How to get rid of a rat on board

[Chalifour]

Just found out today that we have a rat on board! Any suggestions on how to get rid of a rat kickly before he destroy everything!
We’re currently located in Datça, Turkey.

[paulajayne]

Rat trap with peanut butter.

[Kelkara]

I know an old boat that signed up a cat.
Now fancy that ... to sign up a cat.

They signed up the cat to catch the rat,
The rat climbed on board to eat the stores,
the stores were stowed to sail away ...

Oh what a day! when we sailed away.
But the rat can't stay!

[LoudMusic]

In my experience dealing with rats in a house, you want to use Victor brand rat traps and modify them with nails. The Tomcat traps are rubbish - don't bother with those. You're definitely going to want to throw the trap away anyway - definitely don't clean and reuse. They're so cheap.

https://i.imgur.com/HWEzBvb.jpg

I used shorter nails around the snapping side, and didn't bother with the middle nails. But I've seen where rats have somehow figured it out, and having the extra barricade at the hinge area would force them around to the snap side.

In my attic I also tethered the trap, as the larger rats had the ability to get snapped and live long enough to drag the trap away and hide. I'm not sure that would be necessary on a boat.

They also are far less likely to go for a trap if there is other food available. They are very suspicious animals and something new like a trap won't be interesting until it's the only thing left. So make sure your food is WELL secured. No boxed food. No soft plastic bag food. Everything has to be in a hard container. I've even seen them chew through hard plastic (tupperware) containers.

As mentioned, peanut butter works well for bait. It doesn't take much. And I usually put it on the underside of the trigger so they have to work to get it loose which will more likely cause it to snap.

And lastly, I actually used a motion triggered camera to monitor the trap so that I didn't have to go up to the attic everyday to check it. I'm not entirely sure that aspect would be helpful on a boat, but it could also give you information about how the rat is or isn't interested in the trap. Or maybe show you if there are more than one.

[JPA Cate]

Hire an exterminator and promise a bonus if he catches it/them in the first day.n Local rats may have particular bait preferences and a local would know what works there.

I have also used salami, with success to bate rat traps, anything tough they have to work at, and spring the trap.

Good luck with it, rats can do so much damage, so fast.

Zeehag has two cats aboard....an no rats. A cat might be a solution, or a Jack Russel terrier. Mr. Rat just might leave for safer digs.

Ann

[Chalifour]

OK, to all of you who offered solutions, the rat was trapped at 22h, Turkish time, only 6hrs after noticing his presence on board and thrown in the water. Only to notice that he walk up the anchor chain of the man who so generously helped us!!! We ran to his ship to inform him that the rat was probably in his anchor chain room. He got rid of him so the rat manage to swim to another ship. Hopefully the rat remembered the lesson we served her him so we don’t find him again!!!

[roverhi]

Forget the humane crap to trap them. Get one of those solid skull crushing, neck breaking spring traps that will kill the damn thing. Disregarding disease, their need to chew can do thousands of dollars of damage to a boat in a very short time. I'm sure the other boats that will now become the home of the vermin look very kindly on your humane trapping and release of the bugger.

Originally Posted by Chalifour

OK, to all of you who offered solutions, the rat was trapped at 22h, Turkish time, only 6hrs after noticing his presence on board and thrown in the water. Only to notice that he walk up the anchor chain of the man who so generously helped us!!! We ran to his ship to inform him that the rat was probably in his anchor chain room. He got rid of him so the rat manage to swim to another ship. Hopefully the rat remembered the lesson we served her him so we don’t find him again!!!

[zeehag]

i caught the one that got onto my boat by use of cat smell and sticky traps.
gotta rid boat of em before they multiply, which can be damned fast. thankfully cat steenk keeps em away. now i have 2 cats no rats.
also, for future reference -- donot let your human hand smell get onto the traps, i used gloves to load and set mine and were caught within a short time post trap set.

[seaman-lew]

Tristan jones says use smoke

[Adelie]

Find a way to smear or attach bait to bottom of trigger pad without impending action. Harder to get bait without getting snapped.

[sailm8]

I friend just had this problem as liveaboards. Rat did a lot of damage to hoses and wiring. They tried every trap and bait before hiring a company to fumigate the boat. Ended up costing several thousand dollars. I would advise not to waste too much time because of how much damage it can cause every day.

[19thol]

Give him $20 and send him out for beer, and shove off before he gets back.

[freakytiki]

Lay cheese on floor and shoot him when he comes out.

[mindsofman]

Nylon gloves
Soft smelly cheese
RAT trap.
Rub cheese in gloved hands.
Rub TRAP in gloved hands.
Bait trap securely with said cheese.
Place trap anywhere.
This works gr8.caught 13 rats in 3 days
On 5 seperate yachts...
OH.and as the man said, hide ur other food.

[Captainv40]

The only sure-fire way I know of requires safety precautions but works quickly every time.

Seal all vents. Open all interior doors & cabinets. Put whatever you will need in the cockpit (book, drinks, etc.). Place a small gas generator on cabin floor (hook up to charger if you want). Start generator and promptly exit the cabin. Run the generator until you hear it coughing. Hold breath as you jump in (or better yet rig something to shut down generator). Wait another hour or so. Then open up all vents and hatches, holding breath to avoid CO2. Wait until sure air is clear. Now you can be sure rat is dead. All you need to do is find it!

Obviously all this has inherent dangers, particularly CO2 inhalation and fire (normally I keep gasoline and other flammables out of boat interior). You may want to try traps &/or poison first, but I have had little luck with them & gassing always works. Don’t procrastinate, as rodents are very destructive (they love to chew up wiring in particular).