If rats are pestering you..... (mice too...maybe squirrels..)

[Mike Corazzi]

I had rats. Running around and even nesting under a sprinkler valve cover. I got some Just One Bite pellets and we have not had any rats (or mice) for 2 years now.
No idea how it would work on squirrels. I....hear.... it does.

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I just put it in a shallow bowl. It must be pretty yummy.

I do know that a pellet gun does for squirrels.

 

[penumbra]

Its not an option if one has pets.

 

[sorce]

Or loves owls.

Or stray cats.....
They put some new rat baited signs up in the alley recently....
Got me thinking about how all we have to do is stop feeding stray cats, which will stop feeding rats AND give the cats a reason to stop the problem themselves.

Oh and snakes.....we should reintroduce snakes everywhere.

Sorce

 

[penumbra]

all we have to do is

Love your post. But this statement is flawed. Its always flawed in every situation, yet I know you know this my friend.

Oh and snakes.....we should reintroduce snakes everywhere.

Agree wholeheartedly. With so few dangerous snakes and so many beneficial ones, its a wonder they are not universally cherished. This statement is also flawed.

 

[just.wing.it]

All you really need is a BB gun, Beer and Time.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Its not an option if one has pets.

A board across 2 bricks is too low for dogs. Doubt cats would try. Slide the bowl of poison under the board.

 

[penumbra]

I am not concerned that my cats would eat the bait. They are a lot smarter than dogs, or people, in that regard. I don't want my cats, or any other animals, eating poisoned mice or rats. This is a much larger concern and why most of us will not use poisons.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Maybe grow some sacrifice pets.
Decoy trees?
Hire some pied pipers?


Ah well, let the rats run the country.

 

[penumbra]

I have good success with the deterrents and repellents I use and have mentioned several times on this site.
I will not use poison baits. All of my trees are not worth the unintentional killing of animals being animals. I can abide by mouse or rat traps if there is no chance that another curious animal might be injured. There are many times when I find the killing of a target pest acceptable and even desirable.

Rats are already running things.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Feral cats are the #1 predator of urban and suburban song birds. I feel a decline in the feral cat population might be a good thing. Responsible cat owners do not let their cats wander outdoors, especially not over night. Pet cats should be safe from rat and squirrel poisons, because pet cats are indoors and eating indoors..

Live traps are better than poisons. That way you can identify the critter before you dispatch it to the great beyond. A 30 gallon plastic garbage can filled with water is a great place to drown your captured victims. If you have a strong enough stomach to put out poison, you should be able to handle using a live trap and dispatching the victims. This way you are being selective with no accidental victims like owls and other beneficial critters.

 

[penumbra]

Feral cats are the #1 predator of urban and suburban song birds. I feel a decline in the feral cat population might be a good thing. Responsible cat owners do not let their cats wander outdoors, especially not over night. Pet cats should be safe from rat and squirrel poisons, because pet cats are indoors and eating indoors..

I have never known you to make such a biased statement. It reflects knowledge gained, not knowledge experienced.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Audubon Society for the bird predator statement, maybe they are biased.

I have a surplus of feral cats in my neighborhood, they knock my trees off benches. They break branches of trees tied to benches. I guess I woke up grouchy today.

Nothing personal to you. Just don't like the cats in my neighborhood.

 

[Dav4]

Feral cats are the #1 predator of urban and suburban song birds. I feel a decline in the feral cat population might be a good thing. Responsible cat owners do not let their cats wander outdoors, especially not over night. Pet cats should be safe from rat and squirrel poisons, because pet cats are indoors and eating indoors..

Live traps are better than poisons. That way you can identify the critter before you dispatch it to the great beyond. A 30 gallon plastic garbage can filled with water is a great place to drown your captured victims. If you have a strong enough stomach to put out poison, you should be able to handle using a live trap and dispatching the victims. This way you are being selective with no accidental victims like owls and other beneficial critters.

As a small animal doc for 20+ years and an amateur wildlife biologist, my experience and research says you're spot on, Leo. At work, I never saw an indoor only cat suffer from- being hit by car, dog attacks (well very infrequently), felv, fiv or rabies, starvation due to being locked in the neighbor's garage for 3 weeks during the summer vacation months, losing a leg to spring or snare traps, being shot, rodenticide poisoning, hookworms, giardia, roundworms, lung worms, liver flukes, ticks, infectious anemia, etc., etc.. Also, more then a few endangered species of frog are being decimated by both feral and kept domesticated cats along the coast of GA and probably elsewhere... I saw a "go-pro on a cat" video during a lecture about this issue at a professional conference, and during the video, the cat, fed twice daily at home, still went out one night and ate 26 frogs! https://www.researchgate.net/figure...-Georgia-USA-2014-and-Kittycam_fig1_326553030, https://wildlifemanagement.institut...ts-outdoor-cats-kill-more-wildlife-previously. I understand that cats have historically served as mousers/vermin killers, but most people keep them as pets these days and they definitely don't belong outside if that's the case. I hate scooping litter pans... but I'm very good at it.

 

[coh]

Agree about the cats, they do NOT belong outside. There are several people around here who let their cats roam free and they are always in our yard, chasing birds that use our feeders and crapping in our garden beds. Nothing like doing some weeding and pulling out a handful of stinking cat poo.

As for poisoning rodents outdoors...I can't control what others are willing to do but please think long and hard about it. Many times rodents will eat the bait and then wander around in a weakened state before finally dying. During this phase they are easy prey for raptors, foxes, etc. The poison is thus transferred up the food chain with all kinds of bad consequences. I used poison in my barn once and observed a poisoned chipmunk continuously chasing its tail, oblivious to anything around it - obviously a poisoning effect.

I know there is a poison free method that works well on mice, not sure if it would work for rats but might be worth a try. You set up a bucket of water, cover the surface with seed (sunflower is good), then put a board that leads up to the rim. The mice go up the board (you put some seeds on the board to attract them), see the seeds but don't see water (surface is covered). They jump down into the water and can't get out. It's not a pleasant death but neither is poison and at least this way the predators aren't impacted. There's also a way to set up the bucket with a board that drops the mice into the water, I've never tried that but have heard it works well. The other option is live trapping and then either relocate (which is generally illegal) or dispatch them as you see fit.

 

[Eckhoffw]

My garage/shop became multi family housing for loads of squirrels a couple years back.
After repairing the soffits twice, and constantly repairing soggy drywall, I decided to get some peanut butter flavored bait blocks. I threw them up in the ceiling and about 1 day later it was absolutely silent. No noise -no activity.
At first, I applauded the efficiency of the poison.
Soon after that my heart sank, and the obvious carnage saddened me. I had grown used to the scurrying.
The next day I found 2 partially eaten bait blocks in the alley.
Knowing there was a few pet dogs on the block + other pets, the carelessness struck me.
I won’t use poison again.

 

[coh]

My garage/shop became multi family housing for loads of squirrels a couple years back.
After repairing the soffits twice, and constantly repairing soggy drywall, I decided to get some peanut butter flavored bait blocks. I threw them up in the ceiling and about 1 day later it was absolutely silent. No noise -no activity.
At first, I applauded the efficiency of the poison.
Soon after that my heart sank, and the obvious carnage saddened me. I had grown used to the scurrying.
The next day I found 2 partially eaten bait blocks in the alley.
Knowing there was a few pet dogs on the block + other pets, the carelessness struck me.
I won’t use poison again.

Yeah, the house is different. I've used poison bait in the basement, though not without some angst as I know it's possible for those poisoned mice to go outside and get eaten by predators. I keep regular traps set (live and snap traps) to try to keep the population under control but we've got an old house with a stone foundation and they find ways in. We've never had squirrels, I'd try to trap them or hire a pro before poisoning them.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

At first, I applauded the efficiency of the poison.
Soon after that my heart sank, and the obvious carnage saddened me. I had grown used to the scurrying.
The next day I found 2 partially eaten bait blocks in the alley.
Knowing there was a few pet dogs on the block + other pets, the carelessness struck me.
I won’t use poison again.

Y'know, I hadn't thought of that. Maybe I too will come to miss the lines of dainty ebony turds around the edges of the patio.
I wish there were a way to see the colonies of miniscule bacteria going about their lives on the surface of the little pooplets.
Their cute hunching gait as they industiously seek nourishment.
The evidence of their little yellow incisor marks on the plastic containers where I keep my bird feed.

So far, I've only been able to watch them playing outside.
I think I may get a quote on a rodent door in the slider.

.....................................

 

[Eckhoffw]

Y'know, I hadn't thought of that. Maybe I too will come to miss the lines of dainty ebony turds around the edges of the patio.
I wish there were a way to see the colonies of miniscule bacteria going about their lives on the surface of the little pooplets.
Their cute hunching gait as they industiously seek nourishment.
The evidence of their little yellow incisor marks on the plastic containers where I keep my bird feed.

So far, I've only been able to watch them playing outside.
I think I may get a quote on a rodent door in the slider.

.....................................

I’ve recently learned that from persistent barter and negotiation, that a gray squirrel will actively ward off more severe problems with bonsai destruction.
Harry, a recent recruit of mine, will chase off red squirrels and even deer from chewing on my plants.

 

[papkey5]

Feral cats are the #1 predator of urban and suburban song birds. I feel a decline in the feral cat population might be a good thing. Responsible cat owners do not let their cats wander outdoors, especially not over night. Pet cats should be safe from rat and squirrel poisons, because pet cats are indoors and eating indoors..

Live traps are better than poisons. That way you can identify the critter before you dispatch it to the great beyond. A 30 gallon plastic garbage can filled with water is a great place to drown your captured victims. If you have a strong enough stomach to put out poison, you should be able to handle using a live trap and dispatching the victims. This way you are being selective with no accidental victims like owls and other beneficial critters.

I have actually drowned a mouse in a bucket of water. It was disturbing to watch the bubbles finally stop.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I bought a rat zapper. Battery-powered, and the first night I put it in my backyard it killed 6 rats. No poison