Getting Rid Of Rats

[Thaddeus]

I heard a this once from a guy who worked on a farm ,for getting rids of lots of rodents

Might be a tall tale !

Try catch two rats alive 3 would be better in box traps ....drop them in to a 20 litre drum with a small piece of wood,like apiece of bark the size of your hand

Secure the opening of the drum with chicken wire ,leave for a week

The strongest rat will find himself out doing the other two to stay afloat on the wood ,then after a while he will eat the other 2 ,after this release him and he will attack and eat all the other rats on your property ,kinda got your self a cannibal rat pet ,who won't bother chewing on wires and wood he rodent meat now!

A touch extreme for you situation ,I just liked the story

Well, yes that's fine if you want to surround your house with 20 ltr barrels of water, where do you park the car?

[Thaddeus]

Actually I read that somewhere in the Philippines they have so much problems with rats that killing a cat is a criminal offense.

You then get a plague of cats. I don't know which is worse.

That's why spaying and neutering is the right thing to do

In any case, having seen some of these rats, many cats are no match.

I think it is prudent to not handle the rats and a dead rat in a trap attracts insects quickly. The last thing anyone needs to do is to come in contact with a rat's fleas, tics and resulting pool of urine and blood.

Ditto, apart from the tics and fleas, leptospirosisis a real problem though, if not diagnosed and treated correctly that will kill you.

Sticking with my earlier suggestion, get a cat, no danger of killing something that you don't want to kill by accidental poisoning, and if you have a problem with pigeons you can quite easily throw it on the roof and it will make its own way down.... my cat quite enjoys this now.

[pipo1000]

Rats look for food rests,stop feeding them and they will stay away.

As for poison,they have at big c a poison of the second generation,I forgot the name but it are big blue pastilles and cost 42 Bht for 10,and those work quick and effectively from the first bite.

Forget the red pastilles (yellow boxes with a red rat printed on,as they are candy for the rats.

[Time Traveller]

Actually I read that somewhere in the Philippines they have so much problems with rats that killing a cat is a criminal offense.

You then get a plague of cats. I don't know which is worse.

Then just do what the Thai's do, let dogs breed out of control.

[SimonD]

1. A flute and a catchy tune...

2. Elephants. Might be hard to get them into the loft space and the ceilings may need reinforcing but, once there, they do a good job.

Disclaimer: One (or more) of the above suggestions may not be practicable. A plague of elephants in your roof space may not be suitable in some cases. User discretion required.

[kurnell]

I've had rats in the ceiling of our house for 5 years. I used traps and glue traps to begin with, but there were so many that I resorted to rat poison. Now I lay poison every time I hear them (probably once a year) and it kills them all and they never die in the ceiling.

[LennyW]

I remember when i was a youngster at home in Scotland a farmer i knew had a problem with an awful lot of rats around his farm, another old farmer told him the best way to get rid of them was to catch one rat and cover it in diesel or petrol and set fire to it and the resulting screams would scare the rest of the rat colony away.......my friend duly caught a rat and set it on fire......however, the result was not what he expected, the burning rat shot under the farmhouse and set his kitchen on fire!!!!!!!!

[ThailandInvestmentGuide]

1. Some Thais throw/roll some Napthalene balls (moth balls) into the ceiling on the basis that the rats are meant to be repelled by the smell - not sure about the effectiveness of that approach though ... nor how long it lasts

2. Would caution on the idea of using more than one approach at the same time. I had some of those sticky traps hidden in corners. Later decided to bring our cat back to live with us to help with the rats (was at yai's house) and forgot about one of the sticky traps. The cat got caught in it and was very upset.

Hint: Peanut oil rubbed into the affected fur and then washed out with soapy water did the trick, but puss was ticked off for a day or two