Rats...Mice....Rodents....whatever

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Here is an article from a veterinary news magazine that covers danger of rat poisons to pets and the issue of a pet eating a mouse that consumed rat poison.

Usually, rats and mice contaminate and spill far more feed than they eat. I was in a Tractor Supply store to pick up a couple bags of feed. I noticed that the bags on top of the pallet had mice holes in them. Every time I set a bag aside, a mouse ran out of the stack. I gave up on finding a bag that did not have holes from that pallet. I think feed stores struggle with mice control.

I heard that the rats in NYC were struggling to find food with the restaurants closed due to the lockdowns. Video I saw on TV showed they were out in greater numbers than usual looking for food. Covid has been bad on everyone.
 
How sure are you that your varmints don't have striped tails and masked eyes? Having a hard time imagining how many mice it would take to eat 50 lbs of feed in one night.
My wife always says I'm a bad communicator, they didn't knock it out over night but it was actually more than one bag over a couple weeks time from purchasing and getting to the bottom of the stack.
 
many years ago one of the neighbors about a mile from me got the bright idea to start mixing his own feed - grains and round bales in a giant mixer then dump it on the ground for feeder steers. The land he was leasing was not cleared - lots of cover.

And, he did not bother to fence out or barricade the grains. At first, the wild hogs trailed behind the cattle while he dumped out feed. However very quickly they found the buffet source and the wild hog population exploded. He finally figured it out and started using the hay bales to block access to the grains. The good news - the hogs stayed out of our place until he went out of business 2 years later. The bad news - that's when they became my problem.

Cats and traps are the most effective on rats. Bigger traps and dogs are more effective on larger vermin.
 
many years ago one of the neighbors about a mile from me got the bright idea to start mixing his own feed - grains and round bales in a giant mixer then dump it on the ground for feeder steers. The land he was leasing was not cleared - lots of cover.

And, he did not bother to fence out or barricade the grains. At first, the wild hogs trailed behind the cattle while he dumped out feed. However very quickly they found the buffet source and the wild hog population exploded. He finally figured it out and started using the hay bales to block access to the grains. The good news - the hogs stayed out of our place until he went out of business 2 years later. The bad news - that's when they became my problem.

Cats and traps are the most effective on rats. Bigger traps and dogs are more effective on larger vermin.

Sounds like you and he had an opportunity at some grain fed pork for free and alot of fun shooting them. Might not have been free for him but would've been for you.
 
5 gal pale 1/4 filled with water. Throw some sunflower seeds on the water and lean a stick or board against the pale for them to run up. They jump in and drown. If you don't have other pets to worry about use antifreeze instead of water, it acts like embalming fluid.

If you want to get fancy, attach a wire across the top of the pale and put an empty can in the middle with the wire running thru holes in the top and bottom of the can. Cover the outside of the can with peanut butter. Mice run out on the wire onto the can, then can spins and drops them into the drink.
 
5 gal pale 1/4 filled with water. Throw some sunflower seeds on the water and lean a stick or board against the pale for them to run up. They jump in and drown. If you don't have other pets to worry about use antifreeze instead of water, it acts like embalming fluid.

If you want to get fancy, attach a wire across the top of the pale and put an empty can in the middle with the wire running thru holes in the top and bottom of the can. Cover the outside of the can with peanut butter. Mice run out on the wire onto the can, then can spins and drops them into the drink.
I've seen this posted for years and have tried it more times than I can remember. I've yet to catch any sort of rodent in the bucket.
 
I'm watching for a couple of big bullsnakes for one place to help control mice and deter Prairie Rattlers.
 
Has anyone tried minks? Seen videos on youtube, those things are veracious! They have to be kept in a bucket of water, really funny to watch.

I have used the bucket with aluminium can and caught a heap in chook shed. Chooks made short work of them which makes me wonder why they don't just catch them themselves.

Instead of poison ive been told to mix chocolate with cement powder (don't know rates) and it sets in their stomachs and kills them and is safe for pets. My guess is it doesnt work because if it did you'd be able to buy it at the shops.

Air rifles are great, i shot 19 in about ten minutes once but they soon get wise and stay well hidden.

To me cats reduce populations but never rid the place like poison, we keep poison bates out 365 days of the year and never see them. When i was a kid we had a plague and you would be amazed at what rats can eat through. Cold steel is the only thing that stops them.
 
A metal drum/trashcan with slick or even oiled insides and some feed in the bottom. Board to the top edge.
 
Caught 3 in a dog bowl with water in it-plain old water. Guess they were thirsty. Couldn't get back up the steer sides on the inside of the water bowl.
 
Ive always heard a well fed cat will kill more than a hungry cat. They have energy to waste hunting and chasing. But who knows.

I'm needing a cat or 3 as well. Our dogs will kill them in short order im thinking though. Gonna have to try something.

During the summer we have barn owls. One momma who raises her young in our shed. But they leave by fall. They kill all kinds of mice and rats. Wish they'd stay there year round.
I think I'd rather have the mice then the owl $hit on everything!
 
Make a couple of these traps. You can catch a bunch before attention to the trap is needed. No poison to be concerned about. Only problem I had was coon would come in a lick the peanut butter off the can.
 
I think I'd rather have the mice then the owl $hit on everything!
I would much prefer the owl poop to regular bird poop. The owl drops solid terms. About the size as a mouse. They have been really decimating the bird, mice, and rat populations. Got bird **** on everything!!! Its nasty. Have tarps everywhere. Gotta do something this year to stop their nesting.
 
I would much prefer the owl poop to regular bird poop. The owl drops solid terms. About the size as a mouse. They have been really decimating the bird, mice, and rat populations. Got bird **** on everything!!! Its nasty. Have tarps everywhere. Gotta do something this year to stop their nesting.

Are the birds pigeons? They're easy to eliminate at night!
 

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