Rats The Size Of Cats!!!!

[yoanbob]

wow great idea wendy will definatly get one thanks. how much area do they cover?

[Wendy]

They cover 2500 square metres (apparently!) and cost about £12 from ebay - go for it i havnt seen a rat since!

[yoanbob]

wow thats great, will get bob on ebay, (i dont know how it works) I had to move a dead one this morning, could'nt see how it had died, it had rigamortice, YUK! not knowing what it died of is a bit worrying, if it was ill i dont want the chickens catching it.

[has-bean]

This post makes me shudder I am terrified of rats. fortunately the allotment cat seems to have taken a liking to sleepinbg in my shed on teh old newspapers so double bonus - no rats and also cos it has found a home it doesnt do its stuff in my allotment. Badgers are still a nuisance though am looking forward to the digging uop bean trench season with trepidation.

[HKCambridge]

It's the year of the Diamond Dogs already?

[yoanbob]

I suppose one of the houses could be using poison, we'll look into.

Here goes ebay!

[laura g]

I heard or read somewhere that you're never more than 50' away from a rat. Little bl**ders are everywhere.

Our cat used to bring them into the house - still alive. Have memories (well, nightmares really) of one that went to ground in my dirty laundry pile. No chance at all of asking it to leave nicely - it was seriously angry. and I had to resort to beating it to death as quickly and humanely as possible. Then lifting up socks and pants and the like until i found the body. Accompanied by v loud yells from a 6 year old and 7 year old who thought i was an evil cow from hell!

Council came out and I believe they used warfarin? anyway, from what i remember is gets carried back to the nests and so there are very few dead rat bodies to be found.

Sure we've got some at the bottom of the garden here under the shed - know this from the way my lurchers wont stay away from the area at night and consistently are excavating exploratory trenches.

[furball]

Hi i have a fantastic cat he will kill rats amd mice, i notice you live in my area and if you want i will fetch him down see if it helps till your rat deterent arrives from ebay. We had chooks last year so he wont bother them.

[kirsty b]

I hate rats too and we have had some. OH found a hole that had been dug under the side of the hen's house so he went and got a trap, baited it and placed it. First night we found the trap had been dragged down the hole with fur in it, so almost sucess! Trap wired into place now with a mesh cage placed over it to stop a curious dog getting her nose in it. Had myself a dead rat on Sat morning, then went to sweep out inside hen house and found rat droppings. A poke around found where they were getting in, but instead of traps which could hurt the girls, I was recommended a poison that comes in a little plastic pack, and you stuff the whole thing right down the hole without opening it.
I like it cos then I don't have to actually touch the poison. Have blocked off the area where the hole is, so the chooks can't get near it, have not seen fresh droppings for the last 2 days.

[muckdiva]

I have found a dead freezer makes a fairly rodent proof feed store for horse feed (should work for chicken feed too). They still try to get in - all the rubber seals have been nibbled, but so far so good.

[SueA]

We were walking in Dunham Park recently near the lakes where people had been feeding the ducks & saw rabbits sitting around eating on the grass & then I saw one pop up out of a burrow except it wasn't a rabbit but an enormous rat, the another & another. They must be attracted by the food left for the ducks etc. & are probably after your chickens' food too. Our neighbour used to keep pigeons in his garden years ago & when he dismantled the coup & got rid of them all the houses in the road were infested with mice! I think you would be best getting some expert advice on this though as you don't want to upset the chickens in any way, a sonic deterrent might be O.K. but might affect hens as well.

[Christina]

I had a rat problem with my chickens, it started with one and within a few weeks there were loads, mostly baby ones jumping around and eating the girls food.

I too was worried about using poison, firstly because it's a horrible death and secondly because I was concerned that my hens might eat some. So, I bought an air gun and blammed six of them in a week (they come out at dusk and a good shot kills them instantly), became a proper vigilante and started considering night sites and balaclavas...very worrying...

Anyway, it seemed as fast as I could shoot them, the more they came so I gave in when I realised that the reason my hens had no eggs was because the rats were eating them. So, it was personal, it was either chicks or rats and chicks won.

I got the pest man round who laid the bags of poison down by finding the rat holes and runs and stuffing the poison into the entrances along with something heavy like a small cupboard door/piece of wood with an engineering (really heavy) brick on the outside of the entrance so that the hens could not get to it, even if some of it became displaced. It worked, not a rat since and I now have chicks.

You do however have to keep a look out for new rats. I removed all the posion when the problem had ceased, there was one split bag and I was careful to remove all of the little granules then carefully disposed of it and fillied in all the old rat runs and holes. That way I keep a look out for any new ones and nip the problem in the bud by more poison and a brick or shoot them before they can breed.

I also have a different type of pest problem, rabbits in my veg garden, I have sealed off and rabbit proofed all entries but they keep burrowing in from the woodland on the other side of the wall (we live in the countyside). They ate most of the veg last year except potatoes gourds and tomatoes, eveything else was a banquet for them. Other than fencing off the veg plot does anyone have any ideas please?

Thanks
Christina

[NOG]

get a.410 and shoot them.

But Rats take a lot of killing.

[yoanbob]

Going to try the repeller and borrow Furballs cat, if that doesnt work going to ring the swat team, any one know how much the swot men cost?

[has-bean]

Least you can eat the rabbits. I am so scared of rats its amazing I go anywhere near allotment at dusk. When was about 10 we had chickens and chicks and the rats would often get in and kille them all. Not a nice sight when its your job to look after them every morn before school. I hate em hate em hate em yuk - am goosebumps now