Concentrated mint oil and a bb or pellet gun and a case of beer. They hate the smell of mint oil. Bb, pellet gun or 22 short for putting them to sleep. Stuff steel wool into holes or crevices where they get in. They get a terminal case of upset tummy when they eat the steel wool. The beer is for your entertainment.
I think you're gonna need a taller bucket! Rats can jump higher than a mouse, but this method IS effective!
I did it for a living. Very lucrative. Pretty much what everyone says does work. The most important aspect is closing off their path way. Ever see the pest control company with the big black widow on the trucks in SoCal? Also in central and northern Ca.
The guy in my avatar says NO POISON! That stuff kills more than rodents. I have 4 cats, a bucket trap and snap traps. Never had rats, though. I've gotten several mice and chipmunks along with a red squirrel or two.
Hello, Thank you for the nice comment. We used to live in a new, fancy 3000 square foot house at one time. We had to get a large house for my wife’s dad coming to live with us and our son coming home from college. The house had all of the bells and whistles with 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and more space than we ever had. Plus, it was a smart house with the latest in technology at the time. Complete digital computerized fire suppression system everywhere, including the 3 car garage and a wired ethernet system in the walls. Hooking up our ancient computers was easy as a plug into the wall outlets for great speed (at the time) and reliability. We were happy with all of those things that made life low key and easy for us. We were happy to be able to set up our nice house the way we wanted. It was bordering on a large open field surrounding all of the homes. So, we expected rodents of all kinds. We even had a nice climbing vine that started as one gallon plants and in several months, they stretched across the whole front of the garage door openings. One day I found a small rodent, barely a baby on the ground in front of the garage. Then I found a whole family living in the green growth vine that spread across the three car garage opening. After getting rid of them, we took the vine down. Our yard, plus the green growth across the whole front of the house made it look like a modern English Country House, if a suburban house could do that. Jnaki We did not account for the access to the neighboring open fields and hillsides. They were mouse/rodent heaven and our homes were a sanctuary of sorts. We had been hearing “things” all over the garage and yards, but we only put out traps as we knew about them. No ultrasound devices on the market as yet. So, the traps were place where the entry points to the house and garage. They did their thing and the worst part is to hear the “clamp” sound in the later evenings and having to go clean up the bulging eyes and stuff spread on the floor. It was bad enough to have to do that chore, but if the community trash collection already came, even in sealed bags, the odor was bad enough to make trash dumping in cans, outside not a pleasant job. The house and yard were fine, but the house was not for us and we moved in two years. Now, for the last 20+ years, in a smaller more manageable house, the ultrasonic revolution has been upon us and so far, we have not had any invasions. Sure, sealing up the entry points is recommended. But on a Spanish tile roof, notice the zillion holes as small as a finger that needed to be sealed up? It was not appealing. So, the ultrasonic devices have worked their magic when strategically placed where the action is/WAS located. Attics, garage walls, porches and we even had electrical boxes installed where there weren’t any, just for additional ultrasonic devices. Mouse/rodent free, no racoons/opossums/ or skunks on our roof or yard. They all go into our neighbor’s yards and they battle the critters. No, the neighbors do not like ultrasonic devices and stick with the “SNAP” and resulting awful smell and disposal. But as we all know…YRMV P.S. Inexpensive and they work well for us. See all online places for different models. We have several different models for different frequencies... to cover all bases. No mess, no smells, no disposal chores, and no household pets harmed in any way.
If you put out the solid bars of poison, be sure to fasten them down. Rats will carry them off and stash them, not actually eat them. Found a bunch of them we put out (after they disappeared) months later under the back seat of one of the cars.
Thanks for all the replies fella's. It looks like a combo of poison, repellant, traps and patience over the next few weeks. My neighbor just told me they did about $4k in damage to the wiring in his wife's daily driver. Gonna step up my game for a while..
As others have suggested...please be careful with poisons.... we don't always know all the links in the food chain.
Bleach , a very cheap product. Take a Garden Sprayer, mix Bleach 50/50 w/ H2O. Spray around outside of building foundation, especially doorways. Once a week for a month, and they will have moved on to a easier target. Stretch
They cleared the lot next to me 20 years ago. Then we all had rats on the block. I had one licking the grease off my gas grill... I set out the OG Victor snap traps and they worked. I had them in the garage and under the gas grill. I caught a couple on glue traps. After 1 walked away with the trap, I nailed 2 to a piece of scrap 2" x 6" lumber.
I will never use poison again! The rats ate it and didn't die until they found their way into places damn near impossible to access. Ever smell a decomposing animal? Ever had one die in an area around your home? They don't eat poison and drop dead on the spot.
I have a cat, so anything with poison is out. I had a nest of baby rats die behind a wall in my garage, it stunk for a while. I guess I killed off mommy and daddy rats....
He is in California, have to go through a full background check, get fingerprinted and leave a sperm sample to buy a box of ammo. That is if the ol' rat shooter doesn't get him a felony for looking too scary! I prefer snap traps baited with peanut butter or bacon grease. Bucket traps are promising too, but I haven't set up the one I have to say how well they work. Sticky traps are just cruel. Rats with rip their own paws off and escape. Baby possums get in them. Harmless snakes get in them and die by starvation. I want to kill pests, not torture them.
I like this solution, and I think it’s efficient and well worth the price. https://www.automatictrap.com/
I had the occasional mouse in my house and attached garage. I found out where they got into the house, sealed it off and haven't had one since. I did still get the odd straggler in the garage though as it is too hard to completely seal off. I decided I would get them before they got into the garage so I sealed off the underside of my wood backyard deck so only something the size of a mouse could get under it (I used chicken wire) then started trapping them under the deck. I initially started with the standard "snap trap" and was amazed at how many traps went missing. One time I checked my trap and there was a mangled mouse dragging the trap around in circles ... felt so bad for the little guy. I want them dead not tortured. Then I started thinking about all the missing traps and how many others probably died a horrible death. I started researching different styles of traps (on U-tube) and settled on what is apparently an ancient design. I made one myself, bait it with peanut butter and it works great. It is too heavy to drag off and the way it kills them (strangles), there is no blood so it is easy to empty. The other benefit is it can be used over and over. When I used the snap traps, I would just toss the entire trap and mouse into the garbage, kill 100 mice and you've just spent a bit of money over the course of a year. I have included a link to a video that shows the style I made ... it's the blue one at the 41 second mark. The same idea of trapping outside could work for rats too but I have no idea how a person could prevent chipmunks from get caught. Under my deck, the only living, trappable animal that is in my area are mice so I am not at risk of catching anything else. Since I started trapping outside, I have not had one in my garage.
Bob, my five-foot-long black rat snake, and his girlfriend, Bobbette, handle rodent control at my place in the country. They climb around the foundation and up in the attic, making no noise and patrolling the place efficiently. Once in awhile one of their offspring shows up in the kitchen, peeking out from under the refrigerator, so we just get the grabber, pull out the little snake and let it loose outside. They also do a great job keeping away copperheads and rattlesnakes, which we've never seen on our western Missouri land and I've been roaming this place for more than 70 years.
I use the 5 gal. bucket about half full of water, with the pop can on a wire across the top. Smear peanut butter on the can, and put a wood stick up at an angle so they can get to the pop can. First night I caught 6 of them, and gradually less until I caught none. I still set it up about once a month to see if I get more, but rarely get any now.
Snake is a good idea. I had a good size garter around my shop, haven't seen it since the recent construction. Get them quick, if they nest they'll try to maintain territory or return each time. Trail cams have come down in cost. Might be worth buying or borrowing some to see where they're at.
When the farmer who owns all the land around me is harvesting soybeans, wheat or corn. the mice and rats come out of the fields and head for my shop, the house or the barn. Target brings home one and sometimes two a day and lays them out on the back porch then looks at me like, " Look what I did for you ". Head rubs and treats are then in order.
The only problem with poison is I've had them crawl into some small space and die. Then I have to smell the stench for weeks until they've dried up and stop stinking. I don't use poison anymore for that reason. Other problem is they might die outside and some dog or cat will get the dead rat.
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