Rats

[S/V_Surya]

So it was a warm humid me evening the other day and I left the hatch open and went to bed. I was awoken late at night by something touching my leg. I screamed like a little girl and jumped out of bed. I searched all over the place for whatever it was and never found anything. Went back to bed and went to sleep.
The next day I look for signs of an intrusion but did not see anything. So I just kind of thought maybe it was some cheat or something that touched my leg. So then I went for some snacks and I found some remnants of something that have been shredded. Yes there was something on board. I thought maybe it was a mouse and Googled what people had said about mice touching their leg. You say mice are shy and avoid humans. The next night I heard a large racket going on some place in the boat don't know what it was. In the morning entering the cockpit I saw a lot of large droppings. Thank God whatever it was was not in the boat. I'm guessing it was a large rat. The fact that I'm on a slip behind the restaurant contributes to this Theory.
I think it's gone and not on the boat anymore so we will see.
Nighty night all.

[john61ct]

Rent a cat keep it hungry

[LoudMusic]

Originally Posted by S/V_Surya

I think it's gone and not on the boat anymore so we will see.

HA HA HA HA HA ... no.

I've never battled rats on boats, but I've battled rats in houses. All I have to say to you is GOOD LUCK.

Also, Tomcat rat traps are a waste of money. Get Victor snap traps or don't bother.

[S/V_Surya]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Rent a cat keep it hungry

I there are two cats that live in this restaurant and they are not doing their jobs. But I don't know if a cat really goes after a rat.

On another note I picked up mice and a rat after Hurricane Irma and used mouse poison. Never found the mice but the rat was discovered when I was rooting through the engine room and saw a big fury lump. Pulled it out and it was about a 1 footer not including tail.

[sparrowhawk1]

You should just you do a YouTube search it's very simple take a 5 gallon bucket cover it with some mesh put a tube in the center big enough for the rat to go down, maybe 4 inches long put some peanut butter and seeds in the bottom of the bucket.....

[john61ct]

We had a cat in country Australia used to bring down rabbits, some lots bigger than she was.

Deposited their severed heads as trophies right on the front doorstep, so proud!

[Rex Delay]

A friend had a Bayfield 32. I checked on it weekly so the Rat(s) were on for less than a week. The boat was a write off. Ate the upholstery, chewed through bulkheads. They even chewed fishing lures. He spent several thousand just to clean it up and then gave it away.

[LoudMusic]

Originally Posted by sparrowhawk1

You should just you do a YouTube search it's very simple take a 5 gallon bucket cover it with some mesh put a tube in the center big enough for the rat to go down, maybe 4 inches long put some peanut butter and seeds in the bottom of the bucket.....

Another design.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXenv5Ulq-k

[Seymore]

Get a springy rat trap and bait it with smelly salami.


Baiting rat traps with cheese is an urban legend.

[LoudMusic]

Originally Posted by john61ct

We had a cat in country Australia used to bring down rabbits, some lots bigger than she was.

Deposited their severed heads as trophies right on the front doorstep, so proud!

One day I stepped out the backdoor with socks on and no shoes - stepped right onto a bloody severed rabbit head. I held back barf and threw the socks away.

My most proud cat owner morning was waking to the sound of the cat eating the ass off of a rabbit right outside my bedroom window. I opened the window and asked him if he had a good night and he looked me right in the eye and meowed, with blood running down his chin. A few moments later I discovered two squirrels at the backdoor and two birds at the front door. He indeed had a great night. When I went to clean up the cat I expected him to be all cut up from the struggle, but there was not a scratch on him and none of the blood was his.

[deluxe68]

Last year we went to visit relatives for 5 days, we use a pet sitting service to feed the dog. The sitter spilled some dry dog food near the bowl which is near the doggy door. We just assumed the dog did it while eating. A few days later we were watching TV about 8PM an the biggest rat I ever saw crawled in thru the doggy door, went into the kitched, then we chased it outside. We had lived here 24 years and never seen a rat before, not even a mouse. I bought a few common rat traps and the next night we caught him using peanut butter for bait. Then a few days later a smaller one came in and we never did find him. The next day we scoured the house and found loads of droppings and pee. We bought new kitchen trash cans, electric traps, a plastic dog food container with a lid, and more victornox traps. All in all we trapped 6 rats, two indoors and 4 outside using PB for bait. I bought the electronic traps because birds were getting caught in the regular traps. It was scary seeing just how many areas of the house they got to in just 5 days. The biggest draw for them seems to be the smell of food.

[sparrowhawk1]

Originally Posted by LoudMusic

Another design.

Believe it or not I have seen videos where they jump out of the bucket if it's not covered. They can even jump through a small hole in a cover that's why you need a piece of PVC tubing.

[Saleen411]

Originally Posted by sparrowhawk1

Believe it or not I have seen videos where they jump out of the bucket if it's not covered. They can even jump through a small hole in a cover that's why you need a piece of PVC tubing.

Fill half the bucket with water.

[sparrowhawk1]

Originally Posted by Saleen411

Fill half the bucket with water.

Almost said that but that seems kind of mean. I guess that's the main drawback to these kind of traps. Don't get me wrong I understand that rats are pests but no reason not to be Humane about it.

[LoudMusic]

Originally Posted by sparrowhawk1

Almost said that but that seems kind of mean. I guess that's the main drawback to these kind of traps. Don't get me wrong I understand that rats are pests but no reason not to be Humane about it.

You can also use something like sawdust. Doesn't take half a bucket, though. Maybe a couple inches.

Or just get a bigger bucket

I lived next to some woods for a while and thought about getting a very large trash can to build one of these traps on. Theoretically that'd trap lots of mice and rats, and maybe even whatever eats them.