Rat in my dalek

[Vince G]

Must admit TS, I thought the base I had for my dalek was meant to be rat proof, but (at least) one seems to have got in somehow. I'll take that base off your hands if I may please, thanks for the offer. The wife and I do occasionally come up to your neck of the woods for a day out on a Sunday, especially this time of year when there's not quite so much to do on the lottie, so if you'd PM me your address, we'll drop by some time soon. Many thanks

[Two_Sheds]

The wife and I do occasionally come up to your neck of the woods for a day out on a Sunday

Walking? We have some lovely countryside round abouts, quite a few garden centres/nurseries, and of course great pubs for lunch too.

Bungay is my fave town, it's on your way if you come up the A12

[PyreneesPlot]

I don't put the lids on my daleks until they are mostly done and I want to dry them out for sieving.
When I wash salad or veg or anything like that the water all goes into the compost bucket where the kitchen waste goes before being lugged up the garden to the daleks. That way I keep adding water most days.

[simon180399]

hello all,
i keep poultry up on my allotment and with that comes the dreaded rat.
i will give you a couple of helpful pointers on getting rid of them.

firstly where there is one there will be more (many more) they will be nesting under anything thats dark and dry, eg sheds, wood piles, patios etc etc, if there is a food source then they will breed very quickly, as a rule of thumb you wont see them in the daytime unless you have disturbed them, but if you do see them in daylight then you have a slight problem.

the easiest port of call would be poison, go to your local agricultural merchant and buy it in 2.5 kg tubs it usually costs around a fiver a throw for the decent stuff which is wheat that's been soaked in Brodifacoum which is basically an anti coagulant. When using poison its essential that it stays dry, what i used to do was put it in a clean dry milk carton, a 6 pint one was ideal and put it at an angle so the opening was face down to stop any water ingress, it wont be touched for a few days as rats hate change and become alarmed if something new arrives they wont go near it until they deem it safe.You will know when they have been near it as there will be dirt tracks inside the container, you only need 3 or 4 table spoons full at a time , once thats gone repeat and within a week or two they will slowly die off.

the second option is the common spring trap these need to be baited with a substance that cant be picked up and carried away, peanut butter, chocolate spread is good but the best i have found is sweetcorn and cat food liquidised up , it stinks but you will catch them. Also you need to put these traps along their 'runs' you will find the run easily it will always be along something such as a hedge , wall etc, also when putting the traps down its essential that the are placed at 90 degrees to the run ie the run goes lengthways then the trap must be put widthways with the baited area flush against the wall, etc. traditionally rats will never go into the open ground for more that a few seconds as they don't feel safe, obviously there will always be exceptions to this rule. Bear in mind though that they are very clever and you need to be to outwit them.

the third option would be to shoot them with an air rifle but that can become expensive and you may not be permitted to use one on an allotment thus putting you in the 'armed trespass' terrortory which can become very unpleasant should some one report you.


hth a bit
simon

[veggiechicken]

If you use a humane live trap you should also be aware that it is illegal to release vermin into the wild - I did it with squirrels and was told off

[simon180399]

If you use a humane live trap you should also be aware that it is illegal to release vermin into the wild - I did it with squirrels and was told off

quite correct but i know that people do and was giving them another option as an awful lot of folks cant bear to see a dead animal even if it is a rat.
personally i hate the things but thats down to self preference i think.

regards simon

[Two_Sheds]

an awful lot of folks cant bear to see a dead animal even if it is a rat

... but them same folks happily eat dead animals, that's what I don't get

I used to be a mouse-hugger, until they got into Himself's work bags and chewed up nearly �200 worth of kit
Which reminds me, I need to go and bait the traps with melted Snickers

[simon180399]

... but them same folks happily eat dead animals, that's what I don't get

I used to be a mouse-hugger, until they got into Himself's work bags and chewed up nearly �200 worth of kit
Which reminds me, I need to go and bait the traps with melted Snickers

he he, my wife is one of those very people, should be a veggie like me!

s.

[Two_Sheds]

should be a veggie like me!

s.

Me too, 23 years now. In the light of the mouse incident, I've had to amend my manifesto though (If thou killest, thou must eat what thy killt)

[Kaiya]

If I followed that I'd have to eat a lot of slugs...

[WendyC]

If you are in any doubt, have a 'G**gle' for Weils Disease (Leptospirosis). It has Flu-like symptoms, and is usually fatal.

I'm afraid I'm on the side of the Rat-haters.

If you are still in any doubt, just remember that most (if not all, I haven't researched) Rodents 'dribble' urine, almost constantly, as they travel, rather than 'going' in one place. Well, that is what I am led to believe, but I am always happy to be re-educated.

I was told this by the Council pest control when he came to sort out the rats in next doors compost. As she didn't want the hassle I had to be in for him to visit and climb the fence into the garden to lay bait so got to know him quite well. We were alerted to the presence of rats when my youngest (about 5 at the time) said "Look Daddy there's a squirrel!". It was drinking from the pond. He also advised me to put the compost bins on paving slabs. I thought it would stop the bins making decent compost but hasn't made a difference and not seen rats in our bins.

[Kaiya]

Rat's certainly pee little and often. Not a constant dribble but with pet rats you can hold them for about ten minutes or so before they pee a tiny drop. Random fact; they can be trained to use a litter tray for droppings but not urine. They also walk in it and track it about - they can see in ultraviolet to some extent and their urine glows, so it's a little bit like a road map plus of course they have good scenting abilities.

http://www.ratbehavior.org/BlackLight.htm

[northepaul]

We get rats in the dalek too....always make sure its wet.....having a cat is very handy too! (my neighbour had 13 and we have one!)

However for the same reason, cant use poison....!

[madpiano]

I had rats in the garden. The cat killed one, the fox did the rest. I actually watched him through the kitchen window catching one. That's one of the reasons I encourage the foxes into my garden.
I put pretty much everything from the kitchen that rots on the compost, but due to living in London where there will always be rats, I don't put meat on it. That goes in a stainless steel bowl outside and gets eaten by the foxes. I don't feed them every day (we don't often have food going off in this house), but often enough for them to include my garden on their daily rounds. And they have never harmed the cat. They just ignore it.