RATS!

[Conky]

Originally posted by: KDOG
Well I have two cats already, but they are indoor only. Well I set 4 more traps, laid out enough bait/poison to kill a herd of buffalo, so we shall see in the morning. I have to work midnights tonight and the Missus is terrified to be home by herself tonight.

I wouldn't worry about rats in the house with those cats but rats in your carport are never going away short of an outdoor cat or even a dog. We have a couple of feral cats that take care of most of the critters around here. Our dogs get the bigger ones. :roll:

 

[Gibson486]

My aprtment has rats...although i have not seen them lately......I see them run from behind my sink to under the fridge.....It's weird can when they run, you do not see a tail and they run so slow. My land lord said not to use poison b/c they die behind the walls and it smells. these dam critters know how to avoid traps too......

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: skyking
foolproof rat and mouse killing device:
Parts list:
2 or 3 gallon plastic bucket from hardware store, a couple bucks.
wire coat hangar, cheap to free
35MM film canister, may be hard to find that in the digital age


drill or melt 1/4" holes through bucket on opposite sides near top.
straighten out enough coat hangar to go through those holes and beyond a few inches either side.
Insert wire through bucket, through the cap and end of film canister, and out the other hole in bucket. you may need to use an icepick or small drill bit on the canister, but the idea is a tight fit. Center it in bucket.
Now you have a film canister fixed to a wire that spins freely in the top of a bucket.

Smear a coat of peanut butter on canister. add 3" of water to bucket. make a ramp or two out of sticks, boards, or stuff leading up there. To expidite the process, put a couple smears of peanut butter on ramps if you wish. It is not really necessary.

Place this in any secured place the pets can't get to. the device is harmless, but the dead rats/mice might not be.

I have used this a few times over the years, and it works perfectly. The mice keep coming, trying to get PB, falling off the spool and into the water and drowning. it does not need reset, and it will clear out a whole colony of mice in one evening.
Dump in the toilet for easy cleanup.

Sounds like a good trap, although I'd use more than 3 inches of water... We had a rat problem in our barn recently... Those sticky traps are all but useless. Snap traps catch a few, but the rats multiply faster than those traps catch them. If the OP was 2 for 2 with those traps, the OP was incredibly lucky. Poison resulted in the deaths of 2 peacocks and possible a goat due to the poison... the rats carried it off in pieces. We now have a cat, but I think I'll take your bucket idea and use that!

Then again, it's too cold for that to work now Well... if I put fresh water in during the evening, by morning... I should have rat popsicles!

 

[skyking]

freezing is a problem. the 3 inch water depth is quite variable of course, as is the bucket size.

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: skyking
foolproof rat and mouse killing device:
Parts list:
2 or 3 gallon plastic bucket from hardware store, a couple bucks.
wire coat hangar, cheap to free
35MM film canister, may be hard to find that in the digital age


drill or melt 1/4" holes through bucket on opposite sides near top.
straighten out enough coat hangar to go through those holes and beyond a few inches either side.
Insert wire through bucket, through the cap and end of film canister, and out the other hole in bucket. you may need to use an icepick or small drill bit on the canister, but the idea is a tight fit. Center it in bucket.
Now you have a film canister fixed to a wire that spins freely in the top of a bucket.

Smear a coat of peanut butter on canister. add 3" of water to bucket. make a ramp or two out of sticks, boards, or stuff leading up there. To expidite the process, put a couple smears of peanut butter on ramps if you wish. It is not really necessary.

Place this in any secured place the pets can't get to. the device is harmless, but the dead rats/mice might not be.

I have used this a few times over the years, and it works perfectly. The mice keep coming, trying to get PB, falling off the spool and into the water and drowning. it does not need reset, and it will clear out a whole colony of mice in one evening.
Dump in the toilet for easy cleanup.

interesting trap. I thought rats/mice were smarter than that (eg see the water and back away )

 

[skyking]

the bucket is deep enough that the water is far less interesting than the prize. tunnel vision. What gets me is they keep on coming after a few of them are drowned down below.

 

[KDOG]

Yeah I may have to try that.