I have rats in my house, and they're reproducing!

[WeddingRing]

These things are a real nuisance, and I'm not sure what to do.

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Is there a local science lab? Perhaps you need a snake.

 

[Hellion]

Uh oh, Are you sure you feel comfortable putting this out there?

Obviously you have a nice, rich environment for these little critters to thrive in. Hire a maid?

 

[Goat]

You need to get cats in your house.

 

[Bbqjoe]

You should move.

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

You should move.

I hear Texas beats California lately.

 

[MTNSleder]

You should keep em, as pets

 

[Hellion]

You need to get cats in your house...

What happens when the cats reproduce and become a nuisance?

 

[WeddingRing]

What happens when the cats reproduce and become a nuisance?

You sell them to Chinese restaurant...

 

[Bbqjoe]

Here's what you need:
5 gal bucket
a few foot length of 1x2 or 2x4
Bailing wire
Peanut butter jar or something similar
Peanut butter
Water

Drill hole in center of top and bottom of empty jar.
Run a few feet of bailing wire through the holes in the jar.
Drill two holes in the bucket almost at the top, directly across from each other.

Thread the ends of the wire through those to holes and fasten the wire tight somehow, but leave just a bit of droop.

Coat the jar with a layer of peanut butter.

Fill the bucket half full of water.
Place your board as a ramp to the top, and fasten it somehow.

Your little critters will smell the peanut butter, climb the ramp, and make a jump to the jar.
The jar will spin, and the rat drops into the water to find he can't tread very long, tires, and sinks.
This method works quite well. You might end up having to empty the bucket rather often until you get a handle on the situation.

 

[bob58o]

You need to suspend a boot from the ceiling by the top of the stairs next to a bucket with a huge marble. Bring the kids slide inside and put it next to the stairs. Put the bathtub on the roof and drain it into the gutter. Find a guy that may be in mid prayer (understandable) and catapult him into a hot tub.

60% of the time, it works every time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk1ue1tolFc
And the big one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdqrdw8qt3Y

 

[Bbqjoe]

My method works, and doesn't take near as long to set up.

 

[Denny]

Get em' birth control!

Denny

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

We use the water barrel trick for those pesky rock Squrill in our pecan orchards. They hoard the nuts and can dig through concrete. Makes irrigation impossible when they make unwanted drain tubes.

 

[ezcome-ezgo]

Three simple letters: C A T

 

[KartFab]

My experience with rats:

Wen i lived in Baltimore it was nearly impossible to get rid of them. I got those big rat traps and killed off a few big ones. Didn't see them for a while until my house got broken into and then I moved. Baltimore is a cesspool of poverty, crime, rats and rateros (for my hispanic friends haha).

My house now in texas has a rear fence-line shared with the neighbors for long stretches that rats like to frequent. Occasionally one will slip through the emergency drain line for the water heater. I put a trap right next to it, killed 2-3 and haven't had problems since.

Seal up any holes into your house, including eaves and overhangs, even the small ones. Clean up, lets face it, rats come into your house to eat stuff....

Outside, if you have any piles of weeds, or piles of ANYTHING rats like to make their homes in those, so clean up outside too. If they have no place to nest, no place to eat, and no place to get in your house, chances are you wont have problems anymore. That is, after you kill off the ones there. Big *** rat traps. They look like giant mouse traps. The really big rats will not be able to break free from the trap and it may not kill them for a few minutes, so make sure to stake it down or tie a little chain to it as they can crawl off leaving a bloody mess.

 

[RobertD]

Here's what you need:
5 gal bucket

This is a great idea. I'd never thought of that.
A few years ago when I had chickens, I bought some of those "bait stations" where you can put warfarin in, but your dog can't get in there and kill itself. Like a roach-motel but bigger. That works, but warfarin, I worry about "where" the rat will die. Will it be under my house!??

I'm going to build one of these traps soon I guess. Great idea.

 

[mckutzy]

There is those ultrasonic deterrents, just plug in and it emits a noise they don't like....

 

[ezcome-ezgo]

I know a sound they don't like: Meow

 

[Hellion]

My method works, and doesn't take near as long to set up.

I require a demonstration. Are there any videos of this method in cyberspace anywhere?