengie Hi Fi! LOL!

[try]

Be patient dpl, they definitely work! :)Swept out our feedshed today and there was no sign of the little buggars! We have had them chew through stirrup leathers overnight, rugs have been shredded and they especially like tack that has just been cleaned, must be the oil etc on it, but since about three weeks after we plugged the ultrasonic thing in there has been no sign at all of them and my feed bill has gone down too as i am no longer feeding the local rat population!!!! :-/Dogs and ponies dont seem to be affected by it either!