Rats

[gayl]

Here's the estimates I've got so far for rat in orange tree:

1. Put out 1 TomCat & have son patch 3+ holes. Gardeners to clear all under brush as part of biweekly yard care.

2. 2 Tomcats (front / back). Cut tree farther back from house

3. 2 TomCats put 1 under deck, cement patch 1 hole, patch vent holes with precut mesh @ Home Depot, Victor traps from Home Depot, remove oranges. Call in 2 weeks if this doesn't fix it

4. $1715 to patch those holes + $450 for checking rat traps 3 times + $995 to either remove deck only or close up openings to underdeck with same mesh used on vents

5. Remove everything for $2200

1 more estimate coming (Monday)

Guess which 2 are easiest to omit? (#1-3 suggested DIY 1st)

 

[Sunset]

If by TomCats you mean the poison in the boxes, they sell this pretty cheap ~20 for 16 blocks you put into the plastic boxes.

If the issue is rats in the house/attic, you can just nail the TomCats (ones I used have a hole in the block) to a block of wood to stop the rat from running off with the poison.
I did this as the plastic boxes are really the expensive part. But where it's safe (no kids and no pets or other wildlife) it's fine to leave the poison exposed.

That way you can saturate a location and put a dozen in the attic.

I don't recall what the problem is being solved.

 

[gayl]

Thank you!!! The rats are outside living under my deck. Think I'll put a few under the house & in attic as the last guy out (who said call in 2 weeks if not resolved) says there's nothing new in either space. I bought 1box so I'll just get refills now. Better safe than sorry especially if so cheap.

 

[Ronstar]

All you need is a Ruger 1022. Took care of my groundhog problem under the deck.

 

[Time2]

We got burned by an Amazon seller, the package had twice as many baits, but cost just a little more. Turned out the baits were 1/2 the size. Packages had the same weight just twice as many bait. I find Lowes has a better price.
Smaller baits may be better, but I didn't see it that way.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

Had 2 rats in my house this winter. Bought 2 Tomcats (the trap kind). No more rats.

 

[Nemo2]

Pythons are also effective.

 

[Lumpier]

Thank you!!! The rats are outside living under my deck. Think I'll put a few under the house

Please make sure your pup can't get to the Tomcat. Bromethalin is one of those horrible poisons with no antidotes.

 

[Bamaman]

Every time I need to get rid of a pest or insect, I go to BUGSPRAY.COM They're a retail store in Stone Mountain, Georgia and the largest seller of termacide in the U.S.

The owner is an old pest control guy that writes essays on 150 different critters and bugs on how to get rid of them. But the best thing is that he sells insecticides and traps we cannot even find locally, including at our farm co-op stores.

National pest control outfits don't even use the proper insecticides, as they just try to scare the bugs out of your home.

https://bugspray.com/article/rats.html

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Please make sure your pup can't get to the Tomcat. Bromethalin is one of those horrible poisons with no antidotes.

I wouldn't do that to a rat or any pet or wildlife that might eat a rat.

We sealed up the house and have the quick kill kind of snap traps in the crawl space. We have resident rats that live outside in our yard along with all the other wildlife.

 

[TrvlBug]

This. I would never use poisons for pests. Traps only. Exception is the quarterly spraying for ants. He sprays only the foundation of the house. Our county is on an ant hill!!!

 

[savory]

I know a little about eliminating a rat problem. I thought this was a good guide if you want to try to eliminate the problem yourself or for evaluating your pest control operator. Their approach should within reason follow the recommendations in this link. And, do not settle for anything less than pest elimination.

Pest control is the art of gaining the knowledge of pest behavior then devoting the required amount of time and motion to solve the pest problem. Every problem can be eliminated if the operator is well trained and the service recognizes the job is not done until the problem is solved. A good question to ask the operator is 'for what I am paying, will my problem be totally solved? If not, how many pests do you plan to leave behind?

https://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/trapping_rats.htm

 

[Sunset]

Just for clarity, this is what I have used in the past, I like them due to the hole where I can nail them to a board. I only drive the nail in enough to be not loose and not all the way down.

I don't put them where animals or kids would get them.

https://www.menards.com/main/outdoo...3-c-10120.htm?tid=-6316020354756893178&ipos=7

 

[skipro33]

I used the oversized sticky traps. But here's a clue; screw it down to a chunk of 2x4 or the rat will carry off the trap if it's a big rat. Once it's stuck, either wait for nature to do it in, or use a grabber tool and a 5 gallon bucket of water to drown the thing in.
I'd not use poison, too many other things could eat the poison or the poisoned rat once it crawls away some place.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

One of our adult kids sealed up all our tiny open spaces around the vents, pipes and hoses that led to the outside with spray on, foam insulation that hardens as it dries. That really stopped any rodents from getting into the house or crawl space. I saw teeth marks on the hardened foam, the rats tried their best, but their best just wasn't good enough. It has been several years now and they have never been able to bite or claw through the hardened foam. Before the insulation, I was stuffing steel wool and all sorts of rodent repellents around any openings to the outside and nothing else worked.

Before the foam, when mice were still able to get into the house, we noticed that some knew what conventional snap traps looked like and were smart enough to walk around them. So I bought 4 or 5 different kinds of snap traps at Home Depot and the one that walked around the conventional snap trap got done in by a white plastic one. I assume he had not seen that type before.

 

[SloHan]

I would just be very sure the rats are not getting inside the house, attic or crawl places before using any poison. The smell and fly infestation from any carcass is not pleasant. I use Tom Cat with bait stations and rat traps.

 

[W2R]

All you need is a Ruger 1022. Took care of my groundhog problem under the deck.

Right! That's the best approach, I think.

OK, I don't know how to shoot so here's what I would do: I'd mention it casually to Frank, who would probably come over immediately with enough armaments to start World War III and sit out there all night, having a great ol' time shooting the rat(s).

But if he didn't live next door, I'd call an exterminator. No way am I dealing with rat traps, bait, dead rats or stuff like that, myself. That's not my idea of retirement nirvana.

 

[Telly]

Pythons are also effective.

What about a Python Lee Jackson?

good people are in bed
before nine o'clock

 

[plex]

Had a mouse problem once (ironically caused by my cat) and finally dealt with it using something like the tomcat bait. I put the poison bait blocks in a box blocking the area it was trying to feed from, this made it so only the mouse would ever get in contact with the poison by trying to chew through it, which it immediately did.

Traps did not work, you need exactly the right size trap (and just the right type of bait) or they are a waste of time. I think it is a bit overkill to go the $1-$2k route unless the other options fail.

 

[f35phixer]

please don't use poisons !!!! Sure they kill the pest, but raptors find a nice dead animal and take back to nest to feed the new babies and they die, it is the suspected result from one eaglet this year that died.... !!!

 

[Nemo2]

What about a Python Lee Jackson?

G'Day Ocker.

 

[grasshopper]

I believe a 357 Python may be overkill, I like my 10/22 Ruger also.

 

[misanman]

I like my 10/22 Ruger also.

I've found that mine works well on racoons.

 

[Jerry1]

Thankfully, I’ve never had a rat problem. I’m sure they’re all around but I’ve never seen on. I’m very conscious about making sure they or any critters don’t have food or shelter on my property (one acre). My whole house generator has an engine heater and that thing attracts mice like crazy. Nothing like a heated manifold for a mouse to set up house for the winter. That’s Fat Fire condo living for sure. So I keep a particular eye out on that.

I would hope I’d never have to resort to using poison on any critter (except ants). Keeping the incentives to set up shop is step one, but if I have to deal with anything, I use traps. They work great for mice, but I’m sure it’s harder to get them to work with rats. The thing I like about traps is that you know you got them. Poisoned rats can be ate by other animals or end up in the walls or attic of your house. That can’t be good.

As for shooting them, unfortunately, even on an acre, I’m in the city and they frown on discharging a firearm. If I wanted to go that route, I could use an air rifle. But, hunting requires seeing them so I’d probably save that for something like a ground hog. Though for ground hogs, I’ve had good luck with those smoke bombs. Rabbits and squirrels piss me off at times, eating my flowers or digging in my yard, but at some level, you gotta let nature be nature. If I could shoot anything, it would be the dang deer. We are so overpopulated with deer it’s crazy. Forget having a garden or any plants that they will eat. Some communities will cull the dear, but ours will not.

To the OP, good luck with your quest. One thing is for sure, them rats gotta go.

 

[street]

Just my 2¢ worth, but I never use poison anymore. The poisoned mice or rats will be eaten by avian or eaten by a natural predictor of the rat or mice.

I learned very quickly the disruption poison can cause by using it in nature. I have weasels, mink, bull snakes, rattlers, eagles owls, hawks and many other creatures that will find that dead rat and eat it and die. All those creatures I named take care of all the mice issues I have. I literally have not trapped a mouse in 3 or 4 years because of the nature predictors for mice.

In our case application/location is different but just wanted to reinforce what can happen and in my case if I used poison my problem would explode without natures animals that take care of that problem.