So earlier this year my wife called me and said there's a animal at the barn.
Probably a cat I said.
No it wasn't a cat.
Well what was it?
I don't know, I don't have my glasses on.
Silence.
Well this fall she saw a rat run from the duck house to the chicken coop. I grabbed my .22 and went down there and couldn't see anything.
Yesterday she went to grab fire wood and saw it by the wood pile, as soon as it saw her, it took off down towards my dad's cabin where the chickens are.
Again grabbed my .22, went looking for it and couldn't find it.
I know my wife isn't going crazy, because I came out one night and caught something bolting through the strawberries down into the yard but couldn't see it anymore in the dark.
So how should I capture and or kill this thing. I'm hesitant to set out traps or bait because the chickens and the dogs.
I want to mount it's beady little head on a spike at the gate as a warning to all other rodents.
Hit me with suggestions
I need to get a maine coon for the yard, wonder if my wife will let me, but then I would have to lock up the birds
19 Feb ’12
Rats are VERY cautious by nature. They're typically difficult to trap and poison.
If you opt for poison, there are tamper resistant bait stations that you can buy online which will prevent non-target animals from ingesting the bait. You can also get stations like this to house traps as well. If you use traps, you should "pre-bait" them first. This involves baiting the traps, but not setting them. Once you've established a pattern of bait acceptance, then you set the traps. Hope that helps. Also research Norway rats and roof rats to try and figure out which you have. If you have roof rats, you can nail snap traps on the rafters where they're active and not have to worry about your chickens or pets
Hope that helps. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.
The following users say thank you to easytapper for this useful post:
DangerDukelol pug soup for dinner yummy.. i kid i kid. Now that i think of it the place that i am employed at has some traps maybe you could borrow one of those
lol, I totally forgot about the bait stations in the shed and outside, if this thing is as big as she says, I don't know if it will be able to get in to get it, will try
Rats are VERY cautious by nature. They're typically difficult to trap and poison.
If you opt for poison, there are tamper resistant bait stations that you can buy online which will prevent non-target animals from ingesting the bait. You can also get stations like this to house traps as well. If you use traps, you should "pre-bait" them first. This involves baiting the traps, but not setting them. Once you've established a pattern of bait acceptance, then you set the traps. Hope that helps. Also research Norway rats and roof rats to try and figure out which you have. If you have roof rats, you can nail snap traps on the rafters where they're active and not have to worry about your chickens or pets
Hope that helps. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.
awesome info ET thanks, until roscoe mentioned it,I totally forgot we have bait stations around the restaurant, my pest filled them in november for the winter, usually they hardly get hit in the winter, I'll check in the morning and see if anything is in them, if so I will put a couple where she has seen it
19 Feb ’12
One other thing= Most pest control companies offer free estimates. If so, find 2-3 to come out and give you a free estimate. Basically, you're letting them do the work of location and identification, and severity of the problem and then you can set out bait/traps, etc. as needed.
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