Obligatory nonsensical diversion.
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sprung & missing traps could be other predators making off w/ the carcass. tether the trap to something fixed w/ a piece of coiled bailing wire. if the wire is straightened and there’s no rat, something big pulled him out.
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Have you considered a rolling log bucket trap? Given the number of rodents you have and the fact that they can handle a dozen or more per night, it seems like an option.
DIY version: http://www.instructables.com/id/A-BETTER-MOUSE-TRAP/
A paid version can be found for $10-15 in the usual places (minus the bucket).
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Seriously! Lloyd (our cat) is a 10/10 ratter, earned his chops growing up in rat-infested (thanks Harvard!) Lower Allston. not only does he get them every time, he doesn’t possess that disgusting tic of gift presentation that most cats seem to have… (is it like a report kinda thing? Like, “hello, human, I have accomplished my one and only task. Now give me food or your ankles are next.”)
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I think I am at the end of my problem and entering a be vigilant, keep traps out but am no longer seeing them move about during the day time in the open type thing.
Cutting back the hedgeline and clearing out a lot of brush in the name of fire safety left them with a lot less habitat and the pressure was on. They were moving into new places and had to be beat back. That is happening. Traps go days at a time without being tripped. Those first two weeks were IMPRESSIVE tho.
If I keep finding traps sprung and cleaned, and have no luck on kills, the rolling bucket looks like a really good way to go. I’m surprised they don’t build a raft of dead rats tho.
A friend inadvertently discovered what appears to be an ideal mouse catcher and one with a humane option (unfortunately, I don’t think this will work for rats). Leave a layer of dog food at the bottom of a propped-up, large bag of dog food – the type of bag that has an aluminized-coated interior.
The mice are drawn to the scent, can climb up and in, but can’t get purchase to climb back out. Provided you check it every few days, the mice remain alive and can be carried off and released to a more appropriate, distant home.
Victor also makes a plastic rat trap, and I’ve noticed it can be easily set to '“hair trigger” mode by pushing down on the bait platform/trigger a tiny bit so it sits lower, closer to springing (obviously be careful.) I noticed mice were cleaning out the bait leaving nothing for the larger rats I was hunting, so setting the platform low meant they didn’t need to be so heavy to snap it, and I caught a few of those mice.
Another technique I’ve used is lubricating the mechanism so it is easy to snap. Again (obviously), be careful setting it.
Yes. I’ve caught mice in small plastic wastepaper baskets. They have to be about 1.5 feet high, and you have to leave stuff in it for a while so the mice get used to going in and out. Then one night you empty it, but leave it near your desk or computer line, so they can crawl up and into it, then they’re stuck and you’ll find them running around in the bottom the next day. Probably not a good method for rats though.
My dad wrote a book, basically a memoir, and has a chapter about going rat hunting at a local dump, as it was just over run with them.
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takes quite a few dump rats to make a good stew…
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I had a mice problem in an old house. They mostly stuck to the basement. To counter the intrusion we tried a combination of snaps and glue traps. TIP: Don’t forget to check on the sticky traps, it makes for a stink.
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Our Three Stooges (outside cats) are still mighty hunters before the Lord; this week I found 2 mouse carcasses in the driveway. They also get the occasional bird, but I’m willing to forgive them the tufts of feathers as long as they are on the rodent problem.
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I started out with a professional, and the rats ignored the traps. So no guarantees there either.
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Mercenary Island is famous for its rats and I’ve had lots of problems. Them and the darn red squirrels in my crawl spaces and even my walls. I do very well with the modern electric traps and peanut butter as bait. I’ve even got one on top of a few day old rat in the electronic trap, very gross.
And the silly nonsense about cats not being good ratters versus dogs is just that: silly nonsense. I’ve had cats that never caught a thing and a pair that would deliver a rat a day at the peak of summer.
Heavy density foam spray is also very helpful. When I had some walls redone after a flood the contractors failed to protect the wall section with the pipe chase. Drilling into the wall and spraying the foam in stopped intrusion.
I like that A24 trap he’s using - resets itself, good for 20+ strikes. Thats the way to get many in one night.
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Have you considered turning yourself into a pickle?
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I’ll play rodents’ advocate:
I had a pair of pet rats for a while, and honestly the worst experience was them passing away. They’re really great pets if they’re acclimated to people from birth or young age, but sadly short lifespans.
I miss those furballs…
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I’m rooting for the rats. They are only there because you are feeding them.
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Ahem:
You do realize you’re just leaving the smartest ones to breed and carry on the experiment, right?
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