Rat Hunting... need some advice...

[salmonshark]

OK... So been doing a ton of construction around my house and have noticed some animal activity near my garage door. When removing the old patio slab, we broke part of the garage slab off under the door. We poured a quick fix. Well the activity it outside by this temporary piece of concrete. I would notice a small pile of dirt outside the door every once in awhile. Well, now it looks like a tunnel. I have one of those electric rodent repellers which has worked fairly well in the past as rodent activity was about nil.

Well now, I know there is something that has dug up under the concrete towards the furnace so I have been actively putting out traps. This little critter knows though or some crap because I will find a pile of dirt piled up in front or on top of the trap.

Everything has changed this morning. After trying to determine if it was a rat, gopher, or a mole, or perhaps something else, I got a glimpse of this beast. This morning before work, I thought I would give the trap in front of the hole a check. Dirt piled up all over it. Grabbed some gloves, cleaned up the trap, and placed it back down in front of the hole. Went in to the garage, and then I heard some noise coming from outside. I went out ot look and there is a monster of a rat partially in the trap. I went to grab a shovel or something to kill this bastard, but he started to run around with the trap stuck to its head. Before I could corner it, it ran behind some plywood leaning up against the house and was able to free itself. Damn it!

So I got the trap back, reset it and placed it back in front of the hole hoping he will want to go back to its rat cave. I'm using a large T-Rex type trap which has always worked before. I even noticed blood on it this morning after it got away.

So I come to you'all and ask for your advice. I really don't want to use poison if I don't have to as I am afraid of it/them dieing somewhere I cannot find it/them.

I would appreciate any advice I could get in killing off this problem. Eventually, I will be pouring a new slab and new steps, but still need to kill the problem that I have now and don't want to wait until later. Good thing is I have not noticed any activity inside the garage, just outside, but under the slab.

SS

 

[jetboat]

You sure its a rat and not a possum... same basic look as a rat but bigger and built allot more tank like. I recomend a silenced .22

 

[JeepinOR]

Yes...if they're nearby it's just a matter of time before they find their way inside.
As you don't want the smell of a dead rat you can't get to, you might try a small live-animal cage outside the hole and bait that. They certainly wouldn't escape from one of those (small/rodent sized, Harbor Freight has them for around $10, I think). You'd have to deal with a live animal, but at least you could kill it and dispose of it elsewhere. The small cages should fit within a 5 gallon bucket: submerge and walk away for a few minutes...

I believe there are poisons that act quickly upon the carcass to aid in drying, which should lesson the stink - if all else fails...? :?

Decent pellet guns can be useful. If you're out of town, a baby-bottle nipple over the muzzle of a .22 shouldn't be too loud, once.


From my understanding those electronic pest control things were Snake Oil?

 

[salmonshark]

You sure its a rat and not a possum... same basic look as a rat but bigger and built allot more tank like. I recomend a silenced .22

Perhaps a small possum? Hmmm... what do they eat? Doesn't seem to really go after my peanutbutter laced trap. I could get a live animal trap down at harbor frieght fairly cheap, but I would rather kill it with a trap. Do rats dig tunnels?

SS

 

[jetboat]

Rats aren't much for tunneling usualy. They will dig holes and chew there way thru stuff though. That's what makes me think possum over rat. Setup a game camera so we can see what your dealing with.


Haven't tried the baby nipple but a 1 liter bottle or a potato over the muzzle does wonders

 

[Handicrawler]

Rats do dig tunnels. I know you dont like the idea of the smell if you cant get to it, but Decon rat poison is the cherries and berries for rodent control. I live on a farm that has cattle feed and lots of grain, that means mice and rats. We go through poison like its water, but we kill a lot of rodents."thumbsup"

The small animal live trap would work well too, just have to make sure you feed him something he likes. Make sure you wear thick gloves when you dispose of him. Even though the handle is at the top of the cage, he still might be able to climb and get his mouth through far enough to bite you. I havent seen a small live animal trap in a while, that might not be a problem. Another thing to consider is when you trap him, get rid of him quickly, rats can eat through damn near anything. Good luck on your venture! "thumbsup"

 

[salmonshark]

Great advice everyone. Though I don't have a game camera and don't really plan on buying one.

I plan on either hitting Harbor Frieght after work or Home Depot to arm up some more traps. I will get this bastard, just a matter of time. I was hoping someone would have a 'magic bullet' for something like this. I do like Decon, but I have had a couple die under the house before and tracking them down to dispose of isn't really pleasant. I like to see the dead body in a trap so I can get rid of it ASAP.

SS

 

[robbio4422]

when my mothers house was built about 10 years back. we opted for the optional bay window in the living room. the foundation was already poured so we built it as a cantilever and after it was all said and done and we were living in it we found out that the builders forgot to cover up the bottom after putting the insulation in.

well, a momma possum found her way under the house and so did about a dozon or so babies. being the trouble maker i was, i set up camp with a large fishing net and a baseball bat.:mrgreen:

nothing better then tee'in off on some possums.

the old "milk create with a stick propping it up" method worked wonderful. tied a string to the stick with some peanut butter on it and i had me a new pet every night for a week or so.

after sealing off the house only the young were able to get out and momma starved to death. about a month later cme the smell and i was in charge of fishing out the nasty corpse. EWWWWWWW

oh the memories...

 

[Drail]

fill the hole with mothballs and poor some ammonia around the home. the ammonia will drive it or them away and the mothballs will back up the ammonia and keep em out of the hole. i live in the north and with us its skunks the farken things f all kinds of stuff up and thay STINK. its tuff to tap off the .22 in town but if you do copper heads and a 2liter botel taped on the end of the barrel will gove you 1 or 2 prity quiet shots...if you can get some subsonic ammo you can dump a clip w the 2 liter and all you hear is the slide moveing. good luck.:mrgreen: GSRCC Drail

 

[salmonshark]

Yeah I don't think I will be using a gun of any sort to kill it... If I do the live animal trap, I will use the bucket of water method... I know, I'll waterboard the ****er before drowing it completely.


SS

 

[rugerboy]

1. canned dog food
2. coffee
3. whisky
4. 12ga
5. flash light
6. lawn chair

bait the lil bastard and wait. go easy on the whisky as this step is to keep you warm, to much and you might wind up with a few peep holes. use low base #8 shot from wally world. had a skunk problem at my grand parents years ago and this work!!"thumbsup"

just saw your post.... try the live trap and relocate them

 

[Ugly Truckling]

I like this solution but maybe not so close to the house :shock:

http://dogbegone.com/video.html

;-)

 

[salmonshark]

You sure its a rat and not a possum... same basic look as a rat but bigger and built allot more tank like. I recomend a silenced .22

1. canned dog food
2. coffee
3. whisky
4. 12ga
5. flash light
6. lawn chair

bait the lil bastard and wait. go easy on the whisky as this step is to keep you warm, to much and you might wind up with a few peep holes. use low base #8 shot from wally world. had a skunk problem at my grand parents years ago and this work!!"thumbsup"

just saw your post.... try the live trap and relocate them

The only relocation they will know about is being relocated to the garbage can when they are dead.

SS

 

[salmonshark]

I like this solution but maybe not so close to the house :shock:

http://dogbegone.com/video.html

;-)

Yeah, so close to the house, this is not a good idea...

SS

 

[rugerboy]

The only relocation they will know about is being relocated to the garbage can when they are dead.

SS

"thumbsup" didn't want to sound too mean:mrgreen:

 

[salmonshark]

I know I am from the land of tree huggers and all, but I am not that guy.

SS

 

[jetboat]

Beer and rodents can be loads of fun! Put a bowl out and they will drink till they get alcohal poisoning. Doesn't always work but there is nothing funnier than watching a drunk possum try to scurry away. (I'm originaly from the country...we get bored)

 

[colonel]

Instead of buying a trap, do you have an animal shelter nearby? Our county animal control unit has loaner traps we can get for free. They even gave me free food to bait the traps to get the opposom out of my garage. Once it was in the trap I had a number to call and one of their animal control wardens came out and picked it up.
My entire expense was the trip to the shelter to pick up the trap. Didn't have to deal with the carcass or anything.

 

[Code454]

definetly just get yourself some traps and let it do its own thing

 

[rock hard]

call your local pet shops that carry snakes.
find a shop that will let you have a shedded snake skin.

put it in the flower bed and move it around into the dirt right up next to the foundation.
do that about every 5-10' all the way around your house.

this should runn of nearly all your mice/rats.

also a dummy owl works pretty good too.