That just leaves 599....
Oh, Rats!
- Thread starter plantdude
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Great idea! Cannons!
Bob
Bob
Hopefully there is no sequel. I'm just glad I finally outsmarted Ninja rat. In his defense though he had been munching on a neurotoxic poison so maybe I had an unfair advantage and am not as smart as I would like to think
He was a worthy adversary and I regret that I did not defeat him in a fair one on one fight.
With the chickens back there I'm sure there will be more eventually, I just want to keep them out of the house and garage. I know at least one that's currently living in the back yard is trap shy (the one that put a hole in my screened in porch). I've had a live catch trap and snap trap set out there for a while now with no takers. the bait occasionally goes missing from the snap trap and one time it was sprung, my guess is that probably is mice doing that though.
I think I have inadvertently trained some of these rats to be trap shy by having the occasion mouse snap trap set up. My guess is they hit those once and learn what traps are. The wife and I both noticed the few times we saw ninja rat in the garage that it seemed to have a little limp when it would scurry away, it makes me wonder if it was from a previous trap injury.
The poison that's scattered all over the garage is going to be relocated to the attic. We get the occasional mouse up there in the winter time but so far, thankfully, no rats. My PEX plumbing in the attic makes me very concerned about rodent infestations, I'm almost wishing I would have just gone with copper now.
Thanks to all for the suggestions and the moral support necessary to finally defeat Ninja rat.
He was a worthy adversary and I regret that I did not defeat him in a fair one on one fight.With the chickens back there I'm sure there will be more eventually, I just want to keep them out of the house and garage. I know at least one that's currently living in the back yard is trap shy (the one that put a hole in my screened in porch). I've had a live catch trap and snap trap set out there for a while now with no takers. the bait occasionally goes missing from the snap trap and one time it was sprung, my guess is that probably is mice doing that though.
I think I have inadvertently trained some of these rats to be trap shy by having the occasion mouse snap trap set up. My guess is they hit those once and learn what traps are. The wife and I both noticed the few times we saw ninja rat in the garage that it seemed to have a little limp when it would scurry away, it makes me wonder if it was from a previous trap injury.
The poison that's scattered all over the garage is going to be relocated to the attic. We get the occasional mouse up there in the winter time but so far, thankfully, no rats. My PEX plumbing in the attic makes me very concerned about rodent infestations, I'm almost wishing I would have just gone with copper now.
Thanks to all for the suggestions and the moral support necessary to finally defeat Ninja rat.
A few years back I heard a private hunting preserve in Texas had online hunting. They had guns mounted that were remote controlled and people could get online and fire the guns remotely. I don't know how true that is, but coupled with Bob's cannon idea that could be a really neat idea for rat control
Moral support? You poison a small mammal with neuro-toxin. It walks with a cane because of a previous war injury. How have we come to this?
Seriously, has anyone tried one of those ultra-sound, electrical rodent repellent gadgets. You plug it in. "You can't hear it, but rodents can!" I've never seen a study of their effectiveness.
Bob
Seriously, has anyone tried one of those ultra-sound, electrical rodent repellent gadgets. You plug it in. "You can't hear it, but rodents can!" I've never seen a study of their effectiveness.
Bob
GreenDragon
Well-Known Member
But the heat and mosquitoes are all part of the fun! It's also a great opportunity to have a relaxing late night cigar in the quiet of the evening as you wait. Masks your scent too!
GreenDragon
Well-Known Member
They didn't work for me
I think you may have just given me a new winter time hobby.It can't be over! For every rat you see, there are 5 you don't. Still plenty of time to build an elaborate anti-rat defense system with all the goodies. Take mine, for instance. Custom built rat bait station with 2" of high strength reinforced concrete backdrop, tastefully illuminated by LED landscape lights and monitored by a wireless infrared camera. Said system alerted me at 10:19 last night that there was activity at the station. This screen capture shows the scene right before I thinned the herd.
Every summer the neighborhood has an invasion of the critters and they get into our houses, attics, garages and do $$$'s of damage. Neighbors having to replace appliances because they will nest in refrigerators and oven, etc. We're constantly having to check and patch entry points along the attic and thresholds.
View attachment 32291
GreenDragon
Well-Known Member
As a biologist, I'm all for a balanced ecosystem and, in general, live and let live. I even give a yearly presentation at work on why you should't kill the snakes you find in your yard, even if it's a rattler. I've lost count of the number of orphaned baby squirrels I've helped raise. Yep, I talk big but I'm a softy at heart.
BUT the Norway rat is a non-indigenous species that wrecks havoc on the environment and has caused me too much money over the years... so yeah, it's personal.
BUT the Norway rat is a non-indigenous species that wrecks havoc on the environment and has caused me too much money over the years... so yeah, it's personal.
I agree, as a fellow biologist, hunter, and meat eater I don't like killing one of Gods creations, but it's necessary sometimes. Greendragon you are a little more kind than me though. I would feel a moral obligation to take out venomous snakes in areas where they pose a risk to other people and pets in town. I have yet to kill a venomous snake out hunting/hiking though even though there have been many instances where they have been way to close for comfort.
Funny story - I was out hunting once and driving along a dirt road. I came around a shady corner with a culvert that ran under the road and there was what looked like a broken branch in the road. I ran over it not realizing it was a large cottonmouth and happened to glance in the side mirror in time to see it whip around and strike my rear tire. I stopped the truck and looked back to see a very fat three foot long cottonmouth slithering off the road. A little latter on the way home my low tire pressure light comes on. I get out and check and its the same tire the snake struck. I eventually had to have the tire patched. I'm sure I probably hit a nail or something sharp, but to this day I still wonder in the back of my mind if the snake was able to bite a steel belted tire hard enough to puncture it - probably not, but still got to wonder.
Brown Thumb
Well-Known Member
You just need a bigger cat
That would do it
Crap, I may not be out of the woods yet. I cleaned all the insulation leavings out of the corners by the holes and I've seen new insulation pieces at the bottom of one hole twice now. I don't know if it's just loose stuff falling out, but you guys may be right about more than one rat. I might be fighting the vengeful bride of Ninja rat next. Guess I'll know for sure tonight.
Next step is the laser guided tactical nukes...
Next step is the laser guided tactical nukes...
Horribile dictu, knuck is correct.
(not a comment on knuck)
If you don't know it yet, you soon will
Ifyougotem
Active Member
Bravo! Champagne for everyone! (Well, when work picks up). I knew you were persistent- crafty too. Nice set-up, Plantdude. That's incredible damage, but the ingress is unclear. Do the holes show a consistent pattern: how high are they in rel. to a very-bottom-of-wall type? I've schemed-up a cheap, low-tech trap w feather-light but stable trigger, silent, and will mean doom for any peekers. I think it ought to work much better than trad. dead-fall type. Have a sketch program on my computer but alas, not set up. If you want to pm an address, I"ll snail-mail you a sketch (won't send Fuller Brush literature ever). Btw, my air rifle patterned beautifully at close ranges w the lead pellets reversed- the hollow skirt fwd. Otherwise, flat-nose pellets preferred. I have a soft-hearted type of mouse story from a few months ago. Was in my storage unit and decided to pull out some fly tying stuff which I keep in a full-sized poly trash can that I converted to a cyclonic sawdust separator for my woodworking dust collector. Assumed it would be mouse-proof, and to my surprise upon lifting the foam gaskets lid, a mama mouse w two pups (mouslings?) almost half her size were nested in a small cardboard box amidst some of my tools. Thankfully they didn't do any real damage or gnaw into any poly bags at all. Very little poop, practically no damage. The lid has a 4" right-angle pvc fitting, and another 4" hole w/out fitting. The thing is, there's no way they could have scaled the sides, and the trash can was well away from anything overhanging. Near as I can tell, mama mouse made some sort of Herculean leap, got stuck, and gave birth in my tools. Pulled out the contents, cleaned w alcohol, and gently dumped the 3 mice out in the can. They were alert, mobile if not frisky, and apparently in pretty good shape. I walked about a block and rolled them out in a weedy culvert. I hadn't been in that can for months, so good timing apparently. Is a puzzlement.
Ifyougotem.
Ifyougotem.
Your saw dust collector proves that spontaneous generation is real
I should know tomorrow if I still have any stowaways hiding in the garage. They seem to like to come out and party at night and right now the garage is a closed ecosystem that should show any signs of a wild rat kegger party.
There was a critter still living in the wall. I set the traps up the same way and without bait last night. This time it caught a large mouse. Definetly a mouse though and not a rat. Here's another wizard of oz wicked witch of the west photo with just the feet sticking out. I tried to get a little more light on it this time to make Bob proud and so he wouldn't have to chastise me about my award winning photography skills again but the pic is still not the best in the world. I'm surprised a mouse and rat would share the same hole. Must be a lot of room in the walls. I think I'm going to hope for the best and fill in the holes today and move my stuff back into the garage. I think I'll leave some traps set up for awhile longer though just to be on the safe side.
but the pic is still not the best in the world. I'm surprised a mouse and rat would share the same hole. Must be a lot of room in the walls. I think I'm going to hope for the best and fill in the holes today and move my stuff back into the garage. I think I'll leave some traps set up for awhile longer though just to be on the safe side.Moth
Well-Known Member
I was told having mice had one silver lining - you don't have rats (as rats eat mice).
Maybe he was moving in and ninja rat clan has moved on.
I doubt it.
I think it shows yet more signs of the advancing rodent intelligence. They have made an alliance. This is, perhaps, the beginning of the end, for us.
In the next millennia, rodent history will be taught about how the uprising started in Arkansas...
Very nice photo. Just think of that poor rat. It had mice! And no way to set a trap.
Bob
Bob
I usually see mice show up right before sundown at the chicken feeder, then rats a little latter, then more mice, then more rats... They seem to semi get along if there is space and plenty of food. I haven't braved the mosquitoes to watch the chicken feeder at sundown since we have been catching them, but I'm sure there still are some out there. Something stole the bait out of my live catch trap in the backyard last night.
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