Rat problem

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    Posted: 21 Jul 2021 at 11:00pm
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Hi guys.Have a rayglass 2500 stored in purpose built shed.about a month ago noticed a small amount of rat **** in the boat.I purchased a bait station with the prongs that hold 8 baits and set it on the boats transom.first time I checked it after being set for about a week no evidence of baits being taken.checked today and Holy ****.all baits gone.Am a bit nervous they may have chewed wiring ect.Turned all switches on ect and every thing seemed fine.makes me nervous going too far off shore next time out just in case there a problem that not obvious yet.shed is modern with no access points that they can get in.not that I can see anyway.Any one else had any problems with vermin and their boats.boats been in shed last 10 years and have never had this problem before.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Reel Deal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jul 2021 at 11:05pm
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for me I’d open every access I could with a torch and check for nibbles or plastic shavings. Any hint think the worst.  I’d add some snap traps with bread and peanut butter. I’ve found baits left and peanut butter traps sprung every night. And you see the kill and what you are up against 
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote White snake Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jul 2021 at 11:09pm
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Good call real deal.Will add some snap traps asap.Apparantly when they eat bait they usually vacate building looking for water.Hopefully they all dead now
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote CrayZfish Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2021 at 1:11am
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Normally only takes half to 3/4 of a rat bait to kill an adult sized rat so unless they were able to take away and store it I suspect you have done the damage. Stick to traps for a while as the bait has some pretty decent scents in that end up attracting rats from all over. I've also had rat poo and piss in my workshop and boat and had never been more disturbed. Good luck,
Why choose either diving or fishing when you can do both. Besides crayfish tail is very good bait!!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote smudge Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2021 at 6:23am
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/without alarming you I had a rat get into my boat. It chewed a chunk of all three foam squabs in the cabin, the rubber off the top of my hand held GPS, our red Hooked Up flag, the grip of my Synit rod, a tiny bit of wiring and some other bits and pieces. I had rat bait in the garage and was on the boat the week before.

Because the rat baits were eaten and the stuff that was chewed wasn't food I looked everywhere on the boat and found the beginnings of a rats nest behind the helm where the electric panel is. When I checked under the floor there it was. A full made nest with a dead rat.

Insurance wouldn't cover it because it was rodent damage Angry
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Hook-it Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2021 at 10:35am
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Originally posted by White snake White snake wrote:

Hi guys.Have a rayglass 2500 stored in purpose built shed.about a month ago noticed a small amount of rat **** in the boat.I purchased a bait station with the prongs that hold 8 baits and set it on the boats transom.first time I checked it after being set for about a week no evidence of baits being taken.checked today and Holy ****.all baits gone.Am a bit nervous they may have chewed wiring ect.Turned all switches on ect and every thing seemed fine.makes me nervous going too far off shore next time out just in case there a problem that not obvious yet.shed is modern with no access points that they can get in.not that I can see anyway.Any one else had any problems with vermin and their boats.boats been in shed last 10 years and have never had this problem before.

Try not to feed where they have been place bait in another place they will fine it. You are only inviting the buggar's to hang around. Check your boat well all wiring.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Hook-it Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2021 at 10:41am
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Originally posted by smudge smudge wrote:

/without alarming you I had a rat get into my boat. It chewed a chunk of all three foam squabs in the cabin, the rubber off the top of my hand held GPS, our red Hooked Up flag, the grip of my Synit rod, a tiny bit of wiring and some other bits and pieces. I had rat bait in the garage and was on the boat the week before.

Because the rat baits were eaten and the stuff that was chewed wasn't food I looked everywhere on the boat and found the beginnings of a rats nest behind the helm where the electric panel is. When I checked under the floor there it was. A full made nest with a dead rat.

Insurance wouldn't cover it because it was rodent damage Angry
 

Yes insurance will not cover it was not an accident. Have had major damager to Ford Ranger and years back to a Ford Fairmont station wagon.
Just found another bit of **** on my tractor seat, time to sought them out . We keep baits working all year must be vigilant when Rural. 
In saying that anywhere for that matter. They can cause so much damage very quickly.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Denny Boy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2021 at 10:48am
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Yep-I too had rats galore in my shed. We live out in the country and the rat problem coincided with the farmer over the road growing maize for a couple of years. Never saw the rats until the maize was harvested and then holy s**t in they came hungry as looking for tucker. I was very lucky as we have a big walnut tree and trays of walnuts in the shed....they love walnuts and left everything else alone. Anyway long story short I put 2 bait stations in the shed, one by the walnuts and one in the boat and like the story above, the first couple of nights nothing...they are very wary, cagey intelligent animals. But on the third night whack all baits gone and they continued to demolish them for about 6 weeks then gradually none at last. So a bait station to me is good insurance as they can't resist the allure of the baits. Snap traps are OK but if the trap misses them they will not go back to it ever again. 
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W had aviaries for yrs...at times around 80 to 120 parrots.
aviaries + magnet for rats and mice.
Secret is maintenance
I used the larger blocks and cut down to 1/8 bits plus the
'crumbs'
 At shelter points around the section border,  around and under the house shed and garages and aviaries, fruit trees compost bins would drop a peace.
Around each week would check and replace if was not there.
The thing with rats is they more often than not will pick up and store their food.. which is why baits disappear constantly for week  to 10 days.. till the poison kicks in.
Over the yrs rat issues where never an issue.

Back in the 80s stored my cars and had a few rat signs..
Set up a large bucket under the edge of the lower bench self that had rat droppings on.
 A plank that went out over the bucket
Bucket about 1/2 full of water with a lot of polystyrene chips in, and a larger piece in the middle with a nice peanut butter and chocolate chip smeared on and lump of it in stuck in the middle.
 The rats walked up the plank.. the surface in the bucket looks solid.. and jump in.
Down side, dont leave the bucket too long before re setting.. can make the gut heave a bit.Wink

What really gets me thu, is  rat mice maintenance back in the pre 70s was normal household regular maintenance, espec around feb march...be it rental or own.. councils used to supply poison for free.
 Just like keeping a house well aired about, never dry cloths inside, unless infront of the fire where the moist air sucked up the chiminey...and house where not insulted back then.. but where warm when closed up as the air temps dropped in the afternoon.

Now since rat mice maintenance doesn't exist any more over the wider neighborhood, there is a constant 'over flow' to low population household that maintain... which now means normal maintenance  has to be all yr round not just feb / march.

 Traps.. these be cage type or spring kill.. rats learn pretty damn quick  to stay clear once they may had a close call or see another rat caught.. the are common for good reason.. they are not dumb.
We had cage traps also...we noticed that every so often would get a new invasion / over flow... baits will go missing, would do a caged trap , but very rare a repeat catch.

Soln for rats mice and cold damp mouldy  houses, cracking roof tiles, peeling house paint, is simple constant old school practices.. like mowing the lawn, keep lichen off yr roof tiles...wash the house once a yr..Wink

 " work hard at being lazy" 

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Hook-it Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2021 at 11:03am
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Originally posted by CrayZfish CrayZfish wrote:

Normally only takes half to 3/4 of a rat bait to kill an adult sized rat so unless they were able to take away and store it I suspect you have done the damage. Stick to traps for a while as the bait has some pretty decent scents in that end up attracting rats from all over. I've also had rat poo and piss in my workshop and boat and had never been more disturbed. Good luck,

Sorry Crayzfish shall disagree on amount to kill depends on size baby rats big mothers ect. Takes way more than half or 3/4 of bait even to kill one big rat. 
We always use solid baits nailed to board for if not the baits are taken away and stored as you say.
If you use traps good luck. If you are lucky to even get one wash traps in boiling water before resetting I have used mainly possum traps with HMMM some results better with fat under plate then they have to search for food. Trouble is they squeal something bad puts others off from coming back to that trap for a long time.
Had a lengthy discussion a year or so back with bait making company. Asked them, "why did I have to feed so many baits to a very small population of Rabbits / and that their Rat bait was not that effective". The reply was not convincing. 

Shall finish like you , Good Luck, and keep onto them 
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Kevin.S Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2021 at 12:17pm
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Bait and traps.  If you have a shed, or live rural, use both all the time -if there is sign of them or not.  I'm rural, but all my neighbours bait regularly and I do as well and it seems to be keeping them under control.  It also helps that I live near an area that the local landcare people have taken an interest in because there is some rare creature living there that rats attack, so they are encouraging lots of baiting there.

Rabbits on the other hand I am most definitely not on top of. Sat typing this there is a young rabbit eating the grass outside my window, about 3m away from me.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Hook-it Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2021 at 1:09pm
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Originally posted by Kevin.S Kevin.S wrote:

Bait and traps.  If you have a shed, or live rural, use both all the time -if there is sign of them or not.  I'm rural, but all my neighbours bait regularly and I do as well and it seems to be keeping them under control.  It also helps that I live near an area that the local landcare people have taken an interest in because there is some rare creature living there that rats attack, so they are encouraging lots of baiting there.

Rabbits on the other hand I am most definitely not on top of. Sat typing this there is a young rabbit eating the grass outside my window, about 3m away from me.

Get a good slug gun Kevin, that will make it hop.

 We redeveloped a block/farm down Turangi way 40 years back. 
At night with spotlight, the rats that infested the paddocks all came from the dump. The farm house was in a straight line 300m . Man did we learn a heap about rats from the experience. Talked with Taupo District Council on the problem,  they like all councils would, denied there was a problem.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Kevin.S Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2021 at 1:21pm
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Originally posted by Hook-it Hook-it wrote:

Originally posted by Kevin.S Kevin.S wrote:

Rabbits on the other hand I am most definitely not on top of. Sat typing this there is a young rabbit eating the grass outside my window, about 3m away from me.

Get a good slug gun Kevin, that will make it hop.


Bit of a story there, I tried that.  Bought a nice looking .22 air rifle second hand.  I couldn't hit a thing with it, so did some tests with it against a target 10m away and discovered that the sights were pointing in a different direction to the barrel.  Not a little off, but miles out. 

If anyone is in the market for an airgun that doesn't shoot straight I'm keen to offload it.
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Originally posted by Kevin.S Kevin.S wrote:

Originally posted by Hook-it Hook-it wrote:

Originally posted by Kevin.S Kevin.S wrote:

Rabbits on the other hand I am most definitely not on top of. Sat typing this there is a young rabbit eating the grass outside my window, about 3m away from me.

Get a good slug gun Kevin, that will make it hop.


Bit of a story there, I tried that.  Bought a nice looking .22 air rifle second hand.  I couldn't hit a thing with it, so did some tests with it against a target 10m away and discovered that the sights were pointing in a different direction to the barrel.  Not a little off, but miles out. 

If anyone is in the market for an airgun that doesn't shoot straight I'm keen to offload it.

I take it it just has open sights. Put a good scope on it Kevin good for up to 30m; that is as long as it can handle 1000ft a sec or better.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Kevin.S Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2021 at 3:23pm
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It has a scope, but the barrel is not pointing in the same direction as the scope mounts are.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Pcj Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2021 at 4:54pm
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Leave a cat in the shed,neighbours/yours /stray doesnt matter only needs to be there a day and the cat smell drives them away.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote waynorth Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2021 at 5:22pm
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...Traps.. these be cage type or spring kill.. rats learn pretty damn quick  to stay clear once they may had a close call or see another rat caught...

...If you use traps good luck. If you are lucky to even get one wash traps in boiling water before resetting...

Interesting that some have had issues with rats getting trap shy. I use a mixture of snap traps, Fenn's & DOC200. If I'm a bit slack checking the traps I'll sometimes only find half a rat as they get canabilised by their mates. If they have rotted I do scrape the big bits & the maggots out of the trap box but never bother washing them. Might be different with Norway's - mostly ship rats around here.

I find these Pestrol traps easy to use and effective - they are also used by the local pest control team.

  



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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote krow Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2021 at 8:42pm
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I too live rural and get a couple of rats every week as neighbours property is a bit of a rat heaven. I find the smells from previous casualties actuary helps get the next one. Recently got a new trap and it took a week before the first capture. I've tried all those spring traps and some of the larger rats can escape them as they are not strong enough. Even with modification. Nails added to the board around the spring wire. As above miss one and it learns not to attend again. I don't use the bait much anymore as it's expensive. I find you also end up feeding a rat that has already eaten a lethal dose. Also the danger is they will chew your wires looking for water. The die somewhere where they reek and you can't find them. 
Best trap I have is a kill trap made by Steve Allan (google it and you'll find his possum traps this one is the same but made for rats. It's accounted for 100's and still going strong. I use shelled Macadamia nuts in all the traps as I have trees (free) and they stay working for weeks if necessary. Yes only way to control is traps or baits set permanently. Mine are set in trees fence lines etc. Hard to shoot them at night because they run from the spotlight unless you use a red light. 
Had a mouse problem in previous boat and they would hide under a bit of the floor I couldn't get to so to get them I "popped" a can of fly spray and shoved it in there. Must have worked cause no more problem. 
If it's not been a problem for ten years and now they are getting into the shed. Look again for entry point. Don't forget to look up too. Buggers are clever. Trap/bait the outside of the shed. Get them before they get in would be best way. 


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Steps Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jul 2021 at 9:24am
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If have a thermal.. at night you will get real shock.. yu will also notice in small bush areas the rats (and wild cats) dont go to the ground, damn near live in the trees.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote White snake Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jul 2021 at 1:00pm
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Thanks everyone.Has been interesting reading all the comments.i have been checking bait station every day for last 3 days and still sign of maybe a lone rat as only the front 2 baits chewed on..Have added a snap trap today as extra back up.Tried all accessories on boat and checked most of wiring.fingers crossed they havint chewed any.
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