Flaming Rat's (graphic images)

[Suz]

To carry on with the saga posted here .. Headless Quail

I decided it was definitely rats after a tail was seen disappearing down a hole leaving 5 dead Japs in its wake, so I took measures to block of the hole and thought that would be the end of it. Well yesterday on the way out to the supermarket something caught my eye in the aviary so I went to investigate ... pool of blood & feathers their back & this time its war.

While I was out I bought rat traps & whole wheat poison in readiness for my attack ... well looks like things are much worse than I imagined. I noticed a suspicious looking hole under one of the 2" thick slabs that the bob house sits on, so I decided to lift them and see what was going on and this is what I found ....

















A lovely network of tunnels & larders ... rat heaven .... Now I don't know what to do. One tunnel seems to lead under the concrete wall buried 2' under ground level (pictured with hidden eggs so might just be a larder) the other under the loft. There's absolutely No way of moving the shed and I cant find an obvious hole on the garden side of shed leading under and into the aviary, so I'm presuming they've dug in between the 2" gap between shed & wall ... I've No idea how to get traps in there and am feeling totally overwhelmed at what looks like a mammoth task.

Suz

[andoy]

oh dear Suz, it looks really bad.

All I can suggest is covering the ground with aviary mesh, then laying the slabs on top. That's the only way you can stop them. If you've seen one rat, there are bound to be quite a few. They've obviously found a good source of food and aren't going to stop trying to raid your avairy.

[Jen88]

Oh dear they have made a good nest there
Have you heard of those ultrasonic Rodent repellents that make a high frequency noise that rodents can't stand?
Maybe you could get some of those.
Only problem is that I'm not sure if your birds will be able to hear it and I know it bothers rabbits.
Heres an example of one that says it ok to use with birds
I hope you manage to sort it out

[Keelan]

Ooch sorry to hear it Suz
i've heard of those ultrasonic repellers sounds good, but a problem if you also have hamsters and mice near?
can you manage to put poison into their burrows at all?
or a more hands on with a air gun?

[Kim]

Oh dear they have made a good nest there
Have you heard of those ultrasonic Rodent repellents that make a high frequency noise that rodents can't stand?
Maybe you could get some of those.
Only problem is that I'm not sure if your birds will be able to hear it and I know it bothers rabbits.
Heres an example of one that says it ok to use with birds
I hope you manage to sort it out

The problem with ultrasonic rodent repellers is that the rodents get used to it quick so you have to make sure you get one that alternates frequency.

Oh my gosh Suz I feel for you! What an awful thing to happen to your birds! And I thought the local bear would be a problem. I didn't realize what rats could do! I only hope we can all learn something from this unfortunate incident and come up with a solution so we all know what to do to prevent this from happening and to fix it when it does.

[birdmanbill]

what a sad way for your birds to die.
the only safe way to keep vermin out.
is to concrete floors,even then,i`ve had a rat chew a hole through.
i had a "visiter" in conservatory,bought rat poisen,wheat laden with the poisen,it worked found a body 3 days later.
you can also put broken glass down the holes.
also look for their runs,see where they disappear.then put poisen under the ground,just make sure bait doesn`t get wet.
also make sure with poisen,none other of your pets can get to it

[Suz]

Right Just back in from the aviary ... getting too dark to carry on, but I've found the Entry & Exit points ... so at least that's a start. I dug up all their run ways and removed all their stored food and put a wire mesh curtain over the aviary hole (dunno if it'll make any difference though ), No sign of a burrow or nest and I'm pretty sure they don't live under the shed as I found tiny ratty foot prints in the dust covering the corrugated plastic stored between the shed & wall that I had forgotten about that indicates they are climbing over the wall from the burn/river side ... so at least that's something. I put traps & poison down and took some piccies ... will report back tomorrow.

Way under the shed ...



Way into the Aviary ...





Poison & traps (more poison put under shed @ aviary side but blurred the pic's)





Suz

[Emma]

Nightmare I hope you manage to stop them.

[cluckcorner]

They're scum.

I had this with my japanese, so i bought a load of tomcat poison and put it in every tunnel i could find. They chewed through the wooden floor in the shed :@

Vermin

[dave.]

So glad you found them Suzzzz, I would double wire were poss and then cement over the wire. Becareful with the traps if they have springs to hold them shut if the rats are left to long they will crew the springs till their free. (Had this prob with flying rats.) Had to fit bigger springs and check them more often. If there the dome type were they have used 16_19 gauge wire around the inteior flap reinforce it with something thicker. Hope this might help you Suzzzzzz and maybe someone else. All best Dave.