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Poly Hive

Queen Bee
Joined
Dec 4, 2008
Messages
14,093
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393
Location
Scottish Borders
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
12 and 18 Nucs
The score so far is one lost trap, some blood on one trap, and no corpses.

We know we have at least one big one as he posed on the bird table.

We know there is one run, and there is a shed that they investigate as that is where the trap was sprung and it nipped one as there was blood.

Any suggestions welcome.

Not POISON though as we have had to deal with corpses under floor boards once and are not keen to repeat.

PH
 
I can never seem to catch a big rat in a standard rat trap they only seem to get the littl`uns. I put out my live trap with peanut butter and dog biscuits and then shoot it through the bars with my air rifle.

Darren.
 
hi i work for rentokil so deal a lot with this kind of thing have you tried using sticky boards - they are a board which you put in the run i usually put peanut butter in the middle and the little darlings can't resist it and get stuck.
if you use breakback traps put either peanut butter or chocolate on them but dont use small mice breakbacks they are too small
thata about all you can do other than poison or live traps
hope this helps chris
 
they are a board which you put in the run i usually put peanut butter in the middle and the little darlings can't resist it and get stuck.

Blimey, what kind of glue do they use on those sticky boards ? and do they do sticky boards for badgers ? :beatdeadhorse5:

Darren
 
If you they have a well used run you could also wire them,all you need is a long bendy stick, short length of string,two notched pegs and the wire,caught loads with a wire,in fact caught five in the same run one evening,seemed as fast as i removed one, there was another one, bobbing up and down in the wire.
 
Not with you Hivemaker. Expound please?

We are not talking little rats here, (I knows my rats) these are seriously BIG ******s we are talking BIG here.

PH
 
Couple of links below as its easier than trying to draw pictures on here,but you need to use the bendy stick, as if you use just a fixed wire the rat cabn bite through it,hung up in the air it cannot.
One peg is driven into the ground,the other peg has the wire attached,plus the string to the bendy stick,this peg then is held in place by the lower peg...set very fine,the bigger the creature you want to catch,the bigger the stick and wire you use,big enough to catch a person if you bend a tree over.
For heavens sake don't do that though PH, don't think you would be in the good books if Julie was outside hanging by her legs in the air..lol.
The second link shows a good diagram near the bottom of page,these traps cost nothing to make.

http://www.trapworks.co.uk/rat_snaring.htm

http://www.thehuntinglife.com/html/sections/articles/ferreting_trapping/snaring-rats.html
 
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Snares are good.
Used a lot for rabbits when I was a lad but never for rats.
Warfarin was the preferred choice in those days.
 
Same here Pete,used to run hundreds of rabbit wires when i was teenager,and wiring the rats was just for fun.
 
Bury a dustbin up to top edge, 1/3 fill with water, put sawdust on top of water, sprinkle peanuts on top of sawdust, put large dia mesh on top if you are afraid other animals will fall in, and leave. The rats cannot resist going in for the peanuts , but cannot get out and then they drown. Works a treat.
 
would steer well clear of the sticky boards route - IMO totally inhumane unless you are able to check ever hour. No matter how vile you think rats are they do not deserve to be stuck paniced and tortured - only to be finally stood on or whatever - Easy quick fix for large corporations maybe but not the right way imo to do things.

Firstly I would recommend you stop feeding the birds - I know you like seeing them, but 9 times out of 10 when husband gets called to a rat job the clients are usually feeding birds.

If the runs head under the shed then that is probably where they are holding up!

There are poisons now that are ment to mummfie the corpse - think it is called ratimor - but will have to check on that (been up since 4am and brain a bit fuddled now sorry!!) Seriously though cut back on feeding the birds and the rats will be more likely to be interested in your traps.

Another down side with sticky boards is the fact that they can catch no target species - an inquisative robin will look into a tunnel more eagerly than a rat!
 
Hey PH, might be a good idea to stop feeding your dogs as well,and your guests..lol.
That glue sounds strong on them sticky boards,be careful if you choose to use them,be a bugger if you get stuck to one yourself,out all night with only peanuts to eat.
But in the case of this happening i'm sure someone would come to your rescue,especially if wearing the right shirt.
 
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Been advised against the gflue traps on the basis that it's too cold for them.

We are not ground feeding the birds but on a high bird table.

I am off to invest in a fen trap.

PH
 
trouble is birds dont have very good table manners and will scater food off table! also depending on location of table rats can climb and jump onto tables to feed. All the best with the fen trap mind your fingers!!!
 
Used fen traps in the past whilst doing a bit of game keeping so called.. never could understand killing stoats and then hiring a guy to kill rabbits...

I must admit though that the spring was stronger than I remember.

Let's see if bacon lures them out....

PH
 
shoot them with an air gun thats what i do. i have one at the min running up the bird table.
 
if you are using normal rat traps try covering them over with a plastic 4 pint milk container cut in half to they are forced to entre from the spring plate side, best results i have ever had was using micro waved sausages they have to be as hard as rock and cut into slices then made certain the rats cant bite them off
 

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