Best way to catch Rats

fish brain

Crew Member
How to you trap rats?
Here is my method, does anyone have a better way?

It seems like spring and fall see fresh waves of rats through the farm. My wife hates poison, so unless they get too far ahead of me I run trap lines. My usual method is to put out some tasty bait for at least three days, usually a week. Then start trapping. Tasty bait can be Peanut Butter, Bacon Fat, Fat from any other meat we cook. Rats seem to love fat.
I choose the type of fat I am going to use and stick with it until it stops working.
This is how I do it. Tasty bait is free for the three days to a week. I place this in multiple spots where rat activity is obvious. IE I see rat turds. This gets the rats used to eating the bait, I will start to bait my traps only when all the free tasty bait disappears for two days straight. Depending on the population, all my traps will be full for the next day or two, then one or two rats a day for a while. If I havent caught a rat for three days I switch to a new tasty bait and start the process over. So say the previous example was peanut butter, I would only use peanut butter until it stops working then switch to bacon fat, run it until it stops working then switch to chicken fat. Eventually I get to the point where my free bait stops working. This usually means that I am on top of them. At this point I will take a week off between bait changes to make sure they are not bait shy.
 
I feed them equal parts of flour, sugar and baking soda. Good idea on the free food tactic. I use latex gloves when handling traps. Hard to believe something with a brain the size of a pea can be so smart.
 
I feed them equal parts of flour, sugar and baking soda. Good idea on the free food tactic. I use latex gloves when handling traps. Hard to believe something with a brain the size of a pea can be so smart.
That is an interesting bait. Do you think they come to it for the salt and sugar?
I have had good luck with mice using jam, but the rats didn't seem to go for it as much. perhaps I should try it again
 
Have you tried the water barrel method ?
Yes I have, with mixed results. Whether it's the roller method or the trip leaver, most of the time the bait is gone and no swimmer to be found. Having said that I often have tripped traps and no rat. Maybe it's time to try one again.
 
I have found good success by taking 2 traps and screw them to the end of a low flat plank about 2-3 feet long. This works good for a few reasons. I can reach the plank / traps into a attic or wall garage space I cant always place a trap. The 2 traps side by side works nice too as often a rat will jump back or sideways when one trap goes off and the other trip will snag it. Having the traps screwed to the plank also stops a strong rat that gets a tail in a trap and run away with your trap which can happen. An older neighbour showed me this technique and found it works nicely and I usually have a few twin planks ready for fall.
 
Small garbage can with the lid that goes around and around. I usually put the bait almonds right on the cover. Rat walks on cover to get the bait and falls through. The door acts like a trap door.

We live on roads that are ditched still with lots of farms all around. This year's war just started as it was frosty couple days ago. My record was 14 on a 4 day stretch using almonds glued to the cover.
 
Do you think after a trap has caught a couple there's a scent left that other mice/rats will keep away. I trapped about dozen mice from my shed then it just stopped. I doubt I got them all, maybe I need new traps.
 
Do you think after a trap has caught a couple there's a scent left that other mice/rats will keep away. I trapped about dozen mice from my shed then it just stopped. I doubt I got them all, maybe I need new traps.
I had a neighbour who used to wash and bleach his traps after every kill. I have never washed a trap and they keep doing their job. You just have to look where rats have been living to see that they are not bothered by their dead neighbours. They do seem to get trap shy, whether it's from near misses, or some form of communication. I don't know. That's why I switch up my bait as soon as it stops working. It re habituates them to the new bait, and bag (I mean snap) and you are back at it.
 
Do you think after a trap has caught a couple there's a scent left that other mice/rats will keep away. I trapped about dozen mice from my shed then it just stopped. I doubt I got them all, maybe I need new traps.
I discovered the trap method by accident in my travel trailer after 5 months they were 4 fingers deep and it had fresh ones in it.
 
That is an interesting bait. Do you think they come to it for the salt and sugar?
I have had good luck with mice using jam, but the rats didn't seem to go for it as much. perhaps I should try it again
the flour and sugar attracts them and covers the scent of baking soda. Rats cannot fart so the baking soda makes them fill up with gas and kills them.
 
We moved to a 1 acre property last summer. We have chickens, turkeys (seasonal) and some other animals. When I first moved in the rats were bad. The previous owner didn't do much to stop them. I would see them often and I hated it, so it was on. First thing I did was get 2 Feral cats from a Feral Cat Rescue Organization. They come tattooed, spayed/neutered and with their up to date shots. Their presence deterred a lot of rat activity on our property. It wasn't long until the rats were either dying or looking for a safer place to live. After that, I did the peanut butter in the trap method, but trapping slowed down pretty quick. Now, I don't ever see any, but once in a while I'll find droppings, but not often. I also now have a house cat too, and I think the scent of a cat is enough to keep them away.

I think I'll set up some traps again, now that the season is here and see what happens. I also would be interested in seeing Bones' setup, or anyone else who uses a method other than the standard spring loaded trap.
 
Keep your bacon or sausage fat in a small dish. when congealed, smear it on your trap switch. also place your traps against walls, foundations or corridors. i had a real bad problem two years ago thanks to Jabba the Hutt; my hoarder neighbor. City made her clean up and i caught about fifteen ; all of their little corpses ended up over the fence into her yard.
 
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