Help me catch this rat!

3forks

WKR
Joined
Oct 4, 2014
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804
We’ve got a rat living under our deck, and catching this bastard has been a challenge (I’m aware that when you think you have one rat - it’s usually more).

We have a garden, and the neighbors have chickens so I’ve dealt with rats before, but I can usually eradicate a rat(s) without too much difficulty. We keep our BBQ grills clean, no bird feeders, no pet food accessible, trash cans covered and keep the landscaping maintained so as not make an inviting place for vermin. But, the neighbors chicken feed and our garden seem to be the reason we get some periodically.

In the past, at the first sign of a rat I put out a couple of snap traps with a dab of peanut butter and within a few days - I’ve killed all the rats. I‘ve put wire mesh around flower beds and the deck to prevent a rat from burrowing, but this rat has dug about 6 inches down underneath the wire.

So far I’ve been unable to catch this rat with snap traps, glue boards, 5 gallon bucket with a baited roller (rat steps on roller and falls into bucket and drowns), and even a Havahart live trap. I’ve gone as far as to boil traps to remove human scent and use gloves to set traps. Also, I’ve changed baits to ensure the rat hasn‘t associated the smell of particular baits with a trap, and allowed this bastard to eat the bait for a couple of days without setting the trap to get it used to eating the bait with no consequence.

I’m about out the of options. I have seen there’s a guy on YouTube that goes to dairy farms with minks and those minksare amazingly effective. *Google minks and rats and I guarantee you will be morbidly entertained watching this guy’s minks slaughtering rats. So, I’m down to putting out a poison bait station(Trying to avoid that), tearing up the deck, or buying my own minkto kill this rat.

This rat is outwitting me at every turn… Any ideas on what I can do?

Thanks in advance.
 
Last edited:

MattB

WKR
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Sep 29, 2012
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The trap-smart ones in our neighborhood avoid the poison, plus I think it is bad policy to add that to the local environment as the bycatch can be really problematic (e.g. dogs, cats)
 

WRM

WKR
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Jan 15, 2015
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Damn--I love a good rat challenge and you have used a lot of my tricks. I've never had to use a zapper, but maybe you should try it. Report back please!
 

Maverick1

WKR
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Jun 1, 2013
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Soooo, you’re saying that you are being outsmarted by a rat?????…….ohhhkayyy…..

j/k. Are you sure it is a rat and not something else? Friend of mine thought he had a groundhog problem…..it was a badger!
 

TxxAgg

WKR
Joined
Dec 27, 2019
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Soooo, you’re saying that you are being outsmarted by a rat?????…….ohhhkayyy…..

j/k. Are you sure it is a rat and not something else? Friend of mine thought he had a groundhog problem…..it was a badger!
I wondered the same thing. We had a similar scenario with a small opossum. He could trip traps and although it stung he just kept coming back for more.
 

Bigcat_hunter

Lil-Rokslider
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Oct 1, 2015
Messages
105
Buy this today and thank me tomorrow. They will climb over their dead rat friends bodies to get killed by this trap. It is freakin awesome.

 

WRM

WKR
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Jan 15, 2015
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968
Dang--I could just adopt the rat and maybe get a Joepa tax credit in the mix. That's a pricey trap!
 
OP
3

3forks

WKR
Joined
Oct 4, 2014
Messages
804
Ha! Yes, this rat is smarter than me!

I’m going to skip archery season so I can focus on catching this bastard! In fact, I’d equate trying to catch this rat with having bull hang up on your calls or having him not expose his vitals for a shot.

I’m in a Denver suburb and actually saw the rat one time, so 99.9% certain of what it is.

For those who recommended a zapper, I’ve got one but didn’t deploy it because I haven‘t had great success with it prior rats.
 

WRM

WKR
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Jan 15, 2015
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Hopefully this thread generates as many responses when you get him as the one with the BB gun shot mouse. I can't wait!!!

And, He's mocking you by showing himself once.
 
OP
3

3forks

WKR
Joined
Oct 4, 2014
Messages
804
Buy this today and thank me tomorrow. They will climb over their dead rat friends bodies to get killed by this trap. It is freakin awesome.

Hadn’t seen this before, but thanks for the suggestion.

This trap is cheaper than the Uhlik Repeater that I have actually considered.


I was hoping not to dump anymore money on traps and have been enjoying the challenge of catching this @ss hole rat, but as point out earlier - it’s winning.
 

WRM

WKR
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Jan 15, 2015
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968
Yeah, but they only get lucky for so long. You either get them or something else does. Don't succumb to the dark side of traps.
 
Joined
Dec 20, 2020
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I know you've tried traps, but these have worked well for me. I have the same issue because of my garden. I set up all 6 of these with peanut butter and peanuts. Most nights I get nothing, but then there will be a night when I get 3 or 4 at once. I think they travel together when they are on the hunt. Since I've set these up, I haven't lost anything in my garden. I even caught a sparrow in one of these traps. Good luck.

 
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