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  Discussion on Rats...any new ideas for getting rid of them?
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New Member:
Image

Posted on Friday, Jun 2, 2006 - 11:12 pm:

We are suddenly overrun by rats out in our stable. (I guess we have been lucky since the barn is 10 years old now.) They are everywhere and they are huge. I don't know what "breed" they are but WOW. The feed bins are sealed so they cannot get in there. Can't keep 'em out of the hay but I am not sure they are using that for anything except nesting material. What they are into is the manure. Any manure pile left in the stalls longer than an hour is totally broken down into a fiber "puddle" (the shape, not actually wet.) Our barn is double walled so there are wonderful rat hiding places between these walls. They run across the tops of the stalls and the roof beams everytime we go into the barn. We tried poison once but they die between the walls and the SMELL! OMG! We live in Florida so everything starts smelling very fast and takes forever to go away. I seriously doubt a cat would even attempt to attack one of these dudes. So, what do y'all have for me on this?

Thanks
Charlayne
Member:
Jojo15

Posted on Saturday, Jun 3, 2006 - 12:17 am:

Sorry to say there really isn't anything that you can do to miraculously get rid of them. It's also not a Sudden thing. They got out of hand because they had ample opportunity for duplication. one rat can make hundreds in a a year.

For me its a daily battle. I am lucky and have two dogs that will make their lives really difficult. They sniff them out around the barn, house and sheds. i just put down the poison bark. and slowly it keeps them at bay. i had a nest in the garage. And it was a nightly onslaught from me, and the dogs, and my cat, plus poison... So finally it just stopped coming in there. But, i can't sitt on my laurels. They will come back.

Make their lives difficult. move stuff around alot to catch the nests being formed. get a rat terrier or more cats. The poisons work. Rat traps don't. not when they get big. and you never really get rid of them. you just become a rat policer...And slowly you will be able to control it.

Just find the right poison for you and your animals. I am always afraid that the dogs will ingest a poisoned rat. But what i am seeing is the yellow poison logs i use will kill the rat but not the dog that eats the rat... Some poisons will kill both.

I'm in Florida too. its the perfect time of year for them too.
Member:
Redalert

Posted on Saturday, Jun 3, 2006 - 8:06 am:

Hey Charlayne
Two thoughts for you... dogs and cats. I have a cat at my barn, who was a wild cat(took up at my barn). She is tame now and she loves to eat rats. Though it sounds like mine are not as large as yours, a good mouser would eat the young, and eventually help you with the problem. My dogs, Jack Russells are also great mousers. Honestly, I rarely see a rat in my barn, and if I do, I know his days are numbered! A couple of good cats ( always hungry ones at your nearest animal rescue!) could help you, I bet! The same goes for the dogs. Good luck. Rats are GROSS. YUK!
Nancy
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Jun 3, 2006 - 10:17 am:

Run a search on this topic and you will find many interesting ideas. I agree that some of the hunting terrier breeds are incomparable at ratting.
DrO
Member:
Amara

Posted on Saturday, Jun 3, 2006 - 10:37 am:

dont know if this will help you, but we also had a terrible time with rats... big ones... the cats stayed away, and the jack russel would try real hard but would dig herself into a hole that she couldnt get out of...my shepherd could take down any rat that she found in the open, but few were the rats that dared be in the open around her.... we did put out D-Con and that helped some-briefly...my shepherd wont eat a rat, so i never worried about her...

what eventually really helped was us getting veru vey lucky and having a wild weasel move into the barn..he took care of the rat problem in a few short weeks.. he even DrOpped off dead rat parts at our feet just to let us know he was doing his job i guess...he left when the rats were exterminated.... one rat showed up about 6 months after that... very dumb one, as he was out in the open...my shepherd enjoys a good kill..*LOL*

i have heard that gassing them helps, if you can plug all the air entrance and exits....also using concrete mixed witih glass at the entrance and exits.. the rats can eat thru concrete but the glass will tear them up if they try to eat thru it...

good luck... i know its a horrible problem....
Member:
Ilona

Posted on Saturday, Jun 3, 2006 - 11:26 am:

Hi, I too have dogs that will kill any smallish creature (sadly including cats) but they do not get near the barn and I have no rats or even sign of them. I couldn't understand why I was so fortunate. Recently I was approaching the adjoining patio to fill the horse water tanks and froze. An approximately 8' King Snake was slithering past. They love rats. I remembered him from the previous year at about 4'. I guess the rats account for the growth spurt! Kings look like rattle snakes, have diamond backs, but are greenish not beige as a base color and of course no rattle. They also eat rattlers which can be an important side benefit here in Arizona.. I have a complete snake horror as in South Africa snakes can mean a certain painful death, cobras, mambas, puff adders, to name a few that are prolific. However I have developed an odd, preferably physically distant, affection for this guy. He is valued as most important Ranch Hand! By the way they are naturally shy and I am quite sure he was as uncomfortable by our proximity as I was.
Member:
Ilona

Posted on Saturday, Jun 3, 2006 - 11:31 am:

Forgot to add that Barn Owls are another great way to get rid of rats, they are beautiful too, and I personally like their hooting a great deal. I like the soothing sound of a good rat catcher. Too bad the Pied Piper can't be located!.
Member:
Eoeo

Posted on Saturday, Jun 3, 2006 - 11:35 am:

You might try putting a tall bucket filled halfway with water and leave it in a corner or somewhere where it will not be in the way. They might try to get a drink in it and then might not be able to climb back out. It might be worth a try. EO
Member:
Kathleen

Posted on Saturday, Jun 3, 2006 - 4:41 pm:

We too had a King snake (California King) when we live in California (it was delivered in a load of alfalfa) and it took care of all mice/rats. He disappeared soon after falling into our swimming pool (we had to get him out using a net). They are beautiful snakes and not dangerous to people or pets (unless you have a pet rat).
Kathleen
New Member:
Image

Posted on Saturday, Jun 3, 2006 - 10:17 pm:

Thanks everyone! Not sure I have ever seen a King snake around here but we do have the occasional large rat snakes. I don't know why they don't hang around...it's like a smorgasbord in that barn. The bucket idea sounds interesting. We do have to dump DrOwned ones out the horse buckets at least every other day. (I clean them with bleach and rinse very well.) I love the barn owl idea but then we really love birds. We have wild horned owls around here but none have chosen to move in. I was reading about a device that works by sound waves that we can't hear that will drive them away. I wondered just how insane it would drive my horses and dogs since they hear much better than people. Of course the article says other animals aren't bothered by it but then it's anything to make a sale with alot of these things. I'll keep researching it and come up with something.

Thanks everyone!
Charlayne
Member:
Ilona

Posted on Sunday, Jun 4, 2006 - 12:15 am:

Charlayne, those sound deterrents don't work, don't waste your money. See if king snakes can survive in your area, buying one may be an idea. They really are beautiful, a sparkling quiet green and strangely kind head....can't believe I said that, but it is tue.
Member:
Jojo15

Posted on Sunday, Jun 4, 2006 - 12:21 pm:

LOL... someone mentioned awhile back on another thread putting a garbage can in the shed put some food in. they go in, and can't come out... well... i tried it. it didn't work. The food went in, and they ate it. Because when i went back out the next day instead of food there was rat DrOppings. and no rats.... So that doesn't work.

I was thinking of coating the sides to make it slippery. evil grin...

So in they go to the bucket or the can, but then what? they also bite, and bite hard. One bit my dogs nose and wouldn't let go. He was running around the yard yelping with a rat attached to his snout. LOL.... So logistically, it would be hard to kill it once in the can...

but in all seriousness i don't like killing them. ugh. and i had a nest i found, the dog ran off with two of them, i had 6 more i ended up tossing in the canal. I kept apologizing to them while i was doing it though. i felt so cruel. Poison is really the only way they get destroyed without you having to do the deed. And it does work, just doesn't get rid of all of them. You have to keep using it...
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jun 5, 2006 - 7:26 am:

Though I greatly encourage you to not kill non-poisonous snakes of any kind I am afraid they are a poor solution to problem rodent control because of their very low rate of feeding. A good size king or rat snake will only eat a rodent or two every few weeks during the warmest months, and don't eat at all during the coldest months. Compare this with the reproductive rate and if you put a few pairs of rats in a barn with a snake, the rats will soon eat the snakes.
DrO
Member:
Ilona

Posted on Monday, Jun 5, 2006 - 9:33 am:

Dr. O. As the feeding rate is minimal, perhaps the mere presence of a snake acts as a deterrent. I believe that there is a strong correlation between snake presence and a lowered rat infestation. It certainly applied in South Africa, at my home in California, and now at the location on our property where the snake is present. Our neighbours do have rat problems, and the only difference in rodent control happens to be that snake. Do you have any ideas? I am sure there are a dozen variables. If I have just been lucky, then I will take what luck I can!
Member:
Corinne

Posted on Monday, Jun 5, 2006 - 10:33 am:

Ilona,
Maybe you are right about it's mere presence.....perhaps they know they are prey. I know if I saw him I would run!

Also...I can't believe I didn't know that Rat Terriers were really for killing rats.

When my grandparents came over from Poland and Norway and lived in the tenements in Jersey City during the depression they could have used one!

Their tails freak me out and pop culture movies like Willard haven't helped. Good luck in getting rid of them Charlayne (beautiful name by the way).

Corinne
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jun 5, 2006 - 11:37 am:

I use to keep many snakes (including kings and other constictors)as a teenager and the mice they were fed did not seem to really be aware of the danger. I have also kept rats as do my daughters, they make great pets much better than a cute little hamster, and they are smarter than a mouse. So I don't know if this is a factor or not. I have thought if you start rodent free and do everything else right, perhaps they prevent them from getting a foothold.
DrO
New Member:
Image

Posted on Monday, Jun 5, 2006 - 5:08 pm:

Thanks again everyone! It's a tough problem with no easy answer. I just know that they have got to go. I worry about diseases they carry not only for the horses but for my kids who are always in the barn. I was just wondering if there was something faster (and easier on the rat, if that makes any sense) than poison. We have had many snakes in the barn but none stay. I suspect they may be prey for the rats when they are digesting and quiet. My husband is scared to death of them anyway and while he won't kill them, (unless it's poisonous) he is getting a little old for the crazy "Snake Dance" that he does! lol And I gotta admit, that is something to be seen...it's hysterically funny. Dr O: We were rat free for 10 years...I sure wish I knew what I changed that invited them! lol Corrine: Thanks!

Charlayne
Member:
Banthony

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 6, 2006 - 11:03 am:

Charlayne,

I had rats in my attic one year and bought the sound devices. Save your money - they didn't work at all. I ended up having to poison them and put up with the smell.

I did work for a barn once and we leased the stable next door that had been vacant for awhile. It was infested with huge rats. We didn't have a dog or cat down there and so just poisoned them.

It was incredibly gross. Three to 5 rats a day would be staggering around dying. Yuck! But what are you going to do?

For rats your size I would think that cats may not be able to clean them out. But I've never been at a barn that had any rats where there were Jack Russell terriers around. They grab them by the neck and break their neck. Its fast and hopefully painless.

I'm squeamish about the whole thing too.

I'm in FL and right now we have 4 cats roaming around the barn, a terrier and various snakes. We very occasionally see a mouse.
Member:
Dawson

Posted on Thursday, Jun 8, 2006 - 3:44 pm:

We have not seen any rats but do see a lot of field mice, chipmunks and squirrels. A calico cat came with the property when we bought it, and all was well until her age got the better of her.

One neighbor brought us a wild kitten they had found and we set her up in our heated tack room food, water, and a sheep skin snuggle bed, she comes and goes as she pleases, as does two other cats. It solved our problem and the cats are now ok with my husband and I petting/vetting them. Good Luck
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