The ones in my composter have eaten over a kilo of "so called" poison.
What should I be using, as the Rentokil stuff is clearly expensive blue rat food?
We got the council to come out when we had the same problem. Their poison did for the lot of them.
I don't think they charge either.
I used deadfast rat killer. Widely available including b&q. Took about 3 or 4 dishes over a few days.
The most harmless looking psycho rat killers going.
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A mate works at a grain/animal feed place, they get a lot of rats. Sticky boards are the most successful. Soon sorted the mice in another mates shed too.
Please don't use poison, we've just had one of our cats in Vet ER for 3 days after eating a poisoned mouse or rat. He very nearly died as a result of internal bleeding from the anti-coagulant in the rat poison. He's now back with us with a Haemocrit of 24%, was 18% and he was hardly breathing when we took him to the Vets.
[url= http://www.pest-expert.com/rat-glue-traps--rat-glue-boards-6-pack-18-p.asp?gclid=CLn388qxyMUCFQT4wgodblMA3g ]Sticky boards[/url]
Non poisonous rat traps.
A Flash Bang, a shovel, and a bonfire.
Access to a pellet gun and chocolate spead. Better than poison and more kind
I have a smallholding and have lots of rats.
I agree with not using poison. It is dangerous to pets and other animals.
In order to be humane sticky boards need to be regularly checked and you have to have a strategy to despatch said rat.
Spring traps are effective but need to be placed in a tunnel/box so pets and wild birds are safe from them. I find peanut butter to be the most effective bait.
An air rifle and some time is by far the most effective and humane way IMO.
One was spotted in our back garden by MIL during the week, I have been tidying up the garden to minimise the potential hiding places for the little shite, then I am borrowing a rat trap from some friends.
The trouble with poisoning any rodent is they'll ingest it and wander off to die elsewhere several days later. Gonna catch them and then figure out how best to dispatch, the Missus insists this has to be "Humane"... Crossbows are Humane right?
Humane dispatching of a rat? Open trap and hit really hard with spade. Sharp end.
Crossbows are Humane right?
Not according to the law. If you want to dispatch rats at a distance you need to use a gun. If you're dealing with rats up close a hammer is the best option. A note on sticky boards; as a pest controller I avoid using them. They need to be checked every 12 hours to be considered even vaguely humane and the rats and mice found on them need to be dispatched quickly and humanely. Humane doesn't include drowning, burning or suffocating. You'll need to finish off the captured rodents with a blunt instrument. If you are happy with the idea of having to deal with several glue boards with distressed, aggressive and very much alive rats attached to them go for it.
You will also need to be careful with where glue boards are placed as there is the potential to catch non-target species.
If the OP is seeing a lot of bait being consumed but rats are still present I would suspect they are coming from a nearby burrow. Finding the burrow holes and baiting them directly will prove more effective than baiting the composter, plus they will die in the burrow out of reach of animals such as cats. Break back traps can be effective against rats but with an attractive food source nearby in the composter it would take time to make a meaningful impact on the population.
Of course you could just employ the services of somebody qualified to do the job 😉
If the OP is seeing a lot of bait being consumed but rats are still present I would suspect they are coming from a nearby burrow.
The burrow is in the composter, or rather it was until about an hour ago. I've dug it out and put a load of bait in it should there be any left.
I've also shifted about two dozen cat turds from the garden. 🙁