Rats!

Hello,
someone can suggest a rat remedy that can work in cases of river rats infesting old stone houses in a small community? they generally disappear when a couple are trapped into the underground network under the houses and soon appear again, frequently eating left-overs from other domestic animals. we noticed that the cats around don't scare them anymore.

Let me know when you find a solution! We hired a pro and our ranch is clean again. Sometimes, until you get your place nice and balanced with snakes and feral cats, you need to break out 'Plan B'. He used Zinc Phosphide.

I bought a vacant house only to find the (detached, thankfully) garage infested with rats. Because my two small children and the family dog are always in and out of the garage, poison of any sort was not an option for me. I had success with those ultrasonic emitters they sell in the hardware stores, but I had to use triple the number recommended. Four and a half years later, they're still working like a charm.

The trouble with driving rats out is that they will find somewhere else nearby to live. My neighbors weren't completely happy with me for a few months.

orto del sole wrote:
we noticed that the cats around don't scare them anymore.

Don't feed the cats. They will get hungry, then begin doing their job. Saves you money on cat food and they will have a healthier diet.

- Dan.

There are too many threat about rats already, let's develop one and group it all!

Daniel, ask a behaviourist, this not true!
Hunting instinct does not come from hunger.
Some cats can come back with a prey just after having eaten the kibbles you gave them!

Their instinct develops when they are kittens, by playing after all that moves.

The farm house we bought was vacant for a period of a few years and the former owners just threw bait all over the place. Feral cats lived and hunted...and thrived inside.

After much cleaning, we got the house sealed but still had to deal with an occasional one until last year when the population exploded. For years, I had tried every bait out there, every contraption and stickies. I liked the stickies cause I KNEW I got them, but alas they seemed to continue to multiply...until...

I got some Just One Bite and put it in room corners under furniture, and basically, places the pets couldn't get to but the rodents could. I put Just One Bite in the crawl spaces and hidden places. Then I moved the program to the barn- in the chicken coop, I cut a small hole, big enough for mice to get in and chickens not, then put the bait down and pail over it with a weight. Mice get in, eat and die.

I did the same thing with the upside down pails in the garden with heavy rocks so the wind wouldn't knock them over and it has kept them from eating my ripe veggies that grow in their reach.

Now with the warning- this stuff is toxic. The mice eat one bite and bleed internally. Along with buying it, buy Vitamin K for just-in-case as Vit K helps blood clot and you want any animal who gets into the poison on Vit K as soon as you know or even suspect any ingestion.
note, that if a cat or dog eats a mouse that died in their path, chances are that rodent doesn't have enough poison to kill them, but it can't hurt to have a Vit K program ready.

I hate rodents for so many reasons. This old farmhouse has had electrical fires before, most likely because of chewers, we replaced all the wiring and they were lucky there wasn't more fires. They chew through walls, they wreak and contaminate everything. And, if you have pets and or children- get rid of the UN-invited guests fast and safely.