Small rat problem..

[Michael Gibbons]

Does anyone here know how high a rat can jump? The reason I'm asking is that I have a couple living under my shed and they are eating my dog's food. I'm thinking about mounting his self-feeder to the side of my shed ( which has very smooth plastic sides) using shelf brackets about two feet off the ground but still accessable to the dog while making it impossible for the rats to reach it. I know rats can climb virtually anything but I don't think they can scale my shed. I'm wondering if they can jump two feet vertically?

[Jim Sears]

I believe they will get to it if it's 2 feet off the ground. I'd bait them or trap them to get rid of them. But if there's 2, there's probably 20.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Does anyone here know how high a rat can jump? The reason I'm asking is that I have a couple living under my shed and they are eating my dog's food. I'm thinking about mounting his self-feeder to the side of my shed ( which has very smooth plastic sides) using shelf brackets about two feet off the ground but still accessable to the dog while making it impossible for the rats to reach it. I know rats can climb virtually anything but I don't think they can scale my shed. I'm wondering if they can jump two feet vertically?

You might be surprised at how they can climb things.

I'd try havoc (get it at any farm supply) I mix walnut oil or peanut butter in the packages ( rats can't resist the stuff) and leave a few out at a time in a place where the dogs can not get it. While you are baiting them out at the shed feed you dog inside.
It'll take less than a few days.

[Joe Pelonio]

You might be surprised at how they can climb things.

I'd try havoc (get it at any farm supply) I mix walnut oil or peanut butter in the packages ( rats can't resist the stuff) and leave a few out at a time in a place where the dogs can not get it. While you are baiting them out at the shed feed you dog inside.
It'll take less than a few days.
I looked it up, Rats can jump vertically at least 24 inches and horizontally at least four feet.

There's something I'd be concerned about, if one of the rats after eating some of the poison is caught by one of the dogs. My dogs like to chase the squirrels, haven't caught one yet but they probably could catch a rat that has been slowed down by the early effects of poison or even dies where they can find it. Traps might be safer.

[Ken Werner]

I'm with Joe - I wouldn't use poison on anything that my dog might catch/bite/eat.

Good luck.

[David Epperson]

Harbor Freight has some rat sized live traps for not much. Bait them with either Dog food or Just One Bite poison blocks. this can be found at most farm co-ops and some hardware stores. In my experience mice cannot resist peanut butter, but Rats don't care for it that much. The Just One Bite stuff though, they will chew through a plastic pail to get to. Baiting the live traps with poison will keep the trapped (and dying) rats from crawling into the walls to die, and will save you a lot of odorous days. The live trap will also help keep your dog from getting to the poison. As for how high they can jump - much higher than just 2 ft. I've had a chipmunk jump over my shoulder before, and I've seen your common "wharf rat" jump a 3 ft "barricade".

[Al Wasser]

Secondary poisoning is generally not an issue, but if in doubt, read the labeling. In days gone by (the 60's) a poison called 1080 was used to control coyotes. It was injected into horse meat. Killed the coyote, but along came the hawk/eagle etc to feed on the dead coyote and it killed them too. The environmental movement started and brought an end to it.

Google an outfit called Gemplers. They have a variety of traps, poisons, etc for control of various critters.

[David G Baker]

I don't know how high a rat can jump but I doubt that you can find a way where the dog can get the food where the rats can't. Rats are very smart critters.
If you have pets poison may not be a good idea. I am not sure of the critter that is moving and storing my rat poison but is shows up in some very interesting places.
I have the 5 gallon bucket 1/2 full of water with a plastic bottle suspended by a wire above the water with peanut butter on it method that I am now trying. I set it up earlier in the year but the water froze so I can't tell if it will work for me.
I live trap most of the out door rodents that do damage on my place, haul them to the forest and let them go. I have had some success with rats and mice but have found that poison works better on them in most cases. I only use the poison indoors where larger critters do not have access to it.

[Doug Shepard]

Here ya go
http://www.petfinder.com/search/search.cgi?pet.Animal=Cat&pet.Breed=&pet.Age=&pet.Size=L&pet.Sex=M&location=imlay+city%2C+mi

[mark page]

I second the quote of rats being very intelligent animals. My son had a couple of white rats as pets when he was younger. They actually impressed me on their intelligence. They could do tricks mainly from psychological behaviorism techniques, but could seem to almost humanly reason out things too. As far as how high they can jump, I have seen some navy pier side rats as big as possums and they can perform just as well if not better. On a humorous side note, we had a "house mouse" get in through the garage entrance last winter, and I have personally witnessed this critter clear six steps on the stairway at one bound (uphill and in the blink of an eye) lol. I'll let the geometry majors chime in on vertical & horizontal measurements, hypotenuses, trajectories, velocity, and mass of the critters, lol.
Some of the best poisons for these critters can be found at a local farm & home store for use around grain elevators. I can't detail how safe they are for other pets post secondary ingestion though.

[Lee Schierer]

Rats seldom recover from lead poisoning, particularly when it occurs right between the eyes! :D

[Greg Peterson]

Mice and rats just give me the willies. Don't like 'em at all.

That said, traps are the most humane and safest method in dispatching these pests.

[Michael Gibbons]

Rats seldom recover from lead poisoning, particularly when it occurs right between the eyes! :D Lee, I concur!! Though the problem is where they were coming out from. Picture this- My dog kennel is 6 feet wide with a door on one end. It's 12 feet long and has a tarp covering the back end-about 4 1/2 feet (covers 3 sides and top). The dogs house is in one corner and the self-feeder is situated right next to the dog house under the tarp. When I came home from work the other night, I saw a rat-with the help of the cars headlights- walking between the dog house and the feeder,sneek in, grab a piece of food and run back. I love nothing better than to crack off a few rounds of Stinger hollow points from my Marlin .22, but the neighbors might think otherwise at 2 o'clock in the morning. And hitting my dog is not a concern because I do have that much confidence in my shooting ability. I did however,as of Friday move the feeder into the house and placed a plastic poison house with some type of anti-coagulant in it behind the shed where the said violators tend to hang out. I paid for the expensive stuff which kills within 2 days. He He He:D

[David Epperson]

I love nothing better than to crack off a few rounds of Stinger hollow points from my Marlin .22, but the neighbors might think otherwise at 2 o'clock in the morning.
Aguila Super Colibri. :D

[James Suzda]

The reason I'm asking is that I have a couple living under my shed and they are eating my dog's food. I'm thinking about mounting his self-feeder to the side of my shed <SNIP>

Maybe you should look for some of that Chinese dog food that was recalled that was laced with rat poison!!! :D

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Rats seldom recover from lead poisoning, particularly when it occurs right between the eyes! :D

Yah but they are fearsome dangerous when wounded and worse when cornered.

[Rick Gifford]

Rats are great jumpers. They can jump 2 feet high and four feet straight out. Get some cats. Dont feed them. They'll take care of the rat problem. Of course if these are very big rats you'll need some very big cats :rolleyes: lol

[David Epperson]

Rats are great jumpers. They can jump 2 feet high and four feet straight out. Get some cats. Dont feed them. They'll take care of the rat problem. Of course if these are very big rats you'll need some very big cats :rolleyes: lol
Possibly you've had different results, but I see a slight problem with putting cats in the dog kennel. LOL.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Im NOT a cat person, but a little rat problem can be taken care of by a BIG CAT!

Bruce

[JayStPeter]

ratzapper.com

[Greg Peterson]

ratzapper.com

There you go. Good call.

A few years ago we had a rat get into our warehouse. I would get the heebie-jeebies walking down one of the out of the way aisles.

It lived there for a week or two before we caught it. The spring loaded trap caught it on its snout. It eventually died, but struggled and ended up making quite a mess. Regardless of how I feel about rats and mice, humanly trapping them is a consideration in my book.

[Lee Schierer]

I love nothing better than to crack off a few rounds of Stinger hollow points from my Marlin .22, but the neighbors might think otherwise at 2 o'clock in the morning. An air rifle won't cause alarms with the neighbors and sometimes the critters sit there for a second shot if needed or the first one's buddy doesn't run for cover after the shot.

[David Epperson]

An air rifle won't cause alarms with the neighbors and sometimes the critters sit there for a second shot if needed or the first one's buddy doesn't run for cover after the shot.
The Aguila Super Colibri ammo I suggested will accomplish the same thing - no powder at all behind the 20 grain bullet - strictly primer launched. Quieter than a lot of air rifles. Will take squirrels and rats to 20 yards quite easily. And no need to go buy an additional air rifle.

[Michael Gibbons]

Rats are great jumpers. They can jump 2 feet high and four feet straight out. Get some cats. Dont feed them. They'll take care of the rat problem. Of course if these are very big rats you'll need some very big cats :rolleyes: lol I suggested to the SWMBO that we figure out how to get a pet bobcat but that didn't fly with her-( yes, I know it's illegal to own a bobcat but I was just pulling her strings to see what she'd say).:D

[George Morris]

I have a cairn terrier who would love to meet mr Rat . She has dispatched 2 possoms 1 squirell and numerous snakes .She did loose the fight with the porcupine, twice.

[Joe Chritz]

If you were closer I would offer my little Jack Russell and his Rottweiler back up. They can kill just about any critter smaller than a large Raccoon with minimal effort.

I would probably opt for the .22 or pellet rifle option. If the food is there the critter will get it.

Metal garbage cans work and a really common approach for horse feed is old broken refrigerators or specifically chest freezers. I doubt the rats will eat much when it is in the kennels so it is just storage to worry about.

Joe

[Bill Cunningham]

A 5 gallon bucket half full of water, and a few quarts of grain floating on the surface.. This has worked in barns for generations...