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How to get rid of rats in a cabin?


Matagorda

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Ive got a cabin in the Ozark forest and its great.  But we only go about one weekend a month and it keeps getting rats.  Its clean, but is basically in the forest so every winter they invade seeking warmth.  
 

Im using poison to kill them, but with dogs I dont like the chance its going to kill one of them at some point.  Still, they chew wires, leave a mess, and Im just sick of them.  Its too remote for a exterminator and I dont go enough to dump a bunch of stray cats there.  

Got any tips to get rid of them? 

 

 

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Sounds like you need me to watch over the place while you're not there. Not a problem.

 

Seriously though Jif Corn Bread Mix and Baking soda. Search YouTube for it. Can put in medium tupperware container with hole cut in side (get containers at dollar tree etc).  Rats go in and eat the tasty mix and then later when they drink/digest the baking soda / stomach acid mixture ends up killing them.

 

 

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2 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Sounds like you need me to watch over the place while you're not there. Not a problem.

 

Seriously though Jif Corn Bread Mix and Baking soda. Search YouTube for it. Can put in medium tupperware container with hole cut in side (get containers at dollar tree etc).  Rats go in and eat the tasty mix and then later when they drink/digest the baking soda / stomach acid mixture ends up killing them.

 

 

Perfect.  Thanks

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3 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Sounds like you need me to watch over the place while you're not there. Not a problem.

 

Seriously though Jif Corn Bread Mix and Baking soda. Search YouTube for it. Can put in medium tupperware container with hole cut in side (get containers at dollar tree etc).  Rats go in and eat the tasty mix and then later when they drink/digest the baking soda / stomach acid mixture ends up killing them.

 

 

This is great. And it doesn't pass up the food chain the way most rat poisons do, I take it?

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9 minutes ago, Matagorda said:

Perfect.  Thanks

 

11 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Sounds like you need me to watch over the place while you're not there. Not a problem.

 

Seriously though Jif Corn Bread Mix and Baking soda. Search YouTube for it. Can put in medium tupperware container with hole cut in side (get containers at dollar tree etc).  Rats go in and eat the tasty mix and then later when they drink/digest the baking soda / stomach acid mixture ends up killing them.

 

 

Wouldn't this result in the rotting dead carcass' of dead rats in your nice home, to stink and disgust the place upon your infrequent arrivals? Then you spend hours cleaning up and airing out the place?

I like the one stray cat idea.

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If the baking soda idea doesn't work AND mice and rats have the same dislikes, try mint spray.  You can find it on Amazon.  I swear it worked really well for us at the time.  We have a mouser (cat) now, so I haven't seen a live mouse in over a year.  Anyway, you spray it around the outside of the house and, especially, in area which you think they're getting in.  It won't hurt the dogs, and it smells pretty good as well.

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55 minutes ago, BeardIP said:

 

Wouldn't this result in the rotting dead carcass' of dead rats in your nice home, to stink and disgust the place upon your infrequent arrivals? Then you spend hours cleaning up and airing out the place?

I like the one stray cat idea.

Thats the weird thing, the poison is some

kind toxic anticoagulant so blood trails all over the floor, but the rats somehow crawl out the way they get in (by chewing holes through wood walls) before dying.  So place hasnt stunk yet.  Plus its cold weather, so I suppose they just take a while to stink if dying in the walls. 

25 minutes ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

If the baking soda idea doesn't work AND mice and rats have the same dislikes, try mint spray.  You can find it on Amazon.  I swear it worked really well for us at the time.  We have a mouser (cat) now, so I haven't seen a live mouse in over a year.  Anyway, you spray it around the outside of the house and, especially, in area which you think they're getting in.  It won't hurt the dogs, and it smells pretty good as well.

Im going to try this as well.  Thanks.  

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See cat piss thread next to this one. And you only need 1 cat and the auto feeder mentioned along with a big bowl of water. But only have feeder go off once a day, you want a backup food source for cat but also want them hungry.

A hungry female adult cat is an apex hunter (I don’t count coyotes but they will probably eventually eat your cat but just replace it, plenty that need adoption)

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43 minutes ago, Yarbr said:

I feel like the cat thing is too easy. What does the guy do, a cat door or is it going to murder and shit all over the cabin? I’ve never had a cat, I don’t know how they work.

A cat door is the best.  But it will work without one.  They shit and piss in a big box full of tiny pebbles.  They will eat most if not all of the rat.  There shouldn't be a huge mess.  You might have a couple of dead but not eaten ones.  But leaving one all alone like that is cruel.  Go with two that get along and can't breed.  

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If you are only there one weekend a month the cat will move on to greener pastures(the local old lady who will feed it).  Also cats can cause significant collateral property damage left to their own devices.  Screens and posts shredded.

Perimeter bait boxes with poison(there are low secondary kill risk professional baits) are the only thing that will work at this point.  You need ongoing bait program and a serious effort to secure any access points.  Now you have a path of rat piss marking the paths into your cabin that won’t fade naturally for several years.

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1 hour ago, Incredulity said:

If you are only there one weekend a month the cat will move on to greener pastures(the local old lady who will feed it).  Also cats can cause significant collateral property damage left to their own devices.  Screens and posts shredded.

Perimeter bait boxes with poison(there are low secondary kill risk professional baits) are the only thing that will work at this point.  You need ongoing bait program and a serious effort to secure any access points.  Now you have a path of rat piss marking the paths into your cabin that won’t fade naturally for several years.

The closest gravel road is 1 mile away, pavement is 7 miles away.  No old ladies.  

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