getting rid of rats

I recently have done battle with rats in my garage. Since usenet was a big help to me, I thought I'd summarize what worked for me and what didn't. I hope this info helps someone in the future.

The biggest problem (to me) is that rats carry many diseases, most unpleasant, some fatal. This fact alone may lead you to retain a professional exterminator. Unfortunately, it is my belief that exterminators don't *kill* many rats, but just drive them away. My infestation closely followed an episode where my neighbor had a rat problem and hired an exterminator. I think they just moved up the street. So, if you go this route, you may not be doing any favors to your neighbors by hiring an exterminator. If you DIY, then, wear a respirator and gloves, and wash your clothes thoroughly and often. I used a mix of bleach, ammonia, and soap and water daily.

IMO, traps by themselves are basically useless. Rats are cautious, and are pretty smart. At the least, if you use traps, bait them but don't arm them, so the rats become comfortable. Then arm them and you may nail a few if they are optimists.

The traditional approach is poison bait. The most common poison is warfarin, which is an anticoagulant. Unfortunately, rats evolve very quickly, at least metabolically, and have become resistant to warfarin. I had absolutely no food in my garage, but I found that the rats had made their nest in an old box of DCON warfarin-based rat poision (?!). A more modern poison uses bromethalin, but I am afraid rats are adapting to this, also. Bromethalin attacks the myelin sheath on the nerves (like polio). I never got bromethalin to actually kill a rat, but it slows them down so that other approaches become more effective.

Rats will take the bait back to their nests and hoard it, so I would recommend using cubes of bait (rather than loose grains) and then leave some cubes loose (for rats to take home) and fasten some down, so they are forced to eat those in place. After a few days, I began noticing rat tails in my driveway. The local predators were having a field day with my wacked-out rats. Also, my traps began to work as the rats were becoming disabled.

It seemed like the really big rats could tolerate the bromethalin the best, and never really slowed down that much, but at least by that point I had interrupted the life cycle by nailing the pups. At that point I played my ace, which is antifreeze. Rats apparently like the smell and the taste. The largest rat literally keeled over while drinking antifreeze.

I have been rat-free for a week, but have no delusions that the war is over. At least I won the opening round. I will be looking for additional poisons, beyond the bromethalin and antifreeze, and I plan to experiment with electrocution.

In summary, I would say:

*lead off with a bromethalin-based poison *keep rebaiting, and after a few days introduce traps *at first, use the traps unarmed, to breed familiarity, then *arm the traps. Continue to bait. At this point, warfarin may be of some use on already-weakened rats. *after a week or so of poisoning, introduce antifreeze to hit the biggest ones.

Then, clean up thoroughly. No food available at all. Close up any possible access points. Leave out bait blocks as a tell-tale.

What a drag. :(

Reply to
Mr_Bill
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Mr_Bill wrote: The biggest problem (to me) is that rats carry many diseases, most unpleasant, some fatal.

Not only diseases ! My swimming pool heat pump stopped working a few weeks ago and I discovered that rats had eaten half of the control panel wiring harness- right through the metal wires. I worked as an exterminator while I was in college and agree with most of what you have recomended except that I have much more respect for traps than you do. Baited with attractive bait like half cooked bacon, I have found traps to be best. Its essential to tie the bait down onto the tongue/trigger. Set out a lot of traps and remove them all after catching a few. Wait a week and reset in different locations with different bait. Traps are messy though- nobody enjoys disposing of rat corpses.

Reply to
parangles

[...]

Cat: the ecologically-friendly rat-eradicator.

Reply to
HeyBub

My sister is infested like you would not believe. She resisted putting out poison because she has house dogs. I think the mice are interested in the dog's food.

Anyway, the dogs she has are small. She had one of the dogs eat one of the mice. The vet has told her that the dogs would have to eat more than one to be in any danger. She was not going to take a chance on poison one of her pets.

She plans to put down sticky strips next.

I was most interested by your ace in the hole. Antifreeze. I would be interested if anyone has knowledge if Antifreeze would pose the same danger to house animals as poison does.

She put the poison in places like closets and under kitchen sink so she could be sure that the dogs could not directly get the poison.

Reply to
Terry

Don't put anti-freeze out, it will kill your animals.

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Reply to
Eigenvector

My neighbor had a rat in the house the other day - obviously brought home by the cat to be played with.

Bob

Reply to
Bob F

Without a doubt.

Bob

Reply to
Bob F

I found this interesting:

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The Continuing Saga of Mice: I saw this method somewhere on this site or a different link.........it costs nothing, is humane and it works.

Last night before going to bed I took an empty toilet paper roll and flattened the bottom so it made a tunnel and could set flat on the kitchen counter. I put a little dab of peanut butter on one end and hung the baited end out over the counter with the kitchen trash can directly below the counter. The trashcan is about 2 feet tall and smooth walled. This is important because mice can jump up about 12" and can climb rough vertical surfaces.

I stuck the toilet paper roll tunnel next to the backsplash and woke up to the paper roll and mouse in the trashcan.........I didn't even spend a lot of time flattening the T.P. roll......just kinda half assed it and it worked!

Took the mouse for a Sunday morning drive and wished it good luck..........save yourself some time & $ and try this method.

Reply to
Terry

The problem with cats is they kill everything else too. You might as well just dose the place with poison.

Reply to
gfretwell

In article , snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com says... :) :) The biggest problem (to me) is that :) rats carry many diseases, most unpleasant, :) some fatal. This fact alone may lead :) you to retain a professional exterminator. :) Unfortunately, it is my belief that exterminators :) don't *kill* many rats, but just :) drive them away. My infestation closely :) followed an episode where my neighbor :) had a rat problem and hired an exterminator. :) I think they just moved up the street.

I know of no product in my profession that chases rodents away from one place to another. My guess would be that when one finally hires a pro, the pro will also point out areas on the property that needs addressing to make the area less inviting for a rodent problem. When people actually now spend money to take care of a problems like rats, they are more inclined to follow any advise given to help keep the rats away. If one yard in now less attractant to a rodent population they will migrate to an area more to their liking. :) The traditional approach is poison bait. The most :) common poison is warfarin, which :) is an anticoagulant. Unfortunately, rats :) evolve very quickly, at least metabolically, and :) have become resistant to warfarin. I had :) absolutely no food in my garage, but I found that :) the rats had made their nest in an old box of :) DCON warfarin-based rat poision (?!).

I think the key word with this statement should be "was warafin". I'm in my nineteenth year of pest control and have never seen warafin based products used professionally for the most part, it has always been the second generation anticoagulants and have never heard of any resistance that warafin is known for.

:) A more :) modern poison uses bromethalin, but I am :) afraid rats are adapting to this, also. Bromethalin :) attacks the myelin sheath on the nerves (like polio). :) I never got bromethalin to actually :) kill a rat, but it slows them down so :) that other approaches become more effective. I choose not to use bromethalin products for it is an acute toxin, kills on one feeding, killing the rats too quick, raising the chance of dead ones being found on the attic/crawl space/walls. But when there is a heavy population that is in need of a quick reduction, bromethalin is the way to go.

:) Rats will take the bait back to their nests :) and hoard it, so I would recommend using cubes :) of bait (rather than loose grains) and then :) leave some cubes loose (for rats to take home) Never allow them to be able to carry it away...no assurance that they are not dropping the baits behind the bushes for non target animals to get into :) my ace, which is antifreeze. Rats apparently :) like the smell and the taste. The largest :) rat literally keeled over while drinking antifreeze. :) As do cats and dogs and just a cap full is suppose to be able to cause death to a cat.

Reply to
Lar

If you seal your garage to a level that rats can't enter (IMEO 10mm) you will have no problems.

Reply to
glenn P

In article , snipped-for-privacy@charter.net says... :) On 22 Oct 2006 13:54:08 -0700, "Mr_Bill" wrote: :) :) Anyway, the dogs she has are small. She had one of the dogs eat one :) of the mice. The vet has told her that the dogs would have to eat :) more than one to be in any danger. She was not going to take a chance :) on poison one of her pets. For the second generation anti-coagulant baits; bromadiolone,diphacinone, brodifacoum for the most part, the amount of bait ingested before treatment is advisable is 5-10% of the animals body weight. A ten pound animal would need to eat 8-16 ounces of actual bait (8-16 of the one ounce blocks). Or, if the rodents in question had fed exclusively on the rat bait for several days and the pet ate then a ten pound animal would need to consume 22-44 mice or 9-18 rats to reach the

5%-10% window. :) She plans to put down sticky strips next. If the pets happen to get stuck to the sticky board, vegetable oil will help dissolve the glue. :) I was most interested by your ace in the hole. Antifreeze. I would :) be interested if anyone has knowledge if Antifreeze would pose the :) same danger to house animals as poison does.

Very dangerous to do, the pets will be actually attracted to the solution and very little is lethal.

Reply to
Lar

Terry wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Absolutely without question proven. It has a sweet smell/taste to cats & dogs. They will eat it. Death can occur within 24/48 hrs I believe. Usually by the time you notice they are sick it's too late even under a vets care.

Reply to
Al Bundy

I am a farmer and always have rats getting into my grain room on the barn. I have 16 cats. I purposely leave the door open to that room so the cats can get in there. The cats DO NOT kill rats. They do a great job with mice, but not the rats.

What DOES work, is a 5 gallon bucket. Fill it half way with water, then sprinkle a large handfull of raw oats on top and close the door. Rats will always drown when they go in the bucket.

I am curious how the OP "feeds" the antifreeze? What kind of container, etc????

Mark

Reply to
maradcliff

Yes, antifreeze is deadly for ALL animals and for humans. BUT, I'd consider it before poison because mice and rats can carry poison pellets or chunks of rodent blocks where other animals can get to it, even if you hide the pellets or blocks. I see no way they could carry anifreeze, and antifreeze kills them fast, whereas poison takes days to work.

Interesting fact. Warfarin (rat + mouse poison) is also given to humans as a high blood pressure medication. Yeah, that shocked me too.

Mark

Reply to
maradcliff

It is not a high pressure medication as far as I know. It is a "blood thinner" - it helps avoid blood clots. I believe it does the same for rats - they just bleed to death internally at high doses.

Bob

Reply to
Bob F

Interesting.... My elderly uncle is in a nursing home and he's getting it for blood pressure, but I suppose a thinner blood may help the pressure too. I found this out because my mother (his sister) was concerned he was getting too many pills from different doctors and there might be an interaction. I told her to get the nursing home to make a list of everything he takes and what it's for, then present the list to his main doctor. I also told her to make a photocopy so I could look them up on the internet. That's how I found out and that Warfarin got me shocked till I read about it.

As for the rats and mice, let em bleed. They could all die as far as I'm concerned ! I tolerate mice, but rats completely freak me out. It dont matter if I am a grown man and a farmer, I still get panicky when I see rats and probably always will.

Mark

Reply to
maradcliff

You might want to look into this further. As far as I can find, it is an anti-coagulant. It reduces clotting. I found no mention of blood pressure.

Bob

Reply to
Bob F

Yes, it does. It's particularly toxic to cats, but it's hell on dogs too.

Reply to
Doug Miller

No, it's not. It's given to humans to prevent clotting.

Reply to
Doug Miller

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