Need Help with a Silent Menace

[Maggie Glover]

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[Maggie Glover]

Congratulations! You should post a grip and grin photo.

Was the rat's tail longer than his body? If so, he's a tree rat and you need to make sure there are no paths to your house from the trees and bushes. If I let the trees grow to give them a way onto the house, we start having problems. For some reason, they don't seem to travel on the ground outside much. If I keep the limbs trimmed, no problems.

Those Tomcat plastic traps are a way better design than the old snap traps. Way easier to set, easier to empty, more effective at catching and they won't break a finger or dog toe if the wrong thing trips them.

Hell this makes me wonder about my attic now. Look at the picture and posted and tell me if its a tree rat. I have never heard of such. Thanks, MG

[fro]

yup. wharf rat, tree rat, whatever you want to call them. Good luck. you're going to need it!

Have to find out where they are coming and going from. Anything you can get a thumb in needs to be sealed tight & not with just spray foam. Hardware cloth! Could be coming from the crawl space or attic or both. Sneaky bastard.

Dog food should be stored in a metal trash can.

Get the larger rat traps and commercial sticky pads.

Bait boxes work wonders once you have them under control.

SiteOne (lesco) will have everything you need.

edit to add: Do you have a bird feeder? If so, get rid of that mess. All they do is feed the vermin & assist with them multiplying.

[DRDUCK]

Better hope you don't get Norway Rats. Ask me how I know

[WhitewaterDuck]

If I were living alone, I'd go buy or catch a coulple of black rat snakes and turn them loose in the house...they'll find their way through cracks into the non-living spaces in the house and do work on the mouse problem. I'd also go get a tiny kitten or two from someone who has a litter and let them have free run of the house. Get a Tupperware tote and cut a hole in the top and put litter in it. Put in a small doggy/cat door in, and they will use that contained litter box until they are big enough to use the door...then you can get rid of the box and they will always go outside. From what I've experienced with mice, that's the best way to go. Quality poison will kill them, but you are going to periodically deal with a week or so of dead-mouse stink no matter what the poison manufacturers claim about "no smell." Good luck...mice suck!

[Maggie Glover]

yup. wharf rat, tree rat, whatever you want to call them. Good luck. you're going to need it!

Have to find out where they are coming and going from. Anything you can get a thumb in needs to be sealed tight & not with just spray foam. Hardware cloth! Could be coming from the crawl space or attic or both. Sneaky bastard.

Dog food should be stored in a metal trash can.

Get the larger rat traps and commercial sticky pads.

Bait boxes work wonders once you have them under control.

SiteOne (lesco) will have everything you need.

edit to add: Do you have a bird feeder? If so, get rid of that mess. All they do is feed the vermin & assist with them multiplying.

No bird feeders and my dog food is in sealed hard containers. I feel sure they have been in the attic; however, I know these to be under the house because of eating my PEX. I got another last night and missed another. I used chicken bones and chicken and there were no bones left but chicken still in the trap. I will go no bones tonight.

My dogs never go in my crawl space so I am thinking about putting tabs down there, I am concerned about the stink but there really is no avoiding that. I will tackle the attic when it gets cooler. Thanks, MG

[Maggie Glover]

Still working on them. My total now is seven, with only one in the past week. I want to think I made a big dent or rid myself. I have a feeling I just got the adventurous or greedy ones. I have used cheese, crackers, chicken bones, and even bread with vanilla extract. So far nothing seems better than the next as far as bait goes. Im ready to go to bait boxes. I still have never seen one during the day. Of course, I have two dogs so maybe they have learned to travel in areas inaccessible to them.

Any sure thoughts on novel baits or places to put traps is greatly appreciated and will be tried. Thanks, MG

[Highstrung]

Proud moment

I have used peanut butter under certain things, smart ones can lick straight peanut butter off. I fought them in a couple of the old stores from time to time years back.

[Palmetto Bug]

Rats will get trap smart after they see their cousin clamped in one. They may be more spooked about the location than the trap though because they can still be caught if you relocate the trap.

I usually use roasted peanuts for bait. Put an extra one outside the trap to whet their appetite.

[Frank1]

Peanut butter under the bait tray so they have to get in there to get at it. I've caught over a hundred in the warehouse where I work, peanut butter everytime.

[Palmetto Bug]

if you're using the black plastic "Tomcat" traps, put a little lithium grease on the the trigger sear.

[Rem11-87]

Next time you cook bacon. Cook one where it is still pliable. Then take a piece and hook to trigger with a bread tie. They cant stand it. The smell will bring them.

[fro]

peanut butter every time! roll up a little hardware cloth and attached to the copper tab on the trap trigger. Old school Victor style traps. Place along a wall in the crawl space. Load peanut butter inside the hardware cloth. It will bust their ass and wont be able to lick off! Keep it fresh.

You need to figure out where they are coming and going from, seal it up tight. More than likely will be a black greasy trail where they are sliding in and out. Could be crawl space vents. They are too large to prevent rodents. Cut hardware cloth to size and wire to vents. (1/4" hardware cloth) Check around ac unit lines, electric lines ect. once they are trapped inside the crawl space they will get hungry-er...

[Maggie Glover]

if you're using the black plastic "Tomcat" traps, put a little lithium grease on the the trigger sear.

Those (black plastic Tomcat) are the only ones I have been successful with so far. I have not tried greasing. I have caught a few in their mid-section with their heads pointed out. That made me wonder how they got that far out. I will try the grease or maybe even butter-flavored PAM as a lubricant.

I did peanut butter at first but after 24 hours it because dehydrated and I was concerned it was no longer appealing. I did get a sugestion to put the bait around and in the trap to encourage activity. That is wha tI did with the last chicken wing bones. They ate a few for a day or so until ge finally got caught. MG

[2thDoc]

I'm so damn proud of you