Rat but what kind

[3Roosters]

Just wondering....does the pickle bucket method with antifreeze in it work for these rats? You know, wire strung along top of bucket with an empty beer can with peanut butter so they drop in bucket? Drown them sons of b*%$$ in antifreeze. Works wonders for our mice issues in our porch at our lake property place in MN.

 

[tikkalover]

::thinking:: Yep that's a rat, a really really big rat!! I bet a 243 will bounce off one that big. ;:;rofl ;:;boozer.................On the serious side, why do you need to know what kind of rat it is? Don't all rats kind of run in packs, usually if you see one you can almost bet you will see more.

 

[Captain Ahab]

These look great for outside when weather is warmer:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BqlwUXP-ubI

 

[Jigaman]

this would be fun. then burn the house down just to be safe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTixhZ2SwPU

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTixhZ2SwPU

 

[db-2]

On the farm the cats die off from the 7 year disease and dad never brother to get some back some years ago.
Well the rats came big time. Then a couple weasels came that winter and seeing a rat was no more.
So now the wild cats that live in the woods are fed in the winter at the barn and with cats just being there will scare them away.

Lived in a trailer house many years ago on a cattle ranch. He had no cats and no program to control mice but would kill a cat in a heartbeat. I got one mouse with a fry pan one night and shot a few with my Red Ryder as the wife and I played cards at the kitchen table. Mouse crap all over including the cupboards. Traps, poison, they were still there.
Got a house cat and never seen one again in the house until he came over one day when I was gone and shot my cat. So I found a different job. asshole. db

 

[Kentucky Windage]

- - - Updated - - -

I'm guessing the OP feels like Jack Nicolas does concerning rats.....

 

[Rowdie]

On the farm the cats die off from the 7 year disease and dad never brother to get some back some years ago.
Well the rats came big time. Then a couple weasels came that winter and seeing a rat was no more.
So now the wild cats that live in the woods are fed in the winter at the barn and with cats just being there will scare them away.

Lived in a trailer house many years ago on a cattle ranch. He had no cats and no program to control mice but would kill a cat in a heartbeat. I got one mouse with a fry pan one night and shot a few with my Red Ryder as the wife and I played cards at the kitchen table. Mouse crap all over including the cupboards. Traps, poison, they were still there.
Got a house cat and never seen one again in the house until he came over one day when I was gone and shot my cat. So I found a different job. asshole. db

I might have got my foot caught in his azz. What a dick! Some people just don't get it....get a cat, its what they're for!

 

[Duckslayer100]

Screw buying a cat. Get a Jack Russel! I once watched a Jack run into a flooded dark house during the summer (it was parked on shore, we got a bunch of rain, lake rose, flooded old spearing shack) and come out with a rat he caught and killed. Sat down and ate it right on the lawn.

Then went back into the house. Came out with another rat. Ate it. Slurped the tail down like a piece of fat spaghettie.

Went back into the house. Repeat.

Again.

And again.

All told, old Skipper caught, killed and consumed 7 big ass swamp rats. He was as round as he was long by the end of it.

Bastard was a tough SOB. Lived to be 16. Finally died because he ate -- get this -- a freaking metal twisty tie from a bread bag. No guff.

RIP Skip. May you catch and kill all the rats you can muster in doggie heaven.

 

[Toby]

I need to know what kind because of the research I have done. I was hoping for a wood rat because they usually only have 3-4 litters per year and breed when it is warm out. Also the wood rat, from what I am told, infests in 2's or 4's. The Norway rat is an exceptionally hard one to get rid of because they breed every 1-2 months and can have as many as 14 in a litter averaging 8. Also, the Norway rat borrows in the ground under foundations and such so they are hard to find because they are mainly nocturnal. The research and the pest control people I have talked to also say the Norway rat is one of the hardest to try and trap because they seem to be the smartest and shy of new things.

So far 3 days of game cam and traps and nothing within the house. Now I will have to worry about my out buildings. I have 5. 1 is a newer pole barn with a dirt floor, 1 is a grain storing quanset that locks up tight, and the others are just old chicken coop looking buildings. Since they are Norway rats they have a den somewhere that I need to find and get rid of.

The cat idea is going to be a reality because I have 2 spoiled piggy cats in the house that won't even kill mice anymore, used to have outside cats but had to get rid of them...since then bammm there comes a rat. Gonna pick up a couple barn cats this weekend.

Rats suck!

- - - Updated - - -

I would get another dog but my wife already has 5 so that isn't an option...crazy how wife's talk you into "oh it's a puppy".

 

[WormWiggler]

Sorry to hear about your rat problem, Toby...

 

[LBrandt]

Screw buying a cat. Get a Jack Russel! I once watched a Jack run into a flooded dark house during the summer (it was parked on shore, we got a bunch of rain, lake rose, flooded old spearing shack) and come out with a rat he caught and killed. Sat down and ate it right on the lawn.

Then went back into the house. Came out with another rat. Ate it. Slurped the tail down like a piece of fat spaghettie.

Went back into the house. Repeat.

Again.

And again.

All told, old Skipper caught, killed and consumed 7 big ass swamp rats. He was as round as he was long by the end of it.

Bastard was a tough SOB. Lived to be 16. Finally died because he ate -- get this -- a freaking metal twisty tie from a bread bag. No guff.

RIP Skip. May you catch and kill all the rats you can muster in doggie heaven.

We had a cocker spaniel when I was young that was a rat/mouse killing machine. We picked our corn back then and then shelled it the next summer. Old Tuffy would lay out in the yard next to the sheller and pick off the rats and mice when they made a run for it. Even seen him pull a triple once, Bite to the back and a head snap and on to the next rat.

 

[shorthairsrus]

GSP --- it will dig you a new foundation to find a rat ---- if you need new drain tile -- let em know that they will do that too and chew up the old.

 

[Toby]

Update. Trapped 2 and for the last 3 weeks just getting mice again, that is a good sign because mice are usually not present when you have a rat problem. The last rat I got was in a live trap down in my pole barn, big male 2 weeks ago. No activity since so that is good I think. $300 on traps and such, oh man I bought a ton of traps just to make sure...rats are some of the reasons an old farm house burns down. There has been no activity on the game cameras besides the dogs and no activity regarding the traps. I really didn't think I had that many. Traps are still set and a whole lot of nothing. Life is good, now on to fishing!

 

[Brian Renville]

Better find yourself a pair of bull snakes when it warms up just to be sure.

 

[Toby]

No rats in the pole barn or garage, no rats in the basement since I caught that last little bastard. Tons and tons of traps out with the trailcams up and nothing. Getting a few mice here and there but nothing for rat activity. Found a burrow site by my garage and dumped a couple 5 gallon buckets of water down at night to let it freeze them in just in case. Thinking finally rat free. I love trapping, I almost think coyotes are easier than a rat...I trap all winter so this one was pretty new to me, who would have thought?

 

[LBrandt]

Glad you got them under control.