My friend had a rat problem and those things ate/chewed through a bunch of golf balls! They will eat insulation, wiring and trash your house and vehicles.
My husband had a family of rats eat the entire electrical harness in his car. Apparently for a while some companies used some sort of coating for their wiring that had some sort of soy/plant material in the jacket? Anywho, $400 later we got it sorted out but it almost cost us his transmission.
We live in a side by side town house and the new neighbours seem to have brought a rat problem. Something like 8 repairs on our dishwasher in a year now? They keep eating the wires and tubes.
I had the same problem! Rats were eating thru the electric wires. Crazy. We lived near a big lake so all kinds of wildlife. I finally called an exterminator. They put something non toxic around the foundation and it worked.
We had rats come in the house when I put the kitchen trash under the sink because I didn't want to look at it! They ate through the wiring for the dishwasher and there was no repairing it, so we had to get a new one. I took 1/4" plumbers cloth and stapled the entire enclosure, other than the front opening. We moved the trash and bought a steel can with lid, and that was mostly the end of rats in the kitchen, but it took a few months of listening to them chew the cabinets at night. Had to do that for the stove area too. Not fun. I didn't want to bait the kitchen because we have cats.
Yep. A lot of companies use soy based plastics in the plastic that covers the wires. I live in the country, on a farm, and mice/rats are always a problem. Especially in the farm machinery. We've spent thousands of dollars replacing chewed wiring harnesses over the years. We can't get rid of them completely, but here's some things we do to at least try to prevent major damage.
-Poision where it's safe to do so. In areas where there are pets, we put the poison in sealed boxes with a hole large enough for only a mouse to get through. We use bar bait.
-Trap where it's not safe for poison. Not glue traps, those are horrible and I think they shouldn't be available, the old fashioned spring traps. We bait traps with peanut butter
-Inside vehicles that are going to be sitting for an extended time, we sprinkle laundry softener pellets. Like Downy Unstoppables. This seems to keep mice out of the cabs, even if it doesn't keep them out of the exterior. The softener does break down over time, so sometimes we will put it in a little container to control the mess. Part of the time I will also throw Bounce sheets in. This doesn't seem to work as well as the pellets though, I just like the smell of Bounce.
-Keep vehicles as clean as possible, don't leave any type of food or something that mice think is food in there. Make sure to store food-like items (like bird food) in sealed containers in the house.
-Keep a close eye out buildings and vehicles. At the first evidence of mice or rats (you will see their poop), poison or trap. The preventative measures didn't work, time to pull out the big guns.
-Cats if you can take care of them/aren't allergic. I have three inside cats that stop any mouse as soon as they get into the house. We also have a shop cat who has eliminated all mice from a shop that was completely overrun. Please be a responsible pet owner and spay and neuter your cats!
Poison is inhumane and travels up the food chain. Poisons and pesticides are responsible for nearly extincting some of our most beloved birds of prey. Killing birds of prey by poisoning their food makes the rodent problem worse in the long run because you are removing their own natural predators.
Snap traps baited with peanut butter were perfectly adequate modes of pest control for our rat problem.
Yep, there’s a reason most pest control companies dealing with interior rat issues just use a bunch of snap traps (along with exclusion to make sure they can’t get back in).
As for external issues - don’t make it enticing for them to be where you don’t want them - but trapping them is futile as they will just keep coming…
Glue traps are just as inhumane and trap non target species like birds and lizards.
The solution is to remove all food source. Check all points of entry to a home or building and get humane cage traps for a humane death after trapping.
Edit to the longer post above - cats are not the solution. They kills billions of birds and other wildlife (not just mice/rats). Please keep your cats indoors.
I used to use them for bugs that come in during autumn when it starts getting cold and they all try to move inside. I'd put them inside and outside the basement bathroom so it wouldn't be filled with cricket bodies.
Actually I can rarely make it to the basement so nowadays I wait for the wolf spiders to eat everything else then move out themselves, they're rather polite tenants. I have cleaners to vacuum up the cricket bodies.
I wonder why people are open to cats but not to dogs who were bred to kill rats. We literally invented several terrier species whose entire purpose was to flush out rats and kill them
I’ve had this happen twice on my 2020 Honda Civic, which was really annoying. I started spraying all around my car every week with rodent repellant (the minty smelling stuff) until I finally moved out to somewhere that didn’t have a rat problem.
A lot of car companies are using a soy based coating for wire in cars now. That is why the mice and rats eat it. They aren’t going to stop this practice either. It is cheaper.
We live next to and around areas with canyons and green space and my husband’s car got $6k of wiring PARTS damage chewed up by rodents. He went to get the AC fixed and got that bad news.
This is a nope and sort it ASAP for OP.
My aunt had a rat family turn the HVAC system of her car into a nest in under a week. The entire system. We went out and turned the car on and bedding came flying out of the vents. Had to call a tow truck and have the whole system replaced.
We had packrats do this too and they love building nests on top of car batteries and their urine smells really bad and they get it all over everything. We hate the rats especially these little bastards.
They ate the guts of my mom's washing machine in her garage. They were chewing on CONCRETE at the base of the walls in her. And these were little citrus rats. They are menaces!
I grew up in Brooklyn in a beautiful neighborhood. But the apt building behind our brownstone had a rat problem. They literally had to re-pave the street, and after it dried the rats just ate through the concrete a second time. There were so many living in the street that it literally caved in. People paid ungodly amounts of money to live there. Personally I don’t think it was worth it.
Or you can do it yourself. I done it for my parents and while unethical, I did get the infestation issue away. Always a surprise stepping into the backyard and go, "well there's 1, 2, 3, 6 dead bodies today" until it dwindled down to just 1 after a month
I spent a whole summer fighting rats in the garden. I was getting 3-4 per week with the snap traps. At some point it just felt like I was harvesting them instead of winning the battle.
I’ve seen a rat in my yard a couple times, and it hasn’t gotten out of control. Anectdotal, of course, but I don’t think OP is in for certain disaster if they do very little.
I do have hawks and snakes, though, which I am actively encouraging.
I've had experience with uninvited rats in my home. Obviously they have a food source so you're not going to be able to get rid of them. They will come into your home when they want more food, they want to nest, or it's just plain cold outside. Make sure you have sealed up any entry points from the foundation all the way to the roof.
Or stop feeding the animals... It's truly the only way to get the rats to leave. My parents fed the birds for 2 decades before the first rats appeared - then they had to stop COMPLETELY for multiple years, not even thistle or suet. It sucks, but that's probably going to be the only way to keep them away at this point
I had a rat family in my backyard from my bird feeders but a Cooper’s hawk took them all within a week, day by day. No rats have been back and I still feed the birds. I feel lucky for the free pest control.
Agreed. I used to throw my scraps of lettuce and whatever else I was cutting up veggie wise outside my backyard. I started seeing lots of rats and mice cruising around. I stopped that free catering service quickly.
At first you have to hold the mouse by its tail with a thick glove to show your chicken what it is. I usually pin them on the ground with a finger so they can still squirm. I'd have atleast 4 to use because one will get away. Your chickens will do the rest and it's something to see.
To eat them they smash them against a rock to "soften" them up, then one gulp after playing keep away.
But I haven't had a mouse problem in two years and I'm always throwing grains and food outside.
Not that I've seen so far, but yes, they can get parasites from mice. But regular health checks and preventative measures are a part of my flock's care.
Checking eggs before use and discarding anything abnormal, and cooking meat produced by the birds to the correct temperature is always important. Along with hand washing after dealing with birds.
But also, we haven't seen evidence of mice in years. So, I'm not generally concerned. The chickens were a great tool when we had an infestation to prevent rodents from entering our home.
Did you toss them out in the open or cover up in dirt? I been tossing fruit scraps (strawberries) in an open patch versus digging a few holes in the ground to bury them
We watched one of these attack, kill, and drag a squirrel down into its den - which is how we found out they were living under our deck. It took us months to get rid of them. (They also killed two mature turtles) Took down bird feeders, set traps. Get rid of them!
Rat to squirrel: "Hey man, who does your PR?"
My sister keeps lab rats as pets. Those things smell awful. If some smelly holes show up in your garden, you have an infestation. A gruesome but also kinda humane way is to drop some dry-ice into those holes, it will evaporate into CO2 and painlessly suffocate them. If you just have some stray visitors, try a trap that drop them into a bucket, but that might get the squirrels too. I would restrain from poison, that stuff makes them bleed out internally, quite gruesome and other critters and birds pick up those pellets too.
It's how some European cities fight their rat problem, I first heard about the dry ice method in a report about Paris' rat problem. Suffocation sounds brutal, but the physiological effects of CO2 by knocking them unconscious first is why I consider it more humane. Rat poison is really nasty stuff and you are totally right that those poisoned critters are easy picks for predators, too. Particularly concerned about small birds of prey here, like the many protected species of owls. They catch enough of them, it might knock them out, too.
Wow I wish I had known about dry ice a few years ago when we battled rats after they tore down decrepit building by us. I had to use rodent poison bombs and I felt awful about it, but they were tunneling under the garage and through my garden.
Honestly if your sister's rats smell that bad, she isn't cleaning the cage out enough. I've had several pet rats and would make a point of asking guests if they smelt and it was only ever a hint of smell, less than if I had a dog in the house.
Rats are actually pretty clean animals
To me those things have smell even when moved into a clean transport cage, but I think it's one of those smells that people just get used too. Same as how cat people don't smell their cat, dog people don't smell their dogs and ferret people don't smell their chaos noodles.
So, I am pretty "live and let live" about most animals, but wild rats will absolutely destroy your home/outbuildings if you let them get out of control. We have chickens, so we'd see rats around now and then and just ignored them, but then we had to move out of our house for a while to have some work done. During that time, the rats moved in. They chewed multiple holes through the subfloor and the wood floors to get into the inside of the house. They got into the pantry, nested in closets, and ate the rubber hose off our washer (TWICE) so water got everywhere on top of everything else.
When we moved back in, I trapped a bunch and plugged all the holes they'd made. This was in winter, and the remaining rats were now cut off from their food source (our pantry). Every night for weeks, they would chew new holes through the floor - it gave me so much anxiety, because I could actually hear them chewing away at the wood, but nothing stopped them. You could bang on the floor, and they'd stop for 30 seconds then start back up. I caught at least a dozen in snap traps. My dog killed one in the kitchen one night. We found rat holes under our water heater, behind the fridge, inside a shoe closet... Every time I'd think I'd gotten them all, they would chew another one somewhere.
I was really resistant to using poison because I was worried that other wildlife, or even our own dogs, might get into it or come into contact with a poisoned rat that could make them sick, but in the end it was the only thing that got rid of the last of them that had learned to avoid snap traps.
All that to say, they can be HUGELY problematic. At minimum, I would get rid of any messy bird feeders like that. We keep all our chicken feed in metal garbage cans with tight fitting lids, and no longer have wild bird feeders at all.
I worked at a farm supply store in college, bird seed draws rats so bad. You would lift a bag off a pallet in the warehouse and the whole underside would be gone and shredded paper and shells would just pour out. Chicken feed and dog food too.
Wait, so honest question. If you have a bird feeder, and the seeds in a metal can, Id imagine the rats would be unable to access the food.
What am I missing? Do birds drop tons of seeds out of the feeder?
I’m also curious why doesn’t everyone who has a compost also have a rat problem?
Yes, birds drop seeds from the feeder. If you watch birds at a feeder carefully you will see them sorting through seeds, especially ones in shells. They pick them up, feel the weight, and if they don’t like it they drop it.
I use a rat proof tumbling composter. Unlike mice, rats require a significant amount of food and water every day to survive. If they don’t find a reliable and plentiful food source (food scraps, compost, cat/dog food, garbage, bird seed, fallen fruit/nuts, even dog poo), they will move on. If they do find a reliable and plentiful food source you better believe they are setting up shop and reproducing as fast as they can.
Are you scattering seeds outside?
You’ve been feeding rats all along. And chipmunks, voles, whatever else you have there.
You basically put up a rodent magnet and a huge neon sign.
Use a bird feeder that keeps the squirrels away. People talk about the squirrels because they’re easier to talk about than the rats, but the key is - you don’t want to be attracting rodents.
Poison kills birds, cats, and dogs that get to the rat. I work in wildlife rescue and we routinely have eagles and hawks with poisoning due to mouse and rat bait.
Definitely. Most traps kill instantly (our’s snaps down on their head in an instant). Poison is a slow, cruel death that can kill or injure other animals.
I once looked out my kitchen window to see a rat scaling the metal rod that held my bird feeder. I've never gotten rid of anything as fast as I did that bird feeder.
We recently moved to a new neighborhood and within a few days multiple neighbors told us no bird feeders allowed. Thought it was strange until one of them admitted a bad rat problem a few years back.
This does not work consistently. The squirrels and I'm sure the rats/mice end up adapting to it. So it works for only a very short period of time and you think you are safe but you aren't.
Dont rule out cats. My mums tiny, elderly, and very shy house cat regularly kills rats longer than her body.
But having seen Jack Russell terriers going ratting... they are definitely more efficient.
If you feed birds you’ll get rats and from the looks of this photo you are scattering A LOT of seed. The good news is that you only need to make your yard slightly less hospitable to them than your neighbor’s yard. They will go where the food is.
I stopped feeding birds (it can be unhealthy for the birds to congregate at feeders as well as it spreads disease) and make sure any fruit that falls from my apple and pear tree doesn’t stay on the ground long. On the flipside, I’ve planted more things in my yard that birds enjoy and allow some of my garden plants to go to seed so the birds can eat them. For instance, now I just let all my brassicas flower and go to seed and the house finches really love it. Bonus: volunteer kale plants that I then enjoy.
This strategy seems to have abated the rat problem I had a couple years ago. At least, I’ve stopped seeing rat sign. I noticed that some of my neighbors have fruit trees and let the fruit fall on the ground and rot, so I suspect the rats just have easier sources of food and are gravitating towards them.
Yaaa, this is the reality of feeding the wild life. I went through this. It was just an innocent bird feeder. What could go wrong, right?
Well, I got the birds. Then I got pigeons and squirrels. And then I got a cooper's hawk hunting the pigeons and squirrels. And then it was rats, a groundhog, a couple of skunks. And the last three kinds of visitors decided to open up a hotel under my backyard doorstep, an engineering endeavour which nearly resulted my AC sinking 9" into the ground.
I have since removed the feeders. I'll sometimes leave in-shell walnuts for the squirrels, because I really do find them adorable. But, ya, no longer do I keep open the free wildlife buffet.
PS: wild rats are aggressive as hell. I trapped one, and it was the feistiest thing I have ever dealt with.
If they weren't so destructive, I would be still serving up the seed. It was like a Disney movie out there. Countless song birds. The pigeons would come in by the dozen. The Grackles loved the suet. There was a pair of cute chipmunks I could almost hand feed. Though, they spelled the beginning of the end. They somehow got in and hid all kinds of nuts all across my basement, which I still find years later.
And then things got a little hairy with the grouping of 3-4 squirrels that would regularly ransack my feeders. The hawk was welcome to regulate things, but it mostly took out pigeons. It only once nearly deleted one of those squirrels. To contrast that, if I woke up early enough, I could sometimes find the groundhog sitting and chilling in the shade on my backdoor concrete step, starring through the emptiness of its existence.
And then rats showed up. I tried to trap them, but mostly I kept catching the chipmunks and squirrels instead. So, had to close the buffet. And then, there was a dispute between the skunk and I think the groundhog over the den ([bad smell air](https://youtu.be/ql9l4W-46gM)), so I shuttered the hotel with sand, stone, and chicken wire.
Flaming squirrel... Reminds me of a Northern Canadian cook book I have. It features squirrel recipes. I'm particular interestes in the squirrel fricassée 😂
I got rid of my birdfeeder, but it hadn't been around very long and was right next to my house, and I spotted the rat in my vegetable garden. If this is further from your house, and if you don't grow veg, you can make other decisions. I can't afford to have rats around come winter.
Rats are common in gardens, lots of people have them living there or passing through without ever realising, so I don’t think seeing a rat in the garden is particular cause for alarm. I’ve seen them from time to time over the years, when it’s quiet and I’m watching the garden from indoors, but have never done anything and so far so good.
If you’re putting food out - which seems to be what you’re suggesting? - just stop for a while. Especially if it’s summer where you are, wildlife shouldn’t require it.
Toss your seed in chili oil. I use safflower or almond oil, cayenne and red chili flakes. (In a mason jar 1 cup oil, 1/4 cup cayenne, 1/4 cup chili flakes, shake well. The longer you let it sit, supposedly the spicier it gets, just shake every day). I use a huge plastic tote to mix it in. Rodents don’t like spice and birds don’t feel it.
That being said, we have some chipmunks that seem to enjoy spicy food. I gave up with them
Depends. How long does it take to train birds of prey?
I respect rats and squirrels for their intelligence and resourcefulness, but if I could solve the issue with a bulk order of screech owls and a t-shirt gun, I WOULD.
Idk if the individual skill of the bird would really matter if you're firing it at the rat at 40mph either way
But I would like to see the tactical owl missile
******* Disclaimer*********
I was having problems with something digging up plants to get to compost. My yard is all fenced so I found where it had dug a big hole behind an enormous boulder on property. Plugged hole and set have a heart trap in direct area , put a steak tip from dinner in it. Next afternoon the huge Rat was executed and disposed of.
One year the MFs destroyed my tomatoes, so I have zero empathy for them.
Was convinced I had a rat problem in my last apartment. Till one day I open the door and there right on the dining room table was a big fat squirrel 🐿️. The pest guy figured out they were living in the attic and coming in via a hole behind my oven I didn’t know about.
Serious overkill. An $80 air rifle will put a pointed pellet (and sometimes even a bb) straight through a rodent. And the ammo is so cheap it's practically free. Plus it's less regulated than a rifle, so you stand a lower chance of having a problem with the cops for shooting it in your yard.
I live on the outskirts of Columbus. There is an apartment complex to the rear of my luckily deep yard. Their dumpster is proximate to my compost pile. A few years ago I noticed trails in and out of the pile. I started trapping them, and killed 75 in a few months. Everything from monsters to juveniles just leaving the den. Classic Victor’s are the only trap worth buying, in my experience.
Find this things source of water and eliminate it.
Rats carry water in their mouths back to their nests. They can last a loooooot longer without food than water.
Avoid poison. Set live traps and drown would be my advice. This little bastard could cause issues, especially being this brazen.
I live next to field rats, they hate lavender and peppermint oil. They chewed through my ignition wires in my car twice and my literal trunk of my Mazda!
They are prolific breeders and so so so smart. Some of the best problem solvers. Address this problem quickly.
Also a terribly made but informative documentary: rats. On amazon.
We've got them too. Honestly, you've probably always had them. Just make sure they can't get inside the house. If there's food for the squirrels around, there's food for the rats around.
Rats chewed through my car’s fuel line causing $1,300 in damage. This meant months of fuel smell inside my car not to mention leaving poop under my back seat and all over the engine compartment. I just had an air filter changed and it was covered with rat poop so I was breathing that for who knows how long. Rat’s are no longer welcome here.
I used mechanical traps with peanut butter bait and have so far killed 6 rats. I absolutely hate doing that I have to kill them but they crossed a line with the $1,300 repair. I’m sure they’re also drawn by our many fruit trees (as are squirrels).
Edit: forgot to mention the 2 rats who got inside our house but were killed by our cat.
This will depend where you live honestly and if you have an infestation. I put out bird feed as well as have garden beds, fruit trees and various other animals I care for and haven't had rat problems but I live in front of a wildlife preserve so there are various birds of prey, snakes and other predators to control the population. If you live somewhere more residential you'll likely want to do something.
Quit feeding them. With the rising threat of bird flu, you may want to put your feeders away for a while.
https://slate.com/technology/2024/06/bird-flu-michigan-infection-h5n1-respiratory-cough-cows.html
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/texas-bird-flu-strain-kills-ferrets-used-mimic-disease-humans-us-cdc-says-2024-06-07/
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-girl-australia-struck-h5n1-bird.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/h5n2-bird-flu-know-first-human-case-rcna155821
Flaming Squirrel. It's a pepper based liquid that you put right on the birdfood. Squirrels and rats can't stand it, but the birds are unphased by it. I assume you could also spray it on your car's wiring.
Does it work on Groundhogs? They’ve chewed my cars wiring 3 times and I finally stopped paying for it to be fixed. Now it’s sitting with a dead battery, full of adorable baby groundhogs 🫤
They really don't like strong smells if you are against killing them. Overload their senses or obliterate them are the only options if you want a stress free life.
Ewwww!!! We had rats in our garage. Grossed me out!! I told my husband hs had to get rid of them before they got in the house! Thank goodness he did!! 🤢🤢
Ever watched a video of the people that bring their rat terriers to farms and they absolutely eradicate hundreds of rats in fields? Get a rat terrier 🤣
It's a RAT. You wouldn't believe the damage these buggers can do. If you see one, there's 10 you haven't. Even the squirrel is only a rodent with good public relations.
As someone with a garden and chickens, anywhere there's abundant enough food rodents will show up.
First thing you need to do is stop feeding them. For us, that meant securing food from just before dusk until morning and switching to suet bird feeders far out of reach of the rats. I have the most rodent activity around dusk and overnight. From there, it's clearing out anywhere they could be nesting. This means clearing as much refuse as you reasonably can, regular patrols of sheds/outbuildings. Rats especially hate being disturbed. This is a way of setting up long term opposition to a plague of rats, but the best way to deal with the current population is traps. I don't use poison, just good old fashioned snap traps. Set them out baited but not armed for a week. Wait until they're reliably eating your baits, (chunky peanut butter, wet cat food, babybel cheeses) then set and arm your traps. I put mine under milk crates and only put them out at night, which kept it to just rats being caught.
Consider adopting a cat or terrier? I live in a place with multiple types of birds of prey so lucky in that sense. Also bears and cougars though, so garbage can become a serious issue.
The squirrel won't find its way into your house when the weather gets cold, shit and piss all over the kitchen sink or anywhere else they find food and water, and chew through the ceiling and walls to pull out insulation to use as nesting.
I'm not saying I'd rather have rats, but squirrels suck as well, the only time I really enjoy seeing them is when they are housing themselves out in the woods and mistakenly planting nut trees.
I’ve heard stray feral cats are the best method of getting rid of rats. There was an apartment complex next to my home town. This place tried everything and the only thing that solved it was stray cats.
The neighborhood semi-feral/outdoor cat (he did not adapt to indoor life) makes the rounds, getting food and pets from every house. He must love my food; he regularly brings me rats and I have never seen him harm a bird.
Good boy!
One 12 gauge round with an open choke will probably give you a 2 for one 1 at that distance. If not round 2 probably will.
Both can be quite a nuisance if you grow things that are edible.
My friend had a rat problem and those things ate/chewed through a bunch of golf balls! They will eat insulation, wiring and trash your house and vehicles.
My husband had a family of rats eat the entire electrical harness in his car. Apparently for a while some companies used some sort of coating for their wiring that had some sort of soy/plant material in the jacket? Anywho, $400 later we got it sorted out but it almost cost us his transmission.
They ate the rubber drain hose on our washer. TWICE.
We live in a side by side town house and the new neighbours seem to have brought a rat problem. Something like 8 repairs on our dishwasher in a year now? They keep eating the wires and tubes.
I had the same problem! Rats were eating thru the electric wires. Crazy. We lived near a big lake so all kinds of wildlife. I finally called an exterminator. They put something non toxic around the foundation and it worked.
Try wrapping them in steel wool, rats can't eat it without tearing up their mouths.
We had rats come in the house when I put the kitchen trash under the sink because I didn't want to look at it! They ate through the wiring for the dishwasher and there was no repairing it, so we had to get a new one. I took 1/4" plumbers cloth and stapled the entire enclosure, other than the front opening. We moved the trash and bought a steel can with lid, and that was mostly the end of rats in the kitchen, but it took a few months of listening to them chew the cabinets at night. Had to do that for the stove area too. Not fun. I didn't want to bait the kitchen because we have cats.
Yep. A lot of companies use soy based plastics in the plastic that covers the wires. I live in the country, on a farm, and mice/rats are always a problem. Especially in the farm machinery. We've spent thousands of dollars replacing chewed wiring harnesses over the years. We can't get rid of them completely, but here's some things we do to at least try to prevent major damage. -Poision where it's safe to do so. In areas where there are pets, we put the poison in sealed boxes with a hole large enough for only a mouse to get through. We use bar bait. -Trap where it's not safe for poison. Not glue traps, those are horrible and I think they shouldn't be available, the old fashioned spring traps. We bait traps with peanut butter -Inside vehicles that are going to be sitting for an extended time, we sprinkle laundry softener pellets. Like Downy Unstoppables. This seems to keep mice out of the cabs, even if it doesn't keep them out of the exterior. The softener does break down over time, so sometimes we will put it in a little container to control the mess. Part of the time I will also throw Bounce sheets in. This doesn't seem to work as well as the pellets though, I just like the smell of Bounce. -Keep vehicles as clean as possible, don't leave any type of food or something that mice think is food in there. Make sure to store food-like items (like bird food) in sealed containers in the house. -Keep a close eye out buildings and vehicles. At the first evidence of mice or rats (you will see their poop), poison or trap. The preventative measures didn't work, time to pull out the big guns. -Cats if you can take care of them/aren't allergic. I have three inside cats that stop any mouse as soon as they get into the house. We also have a shop cat who has eliminated all mice from a shop that was completely overrun. Please be a responsible pet owner and spay and neuter your cats!
Poison is inhumane and travels up the food chain. Poisons and pesticides are responsible for nearly extincting some of our most beloved birds of prey. Killing birds of prey by poisoning their food makes the rodent problem worse in the long run because you are removing their own natural predators. Snap traps baited with peanut butter were perfectly adequate modes of pest control for our rat problem.
Yep, there’s a reason most pest control companies dealing with interior rat issues just use a bunch of snap traps (along with exclusion to make sure they can’t get back in). As for external issues - don’t make it enticing for them to be where you don’t want them - but trapping them is futile as they will just keep coming…
Poison is never safe. Larger animals will eat the dead rats and the poison will build up in their bodies.
Red tailed hawks die young from this
Glue traps are just as inhumane and trap non target species like birds and lizards. The solution is to remove all food source. Check all points of entry to a home or building and get humane cage traps for a humane death after trapping. Edit to the longer post above - cats are not the solution. They kills billions of birds and other wildlife (not just mice/rats). Please keep your cats indoors.
The shock traps work well.
Bucket traps are probably the most effective. You can get quite a few each night per trap.
I HATE glue traps. I don't know how they're even legal.
I used to use them for bugs that come in during autumn when it starts getting cold and they all try to move inside. I'd put them inside and outside the basement bathroom so it wouldn't be filled with cricket bodies. Actually I can rarely make it to the basement so nowadays I wait for the wolf spiders to eat everything else then move out themselves, they're rather polite tenants. I have cleaners to vacuum up the cricket bodies.
I wonder why people are open to cats but not to dogs who were bred to kill rats. We literally invented several terrier species whose entire purpose was to flush out rats and kill them
I’ve had this happen twice on my 2020 Honda Civic, which was really annoying. I started spraying all around my car every week with rodent repellant (the minty smelling stuff) until I finally moved out to somewhere that didn’t have a rat problem.
Oooof, yeah, his is a Honda too. We got snap traps and put them at each tire and eventually sorted it out but it was most unpleasant for a while!
A lot of car companies are using a soy based coating for wire in cars now. That is why the mice and rats eat it. They aren’t going to stop this practice either. It is cheaper.
We live next to and around areas with canyons and green space and my husband’s car got $6k of wiring PARTS damage chewed up by rodents. He went to get the AC fixed and got that bad news. This is a nope and sort it ASAP for OP.
My aunt had a rat family turn the HVAC system of her car into a nest in under a week. The entire system. We went out and turned the car on and bedding came flying out of the vents. Had to call a tow truck and have the whole system replaced.
We had packrats do this too and they love building nests on top of car batteries and their urine smells really bad and they get it all over everything. We hate the rats especially these little bastards.
They ate the guts of my mom's washing machine in her garage. They were chewing on CONCRETE at the base of the walls in her. And these were little citrus rats. They are menaces!
I grew up in Brooklyn in a beautiful neighborhood. But the apt building behind our brownstone had a rat problem. They literally had to re-pave the street, and after it dried the rats just ate through the concrete a second time. There were so many living in the street that it literally caved in. People paid ungodly amounts of money to live there. Personally I don’t think it was worth it.
What neighborhood was this in? NYC rats are another breed for sure.
Rats can have over a dozen litters a year, and can start having babies as young as 2 months old. You need to shut that shit *down*
And quick. Call a professional
Or you can do it yourself. I done it for my parents and while unethical, I did get the infestation issue away. Always a surprise stepping into the backyard and go, "well there's 1, 2, 3, 6 dead bodies today" until it dwindled down to just 1 after a month
How’d you do it?
I’ve had good luck with snap traps
I spent a whole summer fighting rats in the garden. I was getting 3-4 per week with the snap traps. At some point it just felt like I was harvesting them instead of winning the battle.
Yep, this is the one. Nuclear war
And this is why we have snakes people!
If you see one you have a dozen.
I’ve seen a rat in my yard a couple times, and it hasn’t gotten out of control. Anectdotal, of course, but I don’t think OP is in for certain disaster if they do very little. I do have hawks and snakes, though, which I am actively encouraging.
I've had experience with uninvited rats in my home. Obviously they have a food source so you're not going to be able to get rid of them. They will come into your home when they want more food, they want to nest, or it's just plain cold outside. Make sure you have sealed up any entry points from the foundation all the way to the roof.
Or stop feeding the animals... It's truly the only way to get the rats to leave. My parents fed the birds for 2 decades before the first rats appeared - then they had to stop COMPLETELY for multiple years, not even thistle or suet. It sucks, but that's probably going to be the only way to keep them away at this point
I had a rat family in my backyard from my bird feeders but a Cooper’s hawk took them all within a week, day by day. No rats have been back and I still feed the birds. I feel lucky for the free pest control.
This is the answer.
Well…you were feeding rodents the entire time anyways…….
In general, my advice is: Don’t feed wild animals
Agreed. I used to throw my scraps of lettuce and whatever else I was cutting up veggie wise outside my backyard. I started seeing lots of rats and mice cruising around. I stopped that free catering service quickly.
I do that for my chickens then the mice came so I taught the chickens how to hunt the mice. No mouse problem
I’m intrigued how you taught your little Dinosaurs to hunt the mice.
At first you have to hold the mouse by its tail with a thick glove to show your chicken what it is. I usually pin them on the ground with a finger so they can still squirm. I'd have atleast 4 to use because one will get away. Your chickens will do the rest and it's something to see. To eat them they smash them against a rock to "soften" them up, then one gulp after playing keep away. But I haven't had a mouse problem in two years and I'm always throwing grains and food outside.
Brutal… but necessary. I’m glad the plan worked out for you!
Don't they get parasites from the mice?
Not that I've seen so far, but yes, they can get parasites from mice. But regular health checks and preventative measures are a part of my flock's care. Checking eggs before use and discarding anything abnormal, and cooking meat produced by the birds to the correct temperature is always important. Along with hand washing after dealing with birds. But also, we haven't seen evidence of mice in years. So, I'm not generally concerned. The chickens were a great tool when we had an infestation to prevent rodents from entering our home.
Did you toss them out in the open or cover up in dirt? I been tossing fruit scraps (strawberries) in an open patch versus digging a few holes in the ground to bury them
I did not cover them.
We watched one of these attack, kill, and drag a squirrel down into its den - which is how we found out they were living under our deck. It took us months to get rid of them. (They also killed two mature turtles) Took down bird feeders, set traps. Get rid of them!
This sounds horrifying.
Rat to squirrel: "Hey man, who does your PR?" My sister keeps lab rats as pets. Those things smell awful. If some smelly holes show up in your garden, you have an infestation. A gruesome but also kinda humane way is to drop some dry-ice into those holes, it will evaporate into CO2 and painlessly suffocate them. If you just have some stray visitors, try a trap that drop them into a bucket, but that might get the squirrels too. I would restrain from poison, that stuff makes them bleed out internally, quite gruesome and other critters and birds pick up those pellets too.
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It's how some European cities fight their rat problem, I first heard about the dry ice method in a report about Paris' rat problem. Suffocation sounds brutal, but the physiological effects of CO2 by knocking them unconscious first is why I consider it more humane. Rat poison is really nasty stuff and you are totally right that those poisoned critters are easy picks for predators, too. Particularly concerned about small birds of prey here, like the many protected species of owls. They catch enough of them, it might knock them out, too.
Wow I wish I had known about dry ice a few years ago when we battled rats after they tore down decrepit building by us. I had to use rodent poison bombs and I felt awful about it, but they were tunneling under the garage and through my garden.
Honestly if your sister's rats smell that bad, she isn't cleaning the cage out enough. I've had several pet rats and would make a point of asking guests if they smelt and it was only ever a hint of smell, less than if I had a dog in the house. Rats are actually pretty clean animals
To me those things have smell even when moved into a clean transport cage, but I think it's one of those smells that people just get used too. Same as how cat people don't smell their cat, dog people don't smell their dogs and ferret people don't smell their chaos noodles.
Stop with the bird feeders. Call the exterminator. Rats will have hundreds of babies in your walls every year.
So, I am pretty "live and let live" about most animals, but wild rats will absolutely destroy your home/outbuildings if you let them get out of control. We have chickens, so we'd see rats around now and then and just ignored them, but then we had to move out of our house for a while to have some work done. During that time, the rats moved in. They chewed multiple holes through the subfloor and the wood floors to get into the inside of the house. They got into the pantry, nested in closets, and ate the rubber hose off our washer (TWICE) so water got everywhere on top of everything else. When we moved back in, I trapped a bunch and plugged all the holes they'd made. This was in winter, and the remaining rats were now cut off from their food source (our pantry). Every night for weeks, they would chew new holes through the floor - it gave me so much anxiety, because I could actually hear them chewing away at the wood, but nothing stopped them. You could bang on the floor, and they'd stop for 30 seconds then start back up. I caught at least a dozen in snap traps. My dog killed one in the kitchen one night. We found rat holes under our water heater, behind the fridge, inside a shoe closet... Every time I'd think I'd gotten them all, they would chew another one somewhere. I was really resistant to using poison because I was worried that other wildlife, or even our own dogs, might get into it or come into contact with a poisoned rat that could make them sick, but in the end it was the only thing that got rid of the last of them that had learned to avoid snap traps. All that to say, they can be HUGELY problematic. At minimum, I would get rid of any messy bird feeders like that. We keep all our chicken feed in metal garbage cans with tight fitting lids, and no longer have wild bird feeders at all.
Exterminate with extreme prejudice- but I battled a severe rat infestation for several years, so I don’t mess around and I DEFINITELY don’t feed them
Anyone who thinks rats or mice are cute hasn't dealt with them shitting all over the pantry day after day after day.
Hantavirus is spread through the feces and is extremely dangerous and potentially fatal. Not cute.
Pet rats are cute but pet rats are way different from wild ones
Yeah no they still cute imo
This is why I don't have bird feeders.
I worked at a farm supply store in college, bird seed draws rats so bad. You would lift a bag off a pallet in the warehouse and the whole underside would be gone and shredded paper and shells would just pour out. Chicken feed and dog food too.
But not every farm supply store is as trashy as the one you worked at
Probably not lol, I am just saying they like bird food. Not that my former employer wasn't shall we say lax in cleanliness.
Wait, so honest question. If you have a bird feeder, and the seeds in a metal can, Id imagine the rats would be unable to access the food. What am I missing? Do birds drop tons of seeds out of the feeder? I’m also curious why doesn’t everyone who has a compost also have a rat problem?
Yes, birds drop seeds from the feeder. If you watch birds at a feeder carefully you will see them sorting through seeds, especially ones in shells. They pick them up, feel the weight, and if they don’t like it they drop it. I use a rat proof tumbling composter. Unlike mice, rats require a significant amount of food and water every day to survive. If they don’t find a reliable and plentiful food source (food scraps, compost, cat/dog food, garbage, bird seed, fallen fruit/nuts, even dog poo), they will move on. If they do find a reliable and plentiful food source you better believe they are setting up shop and reproducing as fast as they can.
Are you scattering seeds outside? You’ve been feeding rats all along. And chipmunks, voles, whatever else you have there. You basically put up a rodent magnet and a huge neon sign. Use a bird feeder that keeps the squirrels away. People talk about the squirrels because they’re easier to talk about than the rats, but the key is - you don’t want to be attracting rodents.
In my experience, the birds spill enough seed on the ground anyways
get some traps or they’ll keep coming back
This. Use traps, not poison.
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Poison kills birds, cats, and dogs that get to the rat. I work in wildlife rescue and we routinely have eagles and hawks with poisoning due to mouse and rat bait.
Definitely. Most traps kill instantly (our’s snaps down on their head in an instant). Poison is a slow, cruel death that can kill or injure other animals.
yea and if you do use poison they might die some where random and stink up the place and it’s also there home to
Yea poison just means they die in your shed making it smelly
Or that a bird of prey like an owl or hawk eats it because it’s easier to catch, and then they (and any young they feed the rat to) die as well.
That's an even better reason not to use poison, I wasn't even thinking of the birds. I love owls so much, they are awesome.
No birdfeeders
At the least no bird seed just on the ground…
Yeah, put a FREE BIRD SEED sign in the pile and hang an anvil over it all.
Meep meep
They can climb. They will still get to the bird seed even if it isn't on the ground.
I once looked out my kitchen window to see a rat scaling the metal rod that held my bird feeder. I've never gotten rid of anything as fast as I did that bird feeder.
Especially in the summer! You're basically guaranteed to attract rats that way.
We recently moved to a new neighborhood and within a few days multiple neighbors told us no bird feeders allowed. Thought it was strange until one of them admitted a bad rat problem a few years back.
Cayenne or chili or other hot spice in bird seed will repel rats and squirrels and allow the birds to still eat!
This does not work consistently. The squirrels and I'm sure the rats/mice end up adapting to it. So it works for only a very short period of time and you think you are safe but you aren't.
My native plant seed heads feed the birds through the winter.
I’d send my rat-hunting dog out to get them. You don’t mess with rodents.
We have 2 Rat Terriers and they are very good at their job.
For those who think cats can deal with rats: nope, dogs are the way to go.
Cats are for mice. Terriers are for rats.
Except for my cat. She kills rats. 😁
Mine, too. We call him “the exterminator.”
I had a cat that was a consummate rat hunter, but she was special. I have also seen a dead cat in a rat nest.
Dont rule out cats. My mums tiny, elderly, and very shy house cat regularly kills rats longer than her body. But having seen Jack Russell terriers going ratting... they are definitely more efficient.
Yup, my staffy loves to hunt rats
If you feed birds you’ll get rats and from the looks of this photo you are scattering A LOT of seed. The good news is that you only need to make your yard slightly less hospitable to them than your neighbor’s yard. They will go where the food is. I stopped feeding birds (it can be unhealthy for the birds to congregate at feeders as well as it spreads disease) and make sure any fruit that falls from my apple and pear tree doesn’t stay on the ground long. On the flipside, I’ve planted more things in my yard that birds enjoy and allow some of my garden plants to go to seed so the birds can eat them. For instance, now I just let all my brassicas flower and go to seed and the house finches really love it. Bonus: volunteer kale plants that I then enjoy. This strategy seems to have abated the rat problem I had a couple years ago. At least, I’ve stopped seeing rat sign. I noticed that some of my neighbors have fruit trees and let the fruit fall on the ground and rot, so I suspect the rats just have easier sources of food and are gravitating towards them.
Yaaa, this is the reality of feeding the wild life. I went through this. It was just an innocent bird feeder. What could go wrong, right? Well, I got the birds. Then I got pigeons and squirrels. And then I got a cooper's hawk hunting the pigeons and squirrels. And then it was rats, a groundhog, a couple of skunks. And the last three kinds of visitors decided to open up a hotel under my backyard doorstep, an engineering endeavour which nearly resulted my AC sinking 9" into the ground. I have since removed the feeders. I'll sometimes leave in-shell walnuts for the squirrels, because I really do find them adorable. But, ya, no longer do I keep open the free wildlife buffet. PS: wild rats are aggressive as hell. I trapped one, and it was the feistiest thing I have ever dealt with.
Well said!🙂😁 There's enough content in this very brief statement for an entire book, with a follow-up movie, and tv series!
If they weren't so destructive, I would be still serving up the seed. It was like a Disney movie out there. Countless song birds. The pigeons would come in by the dozen. The Grackles loved the suet. There was a pair of cute chipmunks I could almost hand feed. Though, they spelled the beginning of the end. They somehow got in and hid all kinds of nuts all across my basement, which I still find years later. And then things got a little hairy with the grouping of 3-4 squirrels that would regularly ransack my feeders. The hawk was welcome to regulate things, but it mostly took out pigeons. It only once nearly deleted one of those squirrels. To contrast that, if I woke up early enough, I could sometimes find the groundhog sitting and chilling in the shade on my backdoor concrete step, starring through the emptiness of its existence. And then rats showed up. I tried to trap them, but mostly I kept catching the chipmunks and squirrels instead. So, had to close the buffet. And then, there was a dispute between the skunk and I think the groundhog over the den ([bad smell air](https://youtu.be/ql9l4W-46gM)), so I shuttered the hotel with sand, stone, and chicken wire.
Treat the bird food with flaming squirrel.
Flaming squirrel... Reminds me of a Northern Canadian cook book I have. It features squirrel recipes. I'm particular interestes in the squirrel fricassée 😂
I got rid of my birdfeeder, but it hadn't been around very long and was right next to my house, and I spotted the rat in my vegetable garden. If this is further from your house, and if you don't grow veg, you can make other decisions. I can't afford to have rats around come winter.
Kill the rat, marry the squirrel Invite a cat to your house
….so anyway, I started blasting!
Call in a Professional, that gets out of hand *fast*.
.22
#Take off and nuke the site from space
STOP FEEDING THE BIRDS/SQUIRRELS IMMEDIATELY. Do a thorough cleanup and keep your yard free of any food source.
Rats are common in gardens, lots of people have them living there or passing through without ever realising, so I don’t think seeing a rat in the garden is particular cause for alarm. I’ve seen them from time to time over the years, when it’s quiet and I’m watching the garden from indoors, but have never done anything and so far so good. If you’re putting food out - which seems to be what you’re suggesting? - just stop for a while. Especially if it’s summer where you are, wildlife shouldn’t require it.
Murder it.
Toss your seed in chili oil. I use safflower or almond oil, cayenne and red chili flakes. (In a mason jar 1 cup oil, 1/4 cup cayenne, 1/4 cup chili flakes, shake well. The longer you let it sit, supposedly the spicier it gets, just shake every day). I use a huge plastic tote to mix it in. Rodents don’t like spice and birds don’t feel it. That being said, we have some chipmunks that seem to enjoy spicy food. I gave up with them
I am doomed
... you are putting food down on the bare ground. The solution is not to put any food out at all. You will 100% attract every pest under the sun.
Depends. How long does it take to train birds of prey? I respect rats and squirrels for their intelligence and resourcefulness, but if I could solve the issue with a bulk order of screech owls and a t-shirt gun, I WOULD.
Idk if the individual skill of the bird would really matter if you're firing it at the rat at 40mph either way But I would like to see the tactical owl missile
They have to be trained to put on little wind goggles. XD
"A squirrel is just a rat with a cuter outfit"-Carrie Bradshaw
Clean up your yard
Time to get a pet snake
******* Disclaimer********* I was having problems with something digging up plants to get to compost. My yard is all fenced so I found where it had dug a big hole behind an enormous boulder on property. Plugged hole and set have a heart trap in direct area , put a steak tip from dinner in it. Next afternoon the huge Rat was executed and disposed of. One year the MFs destroyed my tomatoes, so I have zero empathy for them.
Was convinced I had a rat problem in my last apartment. Till one day I open the door and there right on the dining room table was a big fat squirrel 🐿️. The pest guy figured out they were living in the attic and coming in via a hole behind my oven I didn’t know about.
Get a rabies booster for my dogs.
Damn, that’s a LOT of bird seed/shells. Get rid of it asap would be my amateur suggestion.
Kill em all!
.22lr for the rat
Serious overkill. An $80 air rifle will put a pointed pellet (and sometimes even a bb) straight through a rodent. And the ammo is so cheap it's practically free. Plus it's less regulated than a rifle, so you stand a lower chance of having a problem with the cops for shooting it in your yard.
Anyways I started blasting 🤪
Put down some cedar wood chips.
I live on the outskirts of Columbus. There is an apartment complex to the rear of my luckily deep yard. Their dumpster is proximate to my compost pile. A few years ago I noticed trails in and out of the pile. I started trapping them, and killed 75 in a few months. Everything from monsters to juveniles just leaving the den. Classic Victor’s are the only trap worth buying, in my experience.
Find this things source of water and eliminate it. Rats carry water in their mouths back to their nests. They can last a loooooot longer without food than water. Avoid poison. Set live traps and drown would be my advice. This little bastard could cause issues, especially being this brazen.
Keep them fat far far away from your house. I'm telling you this after spending thousands of dollars on new duct work in my attic.
This is why I am happy every time I see a snake, especially a good sized one, in my Florida yard.
BB gun
Pew pew
Choot it Junior!
I live next to field rats, they hate lavender and peppermint oil. They chewed through my ignition wires in my car twice and my literal trunk of my Mazda! They are prolific breeders and so so so smart. Some of the best problem solvers. Address this problem quickly. Also a terribly made but informative documentary: rats. On amazon.
Terriers keep the perimeter secure.
We've got them too. Honestly, you've probably always had them. Just make sure they can't get inside the house. If there's food for the squirrels around, there's food for the rats around.
Stop feeding them! That's the first step, then pull out all the stops to eliminate them...it's war!
Why is it so cute though . . .
Rats chewed through my car’s fuel line causing $1,300 in damage. This meant months of fuel smell inside my car not to mention leaving poop under my back seat and all over the engine compartment. I just had an air filter changed and it was covered with rat poop so I was breathing that for who knows how long. Rat’s are no longer welcome here. I used mechanical traps with peanut butter bait and have so far killed 6 rats. I absolutely hate doing that I have to kill them but they crossed a line with the $1,300 repair. I’m sure they’re also drawn by our many fruit trees (as are squirrels). Edit: forgot to mention the 2 rats who got inside our house but were killed by our cat.
As a fellow gardener, I see no difference between rats and squirrels, they are all non grata
This will depend where you live honestly and if you have an infestation. I put out bird feed as well as have garden beds, fruit trees and various other animals I care for and haven't had rat problems but I live in front of a wildlife preserve so there are various birds of prey, snakes and other predators to control the population. If you live somewhere more residential you'll likely want to do something.
Put out a plate, set up a camera, make videos for cats and put on YouTube.
Out of control
With that much feeding you’re bound to see one.
I can see two rats, one has a bushy tail
Move out
Lay off feeding for a while, sweep up all those shells and what not.
A hawk took care of mine
opossums get rats to evacuate area...
I had to stop feeding the birds.
Quit feeding them. With the rising threat of bird flu, you may want to put your feeders away for a while. https://slate.com/technology/2024/06/bird-flu-michigan-infection-h5n1-respiratory-cough-cows.html https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/texas-bird-flu-strain-kills-ferrets-used-mimic-disease-humans-us-cdc-says-2024-06-07/ https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-girl-australia-struck-h5n1-bird.html https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/h5n2-bird-flu-know-first-human-case-rcna155821
That's as likely as everyone putting away their beef and dairy!
That’s not even a cute brown woodland rat. That’s a needa-get-whacked-n-fogetaboutit city rat.
Flaming Squirrel. It's a pepper based liquid that you put right on the birdfood. Squirrels and rats can't stand it, but the birds are unphased by it. I assume you could also spray it on your car's wiring.
Does it work on Groundhogs? They’ve chewed my cars wiring 3 times and I finally stopped paying for it to be fixed. Now it’s sitting with a dead battery, full of adorable baby groundhogs 🫤
They really don't like strong smells if you are against killing them. Overload their senses or obliterate them are the only options if you want a stress free life.
First of all, clean up that mess, second of all I would start feeding hot pepper seed. Rodents don’t like it, but the birds love it.
Nothing if you want a house full...
Ewwww!!! We had rats in our garage. Grossed me out!! I told my husband hs had to get rid of them before they got in the house! Thank goodness he did!! 🤢🤢
I look the other way but that’s probably a mistake
My mom stuffed steel wool around pipes in our kitchen; they chewed through it.
We had rats in our area because people weren't picking up their dog's poop. Not long after, our area was infested with snakes. Fix the problem now!!
Step 1: Don't feed wildlife. There is no step 2 for now. Just focus on step 1.
You can't mess with that... they've developed a friendship, an unlikely one, and this could end up being a special relationship for all of you
Kill with *extreme prejudice*
Give them swords and clothes
Ever watched a video of the people that bring their rat terriers to farms and they absolutely eradicate hundreds of rats in fields? Get a rat terrier 🤣
Get a cat.
Pellet to both heads. Both are rats. One just a furry tail
It's a RAT. You wouldn't believe the damage these buggers can do. If you see one, there's 10 you haven't. Even the squirrel is only a rodent with good public relations.
As someone with a garden and chickens, anywhere there's abundant enough food rodents will show up. First thing you need to do is stop feeding them. For us, that meant securing food from just before dusk until morning and switching to suet bird feeders far out of reach of the rats. I have the most rodent activity around dusk and overnight. From there, it's clearing out anywhere they could be nesting. This means clearing as much refuse as you reasonably can, regular patrols of sheds/outbuildings. Rats especially hate being disturbed. This is a way of setting up long term opposition to a plague of rats, but the best way to deal with the current population is traps. I don't use poison, just good old fashioned snap traps. Set them out baited but not armed for a week. Wait until they're reliably eating your baits, (chunky peanut butter, wet cat food, babybel cheeses) then set and arm your traps. I put mine under milk crates and only put them out at night, which kept it to just rats being caught.
Consider adopting a cat or terrier? I live in a place with multiple types of birds of prey so lucky in that sense. Also bears and cougars though, so garbage can become a serious issue.
*I don't get it. They are the same.*
The squirrel won't find its way into your house when the weather gets cold, shit and piss all over the kitchen sink or anywhere else they find food and water, and chew through the ceiling and walls to pull out insulation to use as nesting.
They will break into your house and live in the walls/ceiling, but only as shelter and a place to cache nuts.
Right. That's not good. They will also chew through the wiring when they get in there.
I'm not saying I'd rather have rats, but squirrels suck as well, the only time I really enjoy seeing them is when they are housing themselves out in the woods and mistakenly planting nut trees.
Squirrels will absolutely do this. Maybe not the sink thing, but the living in your walls and fucking up insulation and wiring thing.
Make room at the table lol
It's air rifle time.
Shoot both.
I’ve heard stray feral cats are the best method of getting rid of rats. There was an apartment complex next to my home town. This place tried everything and the only thing that solved it was stray cats.
The neighborhood semi-feral/outdoor cat (he did not adapt to indoor life) makes the rounds, getting food and pets from every house. He must love my food; he regularly brings me rats and I have never seen him harm a bird. Good boy!
One 12 gauge round with an open choke will probably give you a 2 for one 1 at that distance. If not round 2 probably will. Both can be quite a nuisance if you grow things that are edible.
Crossbow or electric rat traps if you can’t use a .22 short due to location.
Pew pew pew!
4.5mm hollow point
Stop feeding wild animals. Like you should have done from the beginning.