Help me get rid of rats humanely

[cyberactivist]

Now, before anyone says something about using the humane traps to catch them, I have tried this. These things are huge rats that just steal all the bait and don't get caught. There are at least two, maybe more in this little building I am using to store my stuff in while I finish building my house. They have done an awful amount of damage and they have to go.

I live in the woods and have 7 dogs and 3 cats running loose on the property (not all mine -also other family). We have, also of course, all the normal wildlife you would expect to find on a place bordering National Forest on a river. I don't want to use poison, for several obvious reasons. It is a painful, torturous death for the rat, it could poison our animals or other wildlife if they got one of them, etc.

I need something that will work a miracle here. These things are quite big, not too afraid of humans - but far from tame, in fact quite wild. I don't want to hurt them, but I have to get rid of them. They have done close to $1000 in damage to my household things and my wife's stockpiles of medicinal herbs (she's an herbalist). Anybody?????

[Kreeli]

i have never tried this method, so i cannot attest to it's efficiency, but there are sonic pest control machines that are supposed to make sounds in frequencies that drive rodents away. here is a link to a site that sells them.

http://www.electronicpestrepeller.co...nt_control.htm

[Frost]

i have never tried this method, so i cannot attest to it's efficiency, but there are sonic pest control machines that are supposed to make sounds in frequencies that drive rodents away. here is a link to a site that sells them.

http://www.electronicpestrepeller.co...nt_control.htm

I have, they work pretty good (I still use the same one that I bought 3.5 years ago). You will still have to keep the area absolutely clean though because it wont stop them from entering the area temporarily searching for food if there is food.

http://www.lentek.com/Main/Main.asp

I can relate to your problems with the cages. I had a squirrel coming in and out of my apt. I had to put the trap against the wall and the food all the towards the back near the wall so the squirrel would have to climb over the metal balance in the center (instead of putting the food ON the metal balance). That was the only way i caught that evil bugger. I also put some books on top of the cage so the animal wouldnt be able to move the cage away from the wall and squeeze through.

[cyberactivist]

I have, they work pretty good (I still use the same one that I bought 3.5 years ago). You will still have to keep the area absolutely clean though because it wont stop them from entering the area temporarily searching for food if there is food.

http://www.lentek.com/Main/Main.asp

I can relate to your problems with the cages. I had a squirrel coming in and out of my apt. I had to put the trap against the wall and the food all the toward the back near the wall so the squirrel would have to climb over the metal balance in the center (instead of putting the food ON the metal balance). That was the only way i caught that evil bugger. I also put some books on top of the cage so the animal wouldn't be able to move the cage away from the wall and squeeze through.

I don't think I can use those electronic things because I have all the other animals around, especially the dogs, and wouldn't want to hurt their ears. These rats gather near the dogs food dish to steal their food. Plus, this building is packed cram full of stuff - no way to keep clean. All my stuff in boxes + some furniture in there. At least, the boxes that haven't been chewed up to the point that they are not boxes anymore. Much of our stuff is now just sitting strewn throughout the place, no longer neatly packed. They have done LOTS of damage.

Thanks for the idea on where to put the food in the trap. I will try that to see if perhaps I can catch them like you did the squirrel. I just hate to cause anything pain. We have caught quite a few mice with the humane traps. In fact, my mother-in-law caught 2 just yesterday and released them across the road. I always take them to the other side of the river - I figure they will be less likely to find their way back.

I am starting to wonder if they are all working together to keep from getting caught in the trap. Like I said, there is definitely more than one. I am afraid that when I catch one, his buddy will let him out!

[ForestGlade34]

There's one or more comprehensive VB thread/s on this rat matter somewhere, I'll go see if I can find it/them.....

EDIT: http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/s...&highlight=rat

Here's one search result... (I'm sure there's another one similar somewhere!)

[cyberactivist]

There's one or more comprehensive VB thread/s on this rat matter somewhere, I'll go see if I can find it/them.....

EDIT: http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/s...&highlight=rat

Here's one search result... (I'm sure there's another one similar somewhere!)

I didn't find any answers there, either. Ruthie ever get the mouse (mice)? That is why I decided to just start my own thread to ask. I was hoping someone would know something I had not heard of, even if it was a bit off-the-wall. When you know you have a gang of them, possibly (probably!) working together, you have to get a bit inventive sometimes, I think.

So, I figured this would be the place to come for the type of ideas that would be creative, yet kind and compassionate. I can hardly blame the rats for being rats. That building is comfy and has all the amenities. The dogs eat nearby, so if they are feeling brave, they will run out there and grab some dog food and run away in the daylight with me watching. I don't leave it out a night anymore after I found out they were there. I had hoped some of these dogs and cats around this place would handle it, but so far no luck. They get them all the time at my mother-in law's next door and leave decapitated bodies in her floor! As sad as it is, it's natural for them to do this, so we can't get upset with them for it.

Unless...

There are more than I thought. Maybe there is a whole colony of them and that is why they are getting so brave. Hmmm... There has been a rash of her finding bodies lately. Maybe the other animals have been getting them, but haven't gotten them all, yet. These are the hold-outs, the survivors, the craftiest ones. The plot thickens. It's war.

[cyberactivist]

Well, we tried putting the food past the little pedal thing, but they still stole the food without getting caught. The trap I have is not really a rat trap. It is supposed to be used for catching rabbits. The old rat trap my mother-in-law tried to use before on these big rats never worked because it was too small and we had this same problem with it. I thought that by using the bigger trap, it would catch them, but they are still here. Does anyone think it is too big? It doesn't look possible for them to be able to get the food without getting caught. I did get an interesting message the other day from my mother-in-law, so maybe the animals are getting them and I will just have to be patient. Here it is:

Came in this morning, went to my patio door as usual; Sly and Murphy had spent the night curled up in the black chair on the deck, their new favorite spot. Well, SOMEONE had been hunting and left trophy parts all over the rug outside the door--a foot here, a couple of pieces of intestine there, other unrecognizable parts both here AND there, and--the real kicker--about half a head with wide, dead, staring EYES!!!!!! What a sight to greet me first thing in the morning! Picked up the rug, blessed the pitiful remains, dumped them over the railing so the Earth Mother could reclaim what was hers, the little spirit having long since gone. Well. The cats, of course, came in for their breakfast, I did my usual greeting, feeding, etc. and went to bed. Just getting to sleep good with Sly curled up between my knees. Awakened by the unmistakable sound of retching from the foot of the bed; raised up just in time to see erupting from his mouth three separate bursts of half-digested small animal, one of which was a tail, encapsulated in some other material. When he had gotten rid of the "good stuff," he continued to gag and dry heave, bringing up frothy fluid. Obviously, he was promptly banished from the bed (with sympathy for his discomfort, of course, but expeditiously). Ripped everything off the bed, dumped the digested remains over the porch rail to join their companions. Got out my new spread, changed the bed completely, and crawled back into it. My sleep was occasionally interrupted by the sound of continuing intermittent dry heaves, and there were little puddles of sputum here and there on the floor when I got up--stepped in one of them with a bare foot, naturally, but got them cleaned up. I overslept by about an hour. Doing laundry, washing BED LINENS, trying to catch up with myself.

Horrible for her and the poor little animal, but I couldn't help but double over laughing as I pictured her going through this. I do have to wonder if it was one of mine, although, usually the cats don't get anything as big as these biggest rats. They are as big as the cats are, so I think it would be a big fight. The dogs on the other hand could and probably would if they could catch them I just don't know. I have never seen them do it, but I have seen them with stuff before. It is just rarely recognizable.

I know it's driving me crazy to just let the rats keep destroying everything and stealing all the dog food, costing us quite a bit. There is dog food stored and stashed all over in that building. They have completely taken over that place and I can't drive them out.

I really need some help here.

[Kreeli]

that is a pickle.

there is no way for you to move where you keep the dog food and other sources of food, permanently? if it's truly not possible, i would look into transfering all the food into tight, impermeable containers, like rubbermaids or big metal tins/barrels.

i also think that the frequency used by those sound emitters is specific to the type of animal you are trying to repel. i could be wrong, but you should at least write the companies to see what they advise.

[cyberactivist]

that is a pickle.

there is no way for you to move where you keep the dog food and other sources of food, permanently? if it's truly not possible, i would look into transfering all the food into tight, impermeable containers, like rubbermaids or big metal tins/barrels.

i also think that the frequency used by those sound emitters is specific to the type of animal you are trying to repel. i could be wrong, but you should at least write the companies to see what they advise.

It is stored in a Rubbermaid container. Thy get it out of the pan I feed the dogs in. I feed the dogs next to the building under the eave of the roof to keep it from getting rained in. It is protected there. They run up real fast, grab a piece, and keep going. I have seen them do this. This is happening in broad daylight. They are quite brave.

[vegankittykat]

Maybe the rats are too light to trip the trap, since the trap is meant for rabbits. Or maybe you need a different brand or type of trap (assuming there is more than one kind). Is the trap in good shape? I had once lent a cat trap to someone and they put stuff on top of it in their garage so it dented in a little, and it never worked right after that, even after I tried to bang it back into shape with a hammer. What I used to do when I trapped cats is put the food all the way against the back of the trap, and to make sure they didn't step over the bar that trips it I put a piece of newspaper that covered the whole bottom of the trap so they didn't know what they were stepping on (also made it more comfortable for their paws since the bottom wasn't solid).