UltimatePup Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 (edited) Hi Rats regularly set up home behind our garden retaining walls. Of everything we've tried, the only successful method of removing them has been, unfortunately, to poison them using Talon wax blocks. Another rat family has just turned up and are very active, building a huge nest. Thing is, we didn't previously have a dog on this property, so now we are wondering how to manage the rat removal safely... There's no problem with keeping the poison blocks out of reach of the dog - that's the easy part. What worries me is that any time from 3 to 7 days later there'll be dead rats around - or worse, rats staggering around in the process of dying. I expect the dog will be attracted to these and attempt to catch and eat them. Yes? No? What is your experience? I am so worried that the dog might eat a poisoned rat. But we can't have rats taking over the way they are right now!! Even if we don't poison them, our neighbour will because they keep chickens, which attracts rats, so there will always be this risk of poisoned rats wandering into our garden. Thanks for your advice. Edited March 10, 2011 by UltimatePup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ams Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Encourage a python to move in I have one (well several but only one that is big enough to warrant talking about) that freaks me out every now and then when it enters buildings it's not welcome in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMAK Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 i have heard one that a lady's dog punctured or opened a small area of skin on a baited rat and later died but my girl caught/found the dead rat that i had rat sacked and she is still alive (but she didn't mark the rat with her teeth) Maybe read up on rats and where they go to die we had ours hiding in the garage with the bait, then found it right down the very back of our yard in bushes dead. check your yard evey morning before letting your dog out ? supervised play? on lead ? hard to control, would be great if you had a front yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Encourage a python to move in I have one (well several but only one that is big enough to warrant talking about) that freaks me out every now and then when it enters buildings it's not welcome in. That should take care of the neighbours chickens too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltimatePup Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 "Maybe read up on rats and where they go to die" Quite a few seem die behind the retaining wall itself (stinky but safe), but I have seen three die out in the open - on the lawn and the footpath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirty Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 (edited) Can you set lots of snap traps? Or those special ones (the black plastic box things) that catch them? Much safer for the dogs than bait (and more humane ). Edited March 10, 2011 by Kirty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebastion 2 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Try one of those rat zappy things can't remember the name of it t the moment I doubt you neighbour will want to use poison either chookens love mice and rats good protein for them and if they ingest a poisoned rat they most certainly won't survive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Buy a Jack Russell Terrier. Best ratters in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC4ME Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 There is a product called Racumin it is used in the farming industries. Quote from the brochure. " Using Racumin not only kills rats and mice but is reduces the risks to your pets, work dogs and other animals. Other rodenticides pose the risk of secondary poisoning to non-target animals. Secondary poisoning occurs when a dog or an owl eats a poisoned rodent. The level of residues in the doad rodent body will determins this risk." Unquote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltimatePup Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 OK, Racumin or rat zappy things. Both of those sound interesting. I would really like to get poison out of the picture altogether, but it's been the only thing that's worked . Please tell me more about the rat zappy thing... (Racumin still sounds dangerous... "Rodents must feed several times in order to ingest a lethal dose. ... Baiting for a least two weeks is necessary to reduce rat and mice numbers. As lethal effect is achieved with Racumin Paste by high palatability, not high toxicity, the risk of secondary poisoning to non-target animals is reduced." I don't quite get the last sentence. Once the rat has ingested enough to kill it, same story for the dog who catches it, no? Also, it requires constant monitoring for several weeks rather than one. I dunno...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzy4 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 (edited) i second the Bayer - Racumin this product kills rats & mice and large residue does not build up in the rodents system thus harming any animal that tries to eat it, we use it all the time and with both 2 cats & dogs, have never had any harm come to them the dogs are always bring the dead mice to the back door & have never gotten sick if i knew how to attatch the link here i would but i don't so i can't - sorry but if you type in Racumin it will bring up loads of info for you, when you buy the packaging it does state "harmful to pets" but on their web site is states "Racumin is a multiple feed bait, which means rats and mice must feed several times to ingest a lethal dose. Thus large residues do not build up in the body of the rodent. This minimises the risk of secondary poisoning, where an animal that eats a poisoned rodent is poisoned". see how yo go Edited March 10, 2011 by jazzy4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzy4 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 OK, Racumin or rat zappy things. Both of those sound interesting. I would really like to get poison out of the picture altogether, but it's been the only thing that's worked . Please tell me more about the rat zappy thing... (Racumin still sounds dangerous... "Rodents must feed several times in order to ingest a lethal dose. ... Baiting for a least two weeks is necessary to reduce rat and mice numbers. As lethal effect is achieved with Racumin Paste by high palatability, not high toxicity, the risk of secondary poisoning to non-target animals is reduced." I don't quite get the last sentence. Once the rat has ingested enough to kill it, same story for the dog who catches it, no? Also, it requires constant monitoring for several weeks rather than one. I dunno...) it does not build up in the rats system that is why it needs a few feds to kill it, i guess it is like human they need to drink loads of water each day as we use it up through the day, this poison obviously gets into their system and their body uses it against them - i guess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Buy a Jack Russell Terrier. Best ratters in the world. A DOL'er recently lost her JRT from apparently hunting/eating poisoned rats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 You can get wire rat traps, which are like a little cage with a door that closes on them when they go for the bait. Good except you then have to dispose of a live rat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 The electronic rat zappers are meant to be very good. Rat poison can build up in your dog over time without you even noticing (eg eat a bit of a dead rat one week, a bit of another the next week etc). It is horrible, horrible stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltimatePup Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 Is this what you mean? http://www.ratzapper.com.au/ It says both models are no longer available. Are there other brands? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzy4 Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 You can get wire rat traps, which are like a little cage with a door that closes on them when they go for the bait. Good except you then have to dispose of a live rat. i have used some of the mouse ones - did not work for us, they would some how get out, don't ask me how but the food was always gone the next day - little buggers we also had ones made of wire with a wire pronged chute, that the mice would go down, but because of the narrowness they could not get back up - little buggers got out of this one too, we had the best feed mice about there for about 3mths, they feasted on weetbix, porride, popcorn, wheat, bird seed, chips, cat & dog food, you name it, we put in the traps & they fed & left, they should have been to fat to escape - but they always did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 we used traps for mice, like small possum traps, when doing flauna surveys for the SA museum. Mouse can't get out and is unharmed - unless it is id'd as a feral in which case the scientist dispatches it. http://www.traps.com.au/sherman.htm "Elliott traps" You still have the slight problem with the live rat to dispose of. We baited them with peanut butter. I heard a guy talking about secondary poisoning in an Adelaide ABC gardening show. He recommended Racumin over Talon. Racumin is slow acting and a dog or cat that eats a mouse or rat that has eaten this poison is much less likely to die, or you have much more time to get your pet to the vet to get treatment than if it eats talon blocks or a few rats that have eaten talon. The trouble with the wax blocks is that rats carry them away from where you put them, and you don't know if the dog will get a whole block then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
periannath Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 This was in the march farmer direct www.oakent.com.au electronic rat killer.A friend of mine has a ratzapper and she swears by it.It zapped 15 mice the first time she baited it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac'ella Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 are the rats eating the spilled chicken food in your neighbours?If so approach them about using feeders on raised hanging platforms with mesh covered trays under them so that there is less spilled food for the rats.Since I started using this method (and also my neighbours pet bird died) I havent had mice around my aviaries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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