Rats

[Born Again]

I keep ducks, chickens and pigs, so rats are guaranteed. This year is the worst ever, I keep track by the empty rimfire ammo boxes.

The pattern I have found is that they dislike coming out at full moon or in very windy weather. Traps have proven useless, they won't go near them after a couple have been caught.

My next effort will be running a pipe from the exhaust of a petrol powered generator into their holes to try to flush some out or kill them underground, I can't use poisons because of our farm cats and many owls / kites / buzzards here.

I don't know why this winter has seen so many rats, possibly because some of the surrounding farms have changed their land use from grass / sheep / cattle to growing corn and barley.

[cringe]

Hi , a few years ago, I converted an old small mackulic chain saw into a sort of leaf blower? no chain saw blade but a 1 inch pipe from exhaust. Would poke it in holes or under sheds etc & see the rats run , but you ideally need a couple of terrier ,s to make this work. regards Al.

[Captain Bongo]

Mice and rats are rarely encountered together. The rats tend to eat the mice. Reactive control as you have found, is not the solution but it is very necessary until the ingress point is found and sealed. They are getting into the property somehow and this is the direction you should be focused in. I would hazard a guess that there is probably a drain fault somewhere that is allowing them access. These can be hard to find (without a proper survey) but usually manifest themselves in the form of rodents tunnelling in from cracks or faults in walls and floors.

[Shedder]

We get them in the garden now and again - at the bird table and under the hen house.
I have noticed that some feed at more or less the same time every day/night.
I have cheap (eg Aldi) cctv cameras in both locations which of course means we can watch them in comfort, but the big plus is that there is constant infra red illumination from the cameras which means they get used to it. That means I can shoot them out of a bedroom window with the IR off on the Pard, so they just don't realise that I have them in my sights. In the past I have been quite sure they could see IR lasers at least.

Although others say they find peanut butter or some other bait is irrestible, I think you have the best chance by baiting them with something they are already used to eating (like hen food or bird food)

As others have said the best ways of controlling them include removing whatever they are feeding on and "blocking up" their harbourage/hiding spots.

I once heard a talk by a pest expert and he said they need 3 things, and if you remove one of them then you can control them - the three things are food, water and harbourage. It is rarely feasible to prevent access to water, so best to focus on the other two.

[angrybear]

It sounds to me like the rats live somewhere else (probably in the sewers) & just visit you every so often to look for food,
it may also be that they are either regularly attracted to your area by something, or on the other hand maybe driven from where they usually live by something else happening, if that makes sense to you.

Rats are very smart & will travel quite a long way to get food, a few years ago when we had snow I spotted one going back & forth and was able to follow it's track for about 150m from my bird feeders, down the lane, through a hedge, across 2 neighbours driveways & under an old shed in the corner of a field.

If you put food out as bait that will continue to attract them, If you want them gone it sounds like a job for the local council although I have no idea how such things work in your Country.

[rapidboy1]

We usually get them in the garden every winter as we have a couple of dozen bird feeders in the trees.

Live capture cage traps work well at night, they won't go into smaller traps, the traps around 8" x 8" x 18" work best.
I need to reposition the traps once a week and changing baits keeps them interested

Shooting them during the day always seems to be better than at night, a bit of winter sun is even better, they sit basking on a good day, on a cold day or at night they are more active and don't hang about.
Peanuts in a metal mesh bird feeder or a tin of dog food with holes punched all over both work well, they have to hang around to work at them.

I know people say to remove the food source but that just moves the problem, they will multiply and be back sooner or later.
As soon as i see them i start feeding them, encourage them to a place where i can shoot and trap them and just keep at them until they are gone.

Shooting from cover is best, they bolt as soon as they see anybody but shoot from a vehicle or building and they hang around longer.
I always position traps so that i can see them from the house, even if i need binoculars to check them, again its better to keep an eye on them without disturbing them.

This is the first year we haven't had any, (i was expecting more than ever because im now feeding birds on the ground as well as in the trees).
We had a stray cat turn up and we gave him a home for about four months, he slept all day and patrolled all night, had to put him down a couple of weeks ago but i haven't seen a rat this winter and that is a first.

[Born Again]

i haven't seen a rat this winter and that is a first.

That's because they're all in my polytunnel