The rat exterminator...Monica the cat in Chicago

[Debp]

 

[Vine Abider]

We need a cat like that in our neighborhood!*  In our area we have roof rats that love love love our Navel Orange tree.  This past month I caught 13 rats in our back yard, mostly younger & smaller ones, through trapping.  (we don't poison as it can harm domestic animals and other critters)  So I've been live trapping them and taking them way out into the desert to release - they are in God's hands then. (BTW - my wife and dad don't want me to kill them outright, so this is now what I do . . . even though sometimes I have to resort to snap traps or an electric zapper trap, as the older rats are often too wary to go into the live trap)

*FYI - cats around here are usually kept inside as we have coyotes who are often about.

[Patticats]

She is Precious!!

[Debp]

6 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

We need a cat like that in our neighborhood!*  In our area we have roof rats that love love love our Navel Orange tree.  This past month I caught 13 rats in our back yard, mostly younger & smaller ones, through trapping.  (we don't poison as it can harm domestic animals and other critters)  So I've been live trapping them and taking them way out into the desert to release - they are in God's hands then. (BTW - my wife and dad don't want me to kill them outright, so this is now what I do . . . even though sometimes I have to resort to snap traps or an electric zapper trap, as the older rats are often too wary to go into the live trap)

*FYI - cats around here are usually kept inside as we have coyotes who are often about.

That's interesting.   

Do you use peanut butter in the traps to lure them?    Our neighbor had a rat that apparently crawled into their apartment from a Palm frond that touched their balcony.    The exterminator asked for peanut butter... didn't bring his own.   So she asked me, I gave her some on aluminum foil.

Rats propagate so fast so you really need to handle that problem.   I recall a house here on the news....there were hundreds of rats crawling over every few inches of a home.   Neighbors got it on the news, it was so bad.

[Vine Abider]

12 minutes ago, Debp said:

That's interesting.   

Do you use peanut butter in the traps to lure them?    Our neighbor had a rat that apparently crawled into their apartment from a Palm frond that touched their balcony.    The exterminator asked for peanut butter... didn't bring his own.   So she asked me, I gave her some on aluminum foil.

Rats propagate so fast so you really need to handle that problem.   I recall a house here on the news....there were hundreds of rats crawling over every few inches of a home.   Neighbors got it on the news, it was so bad.

I do use PB as a base, and then put various things in it like raisins, dog kibble and cheese.  Plus I use a little "rat tonic" that comes in a bottle (from HD) that some swear by.  So I really don't know what attracts them exactly.

But now the oranges are turning ripe and they don't seem to be interested in what I put out for them.  So, I wind-up under the tree at night with a wrist rocket (type of sling shot) and head lamp, trying to hit the remaining rat.  So far it has alluded me, and runs out of the tree when it see me approaching!

[Debp]

25 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

But now the oranges are turning ripe and they don't seem to be interested in what I put out for them.  So, I wind-up under the tree at night with a wrist rocket (type of sling shot) and head lamp, trying to hit the remaining rat.  So far it has alluded me, and runs out of the tree when it see me approaching!

I can see you now!  Maybe your wife can video you and you'll become a YouTube sensation!   Going viral I guess they call it!

Is it only one rat remaining?

Maybe the head lamp scares it off?   You need one of those special lights for seeing in the dark...they are probably too expensive though.

[Marathoner]

49 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

We need a cat like that in our neighborhood!*  In our area we have roof rats that love love love our Navel Orange tree.  This past month I caught 13 rats in our back yard, mostly younger & smaller ones, through trapping.  (we don't poison as it can harm domestic animals and other critters)  So I've been live trapping them and taking them way out into the desert to release - they are in God's hands then. (BTW - my wife and dad don't want me to kill them outright, so this is now what I do . . . even though sometimes I have to resort to snap traps or an electric zapper trap, as the older rats are often too wary to go into the live trap)

*FYI - cats around here are usually kept inside as we have coyotes who are often about.

Here in the mountains only black cats are safe outdoors, but coyotes weren't the problem. The coyotes were terrified of our livestock guardian dogs and would steer clear of her land; she told me what happened a few years before I came to stay with her with a coyote who was stupid enough to challenge one of her dogs. They killed the coyote and ate it. Whenever coyotes came boiling out of the national forest, I would let the dogs chase the packs back into the forest. They loved it! It was an excellent excuse for them to hunt rabbits on the way back home. 

She lost several cats over the years. We discovered what happened to them: owls got them. Only black cats were safe up there. Poor kitties. 

[Marathoner]

1 hour ago, Vine Abider said:

snap traps

Snap traps remind me of a rather formidable rat who had the honor of dying a natural death. The following is a true story. 

Rats aren't that common in the mountains here in NM (it's mostly hordes of deer mice, hence cases of bubonic plague occur here), but they will occasionally show up when conditions provide sufficient cover and shelter. Those conditions are exclusively created by human habitation, for our structures provide protection from hawks who would otherwise swoop down and snatch 'em up. They aren't safe at night either... the owls are even more deadly than those hawks. 

A rat decided to take up residence in a storage building. After my adopted mother told me about it, I thought of a solution: let's have the junior livestock guardian dog stay in there overnight. Maybe he'll take care of the problem!

That slacker didn't care one whit about the rat. He even spotted the rat out in the open, and the goofball looked disinterested. He was more interested in us, lol! 

Right then. On to snap traps using an old trick I learned many years ago: place unset traps festooned with bait. It's similar in concept to the decoy; the super-cautious Norway rat would discover that the snap traps were harmless, yes? A great source of food. About a week of that until the moment of truth arrived... I set those traps this time. Yes indeed. 

I entered the storage shed the next morning, and what did I see? All of those snap traps were laid out neatly close to the door. They were triggered and missing the bait. 

It was surreal. I decided to try it again only this time, I used a different type of lethal trap. Baited and set...

The next morning? The same thing all over again only this time, the rat decided to add sticks to the array of lethal traps close to the door. AaaaaaaaAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! This rat was unreal. All I was doing was offering the rat easy meals. 

After some consideration, I decided to leave the rat alone. A few months later, I found its body in the storage room. That rat looked pretty old. It died a natural death. 

Edited October 25, 2024 by Marathoner

[Vine Abider]

5 hours ago, Debp said:

I can see you now!  Maybe your wife can video you and you'll become a YouTube sensation!   Going viral I guess they call it!

Is it only one rat remaining?

Maybe the head lamp scares it off?   You need one of those special lights for seeing in the dark...they are probably too expensive though.

I've learned to leave the headlamp off until I get right under the tree!  And yes, I've only been seeing one back there now . . . a smart little beggar.

I'm also trying to block some of the easy exits it has when it comes running out of the tree, but that's proving difficult.  I'm trying to think creatively and even envision something like a huge net going over the entire tree . . .

Over the past couple years I have knocked a few of them out of the tree with my superior marksmanship (maybe 1 in 5 shots gets very close). Last year, one fell out of the tree right on my arm.  We looked at each other for a few nanoseconds and it then leaped off.

[missmuffet]

49 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

I've learned to leave the headlamp off until I get right under the tree!  And yes, I've only been seeing one back there now . . . a smart little beggar.

I'm also trying to block some of the easy exits it has when it comes running out of the tree, but that's proving difficult.  I'm trying to think creatively and even envision something like a huge net going over the entire tree . . .

Over the past couple years I have knocked a few of them out of the tree with my superior marksmanship (maybe 1 in 5 shots gets very close). Last year, one fell out of the tree right on my arm.  We looked at each other for a few nanoseconds and it then leaped off.

Cute story.