Can't catch rats in a rat trap

That's annoying and sad!
I never see the rats, but assume I have them because of my semi rural location and chickens.
I am going to try cheese. The peanut butter was a fail, and so was the super smelly purchased bait.
Perhaps I just don't have rats....:huh:

Anakei wrote:

Perhaps I just don't have rats....:huh:

Oh I wish! One good bit of news. We shouted ourselves to a very smart magnetic clip that goes under the barrel of the air-rifle and it takes a high powered torch. OH shot a very huge female rat using it a few nights ago. she weighed close to 500 grms. Maybe the one eating chicks i hope!!!! Mr. Hawk the garbage bird, will have had a good breakfast. He also got what the cats left of a large rabbit, shot the same night.

We have an air rifle to deal to our meat rabbits, but when I've tried target shooting I can't hit a barn door!
Back to the traps!

i could see from the house there was something in a trap yesterday so when I finally went out i couldn't quite make out what it was, but, by the look on its distorted face I thought it had the look of number 28 the last person to squeeze into a mini cooper!!!! :blink:
Well, turned out to be a very stuck possum. Serves him right for thinking chook food was the best thing since sliced bread. A bit of air pellet treatment, it took a bit to extract him from the Times-up trap, The garbage eating hawk turned him down flat, so I had to dispose of the possum another way, and left two baby rats this morning, for the hawk instead. Hawk much prefers take-a-ways to dining in.

two rats in traps yesterday, so dumped them for the garbage hawk, and, Wings over Wanaka have nothing compared to the aerial display i witnessed when Mr. hawk flew in. 4 magpies spotted him and the aerial combat started. hawk turned somersaults to try and defend himself, occasionally flying upside down, but therein lies a problem, they plummet earthwards, but are very acrobatic. In the end he escaped, but returned later when the magpies were not on duty. Last night we went out for some "Rat Stalking" Got three. Such fun. all the big ones that are trap shy. Going to try again tonight.

Well, you are just showing off now!
Still nothing in mine...

Oh, wish I was showing off! having got three rabbits, a possum and a lot of rats, we thought we were doing really well. Bait was taking care of a lot of the trap shy rats and the smell in the chook-yard is very unpleasant at the moment, but then....... Something has got into our glass houses and ALL the tomatoes that had a hint of colour have been eaten, or damaged . I'm guessing a rat. One of the live capture traps was set off yesterday, all bait eaten, but it had been filled up with torn grass! what would do that? and, why wasn't it inside the trap? So, I now have two alligator mouse traps set inside a live capture cage, two live capture traps set with grain, one possum trap set with a ripe tomato, and a bait station pipe set with poison. I'll be very disappointed if I have no result on that! Can't sit in the dark with a light mounted on an air rifle for obvious reasons!

Very little sign of rats here but caught 5 in two day in 3 traps

smudge wrote:

Very little sign of rats here but caught 5 in two day in 3 traps

That's a good tally.
I have caught numerous rats and the ones that get trap shy are fairly interested in block baits. over the last couple of years I have also caught 3 baby rabbits. Dispatched.7 Blackbirds. Banded and let go. If they come back more than 4 times, dispatched, since I know they will knock all the plums they can get off my trees, Numerous mourning doves. Let go. 10 ducklings this year. let go though their mother is very cranky and I need to be on my guard. These are wild mallards.....very wild!
2 hedgehogs. Let go. It was fun :whistle: trying to back the big one out of the Times-up trap! Numerous sparrows. Some let go, other became breakfast for our cats. Two mynahs. Dispatched. 1 well grown possum. Dispatched! But the prize was this morning. When I saw its snout this morning, I didn't realize what it was. Definitely dispatched!

Now that is impressive!
And in mine...............nothing, nada, zilch!
Trying bacon now.

Ha. A massive male rat ...very angry, this morning, and a little bitty very cute baby rabbit. So, a hawk breakfast and a cat breakfast.

I had a cage trap untouched for a week. I went out fishing for 3 days and when I got back I went to reset the traps and one had a small dead rat in it. OOps I don't like to see that happen but sometimes it does. Sorry little rat I'd rather you had a quick death

I've been spotlighting them at night to get those big trap shy rats, and having reasonable success. We've also taken out 19 rabbits in the last few weeks so although we know there are a few left, they are a bit harder now to find.

Still nothing in the trap, but the bait is being taken.
I was in the garden today and a young rat walked across my path - no urgency and in broad daylight!
Now they are just taking the p....!

that's a sure sign that they are taking the bait. It takes a few days for the anti coagulant to work, otherwise you would rarely see a rat during daytime unless you have a heavy infestation. Strangely, cats seem to know which rats have been poisoned and leave them alone.