THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

mardatha

I had a family of rats move into the garden once when I had chickens, and the feral ginger tom that I used to feed at the back door took care of them all. That was after we tried traps and poison, and even shooting them from the doorstep

pineapple

Rats are an ongoing problem here - partly due to the farm on one side, my bonkers food scattering neighbour on the other and the nearby river.
The farmer refuses to have a cat as he contends their faeces can infect livestock (would have thought vermin was the bigger issue) and my neighbour refuses to stop scattering bird food on the ground. She does it every day before dusk. Sometimes you can see the rats lining up on her shed for their evening meal. And of course they cut through my garden from the farm to get there. :mad:
I used to have a perspex bird feeding tray attached to the window. Then one day I saw a rat stood on the ledge on tiptoes stretching to get at the food. I was inside so got the full frontal view. :eek:
We go through phases of putting down poison or traps but it feels like a pointless kill fest. I've heard it said said that nature just fills the vacuum as for a time there is more food available for less vermin. Got some rat traps down outside at the mo but all I got so far was a poor wee mouse.
I hate the poison too as apparently it's a terrible death (not that I would hesitate if I got them in the house!). You would think would you not that in this day and age they could invent something that would just put them to sleep or maybe even just stop the reproductive cycle.

pineapple

jk0 wrote: »

Ratty's back, as GQ predicted. I can hear him chewing under my kitchen units. There are still the bait boxes there, left untouched by last year's rats. Any thoughts?

Have you tried the ultrasonic repellers? I once had gnawing sounds in a party wall. I plugged in one of those and no more sounds. My neighbours have some in their loft and swear by them.
Do you know where they are getting in?
The other thing to try is changing the brand of poison

jk0

Yes, someone else recommended the ultrasonic gadgets. I am wary of them in case they damage my hearing.

Fun & games with the rat man this morning:

He found a hole between my kitchen and below the floor under my downstairs wc used by the electrician running the wiring for the kitchen sockets. He put some bait down the hole, then pushed in wire wool. Unfortunately the wire had been nibbled by the rat, and so set fire to the wire wool!

We got the hole sealed in the end with silicone.

Living_proof

I have the ultrasonic ones in my garage and no problem with ears or rats! I was reading only yesterday how some rats are going to be given drugs in their feed to only allow them to reproduce males. That should soon cut down the general population.

jk0

Living_proof wrote: »

I was reading only yesterday how some rats are going to be given drugs in their feed to only allow them to reproduce males. That should soon cut down the general population.

Wouldn't it be better if people did not feed them at all?

mardatha

Does the ultrasonic thingy interfere with cats or dogs? I have a really loud gnawing inside my wall with next door, but the cat sleeps in that room..

jk0

mardatha wrote: »

Does the ultrasonic thingy interfere with cats or dogs? I have a really loud gnawing inside my wall with next door, but the cat sleeps in that room..

I should tell cat he's got the sack.

mardatha

She's far too posh to even contemplate anything as low as a rat. If she ever saw one she'd scream and run up my leg!

Nargleblast

jk0 wrote: »

Wouldn't it be better if people did not feed them at all?

I suppose the thinking is that the beggars will get food wherever they can find it, so you might as well provide them with some food with extra special “seasoning”....