Bloody rats

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

 

I have a unit where i store building materials and kit ,no food of any sort [apart from the odd deer hung up overnight. lol] but for the past six months i have had rats getting in and chewing stuff .I have a fenn set permanent and have had 28 with that and a live trap .Monday night i went to load kit for the next day and found one in the live trap .Despatched it and drove home .Forgot the cordless drill so went straight back up and found another in the live trap .Nice to be brushing up on skills but where the feck they coming from .Incidentally ,ive found the best way to live trap rats is bed the cage onto sand as they dont like walking on mesh .Bread for bait .

[Malt 379]

I'm not a cat lover, (in fact, I hate the bloody things!) but If I found myself in your situation, I'd think about getting one. Sounds like your having plenty of joy with the traps though! Keep at em!

[Ludwig 0]

Just afew things I'd consider

 

Sewers?

Railway?

Electrical Condhuit?

Whats in the adjoining units (Pet food store or something?)?

Food? Water? and as Millet said is the Unit the only warm easily accessible place for them??

 

Good Luck with it Lud

[theobenmike 0]

Seems to be a lot about, not sure if it's something to do with the weather. I caught 12 in 2 live catch cage traps over about ten weeks. I caught 4 one week at the same time as a nearby field of maize was harvested.

Them traps seem to be doing the trick though

What you baiting yours with when you say "Bread for bait. "

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Theobenmike-All i do is knead a slice of bread into a ball and roll it to the back of the trap .The other units are all mechanics and not one has seen or found evidence of rats .I can only think they are drawn by the grease trail of the previous victim .Anyway i will keep at them .

[snareman 3]

Theobenmike-All i do is knead a slice of bread into a ball and roll it to the back of the trap .The other units are all mechanics and not one has seen or found evidence of rats .I can only think they are drawn by the grease trail of the previous victim .Anyway i will keep at them .

there appears to be a lot of rats this year , ive just snared 20 with the hazel whips , and boy there were some

big fellows among them , all fed on winter wheat , a few of the lads have commented about the amount of rats that are about this year ,

[DUCKWING 302]

It's the cold weather mate.. they allway's move into built up area's as soon as the food dries up in the field's..

If you keep doing what you are doing you will sharp sort the problem out.. ..

Millet

 

WELL LADS ,

 

I FIND THAT YES AS MILLET HAS SAID THE COLD WEATHER HAS THEM MOVING ........... HOWEVER I THINK THE WET WEATHER GETS RATS SHIFTING FROM THE HEDGE BACKS ......... HEAVY RAIN = RATS IN MY FENNS AND BENDER SNARES

NO DOUBT ITS THE FRESH GREASE RUN THEY ARE FOLLOWING SINCE THERES NO FOOD , THOUGH NOW THERES A TRAIL YOU WILL HAVE PROBLEMS FOR A GOOD WHILE

 

ALL THE BEST

 

DUCKWING

[Little Butch 16]

What do you mean snareman when you say youve snared 20 with hazel whips ??

Leon

Edited December 6, 2007 by leon-b

[theobenmike 0]

Leon, take a look at this.

Never tried it myself but it seems work excellently

[Little Butch 16]

Ahhh i see, ive been told about a simular method for pheasants

Thinking of making one of them snares out of fishing line though

Leon

[Nell 1]

I have had over 30 in the last month or so out of the bottom of my yard, behind me is an old mill/industrial units with plenty of cover on the embankments for the little B******ds, I have 3 traps set permanently. For the first 12 nights I had set the traps I had caught no fewer then 28 rats and then had nothing for ages now just had the odd one, so must have cut them down!!

 

What is more bizare is that I only noticed them due to finding one dead in my dog pen! So can only guess they are passing through for food etc as there no holes which i can find and no other signs of them at all, beleive me I've looked!!

 

One good thing to come of all this is that my terrier pup has come on leaps and bounds, especially over those 12 crazy days!!!

 

[Nell 1]

I have had some strange ones too!

 

One that pushed its head through the mesh on the trap and choked to death!!!

 

 

And also a ginger one!!!!

 

[Nell 1]

A decent night with all of the traps being triggered!!! 3 more out of the way!!

 

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

I have had some strange ones too!

 

One that pushed its head through the mesh on the trap and choked to death!!!

 

 

Nell; I once suggested on here before that 5/8" was the maximum size to look for on a rat cage. I was shot down over it.

 

I'm guessing that's a 1" mesh? As properly used for Mink / Squirrel traps. And I'd be interested to know who made / supplied it. For what purpose. This sort of shit makes me tick, see?

[Nell 1]

I couldn't tell you mate without measuring it first, I bought it from from a fieldsports shop from the paper about 2 years ago, the one on the right of the pic is better for the size of the mesh as this can hold even baby rats, however I seem to catch more in the one on the left

 

If you have a look at the pic, there is a mark on the rats head, just above its eyes this is where it must have been pushing against the mesh for a number of hours, and with one massive push it managed to fit it's head through and couldn't get it back in. I can only guess that it strangled itself by throwing itself around in a mad panic?

 

I have had 100's of rats in this cage and this is the first time I have seen this

Edited December 7, 2007 by Nell