So what do they use for an infestation of them then??? This particular rat man has been to the stables where I kept the horse when we were very infested with them, and we'd always know when he'd been around coz we'd start seeing these dead bodies lying all over the place a few days later, one of which I remember treading on when stepping down into my dark lock-up one cold frosty morning!!! That gave me the creeps I can tell ya! Maybe it's the .22 for an infestation then? As far as I know, they always use the boxes with the poison and it works, well, it always has and I hope it does now, coz I really don't want them around my Georgie.

It hasn't appeared yet tonight, maybe it's got wind of my latest idea???

i'm not sure, though I know they have their own methods - all I know is that rats send an older or sick member of the colony out to 'test' foods that they haven't come accross before - and they nibble a bit and if they start to feel ill - or die the other rats will not touch the food source at all - genius little things! Some that do work are ones that build up in their systems over time - though again, this is hard to monitor as not all the rats may have enough to do any harm. There are some that kill very quickly too i believe, but again, this probably wouldn't work for a tight colony.

From what I know of rats - the best ways are to use dogs or heavy traps... though i feel that at times even these can be cruel if they are not very good ones.

I honestly don't know the answers but the best way I personally feel is ultrasonic devices. The problem here is it affects other pets with the same range of hearing - ie. we certainly couldn't use it with 30 odd rats that we don't wish to scare off

It's a very hard thing to get rid of wildeys... so you have my sympathies and best of luck.

xx

Thanks for all that info Zounds, and I'm sorry if my thread is upsetting to you as I know you adore your pet rats!!!!

Now, I've seen those ultrasonic devices, and they did say they don't affect dogs, so I might just invest in one of those as my first option. I couldn't possibly lay traps, I used to do that up at the stables, and they were a begger to load and because they're so big I found them quite scarey to set, just in case I went off before I'd actually laid it down if ya know what I mean!!! Also, I have a lot of squirrels coming down around the bottom of the hedge, in the hedge and up to the feeders, and I wouldn't want to harm them, OR the birds of course, let alone Georgie if he got far enough into that big hedge

I saw absolutely nothing last night, nor this morning, so hopefully, they might have moved on? Or eaten the food? No dead ones either though and usually I would find a dead one somewhere, but I've looked.

The rat man is coming back in the New Year to retrieve his boxes so we'll know from those I suppose. Thanks for all your help, it really is a worry to me at the moment, but only because of Georgie, as I've been there with Cassie eating rat poison, so rats means poison to me, means risk to my dog which I don't want as you can well understand. Thanks again though, and enjoy your lovely pet varieties, I know how very intelligent they are, I'm currently reading a book by Alison Dubois and she thinks they're very special indeed! Clever little blighters my lot!!!

H we had a rat that visited our bird feeder which was stuck on our patio window. He used to stand up and look in at us!! Dad came round and used a drainpipe with poison in. It took a while but after a bad smell we discovered him under the plastic drain cover....

This was prior to Fuge though so I can imagine your worry about Georgie.

i understand totally where you're coming from - and no, i don't like to think of my babies' cousins being done away with - but i totally understnad the need for it - and can separate the two

The other thing you can try is Longworth traps - but again, this is hard work... you also have to be able to take the rats caught a very long way away - a good few miles basically.

Have a go with the ultrasonic device - it should work - I know of people who have used them to great effect!

xx

If you have dogs or cats (or even pet rats ) I would urge extreme caution with ultrasonics.

IIRC they work in the frequency range 20 to 40 Khz. well above human hearing but within range of many animals. They work by presenting a continuos 'noise' to the animal. I think the human condition Tinitus is similar and I've heard sufferers talk about how awful this is.

On the subject of traps my brother uses the 'Big Cheese' at his stables and he places it inside an old biscuit tin with a hole in the side, dogs & cats can't get injured and you can tell by the weight if a rat has been caught so you don't have to look at it, get OH to remove it

The 'Big Cheese' are easy to set, you can do it with your foot, and you don't need to put the bait on a hook, in fact he uses peanut butter which sits in a little cup and only occassionaly needs topping up.

as i said - i don't know much about the ultrasonics and how they would affect other pets- all I know is that they badly affect pet rats, so we cannot and would not use them if they affect cats and dogs too - then I would avoid.

xx

If someone wants to come on and quote the tech. spec. and show how dogs are immune I would be happy to read that. The advertising probably says a lot of things, but IMO it's dangerous, not so say foolhardy, to put ones faith in the advertising bumff

fair dos! As I said, I have no idea! I can't think of any nice way of doing away with them - except perhaps a good marksman or a decent terrier.

you could look into live traps? but if you've loads of rats that may be impossible!

xx