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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 387
 
| We bought our place a little over a year ago now, there was a pole shed that the previous owner stored oats in for 7 years and didn't touch them. ugh
so he cleaned it out and we turned it into a cute little barn, I've got five box stalls and a feed area and tack area.
anyhow, last night was the last straw, I keep it clean and everything is hung up.
I took one of my good winter blankets off the rack and couldn't figure out why it was wet (realized later it was rat ****)..... then a rat ran out of it..... I screamed to say the least, it ruined my good blankets, its all chewed up. ugh
I need to get rid of them, I be there is hundreds under my barn.
I cant put out poison, I have a rescue that was living at the dump before we had him, he likes to eat anything dead, and hes good at finding them...
I dont have any cats, so that could be a start. unless I find a weasel??
do you have any suggestions!?? |
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 Saint Stacey
 
| Most cats aren’t bad ass enough to take on rats. You’d be better off with traps and maybe get a rat terrier dog if poison isn’t an option. |
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 Cute Little Imp
Posts: 2747
Location: N Texas | Make a water bucket trap. No poison and very effective!
(Not my pic)
 (rat trap.jpg)
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 rat trap.jpg (97KB - 211 downloads)
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Expert
Posts: 1314
Location: North Central Iowa Land of white frozen grass | I run a grain elevator. You will not get rid of them with poison. They will figure out what is making them sick and they will quit eating it. You will not be able to trap them out either. The only thing that works is called tracking powder and you can't get it. You will need an exterminator to get rid of them. Tracking powder is a poison that is in the powder and it is put into their holes and runs and it sticks to their hair and they always groom themselves and that is how they injest it. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 387
| I should mention, that I'm from canada!
I do have some ideas to get them under control in the spring and summer, but I want to start now! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 705
Location: Weatherford, TX | SKM - 2019-01-04 11:00 AM Most cats aren’t bad ass enough to take on rats. You’d be better off with traps and maybe get a rat terrier dog if poison isn’t an option.
Most cats won't take on rats. I have seen a few that will; but as said, those cats were big and bad ass. A terrier would work too. I think terriers love that job.
I also looked up the bucket traps and saw good results with those. One article said old fashioned snap traps. They said you have to place them perpendicular to a wall. I guess rats like to folllow along a wall. Other responses sad they learn once a couple get killed and then don't go near them.
I hope you you find a solution. |
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 Guys Just Wanna Have Fun
Posts: 5530
Location: OH | Many years ago we did a similar thing as the trap. Cut a 55 gallon drum in half---filled about half full of water and put oats on top and ran a board up to it. They would try and get the oats and fall in and drown. I used to have to clean it out after school---YUCK.
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Veteran
Posts: 268
| TOUGH cats.... we had one I watched catch a rat......we have 2 feral ones I got from a rescue currently and we don't have mice...rats...nothing. They came from a dump and were trapped by the rescue to rehome to farm homes. I keep them fed and they stick around. They came fixed and vaccinated. They also get gophers and moles. They are not friendly and we see them but in no way can pet them.....our dogs haven't got them either..... these are the cats you need! |
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 The Vaccinator
Posts: 3810
Location: Slipping down the slope of old age. Boo hoo. | - be sure to remove all sources of food -- and this means just about anything a rat can chew on -- you may want to speak with your county extension agent for help with developing a plan to end their food sources
- hire a professional exterminator -- for the barn AND your home - you do not want to drive them from the barn to your home and your vehicles (they will chew wires in vehicles so be warned)
- keep horse feed in secured metal containers
- place things you value - tack, blankets, leather items, etc., into secure metal containers
- do not feed grain -- feed pellets and feed from containers that discourage your horse pushing pellets out onto the ground.
- find a great shot and on a nice, clear day, run a water hose into the rat holes so your shooter can blast away as they pop out .... do this a lot picking a new hole every day
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12838
| Those sonic pest controllers work well but I find you need to replace the about every 3 months or so. |
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 No Tune in a Bucket
Posts: 2935
Location: Texas | We have a friend that is a retired vet. His grandson took over the old vet clinic after a remodel for him and his girlfriend to live. Pretty sweet deal for her since she had a great place to keep her horses and free veternary services. His only rule was that she could only feed his barn cats every other day. She took care of that by feeding them twice as much every other day.
Sorry, no help. I just thought that was funny. |
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boon
Posts: 2
| Check out Mouse Trap Monday on youtube.com
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 387
| last night I was doing my barn chores and noticed that my boot bag that I have hung up had a hole in, they got into my boots and polos and chewed some up  (I almost cried throwing out 4 boots and 5 polos)
I snapped and cleaned up every corner of my barn! 5 hours later they "should" not be able to wreck anymore of my stuff... ugh
I've started by looking for a couple bad ass barn cats
I've purchased rat traps and I'm waiting to hear back from a exterminator
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 Expert
Posts: 2128
| Bob tailed cats -- we have one and she is bad to the bone. Super friendly to people but don't mind whipping up on a dog, much less a rat. We call her Rhonda, as in Rousey..
Maybe she is just an exceptoional individual.. but find you some hearty, half wild ones.
Edited by scwebster 2019-01-07 2:15 PM
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Expert
Posts: 1477
Location: In the land of peanuts and cotton | Cats. Cats. Cats.
We had an awful problem. Got 5-6 cats and no more rats. Make sure to get at least one Tom cat. We feed them once a day or every other day so they stay at the barn but their not so full that they won’t catch rats, snakes, exc. |
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 Hummer's Hero
Posts: 3071
Location: Smack Dab in the Middle | Coca Cola. Put out a shallow pan on a cool night (keeps the fizz longer in cool temps). Rats love it, gorge and cannot burp, and in the case of pack rats, they cannot carry it off. If you have lots of them, it will probably take several pans. I used to have customers use this in chicken houses where they didn't want to use poison. |
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Miracle in the Making
Posts: 4013
| and you can run a hose to a hole hook end to a running vechile i don/t reckon this but seen it done run gas in whole light run like hell yes have sen this done in souh georgia
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 Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| I have 4 barn cats but only 1, Big Bertha, can catch mice and I've seen her with a a few rats as well. Only thing is shes tough on birds and bunnies too. I was able to get a baby bunny away from her before. As far as the free loading other 3 cats... they are pretty useless, but Bertha enjoys their company so I keep them fed, about every other day in the summer ... winter I feed daily so they can bulk up some. I never believed it until I saw it with my own eyes but chickens are pretty tough on rodents... at least my girls are... I've seen them attack my cat to get a mouse from her, they tore that mouse apart too. The look on my cats face was priceless lol! |
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Miracle in the Making
Posts: 4013
| want2chase3 - 2019-01-07 8:28 PM
I have 4 barn cats but only 1, Big Bertha, can catch mice and I've seen her with a a few rats as well. Only thing is shes tough on birds and bunnies too. I was able to get a baby bunny away from her before. As far as the free loading other 3 cats... they are pretty useless, but Bertha enjoys their company so I keep them fed, about every other day in the summer ... winter I feed daily so they can bulk up some. I never believed it until I saw it with my own eyes but chickens are pretty tough on rodents... at least my girls are... I've seen them attack my cat to get a mouse from her, they tore that mouse apart too. The look on my cats face was priceless lol!
yes they are I was really surprise that they ae hell on mice
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Saint Stacey
| scwebster - 2019-01-07 1:09 PM
Bob tailed cats -- we have one and she is bad to the bone. Super friendly to people but don't mind whipping up on a dog, much less a rat. We call her Rhonda, as in Rousey..
Maybe she is just an exceptoional individual.. but find you some hearty, half wild ones.
Yes! Manx cats are the only cats that won’t even think twice about taking on a rat. I’d get females. We had a female Manx and she craved killing things much bigger than her. She was worthless on mice (they weren’t worth her effort).
With my normal cats, even those females are better hunters than the males. |
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