Eagle3 Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 Tonight I found evidence of a rat in the gardening corner of the garage...it had apparently been feasting on the rye grass seed. My dog has been out in the garage the last few weeks REALLY sniffing out that corner. Upon investigation of the mess the rat had left, and the sniffing antics of the dog, we caught sight of the rat. Pup chased it between two boxes, then it escaped and made a beeline for Mom's shoes. She screamed and the rat jumped in mid-air and ran back to the corner. I have never seen my dog in such a definitive "search and destroy" mode (unless the squirrels are running the fence)...his tail was curled into a question mark, almost doing a Malamute thing, and his shoulders had visibly bulked up. Now, imagine a 130# dog trying to stomp on a rat to kill it, in a very crowded corner and that's what we had. Didn't get the rat, but we set traps out with some of its favorite food on it...P. butter covered in the grass seed. Hope it works, this thing was huge and VERY healthy-looking. Link to comment
Becca_Anne Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 Ewww I hope you catch it! And all its babies! Link to comment
gardeningmouse Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 I used to keep a succession of pet rats but wild ones turn my stomach. We live in a major harbour port and have a lot of wharf rats roaming around. They're HUGE!! I hope you catch yours and it's family! Link to comment
Eagle3 Posted February 4, 2008 Author Share Posted February 4, 2008 I certainly hope it doesn't have family...that could be really icky! Do they usually travel in groups? What's the best bait for rats? Link to comment
HSmom Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Peanut butter. Even better, don't set the trap at first. Rats are naturally suspicious critters. Put the UN-set trap out with plenty of peanut better. Add more peanut butter each day...until the rats are quite used to dining at "Eagle3's Eatery". After three to seven days, go ahead and set the trap, I'm sure you'll get something. Repeat as needed. Link to comment
Eagle3 Posted February 5, 2008 Author Share Posted February 5, 2008 That's a good idea...he set the trap off already but his head wasn't in it, so we're going to get one of the live-traps and see if that works. We cleaned out the corner he's been hiding in so his supply of food has disappeared. Hopefully he'll be easier to trap that way. Link to comment
Cat Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 I don't like live traps... SOMEBODY has to kill it, and it's not gonna be ME!!! I like the idea of letting him think the trap's safe. I got trapped in a bathroom once with a rat... still gives me the shivers... Link to comment
ArmyOfFive4God Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Poor Cat, not living up to her name Link to comment
Cat Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Well, ya gotta understand... I was just a lil' kitten back then... Link to comment
Eagle3 Posted February 12, 2008 Author Share Posted February 12, 2008 Still haven't caught the nasty thing...it managed to EAT the bait WITHOUT tripping the switch. I would love to know how it did that...don't know what we're gonna do now. Maybe a glue trap? Link to comment
HSmom Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Glue traps suck. If you use a glue trap, either it will take days for the dumb thing to die or you'll have to kill it yourself. I used one once, the little mouse had gnaw marks on both his front legs, from trying to chew them off to get away. At least a snap trap does the deed quickly (when it finally does). Link to comment
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