freakin rodents!

[MULEPACKHUNTER]

ouch man

[HyNoon]

Holy cow, ya definitely get some outside cats

[Swivelhead]

1 hour ago, HyNoon said:

Holy cow, ya definitely get some outside cats

Hard to keep a cat(s) outside as the coyotes feast on them.  Got a rat problem myself.  Been trapping and think I"ve made a dent but after reading "10 a week for 4 years" ..........   not so sure.

[AZLance]

ouch

[muledeerarea33?]

50 minutes ago, Swivelhead said:

Hard to keep a cat(s) outside as the coyotes feast on them.  Got a rat problem myself.  Been trapping and think I"ve made a dent but after reading "10 a week for 4 years" ..........   not so sure.

I used up a lot of cats over the years! I quit naming them and now I have a few that keep the rats at bay. Still have to help the cats every so often.

[CatfishKev]

For the next go around.  Baitboxes which hold rat traps and poison are a good thing.   Learn how and where rats travel, they scurry and want to be undetected, find cover routes and intersections.   Learn how to set traps. Rats are a bit smarter then mice, they will jump (hop) over traps if it's an unfamiliar road block. Setting 2 or three will help because they sometimes hop the first but will land in the second or third.  Keep a big snap trap inside the bait box as well, a dead rat inside is a straight up invite to others, mmm you smell that?!?  The baitboxes are also helpful in terms of baits, depending on the dog you may or may not have. The chemical I am most familiar with is bromadiolone,  contrac was my rodenticide of choice.  Keep in mind secondary poisoning, the smaller the dog the more cautious i would be. At my house i have no problem running a contrac box outside of the dog fence and I have small dogs. Remember the idea is greedy little rodents will fill up on a free meal, even my tiny little Boston terriers can't fill up on dead poisoned rats enough to make it kill them. 

[Couzer]

47 minutes ago, muledeerarea33? said:

I used up a lot of cats over the years! I quit naming them and now I have a few that keep the rats at bay. Still have to help the cats every so often.

Exactly just feed them so they stick around. If they go missing just get another free one. They are replaceable, I have a friend that has like 10 on his property, he just feeds them and they stick around. They won’t let you pet them because they are not tamed. But no more mice, rats, or Squirrels chewing up his stuff anymore. 

[muledeerarea33?]

1 minute ago, Vowell said:

Exactly just feed them so they stick around. If they go missing just get another free one. They are replaceable, I have a friend that has like 10 on his property, he just feeds them and they stick around. They won’t let you pet them because they are not tamed. But no more mice, rats, or Squirrels chewing up his stuff anymore. 

Exactly! Mine don’t let me get close but they trust me. I feed them just enough to keep them killing machines. In the winter I feed them a lot more and make warm pallet beds for them outside. Spring thru fall they’ll kill anything that moves.

[Non-Typical Solutions]

17 hours ago, 6AYoteHunter said:

I kill at least 10 a week at my place for the last 4 years. It is a never ending battle. Worse yet they are attracted to the smell of other ones. Get yourself a bunch of HAVAHART® X-SMALL 2-DOOR TRAP and BB gun them. No need for bait in these traps. Just put them along edges where the mice walk. They like tunnels and shiny things. They walk right in. Once there is some blood in one they really go crazy for a particular trap. 

All year long for me as well, I have multiple trap schemes I use, bait just seems to feed the critters  

[forepaw]

16 hours ago, Vowell said:

Go get a bunch of house cats, I’m not a cat fan but they help keep the rodents in check

Yep.  And don't kill rattlesnakes.

 

[NOTAGS]

one of those rat bastards got into my hot tub over the summer when I had it turned off.  Ate  a bunch of wiring, including the  wires coming out of the power ballast, and of course chewed them so short I couldnt splice them. And went through the ribbon wire to the thermostat.  $100 part, and some micro surgery repair on the stat wire, its functional .  One built a nest in my boat, but fortunately didnt try to eat it.  I hate those things.

[HyNoon]

20 hours ago, Swivelhead said:

Hard to keep a cat(s) outside as the coyotes feast on them.  Got a rat problem myself.  Been trapping and think I"ve made a dent but after reading "10 a week for 4 years" ..........   not so sure.

Yes they can be coyote food pretty easily. 

[6AYoteHunter]

14 hours ago, forepaw said:

Yep.  And don't kill rattlesnakes.

 

Have a friend that did research on them. They only eat every 2 weeks. Too low of volume.

Owls do an awesome job though according to her they ate 12 mice per night on average. Need to find a way to keep them around more. 

[Lucafu1]

This is my bronco. This happened in less then a weeks time. It filled up half a trash can full of mesquite beans, cholla, and dog shoot. 

[HyNoon]

6 hours ago, Lucafu1 said:

This is my bronco. This happened in less then a weeks time. It filled up have a trash can full of mesquite beans, cholla, and dog shoot. 

Holy cow dude ..... did they chew anything up. I get to replace 2 spark plug wires( that were brand new ) on my 76 chevy truck.