# baiting rat traps?



## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

I will be having a couple litter of rabbits born this week and am getting rather nervous. I discovered we had rats originally when they ate an entire litter of 2 week old buns. Thanks to a fellow HT comeing and setting conibears, I finally have a handle on the issue and there are much less around here now and they were getting smaller and smaller. But what concerns me is I have spotted at least one large one recently and I have not caught any for at least a couple weeks now. I am wondering if I should bait the traps to draw any that have not been caught.


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## Bear (Jan 25, 2005)

Down on the farm before we had an army of cats we had some rat problems in the barn and chicken coop. Dad took a empty 55 gallon drum, threw some feed or grain in it, and set it somewhere that the rats could accss it easy. They jump in and can't jump out. A good pounding with a 2x4 or a jab with a pitch fork ended their raiding days.


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

Bait will draw them in, grain or just about anything works. Old peanut butter will draw alot of mice and rats in to their deaths. We like to use several baits at a time when we are killing barn rats. What kind of traps are you using?


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

OMG! I just found one of my french lop does...large doe- in her cage...gut eaten out and head nothing but skull! What am I going to do????!!!


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

Using conibears


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I would get some of those wooden rat traps too. I think a variety of traps and a variety of baits will prevent them from getting shy.


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

I agree with Fishhead. Poison might be an option too?


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

I went into the coops/rabbitry tonight to check and the building that they got the rabbit was free of them...but the other coop I saw a bunch of them- several large ones and a bunch of small ones. Not one bit shy either- never ran from the spotlight...if I had a gun i could have gotten at least a few of them easily. I discussed poison with husband...we agree it is too risky. Even if I keep the dogs out of that area, the PB pig goes out to his pen and he is fast as lightening and if he sees or smells "food" your not stopping him...he would eat it.


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

I use the wooden snap traps. I bait with a pice or dry cat or dog food and then cover the bait and the holder for it with peanut butter. They cant resist peanut butter and when they try to pull the dry food out, because its soaked with PB, the trap goes of...dead!

Works for us real good.

I hate rats!!


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

I wish our walmart carried those, I would grab some tonight. Son just called...he said he has some rat poison from his gf's farm (they just had horses, not all the animals we have)...she wound up with it somehow. He suggested placing some under the one coop since it is raised from the ground a bit....but I am afraid they will either drag it out or dead rats will lie out that I might miss when checking before taking my retired gal out with me to do chores. Thoughts?


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

If you poison rats and they die where something may find them , like a curious chicken, anything that may feed on them can easily get poisoned too.
Thats why I dont use poisons if at all possible.

I am using some poison this weekend, under ground...gophers are way over populated here to the point of major earth moving and plant killing. They are even tunneling under the rabbitry, dirt floor and in the chicken coop, dirt floor.
I fell through the ground to many times now...they die!
And the SOB's re-tunnel in the same place even if you fill in their tunnels after you have fallen in!
We tried the hose to flood them. 
Traps to catch them.
Barriers to stop them.
Saturday...poison!


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## tamsam (May 12, 2006)

If you get the Last Bite or Final Bite it is hollow tubes that you can tie up where the rats run and they can't carry it off. We have free range bunnies here and use it all the time. Also two goats that we let free range a couple hours each day. Never had a problem with anything else getting the poison and it really clears the rats and mice out. Hope you get them. Sam


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## Pops2 (Jan 27, 2003)

i reccommend using the connibears to guard a cubby (basically a box w/ the bait) and in the cubby use the regular snap traps. bait w/ a sports bar, flavor isn't that important just make sure it's the soft moldable kind. the hooah bars that come in MREs worked great for us in Iraq. you might also look up plans for a muskrat colony trap & the water in a barrel trap.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I forgot about colony traps. Those should work well too. They're simple to build and lightweight. Plus they're safe for your animals.

The rats must be feeding on something in order to keep them around. If you secure all your feed that should help control the numbers somewhat.


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

I bought another trash can today for the feed...my tote lid had cracked this winter and was not staying on. I am having hubby bring home paper plates today for the bucket trap. I have a broken tote I can use for a cubby, will cut a hole in the side and blace bait in it for tonight with a conibear outside of it. I may have some glue traps around here somewhere, but no snap traps tonight. Hubby is getting off too late to get to a store that has them tonight. They could be feeding right out of the chicken feeders....I have the gravity feeders for thier feed so I know they get enough to eat. But why would they go for the live animals when they have an abundance of feed avilable at the feeders?


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## Pops2 (Jan 27, 2003)

because rats are evil. they are the rodent equivalent of gang bangers.


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

Well, just checked the coops and traps. Tonight- no rats in the white coop- they are back in the brown coop where they killed the rabbit. No baby bunnies yet thank God! I moved the baited trap (cat carrier with a jar that had just a little peanut butter left in it) with a conibear in front of it and the door propped open so there was just a half inch of space between the conibear and the door as I did not want it to prevent the trap from closing) I had set behind the white coop to the brown and found a young rat in one of the traps I had left beside the brown building...it was still alive, so stomped it and emptied the trap. Now I have yet to be able to open those traps- just don't have the hand strength...but I managed to get it done this time...could be cause I was so mad I was determined to have all the traps set. Will go back out in a bit and recheck them in a half hour. The rats were really enjoying the chicken feed...saw them in the feeder through the window....hopefully this will be the last meal for several of them!


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

bacon grease, kfc, nacho cheese,fast food! rats are like any other critter if food is available they will eat it , but if something thats tasty is available well we all can fall to our vices now cant we. if yours are meat eaters they should kill or should I say die for those. 

you really need to get a multi catch trap several like I pointed out before and pops points out again, colony trap is not much different then the old style basket traps I suggested. though the basket traps have a few extra features to keep them from slipping back out. and the water barrel trap I posted a design for that in one of your other posts. any of the three are easy to make, theres also a real easy chinese live trap design if you check out http://journeytoforever.org/at_rats.html

make a bucket trap, colony or basket trap several of each! and as many of those chinese live traps for every area that you find rat sign. keep them baited and set plus the connibears too. rats are super smart and always learning you may not catch one in one type but get them in another.
the multi catch will work all day and night and take as many as they will hold you can only check and set traps so many times a day and if you have the infestation you keep saying that is the only way you will get a handle on it. 

keep all the critter poo cleaned up rats can live on it! keep all the potential food sources limited chicken feed, seeding grass and trees (mow and rake,burn off if you can) garbage ect rats are great oppertunists. the more they have to eat the faster and more they breed. 

limit hiding spots, hunt out burrows get some mole traps, stomp thier tunnels get a shovel and dig out the nests and destroy any young. 

get some good barn cats, feed them a bit in the morning and make them hunt the rest of the day. they can seriously put a damper on the young before the reach a impervious size.

all it takes is one pregnant female and a bounty of food and you will have a epidimic. 

you need to be very proactive to solve your issue. and just cause you dont see them dont stop!

I really feel for you I can not stand rats!

willow you can set connis with a rope if your dont have the hand strength

http://www.huntingne.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20861


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I would take the feed away at night at least until you get rid of the rats. That will make them hungry and the baited traps more attractive. It might also make them hungry enough to go after your animals so that's a consideration.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

One year I got tired of all the damage those cute chipmunks were doing to the stuff in my garage so I decided to shoot them. Before I was done I had shot about 100 and I NEVER saw more than 2 at a time. I think rats are the same.

Like Downhome said it just takes food and a couple of rats to make an epidemic.


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

I got the stuff to make the bucket traps today. Waiting on son to get here to drill the buckets. Also picked up a couple snap traps and more peanut butter. Nothing in the traps this morning.

"colony trap is not much different then the old style basket traps I suggested"

Do they sell these? I am not real good with tools.


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## Pops2 (Jan 27, 2003)

check trapping sites, they sell them for muskrats the biggest of which only get about a pound bigger than the biggest rats.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

The J-clips that some people use to make rabbit cages would work well for colony traps. They are only 3 pieces clipped together.


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## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

And to think rats are not native to North America...
ugh...no help, just sympathy


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

Son is on his way with a freind who has a .22  Set the snap traps with peanut butter and dry cat food (found a sample pack from a year ago), the conibears are set. Did not gett he bucket traps done, as son got here too late and I had to leave to pick hubby up from work...so could not stay to show him what needed done. One bunny has quite the nest built today, so hoping the shooting does not bother her...but at this point it is a chance I have to take.


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

for some reason that video about using a rope on the trap is not playing for me...

Found one! Thanks!


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

There are different types of .22 shells. 

Get some .22 CB caps if you can. If not get some .22 shorts. Both of those make less noise than the longer more powerful .22's and are less likely to richochet as far.


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

I will have to ask him what kind he bought. He popped 4, I caught another in the snap trap today. Last nights coop check- no rats in either building. I will be cleaning out coops tommorrow and now have feed in covered cans outside the coops and trying to figure out how much feed each section of the coop needs per day...then will mark a line so I know as does anyone that comes to help feed when I am gone.
Bad news- one of my turkeys got out of the pen and found a foot trap. I tried like heck to stop the bleeding with pressure and liquid bandage, but everytime she moved the foot it broke back open. I wound up packing it with a paper towel (cloth like one) and wrapping it tight with gauze to immobilize it and to add pressure. IF she can leave it on all night, I will remove it in the morning. Hoping she doesn't lose that foot, but my biggest fear was her bleeding out as she was bleeding pretty heavily.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

When I use traps around the house I put them behind something like concrete blocks or inside a pipe so my animals can't reach them.

I hope your turkey survives.


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

Turkey is doing well. But an entire litter of buns came up missing...though not too broken hearted as they were an accidental litter from my meat rabbits I failed to butcher in a timely manner (thought they were all does- now know one is a buck) which was born on wire and found them scattered on the floor of the coop right after I finished cleaning it out. Guess I should have gotten a clue when I saw blood under the cage and fur, but thought the rabbits were shedding and someone caught a nail. Placed them all in another cage with nest box and hoped for the best, thought it would be ok, cause the mom went in with the buns in the box pretty quickly- but next morning they were all gone- no blood, no remains- like they never existed. Another doe (planned breeding) had her babies but found them all dead- but not eaten. The other doe I bred no babies, but they may have been eaten before I saw them. Caught another couple rats in snap traps. Have not been seeing any in the coops. Have not had time to keep up on tracking them last week with my uncles passing and making arrangements. Later this week I will try to find new trails again and move traps.


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## NJ Rich (Dec 14, 2005)

I read rats and mice will sometimes lick the peanut butter off a trap and never set it off. In the same article the writer suggested tying a piece of bacon onto the trip plate with dental floss or some thread. The mice and rats will set off the trap every time.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

That's why I put peanut butter under the trigger. As they push their nose in further they push the trigger up and SNAP!


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

OK, think I am ready to try a one bite poison if everyone thinks this would be safe in this circumstance. They made a new set of holes- one under the heavy auto feeder and another about 8 inches away from that- at least I beleive it is under the feeder...unless they chewed through the feeder...I was not brave enough to check. It is a plastic dog auto feeder with a water resevoir on the bottom, feed on top. I do not use the water part of it, so it is possible they have chewed through that part...the floor of the feeder section is intact though. I went to fill the feeder with enough for the day and saw a rat come out from under the feeder and into a hole right next to it in the floor....then another...and a another...then I kicked the feeder and a few more...I counted at least 6 young rats...maybe there was more. They have somehow figured out how to trip the snap traps and still get the bait. No more catches in the conibears either. 
Now if I stick the poison in there and place a board over the hole it would be safe from the poultry (none go under the building since I banked the soil against the building on the side they could get under) but would the rats die under the building or am I going to be finding dead rats out in the open? How long should I place it out? I really hate to resort to poisons, but at this point I feel I have little choice if I am going to win this battle. I have baby turkeys and ducks that will be hatching soon and have 2 more does bred and am desperate.


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## tamsam (May 12, 2006)

I don't see why you can't put it in the hole and cover it with a board. Another way would be dig out a little where the hole comes up so that you can fasten the poison to the board. The block is like tubes and they have a hole through each tube. That way the rats couldn't drag it up where your chicks could get to it. We have free range rabbits and as far as I know we haven't had a bunny poisoned yet. We saw a rat 3 days ago and we put out a piece of the poison on blocks just below the roof in a weighted plate. So far we haven't seen a sign of the rat. Good luck getting rid of them. Sam


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## oldasrocks (Oct 27, 2006)

Get an exhaust hose and feed exhaust under the building for a while. Get the chickens out of the building first. Plug up the exit holes as best you can first.


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

I can't get all the chickens and turkeys out of the building as I have several that are setting on eggs.


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