There are many ways to kill rats. I’m becoming an expert. Thats one thing they never tell you in the news that after a flood, its very likely that you will get rats, bugs or snakes in your house.
We’ve got the bugs AND the rats.
A very easy way to kill them is with rat poison. You just mix some bread crumbs in with the rat poison, put it out for the and let the rats help themselves. I did that and felt very proud of myself. Yes, that was the EASY part. What in the world was I thinking??!! That the rat would go and dig its own grave and die in it? No… a rat runs and hides and then, when it can’t run anymore it dies. ANYWHERE. How do you know if a rat died? You smell it. The search begins. If you are lucky, you find a dead rat. If you are unlucky, you still have the smell and can’t find the rat.
Ok. There are other ways.
- Our maid suggested we put rice out for them and just bang them on the head when they come and eat. Easy??
- Or you got to Tesco Lotus and buy traps. I didn’t find the trap I’d like . You know, one of those that breaks their necks. What Lotus does have are 3 different types of glue plates. The strongest glue I’ve ever seen in my life. The bait (bacon, rice..) is in the middle, the rat sees food and gets stuck on the glue.
This way you keep track of WHERE the rat is AND if its dead or not. Unfortunately they don’t die fast.. so a strong bang with a bush knife does the job.
When I lived in the USA, I lived in a very old timber framed house and at one point I got mice… nowhere near as bad as rats, but still can’t live with mice. So, I got the snap the neck type mousetrap after my neighbour told me how her mice caught in glue traps chewed their legs to get away… *gag*. At one point in my month long battle in getting rid of them I decided to get ‘friendly’ traps where they get caught in it and then you can release them outside, except mine suffocated. Not very friendly at all
Ugh ugh ugh. My sister caught mice in those glue traps and had to listen to them scream. I would hate to have to kill them. Probably I would put them in a garbage bag and drop a brick on them so I don’t have to see it. Ugh. Just the sight of a rat makes me feel sick. I can’t stand the way they run.
oah. Lillian, das tönt ja schrecklich! Hoffentlich ist das bald vorüber!
Problem with breaking necks traps is that it sometimes catchs a finger.
But it remains the best way to get them. I find the glue a bit inhuman even if they are rats.
we use the glue trap … what’s icky is that we found red ants feasting on the poor rat !
Lillian,
We had Mice , (Thank God not Rats!).
Then we got two cats……….never seen a mouse again.
Would that work with Rats, or would the Rats chase the Cats???????
Gabriella
We’ve thought about it. But we have a dog and I wonder how she would cope with a cat in the garden as well! Not sure if cats would chase them. There are some stray cats around that don’t seem to chase the rats…
Oh ugh! We had rats outside the house in Washington DC, but they never got into the house. I still remember trash nights…we’d put out the trash and five minutes later the bag would be moving..
We had mice once in the cellar and normal traps worked quite easily. Not sure if I could deal with rats though……but I guess If I had to I would. Rather rats than snakes!
How do the red ants survive the glue trap?