5 men plus 3 terriers = 14 rats.  A spectacular success this time.  It was
all very fast and furious.  I was kept busy administering antiseptic and
plasters.  One chap got bitten through the thumb trying to take a rat off a
dog before she'd quite finished with it to her satisfaction, another cut
himself on some wire and a dog got bitten in the mouth by a particularly
large rat.
Tea, biscuits and cake put it all right ;-)
The terriers were so happy, doing the job they were born for.  I'm pleased
that more of my chicken food will actually feed my chickens instead of the
rats and all the lads enjoyed themselves, so win-win all round.  Except for
the rats, of course..
Boyfie was a bit peeved at not being allowed out at first, but after they'd
gone he went out to check the garden which is well trampled.

Tweed

Tweed

Boyfie caught two more baby rats today after the lads had gone, bringing the
grand total for the day to 16.  I'm very pleased.
It hasn't totally eliminated them as I saw a biggish one this evening when I
went down to give the chickens some green food.  There are always one or two
that get away (or were visiting relatives in nearby gardens at the time of
the action!)
Rats are a perpetual problem for poultry keepers.  The chickens need access
to their food/water all day so it's accessible to rats too and once they
discover this they move in.
One of my neighbours also keeps poultry and he has ongoing rat problems too.
His are less than mine as he owns a Border Terrier.

Tweed

[big snip]

I have some good bait boxes.  One is made of galvanised steel, a very clever
design.  There is a tip-up lid for you to bait it, which goes into a little
trough inside only accessible from underneath.  I have another that is like
a drainpipe with a hole bored in the top with a little chimney thingie with
a lid going down into the pipe half way along.  You pour the bait down the
chimney and put the lid on to stop the bait getting wet.

There are several reasons why I don't like to use poison.  It takes a while
to take effect, as it causes a blood clotting disorder.  Sometimes rats who
have eaten it over a period of days will appear in the garden lurching
around, easy prey for cats (and owls at night).  I wouldn't put it past
either of my two to catch and eat one or more and be poisoned by secondary
poisoning.  I don't want the owls feeding their young poisoned rat either.

They can never catch them all.  If four rats bolt and there are only three
terriers, one will get away. And did despite us all standing by with big
sticks that we imagined we might be able to dop them with if any got away.
Impossible, they are far too fast.
Rats are one of the most successful species on earth.  I remember watching a
David Attenborough documentary in which he said something like  "You are
never more than a few metres away from a rat, whether you know it or not"

Tweed

Another reason why most US military aviation units turn a blind eye to
all the cats living in the hangars.  Cats are better pest control than
all the traps and poisons that could be used.  I also suspect that the
crews just like cats anyway, as they usually are sneaking food and
snacks into them.

Pam S.

One of the things I noticed when I was driving the truck was all
warehouses I picked up at - and I do mean all - had "rodent control
stations" along the interior and exterior walls. From the labelling on
them, it appeared that were serviced monthly. So rodents must be a pretty
universal problem.

Dan