Rodent behavior

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Petrol Pete

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Odd one this.

I spotted signs of rats mooching around in my mothers garden shed and she has seen them in the fur and flesh.

As no one else has access to the shed and there are no pets on the property I simply filled an up turned clay pigeon with that blue grain/barley rat poison placed it on the shed floor and checked it from time to time.

After it had been knocked around and the contents eaten a few times ...no more rodents .

A few months later there were signs 'Rodent's return' so I repeated the exercise.

This time when I inspected the upturned clay pigeon the bait had been covered with dead leaves/bark/feces etc and left untouched. I have cleared it off a few times only to return a few days later to discover it covered again in a similar manner !

Anyone ?
 
Snap traps.
Don’t use them outside, but in a shed or wherever they are going - you don’t want to be getting hedgehogs or birds.
Best bait I have ever used is cheese - peanut butter and chocolate have never worked for me.
And practise setting them on a hair trigger.
Bait will get them, but you then need to find the bodies, and they get a bit whiffy.
 
As above, traps rather than poison. Strawberry jam is an amazing bait smeared on the trap.............. From experience they will seek it out from quite a distance. :)
 
This time when I inspected the upturned clay pigeon the bait had been covered with dead leaves/bark/feces etc and left untouched. I have cleared it off a few times only to return a few days later to discover it covered again in a similar manner !

Anyone ?

That tidy, I'd leave a note asking them to tidy the garage once they've done the shed.
Strange behaviour I've never heard of before. Sure it's rats doing that?

Bait will get them, but you then need to find the bodies, and they get a bit whiffy.

Even in April I know that wins the Understatement Of 2019 Award.
Find the bodies? The stench will give them away. Yep, behind that wall (between the brick and the plaster). The stench was something else.....

There's also humane traps - but they need checking daily (by law) and a method of finally dispatching the rodent.
Expect more than one, and reload a trap in the same place as before. When ratty follows the scent looking for buddy....
 
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Yes, traps are a good idea if you cannot access an adequate poison,
the other benefit, in a large warehouse environment which I experienced, is the awful smell if the corpse does not end up outside on expiry.
 
you need to have a look at youtube videos on people setting very inventive traps for these little rascals.

I saw one with a bucket full of water, two ladders either side and a rolling pin at the top smeared with food, they simply walk on and fall into the bucket, not for the animal lovers though.
 
As above, traps rather than poison. Strawberry jam is an amazing bait smeared on the trap.............. From experience they will seek it out from quite a distance. :)

Crisps and nuts too.
In truth, you could bait them with anything. Tyre valve caps, the telephone line, foam air filters, strimmer hand grips and harness, spark plug caps - just about anything you'd prefer them not to chew through.
 
I was Operations Manager for Rentokil (Pest Control Division) up here in the Highlands. There are a few methods I could recommend but if you're going to use snap traps, then peanut butter (believe it or not) is a very well tried and tested source of lure for them. Remember though not to risk secondary, non target species being injured or killed (wildlife, Raptors etc.).
The other thing to consider, whatever you buy over the counter poison-wise, will be nowhere near as affective as the 'industrial strength' stuff we used to use, as it has to be able to be pet, children, adult proof etc. (it's all about the parts per million of poison you know! ;) )
I don't like killing anything these days however.
 
My old stables apartment suffered from rats scrabbling and scurrying in the enclosed rafters and stud walling. Pest controller came along cut a couple of very small holes here and there and poured in some bright blue and rather curiously shaped pellets. I was very concerned the rats would expire behind the walls and stink the place out but he assured me they would eat some and carry the rest back to the nest where they would pass on to others and then die in the nest.
Well, whatever it was it worked exceptionally well within a couple weeks no noise, no smell, no rats..
 
My old stables apartment suffered from rats scrabbling and scurrying in the enclosed rafters and stud walling. Pest controller came along cut a couple of very small holes here and there and poured in some bright blue and rather curiously shaped pellets. I was very concerned the rats would expire behind the walls and stink the place out but he assured me they would eat some and carry the rest back to the nest where they would pass on to others and then die in the nest.
Well, whatever it was it worked exceptionally well within a couple weeks no noise, no smell, no rats..
I didn't think that rats had any need for little blue pills, quite the opposite.
 
The stuff I used says after eating it they feel the need to find water..so off they trot to die and stink elsewhere as I make sure (as far a I can) there is no water close by for them.

I have no time for humane traps..kill the Ba$tards. I was going to 'bait & wait' and shoot them . But lack of decent backstop put paid to that plan.

My post was not so much has how to dispose of them but more a question of the strange covering up of the bait. Between my first post and this one I have been back to the shed and the bait was covered again.

My Mother lives alone and can't physically open the shed without help, I am the only one (human) who goes into the shed and it's certainly not me covering the bait up. It's time's like this I wish I had a trail camera.

The mystery continues.....
 
Odd one this.

I spotted signs of rats mooching around in my mothers garden shed and she has seen them in the fur and flesh.

As no one else has access to the shed and there are no pets on the property I simply filled an up turned clay pigeon with that blue grain/barley rat poison placed it on the shed floor and checked it from time to time.

After it had been knocked around and the contents eaten a few times ...no more rodents .

A few months later there were signs 'Rodent's return' so I repeated the exercise.

This time when I inspected the upturned clay pigeon the bait had been covered with dead leaves/bark/feces etc and left untouched. I have cleared it off a few times only to return a few days later to discover it covered again in a similar manner !

Anyone ?
They clever and learn about bad stuff
 
The stuff I used says after eating it they feel the need to find water.
That's it, I remember now. Exactly what the pest controller said.
 
Yea I had rats in the roof in a house in Africa and it took forever to get rid of them (I also had a pet white rat as a kid and it was bloody clever). They learn and you need to keep moving and changing the type of bait. Also remove whatever it is that is bringing them in.
 
If I get Rats/Mice etc I will get one of these to dispatch them to a better place. Better for me at least.

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