All! Rats!

[dreamaker]

I think you guys are pretty sharp. I have a question, maybe you have some good solutions.  I live in the suburbs on a street, and on the most part it is clean area. It has snowed here and often I look to see what kind of tracks there are try and figure what they are. Recently I noticed these tiny hands like tracks in the snow and I come up with, is that they are rats. I follow where they are coming from and it is from my neighbor's house I can see the tracks riding along the wall in front of their house. I figured the first place to look is under the hood of my Focus, sure enough, there is crap, also I heard the go for the wiring. I looked and noticed some of the tape like wire wrap was nibbled on. So I made up a bag for mothballs and laid it under the car, didn't put it on the top of the engine because I was afraid would forget to take it out before I would drive away and get that smell inside the car.  Earlier I went to the store, but before I left I backed up the car to see the mothball bag and noticed tiny hand prints around the bag.  So I figures that was not working. So I did a search in the net and they said a good deterrent was peppermint essential oils on top of the engine.  That is far as I got so far, I don't drive the car allot, so I don't know if that would be a problem.  SO!  What do you think or knows that really works and not gas myself.

[..]

See tiny paw marks.

See rat trap.

See dead rat.

Report house as unsanitary to town hall? Just so there's an "official report".

[Mr Whiskey]

Report house as unsanitary to town hall? Just so there's an "official report".

I'd think long & hard before takin' this step.
Once you do I'll guarantee City Hall will be on them for the rest of their lives!
Got a really good friend whos neighbor called the city over an old station wagon sittin' on property,
he's still gettin' grief yearly from the city (they ALWAYS find somethin') & that's been 22 years ago now.
I'd make this point to 'em when I suggested the cost of an exterminator would be much cheaper.
I'm sure if my buddy Craig had it to do over again, he'd gladly have PAID someone to come haul that car away. I bet the city's cost him 15k+ in those 22 years!
I wouldn't wish City Hall on my worst enemy.
2¢ worth.

P.S. These work great...
https://youtu.be/Mb0tDJpgrpQ

[Jopson]

Tomcat rat poison, it's what we use on the farm. Works well. We just throw a few in the engine bays of each pickup and tractor, make sure you put them somewhere that they won't fall out.

[Moonshot_1]

I think you guys are pretty sharp. I have a question, maybe you have some good solutions.  I live in the suburbs on a street, and on the most part it is clean area. It has snowed here and often I look to see what kind of tracks there are try and figure what they are. Recently I noticed these tiny hands like tracks in the snow and I come up with, is that they are rats. I follow where they are coming from and it is from my neighbor's house I can see the tracks riding along the wall in front of their house. I figured the first place to look is under the hood of my Focus, sure enough, there is crap, also I heard the go for the wiring. I looked and noticed some of the tape like wire wrap was nibbled on. So I made up a bag for mothballs and laid it under the car, didn't put it on the top of the engine because I was afraid would forget to take it out before I would drive away and get that smell inside the car.  Earlier I went to the store, but before I left I backed up the car to see the mothball bag and noticed tiny hand prints around the bag.  So I figures that was not working. So I did a search in the net and they said a good deterrent was peppermint essential oils on top of the engine.  That is far as I got so far, I don't drive the car allot, so I don't know if that would be a problem.  SO!  What do you think or knows that really works and not gas myself.

First thing I would do is to get the neighbor and show them the tracks. Have a polite and friendly discussion about it. Devise a plan of attack.

Make a note about pets in the area. This could limit your choices. Don't want to put out poisons willy nilly.

I'd start with simple baited Rat Traps. If you can isolate the area so only rats can enter, then a poison approach would be another alternative. Again I would stress that if there are active pets in the area not to use poisons.

[..]

Poison is good if the rat goes away from your property to die.

Otherwise they stink as they decompose. I really mean stink. It's the kind of smell that gets in your clothes.

[dreamaker]

That is what concerns me, is they eat the poison and climb up in my car and die, there is nothing worst than a decomposing body smell. Almost impossible to get the smell out. Most important is them chewing on the wiring on my 2013 Focus, that can get expensive, or even cause a fire. So I thought detouring them would be smarter for us city/suburb boys. So far I have found mint oil to detour them hopefully it's true, there is some stuff that is natural botanical balsam fir oil, I think it's called. I read mothballs can be unhealthy for humans with prolong breathing the smell, and it is not sure if it really works for rats. May be  I will check it out. 

Thank You for your help!!

[BF]

Get a couple cats....and don't feed them......seriosly.

[Savago]

There are some electric mouse traps that are really effective:
https://www.amazon.com/Victor-Electronic-Rat-Trap-M240/dp/B000LNX06C/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1482102365&sr=8-7&keywords=electronic+mouse+trap

Just remember that peanut butter also attracts squirrels...

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMt8sdsRpL4

[..]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMt8sdsRpL4

I've seen an Australian video like that with the guy using an air rifle.

[Robert]

There are some electric mouse traps that are really effective:
https://www.amazon.com/Victor-Electronic-Rat-Trap-M240/dp/B000LNX06C/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1482102365&sr=8-7&keywords=electronic+mouse+trap

Just remember that peanut butter also attracts squirrels...

Yup they do work and they do kill squirrels also, about the best I have found. The rats do eat the wiring also. They cannot get totally wet but can work in damp conditions. You should be able to find where they are storing the food and clean it out. Wash the engine and spray some WD40 on it and see if that stops them at all.

[cookiedough]

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

I like the peanut butter on plastic bottle in a 5 gallon bucket of water.  Sit it in your garage and see what happens in a week or so, cheap and easy.

go buy a few rat traps with peanut butter in your garage as well.

each year I catch with my mouse traps in garage 3-4 mice, sometimes more.  Have used tomcat bait chunks as well in years past.

I also have electronic plug in buzzers that hum which you can hear if within 6-7 feet of them, but use in the house.

[gordonv]

Cats don't like rats, too big, they are mostly scared of them. Get a Terrier (I think) instead.

My understanding with most rat poisons, they are a blood thinner. Causes internal bleeding. Rat eats, bleed internally, gets very thirsty and goes out looking for water. They die somewhere else where the water is, usually outside of the building. I know, I take it for my heart valve replacement.

[dreamaker]

Well, I ordered that electronic rat trap, should be here Wed., so I will start with Peppermint oil or WD40 first. I am not a tree huger, but I don't like killing things for kicks, so I try to discourage or detour as much as I can first.  When things become a threat like chewing on the wiring or biting me, then I go for the MAX.

I really Thank you guys for your help!!

[Gavin_Sons]

Set that game camera out and see if you can get pictures of them. 

[dreamaker]

I have to check to see the lowest temp it will work on the game cam, in the extreme cold batteries go dormant, I learned that shooting sunrise in the cold winter.  But it is a super idea and will check.  I am sure glad I put peppermint extract oil on the top of the engine before I did WD40 or mothballs. It was -2 below outside and I started and warmed up the car and when I went to turn it off, it reeked of peppermint.  Pretty strong!! I went outside to get a better look at the tracks, I noticed the tracks seem to go all around the original house next door. And I noticed the tracks hug the front of mine and go to the neighbor on the other side of me, and I see tracks congregating around their boat out-drive.  So I walked around my house to see if there were tracks around it, but none, just in the front like is a through a fare from one neighbor to the other.

[art]

Get a couple cats....and don't feed them......seriosly.

Coming from someone who grew up in the Boston area I think you would need BIG cats. I've seen rats that would not shy away from a cat. My Dad and neighbor used to trap them in oil drums and set it on fire and pick them off with a pellet gun when thy ran out. Don't like rats one bit.

[Gavin_Sons]

My buddies family farms barn got infested one year and we got paid 3 dollars for every rat we killed. We would sit in the hay loft for hours shooting them with pellet rifles. Even hung a pulley from the rafter and a rope through it with one end tied to a sack of feed and the other to a burlap sack. Put feed in the sack  and waited for a bunch to be eating and we pushed the feed out of the loft. Ran down cut the rope and threw it in a barrel  of water with a brick on top.  that payed good when we were 12

[dreamaker]

Problem is out here, where I live, you pretty much can't even say the word, Gun, yet sit out here popping them with a BB or pellet gun.  Allot of animal lovers/rights kind of people, I pick this up from their conversations and my ease dropping. Got to do it what they think is humane way.

[Gavin_Sons]

Problem is out here, where I live, you pretty much can't even say the word, Gun, yet sit out here popping them with a BB or pellet gun.  Allot of animal lovers/rights kind of people, I pick this up from their conversations and my ease dropping. Got to do it what they think is humane way.

  what does it matter how a rat dies? They are flea bag rodents that destroy everything. They can even chew through concrete. Sounds live yuppie territory up there and this ol redneck would be banished from town.

[dreamaker]

Well allot of young people moving in the neighborhood, sure sounds like yuppies, but not! Thing is when they are couples, then it's pretty much normal, thing is, allot of the people moving in the neighborhood, are single women. Need I say More!! With all the killings in Detroit daily, you got to watch around here what you say.
I know there are some good ol' boy's somewhere in the area, I see them in their pickup trucks, with text across their back window of w.... supremacy web sites.

[Gavin_Sons]

Well allot of young people moving in the neighborhood, sure sounds like yuppies, but not! Thing is when they are couples, then it's pretty much normal, thing is, allot of the people moving in the neighborhood, are single women. Need I say More!! With all the killings in Detroit daily, you got to watch around here what you say.
I know there are some good ol' boy's somewhere in the area, I see them in their pickup trucks, with text across their back window of w.... supremacy web sites.

I don't know if i would consider them good ol boys  anyone who thinks their race is far superior to any other race is a moron and should be dealt with accordingly.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Well allot of young people moving in the neighborhood, sure sounds like yuppies, but not! Thing is when they are couples, then it's pretty much normal, thing is, allot of the people moving in the neighborhood, are single women. Need I say More!! With all the killings in Detroit daily, you got to watch around here what you say.
I know there are some good ol' boy's somewhere in the area, I see them in their pickup trucks, with text across their back window of w.... supremacy web sites.

I don't know if i would consider them good ol boys  anyone who thinks their race is far superior to any other race is a moron and should be dealt with accordingly.

Willow feels his Choctaw race is superior. What should we do with him accordingly ? 

[Gavin_Sons]

Well allot of young people moving in the neighborhood, sure sounds like yuppies, but not! Thing is when they are couples, then it's pretty much normal, thing is, allot of the people moving in the neighborhood, are single women. Need I say More!! With all the killings in Detroit daily, you got to watch around here what you say.
I know there are some good ol' boy's somewhere in the area, I see them in their pickup trucks, with text across their back window of w.... supremacy web sites.

I don't know if i would consider them good ol boys  anyone who thinks their race is far superior to any other race is a moron and should be dealt with accordingly.

Willow feels his Choctaw race is superior. What should we do with him accordingly ? 

well i'm pretty sure he won't hold still long enough to haze so we might have to take more extreme measures. Maybe set him on a never ending ride of "It's a small world"

[The emperor has no clothes]

Well allot of young people moving in the neighborhood, sure sounds like yuppies, but not! Thing is when they are couples, then it's pretty much normal, thing is, allot of the people moving in the neighborhood, are single women. Need I say More!! With all the killings in Detroit daily, you got to watch around here what you say.
I know there are some good ol' boy's somewhere in the area, I see them in their pickup trucks, with text across their back window of w.... supremacy web sites.

I don't know if i would consider them good ol boys  anyone who thinks their race is far superior to any other race is a moron and should be dealt with accordingly.

Willow feels his Choctaw race is superior. What should we do with him accordingly ? 

well i'm pretty sure he won't hold still long enough to haze so we might have to take more extreme measures. Maybe set him on a never ending ride of "It's a small world"

That might do it. Maybe Daddie O can take him down there. 

[Gavin_Sons]

Well allot of young people moving in the neighborhood, sure sounds like yuppies, but not! Thing is when they are couples, then it's pretty much normal, thing is, allot of the people moving in the neighborhood, are single women. Need I say More!! With all the killings in Detroit daily, you got to watch around here what you say.
I know there are some good ol' boy's somewhere in the area, I see them in their pickup trucks, with text across their back window of w.... supremacy web sites.

I don't know if i would consider them good ol boys  anyone who thinks their race is far superior to any other race is a moron and should be dealt with accordingly.

Willow feels his Choctaw race is superior. What should we do with him accordingly ? 

well i'm pretty sure he won't hold still long enough to haze so we might have to take more extreme measures. Maybe set him on a never ending ride of "It's a small world"

That might do it. Maybe Daddie O can take him down there. 

 

[Willow]

Well allot of young people moving in the neighborhood, sure sounds like yuppies, but not! Thing is when they are couples, then it's pretty much normal, thing is, allot of the people moving in the neighborhood, are single women. Need I say More!! With all the killings in Detroit daily, you got to watch around here what you say.
I know there are some good ol' boy's somewhere in the area, I see them in their pickup trucks, with text across their back window of w.... supremacy web sites.

I don't know if i would consider them good ol boys   anyone who thinks their race is far superior to any other race is a moron and should be dealt with accordingly.

Willow feels his Choctaw race is superior. What should we do with him accordingly ?  

well i'm pretty sure he won't hold still long enough to haze so we might have to take more extreme measures. Maybe set him on a never ending ride of "It's a small world"

That might do it. Maybe Daddie O can take him down there.  

LOL!  Choctaw is actually an ethnicity rather than a race.  I'm actually more German than Choctaw but no one would like to accept a claim of German superiority.    

I believe all human beings should be treated with the respect due another human being.   Sometimes it's difficult realizing one's superiority without letting it deteriorate into treating others as of inferior value.

Truthfully I joke about it but to claim one or another ethnic group is superior across the board is a bit ridiculous.  It's almost as ridiculous as claiming that all ethnic groups are exactly equal across the board.  Genetics teaches us that we inherit traits and abilities at various levels depending upon the genes of our parents.  Any ethnic group is descended form a very few originators.  Traits and abilities will not be infused into that group unless it is mixed with another.  Some groups may exceed in one area while another exceeds them in something else.

Life and humanity are complicated, are they not?

I do think the clip from MTV is about as brilliant as what MTV normally puts out.  It does help take my mind off worrying about what influence the Russians may have on us.      

[czuch]

Corn meal, oat meal, a little brown sugar, plaster of paris.
The will flat ruin a car in an hour.

[gordonv]

Well allot of young people moving in the neighborhood, sure sounds like yuppies, but not! Thing is when they are couples, then it's pretty much normal, thing is, allot of the people moving in the neighborhood, are single women. Need I say More!! With all the killings in Detroit daily, you got to watch around here what you say.
I know there are some good ol' boy's somewhere in the area, I see them in their pickup trucks, with text across their back window of w.... supremacy web sites.

I don't know if i would consider them good ol boys  anyone who thinks their race is far superior to any other race is a moron and should be dealt with accordingly.

Willow feels his Choctaw race is superior. What should we do with him accordingly ? 

well i'm pretty sure he won't hold still long enough to haze so we might have to take more extreme measures. Maybe set him on a never ending ride of "It's a small world"

That might do it. Maybe Daddie O can take him down there. 

[dreamaker]

Here we go again!!! Well the rats nibbled on my wiring  a little bit,  no damage.  So I tried to contact several pest controls, and I couldn't believe what they hold me. The acted like rats just fell out of the shy from outer space. They had no solution, I am not talking about some backyard MoJo's pest control, I am talking about places like Orkin Pest Control, reputable companies.  So I figured to go the distance.  So I just was checking, just in case there are issues in the future, found out my extended warranty will not cover damage. So I checked with State Farm with I have been with for 25yrs+ and never made a claim. They said it was kind of "ify" but it would be up to the adjuster. The rats have us by the Canuja's. Older car would be no issue, but newer low voltage cars suck.  For now I am going to setup an electrical rat trap and some, good old wooden ones. Again I contacted the Township. Animal Control, Health Dept and  they said it was not their problem.

[Gavin_Sons]

live trap them and release them at the animal control center. Now it is their problem.

[hubcapsc]

Rat Zappers.

My techie buddy in California wired a bunch of them up to
his computer network and a bunch of Klaxons...

BWERP! BWERP! BWERP! Rat in sector 27!



Don't poison or trap your neighbor's cats and dogs, please...

-Mike

[..]

The darn things are very social and will invite others over to party. Kill them all.

Look on youtube for some very creative killing traps.

[Oss]

I love the old fashioned wood board spring traps with peanut butter for rats, for mice we use sticky traps and the smaller spring traps.  Never tried electric traps but sound ok to me


We have good result with a corn based product I got at Lowes that blows up in their system
Actually split a rat open once, pretty neat !

Just cant let it get wet (obviously)  or the rat wont eat it. Have also dispatched squirrels with that bait

Would not try to catch a rat in either of my have a heart traps either but rabbits and squirrels and other critters are fair game

+1 on peppermint essential oil around the perimeter of the car parking space   There is even a product at Home Depot/Lowes that uses it for like $5.
Good hunting

[..]

Some rat extermination ideas here.

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

[dreamaker]

These save the rat organization, would hang me out to dry if they caught me doing that.

[DirtyDan]

Think ALIENS (movie) the home game

Dan

[Wizzard]

Remember the movie "Willard"?  I think there were 2 of them. 

[Jess from VA]

While doing away with bugs and vermin is always good, my thought is always to try and find out where they are coming from (living, breeding, feeding source), and go after that in a big way. (If you discover that neighbors negligent property management is harboring them, call the county health department on them.)

If there is some ambient light on your property (street lights, yard/porch lights), you might find it useful to get one or two of those game cameras to try and discover where they are coming from, and usual trails (they are creatures of habit).

Years ago I had some yucky small white worms (larvae) on my ceiling.  I kept cleaning them up, and they kept coming.  Turned out the wife had ferreted away a bag of Turkish pistachios in the back of the entertainment center (for years), and it was infested with pantry flies.  Got that cleaned out, and a few more on the ceiling, and that was that.  

I hunt yellow jackets looking for a home on my property every spring (I live right on the edge of a huge wetlands/protected area).... with a vengeance!!!!!  They think it will be safe in my roof ridge vents.  Think again you little bastards.  Every damn spring, I find lone explorers looking for habitat.  I follow them around, removing/caulking/poisoning the habitat, and kill them.  

Using lemon pledge on my Valks in springtime is a big mistake.