Rodents

Bought 3 tubs of the rodent bait in the white tub with green, yellow, and black printing on it. KAT was part of the name, maybe Tom Kat and it was in light green chunks about 1" square.

I am into my third bucket and have had excellent results with a lot of it (smell of the results) but have a lingering question.

Outside of my shop I have a 15'x50' roof extension and under that I put my P/U and one of my tractors. Had to move the p/u out there as the squirrels got into the wiring harness twice on a new p/u and cost 250 to fix it. Don't need that expense.

"Anyhew" I have been putting out 4 of these blocks of bait, one under each axle of the tractor and truck. Usually on a daily basis, sometimes on an alternative daily basis and the next morning all the baits are gone. This has been going on for over a month.

I got the dead rats in the shop from the bait I put in there, but see no results of the baits that keep disappearing outside. I keep the place policed up around the area and junk piles and hay storage is 50-100' away.

Really got me curious as to where they are going and why don't I see some results.

Ideas appreciated,

Mark

My guess would be chipmunks or squirrels. it'll do the same thing to them. When they quit disappearing you can stop baiting for a while.

Squirrels will hoard and bury food for later consumption. Maybe that is where you bait is going.

Pack rats will carry off the poison and just store it away without eating it. Neighbor kept putting out Decon and it kept disappearing. When he clean the shed, he found about a bushel of Decon stored away.

Friend had pack rats eat the wiring twice on his truck that is parked outside. Now he leaves the hood up and has a bright light on the engine at night; the pack rats don't bother it now. The light seems to keep them away.

I had several bait stations in basement a few seasons back. Bait kept disappearing at a fantastic rate. Finally tapered off - assume mice dropped off as well. Months later wife found hand fulls of bait stored away in a dresser in the basement loaded with spare clothes. Needless to say, everything got washed thoroughly.

My favorite bait is Blue Death. Far more successful than other brands I have used, De.... Tom.... etc.

Rat killer like Decon will kill rats and mice but not squirls or other animals.Rats can not upchuck it but other animals can.

Coon

Isn"t there a hole in the chunk so you can nail it down? (Then they have to chew it if they want it, not just carry it off and maybe bury it.)

The bait enclosures that you are supposed to use to keep animals (and kids) bigger than rats and mice from accessing it have pins to retain the blocks and keep them inside the safety enclosure.

coons will eat it like no tomorrow and it won't faze em a bit.

I use the same kind, nail them to scraps of wood with long roofing nails. Some of them I also put the nail through a plastic container both to keep it dry outside and to keep other varmits away from it.

Moth flakes, or moth balls used to deter mice and rats, used to put it around seed corn in the machine shed to keep the little vermin out it.

Cut mouse or rat sized hole, in a 5 gallon bucket, near bottom. Bolt the bait to the bucket. Put lid on securely, and put a cinder block, or other weight on top. I did this with rats, and it worked like a charm. I got the idea from the bait stations the pest control co's use for river rat infestation.

I use the same stuff. I have had real good success. I don't leave my bate where a dog, or cat can get at it. Stan

I put out a bunch of that green stuff in chunks and nothing would eat it.That was 6 months ago.I found some rat bait that comes in bars and looks like grain.It disappeared over night.

If you face your P/U in, then leave the hood open. Mice/Rats only like the dark area under the hood. Lay a rubber snake or a colored rope in there.

Do you have slugs?

A turkey farmer friend has bait stations around the outside of his barns ever 25' or so. The bait stations on the outside facing the fields were always empty and the ones between the barns were reduced at a much slower rate.

He went out early one morning and saw a bunch of slugs eating the rat bait and then going back to the grass / brush. He stopped it by pouring salt or slug bait around the rat bait stations.

Now he has pretty good control of both pests.
Grant

Thanks guys for the comments. I do have squirrels which I feed up by the house which is 300' away. However, there is a tree about 50' in front of the shop/extension with a nest in it. I see no activity there and there are no trees beyond my shop. Lots of squirrel activity up around the trees and the neighbors.

Coons yes. They love to eat the freshwater clams around the pond/pool/tank/whatever you call it in your neck of the woods and there are clam shells everywhere. Some are 4" across. The pool is about 100' from the shop.

Yesterday I put out 5 pieces; 2 under the tractor, 2 under the truck and one under a riding mower....all 5 gone this morning. No trace of anything.

The first time I had the wiring eaten, there was what I thought to be rat teeth marks on the plastic cover over the battery + terminal and in the battery tray was some food debris including some partially eaten and undisturbed acorns from a Live Oak tree near where it was parked. That put me onto the squirrel as the culprit but didn't know they ate wiring, I mean the wires and insulation. Like 6" of the wiring harness to the alternator was gone.

I don't know if coons eat wiring or not. Apparently I have killed off most of the rats as I have feed stored in the shop (couple hundred # in sacks sitting on the floor} with blocks near it and they nor the feed has been disturbed in a couple of weeks. No dead rat smells either from other places in the shop where I have tossed blocks.

So I guess I am after squirrels. I could shoot the suckers but don't really want to. Just as soon live and let live. Never ate one. I hear squirrel stew is pretty good.

Oh well. Thanks again for your responses.

Mark

I have fed both the pellets in the tray and the Tom Cat which is like the bars but 1" square and cut to about 1" in length. Have also used the bars (another brand) that are like 4 stuck together and 10" long. All work for me.

My GM truck has a separate empty battery tray for diesel installation double batteries and I put some bar bait there only to have it melt. So I taped a tray there. It has been disturbed but it may have been water splashing up from the road.

Yes on the hole. May try that. The 5 gallon bucket mentioned I don't think will work as I want the bait under the vehicles.

I don't have kids or friendly dogs around the place so I'm not worried about that. There are some dogs that roam at night and pee on my tires and drive my properly contained dog nuts, get in the trash and all. County ordinance against loose dogs. They could go as far as I am concerned.

No slugs that I know of. Area is high and dry with the grass well kept around it. Seldom if ever see one anywhere on the place including the flower beds and garden.

I remembered my son had an animal trap that would hold an average sized coon. I really want to know what's doing this especially if squirrels. I think I will rig up the trap and see what happens.

Will let you know.

Mark

now that the critters know where the food source is,
set up a bunch of small wire grid live traps or some
big spring traps with the poison/bait.
or a box with a hole with a conibear inside.

In my area, those dang red squirrels are the worst wiring eaters

Interested sir in your comments. I guess my squirrels are Fox
but they are reddish brown. Tell me more, if you will, about how
they became a nuisance for you.

I looked all over for my son's trap and couldn't find it so I took
the advice of one of you guys.....don't have access right here as
to whom but you know who you are, and nailed some of the Tom
Cat squares to a couple of boards. Will see what I have in the
morning.

Thanks,
Mark

Try making a sand box and place the bait in the center. The tracks they leave will give you an idea what and where they are coming from.