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| Thread ID: 82895 | 2007-09-12 09:07:00 | What do rats eat? | Mercury (1316) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 590502 | 2007-09-12 10:42:00 | I think the list for what rats don't eat would be shorter then what they can eat. Thay can even get through concrete, they were responsible for Palmerston north last year when they chewed through the cables and took out the towns power with it:waughh: |
rob_on_guitar (4196) | ||
| 590503 | 2007-09-12 10:56:00 | The research seems to indicate that they aren't just frolicking around the roof space 24/7 dining on the odd spider and electric wire (although these may be part of their diets) but are emerging regularly to eat, probably at night. We shall therefore have to crawl around getting spiders in our hair looking for their front door. This could be from parachuting off the nearest tree, aerial acrobatics over the telephone/power lines or scaling the inside of the wall through an incredibly small unused duct. Will start with the areas where there was once a burglar alarm and solar hot water panel. Maybe previous owners whilst extracting these left holes behind. The joys of being a landlord. Matchbox toys down the loos are actually far more fun. |
Mercury (1316) | ||
| 590504 | 2007-09-12 11:02:00 | The tenants were complaining of rats in the ceiling. The bait worked - next thing they were complaining about the flies (today we extracted 2 dead rats out of the ceiling and sprayed the flies). We are now puzzling over how they got there - and what they eat once there. What do rats find to eat in a batt insulated ceiling? Or do they come out at regular intervals for food? Any ideas?You'll be amazed at what they eat. And how blimmin difficult it is to eradicate the problem. A good brochure on the subject is here (www.manukau.govt.nz). Be cautious about the use of poison - it's the worst thing ever to discover a rat or mouse has died in an inaccesible place and starts to decay - the stench is unbearable! |
Greg (193) | ||
| 590505 | 2007-09-12 11:31:00 | Poison got the two today (so much for the stuff that makes them so thirsty they leave the building and drown. They didn't). They were dumped in a plastic bag and attached with tape to the roof rack to bring them home to burn due to their aroma. The property is generally tidy with lawns mown fortnightly. The trouble would be the creek, the vegetation around it and the neighbour's gardens. Not much we can do about them. The tenants themselves are clean and tidy. We've had a couple of bait stations around there for a couple of years. Pity the tenants don't restock them with the (landlord supplied) bait. We topped them up again today. There's some good hints on the Net on how to find their access. It's going to be slow and tedious though. I wonder if we could train the dog? |
Mercury (1316) | ||
| 590506 | 2007-09-12 11:50:00 | Don't know if they sell it in New Zealand, but back in Indonesia we used to have these pads with extremely sticky gel thing on them. We then scattered the gel with rice and some other leftovers. We caught 2 rats on the first night, and a third the next day, and had no more rat problems. |
qazwsxokmijn (102) | ||
| 590507 | 2007-09-12 17:42:00 | Rats are probably just living there . . . it's warm, dry and they can go out at night and forage on snails near the water, dog or cat food in bowls near other houses, small rodents and human garbage in their cans and bags for the garbage pickup next week . If you can find the access hole(s) and seal them in the middle of the night when they are out "shopping" you can likely deny them re-access to your attic . Use galvanized wire mesh and lots of nails or staples . . the stronger the better . They can also leap several feet . . I have seen them do it in Hong Kong so keep any trees and bushes trimmed away from the house and especially the roof . We get rats living in the palm trees here and need to put aluminum or tin flashing rings around the trunks to keep the rats from climbing up or down . Make sure the ring is at least 2 feet tall and about 3 feet from the ground . . . any less and they will just jump from one edge to the other . Rats eat things that also appeal to humans, although I don't personally care for creek snails . We have a product here in the US called "De-Con" ( . marvistavet . com/html/body_rat_poison . html" target="_blank">www . marvistavet . com)(let me check the spelling) . . . brb . . . . Yup . . it's right . . anyway, it causes the rat(s) to digest themselves and there is no aroma when they do . |
SurferJoe46 (51) | ||
| 590508 | 2007-09-12 19:24:00 | If it's a new house with cheap electrical wiring they'll eat the plastic off it, tastes like peanut butter to a rat. Last year in a laundry cupboard, we found rat bitten holes in plastic bottles of Janola, Handy Andy and Weed Killer. Then the bugger moved in to the kitchen and ate up two lots of poison bait from Mitre 10. Finally went to the $2 Shop and got an old fashion wooden rat trap and that got him! :yuck: :D |
Morpheus1 (186) | ||
| 590509 | 2007-09-12 20:45:00 | Well-llll...you can also sit up nights with a Sharps Buffalo rifle and just pop him. | SurferJoe46 (51) | ||
| 590510 | 2007-09-12 20:51:00 | Be careful dogs don't eat poison,expensive the reatment. | Cicero (40) | ||
| 590511 | 2007-09-13 09:32:00 | The tenants might complain if we hung out in their living room with a loaded shotgun. (They'd probably complain if we hung out in their living room without a loaded shotgun too) Bait on the ground is well protected in a proper bait trap. We have a well loved labrador who goes everywhere with us. And, being a labrador, she will eat anything (including the plastic bait trap if left alone with it for long enough). So we are always aware of animals. We think we've got it sorted. In the next week or two, whilst the tenants are overseas, we shall investigate under the house for rat runways. (The Net is a great place to find stuff - found a great site on signs to look for on runways.) We can think of 3 areas where holes may have been drilled for old things that are no longer there. With luck we'll find the rats' front door and be able to seal it up. My other half spoke to the Council today who suggested either nailing the bait in place or using a gel to prevent them carting it off to their nest and eating it there. We'll be looking for some tomorrow (our existing bait supplies are running low) |
Mercury (1316) | ||
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