Rat recommendations. don't want to kill the dog!

We have 1, maybe more, rats in my back patio here in Houston. The rat completely ate all the peaches off my peach tree. My husband and I have put out little bags of rat bait and at least some of it got eaten up. Today, I see that the rat is eating the decorative peaches off my mini peach tree in a container. This is right next to my bell peppers and cukes in containers! Any trap recommendations? I don't want to harm my dog. My husband is great at killing squirrels with a high powered pellet rifle but can't shoot at a rat here in the middle of the big city. Help me save my veggies in containers.

Small Havahart trap baited with peanut butter works great. After capture I place the rat and trap in a pail of water. If the rat can hold it's breath for 20 mins. I let it go. Have not found one capable of performing that trick to date.

Put coke in a dish or something similar. It will kill a rat and they love it.

Get some cats !! Seriously. I live near train tracks where the train consistently stops allowing whatever critters that ride along to wonder in our neighborhood. A couple years ago the neighborhood had a terrible problem with mice and the occasional rat. The health department was out quite a bit to try to control it but they didn't really take care of the problem. We got an outdoor female cat, when she had babies she hunted everyday to bring them food. I have two cats now, the neighbor has one, and there is a wild one running around. I saw one mouse this past winter and nothing since. I use to be a strictly "dog person", now I have both.

This message was edited Jun 22, 2010 2:58 AM

Cyclops 101, too funny! Will look for the Haveahart rat traps tomorrow at the Lowes or HD. Jim 41, will also try this Coke in a container thing. We drink more diet Coke than water around here and have saved up some yogurt cups for drowning some slugs with beer. Will put those out tomorrow. (Makes me wonder if I should give up diet coke and beer in my quest to become organic. Nah!!!)
XMelissaX, I also thought to get an outdoor cat. But this seems cruel since we have an indoor cat and mostly indoor dog. Hubby doesn't want any more cats. Wants to get a bird dog as soon as the cat passes away. The dog has killed 2 teenage possums so far in this inner city patio and hasn't quite caught up to the rat yet. She "pointed" at the rat one night which was at chest level in a bottlebrush tree, but hubby hit it too hard with the shovel and batted it over the fence! we're sure!

LOL Jim,

rats can't Burp he he he .

It works though

Sarge

Best rat and mouse killer I've run across. You'll also find them dead within a foot or so of where they drink.

yep Granny did that when i was lil She put a dish down use to say heres a little for my friends . i did wonder about granny for a bit but when the lil fellers showed up in the floor just laying there like they just fell over.

she'd say them lil guy's can't burp like granny can and laugh . then say pitch them outside and give their family some more and smile .



Sarge

You are my kind of guy, Sarge.

Jim ,


I am A simple Feller much like you, I find things that work and stick with them .

as the old saying goes if it aint broke ... Dont fix it LOL

Sarge

I heard my dad say that a many a time. One other thing he said that has really stuck with me is, "When a string is in a knot patience will untie it." No matter what the problem or touble maybe, just be patient and keep working toward a solution and it will all work out.

Jim,

I like that and it is very much true too.

I have found over the last 30 years of pastoring that I say that over and over to myself.

patience is one thing that i have learned to deal with and except every time i have hurryed up i end up in a pickel and have to redo what i did so it is not worth it to me any more .

You're right Sarge. All rushing does is make you mess up and get mad.

thats when i end up hurten my self and i dont heal as fast as i use too . LOL but i did slow down and take my time now .

I dont Pray for patience any more either . LOL i figured that out too Lord will try you on that one . he he he . i have ALL the patience i need now .

Sarge

You probably learned that lesson the hard way, I know I did.

sure did my preacher kept telling me to pry for it and even prayed with me for the good Lord to give me "patience" little did i know that was a bad thing why not fill your shoes with tacks and put them on and try to walk . yes sir i learnt the hard way . but now i just take my time and do it right the frist time or try too.

Way to go Sarge!

I must have very cunning city rats living under my porch. We have put out 4 or so little yogurt containers with coke soda pop for the last few days. We refresh it every night. Still no dead rats! I really wanted to take a picture of one for y'all! I'm going to have to pony up some cash and go get some of the rat traps mentioned.

There are canals all over south Florida, and where there are canals, there are huge Norwegian Rats! The black snakes that hid out in our wood pile kept their numbers in check. Blue Jays would alert us to their presence.

Hubby insisted on setting rat traps, until a Blue Jay became caught in one. From then on, I let Mother Nature do it her way!

This is what I use;

http://benedaniels.com/rodetrol.htm

It's one of those things that sounds too good to be true. I bought it at my feedstore, without much hope that it wold actually work. It says that there is no secondary kill (things that eat the rodents), which sounds good, as I have dogs and cats hanging around. I still put it in bait stations so nothing else (like my chickens) will eat it.
So far, it actually seems to be working. The rats/mice that ran every morning when I opened the shed, aren't there anymore. Are the gone for good? Don't know, but I'll keep it out...

I was recently thinking about a Havahart Electric Fence - would that work? I have the same problem!

Catmad,
I checked the website. The stuff must be good because it was sold out.

catmad - I think this must be the stuff that our landscaper at work recommended.

I asked our resident Engineer to ask our Landscaper vendor for a safe method to get rid of voles. He couldn't remember exactly what the landscaper told him, but it sounded very much like what you recommended in your link. He said Lowe's carried it.

Voles are rodents, so this stuff should work to get rid of them too - although I haven't had a problem with them for a couple of weeks now.

I've saved the link. http://benedaniels.com/rodetrol.htm
Thanks ^_^

oh dear -- this is making me rethink my Coke habit!

Put a cube of steak in coke and the coke will dissolve it. Wonder what is doing to our stomach?

Probably not much, when you consider that the normal contents of our stomach include hydrochloric (sp?) acid :)

coke will also dissolve a penny.

sodas in general will attack tooth enamel, and once it's gone, you can't get it back!

http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/news/20040611/sodas-canned-teas-attack-tooth-enamel

Okay,
The Final Solution!!!
We have a 22g six shooter. We got "birdshot" for it, which plenty of people use to shoot rats and other small varmints. This should not blow a hole in the side of the house. Funny how we haven't seen the rat for weeks (since it ate up all my peaches). It must have heard we got serious about getting rid of it!! LOL!

Maybe the peach pits killed the rat -- don't they contain arsenic or cyanide or something poisonous?

Organicfarm: I planted 3 peach trees this spring. How long before I can expect peaches on my trees. I am anxious.

Behillman,
Youngest producing tree is now 5 years old. I grew it from 6 foot, "charlie brown" size tree that I got for $15 from HD. It gave me 1 peach at age 3, skipped any age 4 on account of some peach tree borer worms we killed with a hanger wire sticking it in the tree , then this year a bunch. Probably had to do with the very cold winter we had, more in the range that the plant likes.

It is now about 17 feet tall, we prune it right. kinda goblet shaped.

Hubby says we can't shoot a 22 in the city, no matter what. Bummer.

Maybe the rats did die...dunno...I don't see that they left any peach pits behind. maybe they finally ate the usual warfarin rat bait we threw under the porch.

Thank you for the info on the Peach Tree.

I have rats eating my tomatoes! I am pissed! I am going to set out some coca cola tonight.

There are bullets you can get for a 22 rifle that don't make a loud noise. They make a small pop, and are actually quieter than a BB gun. My husband has shot a bunch of ground squirrels with it without alarming our neighbors. I don't know what the bullets are called but I can find out if anyone is interested. If anyone has any other ideas for getting rid of ground squirrels, I'm all ears.

i don't think the cola is working.

Well, about the quiet bullets. Your hubs may have used "birdshot", what other people call "ratshot". Tiny BB's in a bullet shell. Overall, don't make much noise but still against the law to shoot a gun within city limits.
About the squirrels, my husband shoots and kills them using a RWS Diana pellet gun at our country place.
I have a friend that keeps the squirrels from climbing her beloved Texas pecan trees by wrapping the trunks in ring of 12 inch wide metal sheeting. Squirrels can't get a grip on it and climb the tree. Of course, this only works if they can't jump from one tree to the next.