Rat in my composter what am i gonna do

[tlck9]

Hi guys

Well I have been lucky but I know have a rat....I have seem the evidence. Im on an allotment and others do not collect their feed up each and every night, like i do especially in the winter

However its living in the hedge or in my composter

I have tried a rat trap, but the thing is either too clever or too small to set it off

There are some resident cats on site and i take my dog to the allotment so my thoughts are I cannot use bait

Any ideas on what to do, can I use bait, or could the rat die and the chicken peck it, or worse still the cats or my dog finding a carcuss, can anyone give me your experiences

[VirginVegGrower]

They say you are never more than 13' away from a rat EVER! However I dispute that - never seen one in Boots for example
Where there is a compost heap, inevitably there is a rat. Try meshing the bottom if that is an option. I would say you will probably get another even if you kill that one. It's a rat trap and you've been conned - I think it went like that! We have terriers - can recommend them on site.

[jessmorris]

Hmm, do you know anyone with a terrier? A Jack Russell would make short work of a rat one evening.

Could you do a bit of 'awareness raising' on your allotment with the other folk, then maybe they will clean their plots up?

When I had one at home, I got the council 'rat man' in. but its much harder outside and when you have stock. You can buy enclosed bait stations though I don't know how effective they are cos rats is smart.

JM

[alex-adam]

You could try poison bait set inside a length of plastic rain-water pipe. The cats and your dog couldn't get to the bait. When the rat dies it is unlikely that cats or dogs will go near it as neither species are really carrion eaters.

[frias]

My personal preference is a bait station with blue blocks fixed inside. If you leave them loose or use loose bait the rat or mouse can carry them off and there's always a risk they might drop them where another animal might pick them up. My BIL is a pest controller and says if a dog/cat picks up a rat or mouse killed by bait there wouldn't be enough bait inside it to harm.

[Suechooks]

I've always had bait boxes as Frias describes. I do however use Eradibait if the box is in the run. If its in an empty run or away from the chooks I use the blue bait. Eradibait is safe for owls etc even if the mouse or rat they catch has eaten it.
Rats are always about on allotment sites though. When I was building my first chicken run I moved some stuff and there were obvious rat runs. If you're taking up your feed at night then they'll probably go somewhere else where food is more readily available.

[Two_Sheds]

Where there is a compost heap, inevitably there is a rat.

I'd dispute that I've had heaps for donkey's years, never had a rat in one (mice and voles take up temp. residence though when it turns chilly)

Keep disturbing the heap (turning or forking it over) and keep it damp, not dry and cosy

[VirginVegGrower]

I'd dispute that I've had heaps for donkey's years, never had a rat in one (mice and voles take up temp. residence though when it turns chilly)

Keep disturbing the heap (turning or forking it over) and keep it damp, not dry and cosy

I thought you had daleks with lids?

[Snadger]

This is what I am getting!

Crosman 2240 Ratbuster

Look out Roland..........here I come.................

[Two_Sheds]

I thought you had daleks with lids?

Indeed I do... the mice and voles still get in though

[VirginVegGrower]

Do they nibble the plastic or get underneath as you can put weldmesh over the base? Our heaps are open and we back onto open farmland one way and a copse the other, so rats are a part of our garden heaps. Two terriers keep them down though - lots of chasing/barking

[RichmondHens]

My BIL is a pest controller and says if a dog/cat picks up a rat or mouse killed by bait there wouldn't be enough bait inside it to harm.

I have to dispute that I'm afraid. About 20 years ago I had a cat who went missing for several days. He eventually turned up on the doorstep, very weak and bleeding from his anus. I called the vet who (in those days) came round to take a look immediately. His opinion was he had eaten a poisoned rodent and the warfarin was causing him to haemorrhage internally. He took him away to see what he could do without a lot of hope, but miraculously, having received a transfusion from the vet's own cat, he pulled through and lived several more years after that.

The bait blocks these days may contain a different agent, but I am still not comfortable with using them.

[frias]

This is what I am getting!

Crosman 2240 Ratbuster

Look out Roland..........here I come.................

Might be a problem with my aim. I'm likely to shoot everything bar the rat!

[frias]

Sorry about your cat RH. I'm a huge cat lover. I imagine bait is very different today than 20 years ago. Just about all garden poisons have been changed.

[RichmondHens]

I'm sure you're right Frias, but it still puts me off using it. We also have barn owls, and while some say they know instinctively that rodents have been poisoned (my guess is they move differently), I still would rather not risk it. We tried Eradibait, supposedly safe around pets and other wildlife as it works by bunging up and dehydrating the rat, but unless it is the only food source for the rat (almost impossible I think) it's not that effective. We now resort to trapping and shooting.