Ever tried the rat zapper?

A belated welcome to you jsxtiger since you're almost ready to celebrate your one year anniversary here at DG. I read your comments about thanking everyone and decided to start reading the whole thread from top to bottom. I had forgotten how this thread skipped all over the place. Pretty funny re-reading it and I must admit that Poochella's comments made me about bust a gut. Funnier the second time around.

Lauren - This popped up again in my "threads watched" when 4paws posted. So I read through it again, and realize I never told you that we filed claims for both times the rats damaged the wiring in DH's Corvette - and they paid! So, thank you very much for your counsel - I would have never known! :-)

You're welcome. Contract language can be rather intimidating at times but most of those contracts are rather cut and dry. Really glad you recovered some of your losses.

Happy endings all around...'cept for five fat deat rats. No more through the day.

When I worked for a pest control co, they cut raw bacon into thin strips like thin shoestrings. They tied it on the traps, then held a lighter to it to cook it a bit. Then a tiny dab of peanut butter on the knot. Critters would come into the trap, and couldn't just eat the peanut butter, but had to tug and chew on the bacon fat. Kill rate was much higher than peanut butter alone. Rats and mice like to have something solid at their side as they move around, so put the traps along the wall, the edge of the cabinet, etc. Sometimes you can see their grease on the woodwork if you use a flashlight or paper towel that you rub along the wall. That tells you that is a good place to place a trap. Hope this helps, rats give me the creeps.

Excellent advice, "Sometimes you can see their grease on the woodwork if you use a flashlight or paper towel that you rub along the wall."

The thin strips of bacon won't be able to be tied into a ratzapper. Totally different design but they could be used as bait.

I like Norway rats. They make great pets. Very gentle and very loving but, I like them in cages in homes not out wreaking havoc in the environment.

gross.
Of course, my housekeeping may not be such that the grease is all that discernable from dog grease .... they like rubbing on the walls, too.

haha 4paws, unless you have little dogs, the rat and mouse grease is right near the floor.

A teacher where I worked always tried to scare me by letting a rat loose as I came down the science hall. I'd pick them up by the tail and say, "hello rat 8". You could tell what rat they were because they were color coded on their tails. He never gave up, and I never gave him the satisfaction of squealing like a girly girl. After that, I ended up tending the critters over the holidays and spring break because I worked all year. There is never a dull moment working in a High School. It was a fun place to work!

That's the truth - working in a high school. As a kid, I tended the rats and mice and such in the bio room. This is different-they are invaders, not guests or residents.

Number 6 last night. Much smaller than number 5, or any preceding.

Boy oh boy! You're just racking em up! #6 already!

Mice are different.

#7 this morning just after I logged off, and just before I went into the shower. I was disappointed not to get any all day yesterday nor today, but two while it's dark is just fine with me. #7 was much smaller and squeaked. I had to shake it to get it out of the trap.

Kinda wierd. I could see the blinking glow of the red light from my bed this morning in the dark. It reflected off the sink into the hallway between the rooms. I peak around the corner before going into the bathroom now. Didn't take long to train me, did it?

That is a whole lot of rats, have you found where they are getting in and closed it off?

I have to wait until the weekend. I leave and get home in the near-dark. I don't want to crawl around under the deck inspecting the foundation at that time. It's a dark, wet, and unfun place, except to my dogs. :-)

Steel wool is a good stuffing agent if there is a hole, seal with caulk. Fix any crack or hole you find. Cover over the holes with something permanent if possible. They are coming in because they are finding food. Put all food stuffs in glass or plastic containers. Pitch anything that looks like it has been chewed. If you have pets, put the food in a closed container, don't go to bed with any food in their dishes. Make sure your trash is out of the house every night, too, in covered cans. No fruit in bowls, no veggies in open bins. Change the kitty litter before you go to bed every day.

If you are still getting rats in the house after all this, rats can come up from the sewer lines, especially if your house is older. You will need to contact a plumber.

I would really be shook if I caught that many rats! Do I understand that they are in your bathroom? Is your house raised with space underneath it? I don't have the layout in my mind....

Yes, I've used the steel wool to plug crevices at other times for mice.

There is a crawl space under the house. It had been closed off, but there seems to be a leak. There has been no evidence of them in the house or evidence anywhere around the house. I have 8 dogs and a cat (no litter) - there is always dogfood available and there always has been (always will be; the eat as they need to), mostly on the deck and in the dog room. The bathroom had been started in the remodeling that was going on, but stalled and the wall behind the sink has exposed pipes. The holes had all been sealed from underneath, but they remade the hole. There is a big dog water dish in the bathroom, but no food.

I did have one dead rat in the bathtub more than a year ago. I thought it was a cat-present. There is a grate over the tub drain, so it couldn't have come up it. I have a septic tank, not city sewer. I have a neighbor who throws trash out her back door on the ground, which is not uncommon. She is in front of me, 250'. The critters -fox, wandering dogs, etc. scatter her stuff up my driveway. The bathtub rat was duing a period with a neighbor who was even worse about the garbage. I am tending to blame the rats on that trash.. My trash is in covered cans and has never once been ransacked. There are no open cans in the house.

#8 dead. None again during the day.

Check your batteries.

:)

I think they are dead - the batteries and I don't have more around so the rats get a short respite from death. 8 kills is a far cry from 40 on those Duracells. Need to find and set up my charger again.

Oh bummer! Talk about being all dressed up with no where to go!

When batteries go bad-
To be continued...

lol
yep. Last night I heard the chewing again-right there between the bedroom and bathroom....I suspect the insulation under the house is pretty raggedy by now.

I got my ratzapper from alerg.com. Only about $32 including shipping.

http://www.alerg.com/page/A/PROD/PST/CL6000NR

I am having a problem in that it hasn't killed anything yet but a large waterbug. I'm using the dry pet food they sent with a little peanut butter on it.
Maybe I should try something else for bait. I have mice and rats that have come in due to extemely hot and dry weather. Also have pocket gophers outside eating my hostas. Can't use poison..have two little dogs. Am hoping to try it outside but wanted to see how it would do inside first...had it a week with no results.

For the gophers I'm not sure something like that would work, to trap them you generally have to put the traps down inside their tunnels and I'm not sure that one will fit without excavating too much of your garden (gophers are smart, if you mess with their tunnels too much in the process of putting in traps, they'll go make a new tunnel and won't go by the part you stuck the trap in)

That's the smaller version, isn't it?
My Ultra killed 12 rats and stopped working. Very annoying. I now pay an exterminator $42 per month to load their bait stations with poison and hopefully pick up carcasses. Extremely expensive, but the rats were taklng over. The poison is concealed in bait stations and is supposed to only kill the first critter that eats it.

So you might need the larger one for rats.

Can you give us the name of that poison? And can it be purchased by home owners?

No, unfortunately, I don't have the name - seems they have to load it in their bait stations...and charge me $42 a month for the service. Maybe I can stealthy look at the container when he comes next time. :-) Annoys me to pay that much and the dude didn't even pick up the latest carcasses. I'll let you know if I find out more information (now I'm motivated, since you asked).

Thanks, 4paws!!

Probably a product containing bromethalin such as this-
http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/fastrac-rodent-bait.htm

It's less toxic to non target animals than conventional anticoagulants but it is still toxic. Looks as if it might not kill a decent sized dog that ate a poisoned rat but looks as if it would kill a fox or an owl that ate one. Downside to any bait containing bromethalin is there is no antidote. At least with the anticoagulants there is a means by which to save a non-target animal.

Hey Laura! My original ratzapper is still zapping away. Do you remember where you ordered your ultra from? Can't you contact them and send it back for a replacement? I've had mine for several years now. $42 a monthly is horrible when your one month fee is darn near equal to the cost of the whole ratzapper. I don't even need to buy replacement batteries anymore because we have battery chargers that plug in the wall. We bought a universal smart charger and haven't bought anything but rechargeable batteries ever since.

Then mine is defective - I bought it from a vendor on ebay, but I thought if I could find the box (I never toss anything) I'd contact the company directly. Figures.

It is a lot of money to pay for 15 minutes a month. They assured me it wouldn't hurt my cat, either. I also have two less than decent sized dogs - 20# - as well as my 4-100# furloves.

I now have three of them. All of them work. I've never had one quit on me. I do have to change out the batteries more than I care to admit so I wish they would begin manufacturing an electric model that could be plugged in like a toaster. Granted, I'm using rechargeable batteries but I really have to wonder how many get away when the batteries go dead and I'm not around to go over there and replace them in a timely fashion. I am happy that the kills have slowed down to a trickle as of late though. They do work or I wouldn't be down to a trickle and you wouldn't have gotten 12 before yours stopped working.

I think your first course of action should be to contact the eBay vendor. If that doesn't work, contact the company. Can't hurt to tell them how much you loved their product but don't quite know what to do since it quit working. Maybe they could trouble shoot the device for you to get it up and running again and if they can't do that perhaps you could ask them to replace it. This can't be all that complex of a device and maybe there is some cheap part that was defective that could be replaced for $5. At $504 a year going the other route, I'd do something.

Don't quite know what to say about the assurances you received. I do believe you are paying for a service and have a right to know what products they are using without having to sneak around. Why don't you ask them to provide you with the name of the product or at the very least the chemicals used in the formulation they are using on your property or tell them to take a hike. Talk is cheap when there are other critters around. I have a 21# cat here in my home. I wouldn't use a product containing bromethalin anywhere around here. Ask and ask as if you expect an answer. When someone makes a statement that their product only kills the first critter that eats it, they should be in a position to back up their statement. You did hire them because of that statement so you're entitled to know what they're using on your property. Who knows, maybe there is such a product out there that truly only kills the first critter that eats it. I'm really not that up on rat poisons because I've been using the zappers. Laura, it could be out there. Give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they were truthful with you and ask them to share information with you. If the technician doesn't know, ask him to have someone contact you who does know the answer to your question BEFORE they come back and charge you another $42.

I made my lawn service give me a complete run down of every chemical being used on my property a year and a half after I started using them. They had told me everything was safe and I never thought to question them. I then promptly terminated the contract mid stream. Was not happy with what they were dumping on the lawn that our kids and pets rolled around in. I did not feel guilty in the least for canceling my contract with them. I've gone organic because of the pets and the kids.

Good Lauren, I will do that. I need to call them anyway to dispute the bill. It's been a bit unprofessional all the way around with this company, but I have to admit, the number of rats there were all of a sudden simply freaked me out - I was seeing them all the time and they were so loud at night, scampering around. BAD! Played on my emotions.