Yes, we had one but not the issue at hand...

Dogs alerted at my pool storage locker in my side yard and when we moved it out emerged a rather large pack rack which escaped the dogs wrath by running through a hole in the fence...Problem solved!

Nope...Last night and this am the dogs were still all over the area and we initially assumed that because all 4 of our dogs share a single barely functioning brain it was memory. Pulled locker back and looked very close to discover the runaway rat was a mama rat and left her litter behind.

I doubt mama will return but am giving it some time. If she no shows I guess I will see if I can do something with them to at least give them a fighting chance.

I know they are just rats but I saw a documentary once about a rat in France that could cook like you wouldn't believe so i might get lucky and get a cooking rat!

they love shiney stuff. try a havahart with something shiney and some food.

quote:

Originally posted by Kevmo:
I know they are just rats but I saw a documentary once about a rat in France that could cook like you wouldn't believe so i might get lucky and get a cooking rat!

Great movie reference! I wouldn’t count on getting a cooking rat though, you know movies are made by leftists in Hollywierd and leftists lie.

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:

quote:

Originally posted by Kevmo:
I know they are just rats but I saw a documentary once about a rat in France that could cook like you wouldn't believe so i might get lucky and get a cooking rat!

Great movie reference! I wouldn’t count on getting a cooking rat though, you know movies are made by leftists in Hollywierd and leftists lie.

Noted!

You're a bit more compassionate than I am and when it comes to animals I'm pretty compassionate but those rats would have been dead if found in my shed. You best do a check and clear of your entire property. Hardly ever see just one rat.

I was cleaning up the backside of my garage one day. You know where you throw all the junk so it's out of sight. Picked up a board and mouse took off running. Underneath the board was litter of tiny mice. Couldn't been but a day old. It was a hot day and I knew they would be dead in a few minutes. I went to the shed to put the lumber up in the rafters with intention of going back and putting the critters out of their misery. Couldn't have been gone but 3 minutes. When I came back it was just in time to see momma scurrying off into the weeds with the last of her litter. I was fine with that.

My guess if you're rat has not been back yet she's long gone.

Euthanize them or you will have a HUGE rat problem in months. Those things breed exponentially and you will have 100s of them in a few months and 1000s in 6-12 months running around.

Do you feed your dogs outside? Is uneaten food left in the bowls for rats and other animals to eat?

If so I would work on denying the rats any food source.

Keel them

Rats will do a lot of damage and they multiply quickly. I’d kill them all. I had rats living under my shed, they were crapping all over my atv and I was afraid they would eventually do some wiring work on it so I killed all of them.

I fight a constant battle the year around against desert pack rats. I keep traps set continuously, and when caught, they get the airgun treatment. The body is put out in one area, and will be gone the next day......part of the food chain. My bobcats are hell on packrats!!

When the bastids eat the wires under the hood of your car you will find your compassion diminished

Pack rats are THE worst for very quick, overnight damage, especially to vehicles. And they constantly dribble, horrid smelling, staining, urine.

Get a big RAT trap...looks like a regular, old fashioned mouse trap but 5 times larger. Drill a hole in it so You can wire it to something.

Put shiny alum foil around the bait bar, with some peanut butter. Set trap...wire to secure object. If it's a pack rat...it can't resist.

I have spent close to $1K in the past 30 years repairing vehicle damage from pack rats. Most of it done overnight.

The electronic rat traps that Lowe's sells for around $30 work excellent. They use 6 C batteries and killify them instantly. The traps look like a small mailbox.

Just kill the rodents...they are very undesirable guests.

As a fellow Arizonan, All pack rats need to die. Seriously.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
When the bastids eat the wires under the hood of your car you will find your compassion diminished

YES, and it's NOT covered by vehicle factory warranty. BTDT.

quote:

Originally posted by FN in MT:
Pack rats are THE worst for very quick, overnight damage, especially to vehicles. And they constantly dribble, horrid smelling, staining, urine.

Get a big RAT trap...looks like a regular, old fashioned mouse trap but 5 times larger. Drill a hole in it so You can wire it to something.

Put shiny alum foil around the bait bar, with some peanut butter. Set trap...wire to secure object. If it's a pack rat...it can't resist.

I have spent close to $1K in the past 30 years repairing vehicle damage from pack rats. Most of it done overnight.

Pretty much this.

I had a problem with them a few years back. They royally effed up my garage and shed. They pissed and shit all over everything and piled up odds and ends into nests all over the place. I won't even mention the stench. Good God them things stink to high heaven.

I put out an extra large snap trap. One morning I look out into the garage and the trap wasn't where I placed it. I looked around and saw the pack rat, with the trap snapped around it's head, walking around the garage. I kicked it out into the driveway and shot it with a 22. I caught another with the trap snapped down on its tail and he was in the process of chewing its tail off. Shot him too with the 22.

Since then I haven't seen any, but I'm ready for them bastards. They stink to high heaven and make one hell of a mess. Extreme prejudice is warranted.

Wait a minute now, we aren't all bad.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
When the bastids eat the wires under the hood of your car you will find your compassion diminished

Oh yeah.
Little corksoakers ate some wiring on my truck...TWICE...in one month. (parked at work)
$400 bucks the first time and 350 the second time because my mechanic is a good guy and cut me a break.
I might have the only Tundra that has conduit covering the wires on top of the motor.

It was full on packrat jihad after that!
Poison, traps and destroy any and all nests within 150' of the building.