How to Get Rid of Rats?

[MrJimi]

I have a 24' X 24' 2 story garage and I have a neighbor that does not know what a garbage can lid is and his yard at night is a rats nest and they have moved in my garage. I have an alarm with a motion detector and it went off 3 times last night from them running around in there. My eaves are open for ventilation as we live in Florida and it gets warm and thats how they get in, if and when I get them out I will close them off.
I was thinking of some sort of smoke creating device or something like that, I am not wanting to have a bunch of dead rats in the building rotting away and stinking. I just want to get them to leave. We must have some scientist out there that have the menu that I'm looking for.
Thanks
Jim

 

[1bush2hog]

Give your neighbor a cat.

Or, just buy the big rat traps and throw away rat, trap, and all when you catch them.

I would think the small live traps would work good too. Then you could regift

We used to shoot wharf rats with a .22 when I was young - A friend's family raised hogs and also processed them on site. Talk about some BIG rats - even the cats were afraid of them.

 

[MrJimi]

These things are the size of Florida squirrels and the rats can get in but the cats cant, we do have some wild cats in the neighborhood but they can't get in the garage, I am not fond of cat Pee. I have been searching a product called D-con, its looking good and I live on a small lot 50' X 100'. I am thinking about going to local fire dept and ask them what I can do as far as smoke goes. Last year I ran a car in the garage for almost 3 hours? that just wasted gas? LOL
Jim

 

[billbill1]

Mr. Jimi, if you have a Tractor Supply near you, tell sell block bait that is supposed to kill the rats without odor. You could also set up some peanut butter (over something they couldn't get out of) on a board slat that would pivot and drop them into liquid-drown them and throw them away. A 5 gallon bucket should work with 6" of liquid in it. I feel for you, I hate mice and rats. I'd rather have snakes anyday.

 

[dmccarty]

Mr. Jimi,

We have(had?) a mouse problem that I'm hoping is solved with the one that broke its neck last night.

I have had killed four in the house. One got itself into the toilet and was flushed, two captured on sticky traps then frozen, , while last night was the old fashioned spring traps.

I looked at poisons and I still might do it to control the population around the house. I found some poison in a farm supply catalog that was approved for use in food production facilities AND it was not poisonous to any animals that ate the dead mouse/rat.

I would try traps first and then poison if required. You could block the rat's entrances and then set out the traps.

I'm hoping that I know how the wee mice got in the house and the problem is solved.....

Later,
Dan

 

[MrJimi]

Right now, I'm trying the smoldering rag trick and wet leaves, its in a metal pan like a hubcap and sitting on a concrete block and its small, lots of weird smoke LOL
I hope they leave
If any of you have a better idea for making allot of smoke, I am listening
Jim

 

[1bush2hog]

Jim,

Doesn't the smell of the smoke permeate the garage interior?

Maybe it smells better than dead rats?

Rats are low to the ground so smoke will also have to be low. Maybe a gas that is heavier than air is what you are looking for - like the one you can get by mixing two household chemicals

I know people who also put out some cornmeal and drano mixed together if you want to poison them

 

[MrJimi]

My last recipe is, used motor oil soaked rags, wet leaves,newspapers and some mothballs, It makes a light dark smoke and stinks to humans. I will have my wife bring some D-Con home this afternoon, I don't mind killing them, just not in my garage, YUK
I'm still looking for that secret smoking formula. How come when we burn leaves it makes a ridiculous amount of smoke and when we want smoke? it don't work?? I even threw in a small plastic fork for flavor.
Jim

 

[MrJimi]

Well, here is an update. I asked my loving wife to bring home a package of D-con and a security camera? The D-con is set and the $99.95 security camera is a joke?
next security camera is coming from Samsclub, at $ 39.95 in total darkness and in color with sound.
I hate rats/squirrels, what ever sets off my motion detector
I will find out and remove them.
Jim

 

[roxynoodle]

Use the rat bait from TSC. It works good for me. I have a neighbor who has a couple hundred sheep and he leaves his grain just laying out. Well, he got a huge rat infestation and as the population grew it had to migrate. Next thing we knew, all of us had rats. My cats killed some, more drowned in water buckets, but the bait bars took care of the rest quick. I just put more out because I found a rat turd on the dashboard of my tractor yesterday.

 

[HomeBrew2]

Can't you just flood the building with propane. Propane is heavier than air.

 

[MrJimi]

Can't you just flood the building with propane. Propane is heavier than air.

Thats a good idea, can we try it at your place first? propane is expensive here.
Hmmm? whats wrong with this idea
Jim

 

[dmccarty]

Can't you just flood the building with propane. Propane is heavier than air.

There is a person here at work who is into Hot Air Ballooning. She stored a couple 100# tanks of propane in her garage which also had gas water heater. Been doing it for years.

Early in the am a few weeks ago her house blew up. She had been in the garage at 10:00ish and did not smell anything. Then a few hours later boom! Her bedroom was over the garage. I think what saved them was the garage door blew out which kept the explosion from mainly going up. Her house was a total loss. The garage side of the house was in pieces. What did not blow up burned up. She and her family are lucky to be alive.

A group of people went to the house, well house foundation, last week to pick through the rubble pile for belongings. The house had already been torn down. They did find some photos, jewlrey, and of all things unbroken light bulbs!

The last I heard the don't know what caused the fire but they are thinking it was the propane tanks.

Later,
Dan

 

[rich_ncal]

I use the poison outside in my sheds. I never see any dead rats but judging from the droppings it seems to work.

Some of the poisons make the rats thrust for water. So they may be leaving in search of water. If you use poisons in the house you could find dead mice or rats under your refrigerator searching for water in the drain pan.

 

[EddieWalker]

I hate the smell of dead rotting rodents as much as the next guy, but last year my mouse situation was getting pretty bad. Golfgar and his wife were here visiting and we had a mouse walk right past them!!! They told me about the poison that causes the mise to get really thirsty, but no amount of water will satisfy there thirst. They leave the building looking for water and die off in the woods someplace.

I went to TSC and bought the poison the guy there said does that. Sorry, I don't remember what it's called. And I put it all around my house. It was eaten fairly quickly, but I never saw one dead mouse. I aslo haven't seen a single living mouse since then either!!!!!!!!

My parents are here visiting right now and have put some of there stuff in my storage area. My mom bought some mouse poison from walmart to put in the storage areas just in case. Kind of like using mothballs. You just put it out automatically.

So far, it hasn't been touched.

Poison is the most effective method there is to get rid of a population of unwanted critters. Trapping them just thins the herd, but does nothing to eliminate them.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[Spark_man]

A friend of mine was having a real problem with rats in his detached garage. He didn't like the idea of using poisons because he was afraid of his dogs getting ahold of one of the dead or dieing rodents. So, he looked all around and found their burrows - they usually dig underground burrows. In all, he probably had about 7 holes. He poured 5 gallons of gas in each one and then covered each with dirt, tamping it down real good. That was over a year ago and he hasn't seen a rat since.

A herd of good, hungry farm cats or a bushel of black snakes might do the trick too.

 

[MrJimi]

After all the junk I burnt in the garage yesterday and the D-con rat poison, today I have no sign of rats? yet. We will shut off the garage motion detector for awhile and I want to get a security camera to watch what happens in there in the dark, that should be boring to say the least, these cameras work in the dark with sound and are not that much, $39. and we can use it when we go camping and set it in the windshield and watch the nite life, still sounds boring LOL
Eddie, your Africa cam is good, I found one in Key West at Hogsbreath saloon that is live also and fun to watch. link below
Hog's Breath web cams in Key West, Florida - Bar Cam, Stage Cam, Raw Bar Cam

They have a live band on the evenings and again=boring
Jim

 

[Boondox]

Get a Jack Russell Terrier. Strange dogs way too hyper for me, but they sure love to mangle furry things up to twice their size!

Pete

 

[roxynoodle]

Oh yeah, rat terriers will go through them like you wouldn't believe. I once watched someone's grab rats left and right, break their necks and toss them aside.

One note on the poison... some rats get so thirsty they will chew holes in your car or tractor seeking fluid. They may chew through your AC or even your fuel tanks. It is not a bad idea to leave a 5 gal bucket of water out to prevent them from damaging anything. Plus you will come out in the morning and find at least 5 drowned rats in the bucket.

 

[Inspector507]

My Mom always used a mixture of Corn Meal and Plaster of Paris in a plate.....they ate it and she found them all swelled up and stiff the next morning.