I use Decon bricks in the garage area, pellets inside and under the hood for the Winter time. Poison grain and bricks is their summer treat. I find moving the vehicle about 10 feet discourages them for a while. Doing all the above and removing nests ASAP works well.
Your correct rats cant burp but as far as putting out soda for the rats to drink wont work . Here is why - the soda will go flat and become un-carbonated and if they had fresh carbonated soda a rat would stop drinking it as it started to give it a upset stomach then never drink it again and will find a water source. As far as rats pissing on the bait and not eating it. Your bait was most likely spoiled or old. Try fresh rodent bait and they will eat it even with rat urine on or near it. Did you just make that up ?
I use " fresh cab " to it works very well , it does have a fragrant but unusal smell. I acutally have a car parked in a pasture with it in side - no mice.
yea I was just answering this mouse burp comment. I did know a bug guy when I was a kid that said to use backing soda sprinkled around for cock roaches. Nothing to do with mice I know, anyway he said it clogged them up and they couldn't breath.
I just built this contraption, and put it up in my attic. Nothing yet, but I did hear a rodent messing with it last night.
Probably shouldn't store your car in a rat infested barn. Makes more sense to put it somewhere where rodents aren't going to be a problem, rather than making yourself crazy trying to keep them away.
I liked the one I saw awhile back with mixing oats and drywall/plaster repair dust. they grub down and the drywall paste plugs them right up. with my luck they would die under a pile of parts or in a wall. might have to try the 5 gallon bucket trick..good idea!
#1 Get 4 drain pans. #2 Put 4 jack stands in drain pans. #3 Put car up on 4 jack stands sitting in drain pans. #4 Fill drain pans with used oil or anti freeze.
I have discovered a thing with baits in the past, if you have a rat problem the first rat will piss on the bait. The other rats don't eat it after that.[/QUOTE] didn't work at Thanksgiving dinner either
The grandkids asked "Paw Paw whats the kittys name"? ShopCat, says I. Doesn't only catch mice, also insects, chipmunks, lizards and small snakes. Works for food. Guaranteed, kills the first time, every time. No prisoners/ repeat offenders, LOL. Very small pet door and craps outdoors (somewere, undiscovered)
No we proved that also in biology class. I was a biology major for awhile, interesting stuff. I dropped when I discovered that I was for the most part going to have to live on Govt Grants. We also had some of the first super rats that were being bread for gawd knows why. I did take some advanced classes from a gal that was an entomologist, she was working on her PHD, and doing a study in Arachnids at the time. She had some pretty cool bugs, some of them pretty dangerous as creatures go. I do have to give you some props, you are actually the first bug spray guy that I have met that could spell entomologist. Although unless you have a degree in entomology (which you may) you shouldn't probably say that you are. It will probably piss the people that are actually involved in the study of insects as opposed to being in the business of eradicating them. Not trying to me mean I'm just stating a truth. The problem with pests is that they are really not pests at all unless they are not in their own environment. I am not a tree hugger as tree huggers go but what we call pests actually have a job to do that most of us are not going to want to do our selves if they are gone. That said I don't like the idea of rats and mice living in my house, I have discovered that you cannot kill them all so your best offense is to do something that will cause them to stay away. Rat cakes or mouse cakes seem to do the job for me.
hey that is a fantastic idea......... that is basically the same as the rat guards we put on the moring lines when ships are tied to the pier when i was in the navy. they look just like the head shields they put on pets to keep them from trying to lick a wound or something.
Dont have Mice problems at my place.. but we did have a great time shooting them at my dads place with our remmington pellet guns we would bait them and they would run across about a 7' opening and we would pick those little bastards off from about 20' away oh and before anyone can say that a pellet gun wont work and is nothing but a bunch of snake oil, tell that to the 12 dead mice i shot last year, great practice,, especially when they run fast because they know their buddy didnt make it last time he tried.. gotta be good , and quick bummer this year they never came back....gee i wonder why?
PnB, tell me more of these "Rat Cakes you speak of. I've got them in my attic, and do't want them to die up there. Last year one died in a wall, and it stunk up half the house until it totally decade, a couple months later. How do I get them out of my house to die?
Let me find the package. What I have been using lately (since about '98) is called Tomcat ultra block bait. It claims that it is weather proof but I haven't used it outside. Ir says it kills rats and mice. I have found two or three dead mice since we had the original problem here. They are all dried up, I think that maybe that is how this stuff works. There were way more than 2 or 3 mice when we first had the problem. I know that it is improbable but it is almost like they told each other that it was time to leave the premises. We used to use a decon bait that is a pelet base that did the same bacisic thing in the barn. You would just find a dead rat all dried up and flat. Never found large quantities of dead rats and never smelled a dead rat that I recall. Anyway Tomcat is what I use now. I got some cakes when I hauled a parts car to my shop in about '98. Opened the hood and there was a rat the size of a house cat on the intake. He split and I didn't want him to go out and invite a dozen or so of his buddies to the party. The guy at the hardware store said that was what they used because they had cats and the cats didn't eat it.
All rodent bait will have the risk of them dying in hard to reach areas and stinking really bad, There is no such bait that can guarentee them to eat it and leave the attic/crawlspace ect. Your best bet is to use snap traps and eliminate the risk of dead rats in your walls or attic. Use different baits on your snap traps such as peanut butter, dates, cashews, dried fruit, seeds. Alot of the rodenticide that is availible to the public is weak and in most cases is a multible feed bait that if a rat eats some of it and makes it sick it will not eat it again making the problem harder to eliminate "Bait shyness". Good luck and remember to sanitize the area after you have eliminated your problem to reduce the risk of disease to you and your family.
This is probably the best advice yet. Nearly all pests carry some things that we would rather not think about. Even cock roaches carry some pretty nasty things. Around here we get a problem with squirrels in the attic. They call them roof rats. Rabies is common in squirrels, at least around here. Salmonela, or even typhoid is a walk in the park compaired to rabies. May ad that once the rats in the attic are gone it wouldn't hurt to crawl up and check out the electrical, rats like to chew on wires for some reason.
If it worked for you good, but I just bought an old parts car and in the trunk was an old unmounted tire with a really large mouse house in it, some of which was the chewed up dryer sheets from the front of the car!
I used dryer sheets,moth balls and had four boxes of poison out.Little bastards still shit and pissed everywhere.This car isnt a finished one,no fabric interior so they didnt chew anywhere,but the piss eats metal!!!.I was told by a old timer to put a container of cedar chips inside and underneath.Mines is back in garage being worked on so my run ins are over.Nothin works better than traps if you can get in to check everyday.
I've had mice, raccoons, birds, insects and even snakes take up residence in my cars and storage areas. Mice are definitely the most serious , they'll get through anything not welded shut and can decimate the vehicle with nesting and excrement -. I left a radiator cap off and found a nest in there. Barns of course are the worst but even suburban attached garages can surprise. The urban legend about mothballs only makes for the WORST SMELLING rides at the cruises/shows. I've tried them and indeed the mice won't eat the mothballs - but they ignore them. There's no food or drink ever in my vehicles not for fear of spills or stains - I don't want any trace or smell of food while in storage. One vehicle had the drivers seat area chewed away - !?. I only "store" for the salted road season and have dryer sheets, soap, traps and oh yeah - my daughters cat got locked in my barn once and now my 50's got scratches where it climbed trying to find a way out. Have Fun I hate them meeses' to pieces...
I would highly caution people about mothballs and moth crystals, They are highly toxic and let off vapors, What that nasty smell is is a toxic vapor being introduced to your lungs. Very dangerous for pets,children and pregnant women. Dryer sheets = urban myth. Rats and mice will chew up dryer sheets and use for nesting material. Also it does not kill them so why even waist the money on a box of dryer sheets. Buy a air freshner.
I'll stand by Oatmeal and Plaster-o-Paris. Some cinnamon and a little brown shugar. Put this where your pal wont get it. I keep mine in a tray on the battery tray with the hood closed. I also put a piece of donut on the floor where its easily observable in the garage and at work. They last for quite a while. If its gone, game on! I like the snap traps also.
Get yourself a bar of soap, a bottle of water, a jar of peanut butter, some crackers, a comfortable chair and a good shotgun....
Apparently, rodents hate the smell of mint. Mint oil is what's used. It's not cheap, but I guess it works.
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