How to get rid of rats in your home?

[sonya123]

Be careful with the Tomcat green blocks. My Aussie ate one. We took her straight to the vet. She wasn't really the same afterwards. I think it affected her nervous system.

I had some behind a china cabinet. We rearanged the furniture and our old mutt ate some of it before I removed it. Called the vet and he told me to give him something to make him throw up but I forgot what, maybe cooking oil? Or baking soda? Can't remember but he never threw up and he was fine. I am really careful now where I put them

 

[sonya123]

I think if I had rats. I would puke.

don't ever live on a farm....

 

[sonya123]

If you want "natural" rodent control, I'll gladly send you some of my rattlesnakes.

no thanks, we have them too and I would rather have a rat than a rattlesnake

 

[FarmOR]

Rat control? Baking soda and old cake mix 50/50. Been using it two years now. Keeps rodents controlled in my parked farm equipment too...

 

[Magus]

Dry potato flakes and readily available water does a good job.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I had some behind a china cabinet. We rearanged the furniture and our old mutt ate some of it before I removed it. Called the vet and he told me to give him something to make him throw up but I forgot what, maybe cooking oil? Or baking soda? Can't remember but he never threw up and he was fine. I am really careful now where I put them

I gave my dogs a shot of peroxide when they ate a box of poison bait. They immediately puked it up.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I use a lot of the Tin Cat mouse traps around here. I put one on the front porch, rear deck, in the garage a couple in the barn and in some of the out buildings. I also keep several types of poison bait in all of the buildings. I keep several rat traps set for chipmunks around the area too. A bucket half filled with water kills a lot of rodents too. They get in, and can't get out.

 

[sonya123]

I gave my dogs a shot of peroxide when they ate a box of poison bait. They immediately puked it up.

THAT was it! Peroxide! I was supposed to give him some of that, and did but he never puked. I think this dog is pretty tough. He is our only rescue, daughter found him in a garbage bag on the side of the road starving ( special place in hell for people that did that!)

 

[winds-of-change]

Maybe I’m misinformed but I was told if you poison the rats or mice they just go off and die somewhere and stink up your house. Is that true?

 

[Patchouli]

It is true, @winds-of-change but the smell goes away after a couple of weeks or so. Little dead rodent corpses. To clarify, we’d hear the rats in the walls while trying to sleep. And my husband was in the kitchen and enclosed back porch when it ran over his foot, in the dark.

 

[winds-of-change]

THAT was it! Peroxide! I was supposed to give him some of that, and did but he never puked. I think this dog is pretty tough. He is our only rescue, daughter found him in a garbage bag on the side of the road starving ( special place in hell for people that did that!)

I agree about the special place in hell for such animal abuse.

I have a funny story about giving a dog peroxide. I love onions and one day I microwaved a couple vidalia onions in butter. I only ate some of them and was going to clear off the table in a bit. When I went back to put away left overs, my little Papillon was standing ON the table and had eaten all the onions. I called the vet since digs aren’t supposed to eat onions and he said to give her hydrogen peroxide so she’ll vomit. We’ll, that’s what I did then put her outside. Two hours later, she had not vomited and she seemed okay. I was going out of town and my son said he’d watch her. So I drove her over and as soon as she gets in his house, the dogs pukes.

 

[SLADE]

don't ever live on a farm....

I do. I have seen 1 rat in 20 years and if I saw him that means he is no longer with us.

 

[Supervisor42]

I do. I have seen 1 rat in 20 years and if I saw him that means he is no longer with us.

Yep.
Anybody want to guess why they sell THIS? :

Rats are tough customers... don't play nice!

 

[SLADE]

I'm more the double barreled 12 gauge filled with bird shot type.

 

[dademoss]

Small rodents the hens think are a snack. Bigger ones the Community cats get. If they can't handle it, it's .410

 

[Mountain trapper]

Maybe I’m misinformed but I was told if you poison the rats or mice they just go off and die somewhere and stink up your house. Is that true?

I've never had mice in my house before. But if I did I'd only use traps in the house. In my barn, shop and other outbuildings I find dead mice all the time. Yes, they do smell until they dry out. Usually the dogs find them first. They never eat the mice, they just take turns carrying them around for a few days.

 

[The Lazy L]

Wife feeds every stray cat in our State and the four surrounding States. No rats, no mice, no chipmunks, no baby rabbits, just an increase raccoon population that's drawn to the leftover, twice a day cat feedings.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I use a lot of the rodents that I catch in traps for making baits for trapping. The wife gave me one of her old blenders so I can grind up the mice. I mix in some preservative and anti-freeze, and in some batches I add a little skunk essence, then bottle it. Rodents have their uses.

 

[Weedygarden]

don't ever live on a farm....

Truth! But you can have both rats and rattlesnakes in some situations, because the snakes feed on the rats.

Uncle had 5 metal grain bins. All around the bins were rats and rat holes and then snakes! I mowed around those bins and the rats were thick, but so were the snakes! I drove by the bins one day and a very long snake was crossing the road. I ran over it because I didn't see it before I ran over it, not that I would have stopped to let him pass. When I realized that I had run over a very long snake, I backed up, and somehow he wasn't there. Maybe I was going too fast to do some damage.

Relative to grain, you can count on the fact that any and all grain products have rodent droppings in them, ground up with the grain!

 

[Magus]

I'm going to get some angry emoji, but you know me...
I was making a knife out of a bush hog blade years back, when this huge rat came blundering up the driveway, Not a cat in sight, So I took my blade and tested the balance by impaling his head to the driveway. One in a hundred shot too! I'm not a knife thrower.

 

[Buffalo]

What I am seeing everyone reference is ways to deal with rats AFTER they've made it into the house. The first and most important steps is PREVENT them from getting in. Mice, rats and bats (flying mice basically), can wiggle in through any opening that they can get their heads through. For rats I've heard it is a quarter size and for mice and bats it's a dime. You need to do a carefully assessment of your living space to see if any of those openings exist.

A few years ago, we were dealing with mice in our house. I was thinking they were coming in under the garage door. Put a new seal on the bottom and sides of the door, even added a threshold strip on the floor for the door to seal against. No change. I felt like I spent every waking hour not at work looking for entrances that they could get through. A friend down the street commented that they had had a problem as well, after a house a hoarder had lived in was condemned, he found that they were getting in through an attic vent. I went up in our attic one midday to look for light intrusion, but couldn't see anything out of the normal light from for the soffits. Crawled up on the roof and noticed that when the roofers had replaced our roof the previous summer, they had not replaced the chimney cap for the furnace and hot water heater completely. I wouldn't have noticed this if I hadn't observed a finch duck under the cap. I took the cap completely off, upset the finch who built their nest in there by unceremoniously removing it, added a screen of wire fabric over the opening and reinstalling the cap and screwing the sides back down. Then I placed bait stations in the attic and in several areas of the house. Within a week our mouse problem was gone.

Basically what my long winded story is saying is: Don't bail the water out of the boat until you figure out where the leak is!

 

[Weedygarden]

I use a lot of the rodents that I catch in traps for making baits for trapping. The wife gave me one of her old blenders so I can grind up the mice. I mix in some preservative and anti-freeze, and in some batches I add a little skunk essence, then bottle it. Rodents have their uses.

Such an interesting way to use rodents, but my stomach turns when I read that you ground them up.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Such an interesting way to use rodents, but my stomach turns when I read that you ground them up.

Yeah, the wife gets a little squeamish too. She also gets a little upset when she pulls a package out of the freezer and finds some frozen mice or a couple muskrat carcasses rather than a chicken.

 

[Magus]

We had made a game out of catching mice and rats, anyone remember this?

We set up something like it for real in the basement, except the end run put them into a 33-gallon grease drum, and on occasion we spiced it up with our pellet rifles and BB guns, I used a blowgun once, but it was hella' inhumane! Anyway, once a week, we'd take the little vermin off to the woods and turn them loose where they belonged. I'll bet the foxes, bobcats and hawks loved us!

 

[Tim Horton]

I have for sale/trade a dozen custom (never used) Victor "Survivalist" Rat Traps. They are custom painted camouflage, with a skillfully drilled 3/16" hole for attaching 550 parachute cord. The design is fully tested and works for Ermine/Weasel, & Tree Rats.
= = = = =
I have never used poison baits as I didn't want a rodent dying in a place I couldn't reach and stinking for a long time...
I used Victor brand traps with the plastic bait paddle trigger.. I modified the traps with brad nails sticking up near where the kill bar closes on the trap base to assure a rodent CAN NOT escape.. Also the string tie down is a must as one varmint will carry away your trap to consume the varmint in the trap.. I also used this modification system on Victor brand mouse traps to good success...

I never had trouble with rats, or chipmunks but caught many red squirrels doing damage in and around buildings.. I caught about 20 or so ermine, long tail weasel all in the vestibule of our chicken house.. Unfortunately still loosing many chickens in the process...

I built a bottomless box with a 2" entrance hole to cover a trap set in with the chickens.. Be sure to put a cement block on the box heavy enough the chickens can't turn the trap cover box over exposing the trap..

My Main Coon cat, all 10+kilo of him would not bother getting off the couch to catch a mouse let alone go outside...

 

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

A rotten, no good for nothing genius mouse is running around in broad daylight thumbing his nose at me. He totally has all the traps figured out and could care less about us. He will come right up and watch me doing whatever. I am going to try a live trap, and send him to Magus to keep his possum company.

 

[Magus]

BB gun.

 

[Magus]

I have for sale/trade a dozen custom (never used) Victor "Survivalist" Rat Traps. They are custom painted camouflage, with a skillfully drilled 3/16" hole for attaching 550 parachute cord. The design is fully tested and works for Ermine/Weasel, & Tree Rats.
= = = = =
I have never used poison baits as I didn't want a rodent dying in a place I couldn't reach and stinking for a long time...
I used Victor brand traps with the plastic bait paddle trigger.. I modified the traps with brad nails sticking up near where the kill bar closes on the trap base to assure a rodent CAN NOT escape.. Also the string tie down is a must as one varmint will carry away your trap to consume the varmint in the trap.. I also used this modification system on Victor brand mouse traps to good success...

I never had trouble with rats, or chipmunks but caught many red squirrels doing damage in and around buildings.. I caught about 20 or so ermine, long tail weasel all in the vestibule of our chicken house.. Unfortunately still loosing many chickens in the process...

I built a bottomless box with a 2" entrance hole to cover a trap set in with the chickens.. Be sure to put a cement block on the box heavy enough the chickens can't turn the trap cover box over exposing the trap..

My Main Coon cat, all 10+kilo of him would not bother getting off the couch to catch a mouse let alone go outside...

Have you ever shown him a mouse? he may not know what to do with it.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I think I'd rather deal with the rodents than get a cat. Cats are sneaky little critters.

 

[Patchouli]

@Mountain trapper years back I saw an article about Baltimore’s rat problem. Photo showed cats keeping their distance from rather LARGE rats. The word was that majority of those city cats left the rats alone. Too big and vicious.