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Rat getting inside shed

L

lil860

Warren Scout
Not sure if this is in the right section of forum.
I have a very determined Rat getting inside my shed i check my guineas and rabbit every night before i go to bed and its inside the cage sitting with the guinea pigs.
It shows no fear and only runs when i move cage.
We have blocked the holes up in shed but it has gnawed its way in again.
There is no food left inside shed the hay is in a tightly lidded storage box.
Guineas and bun only have a little bit of hay in cage so they have something to eat.
I need a safe way to get rid of it without harming my rabbit and guinea pigs.
I fear if i use bait it will drag it back inside shed and potentially risks my animals dying.
I also have a dog shes tried her hardest to get it with no luck.
Dont like the idea of snap traps.
I need to replace the shed but fear it will chew its way in again.
Any advice would be greatfully appreciated. Thanks
 
I would call in the pest control. Locally here the rats are immune to the poison, we had to call out the pest control people who removed the rats (well, at least reduced the number so they are no longer so obvious

Richard

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Motty said:
I would call in the pest control. Locally here the rats are immune to the poison, we had to call out the pest control people who removed the rats (well, at least reduced the number so they are no longer so obvious

Richard

Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I agree . Not sure how rapidly they will respond atm though, given the Covid 19 situation.
 
if you want to trap it these live traps are very good. I caught 12 last year (& released a couple of miles away.
use peanut butter as bait.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/3529671099...MIsPXMoL2t6AIVCdHeCh1bFwnsEAQYASABEgKVtfD_BwE

0nPPIbg.jpg
 
Yeah I'd just use a trap like mikek posted.

No point using poison or snap traps, it would be wrong to kill it.

Especially poison, that's a slow death.
 
I doubt it would harm the rabbits but not sure about the guineas as they are smaller. Can you not put the cage higher so the rat can't get into their cage for now until you can get a trap as above. The problem is the rat will possibly bring its friends round and outnumber the pets.
 
The rabbit is in a large pen shes a medium size.
The guinea pigs are in a big indoor cage on wheeled stand its climbing up to get inside. It literally sits beside the guinea pigs who dont seem bothered by it.
Only ever seen the one rat but i fear there are more about as we have fields and woodland behind our house.
We used expanding foam to block holes and thick wood and it still chewed its way in.
Would bait traps work? I have to be careful as i have a nosey dog. If bait was used im worried it will drag and leave it where my pets can potentially eat it.
 
lil860 said:
The rabbit is in a large pen shes a medium size.
The guinea pigs are in a big indoor cage on wheeled stand its climbing up to get inside. It literally sits beside the guinea pigs who dont seem bothered by it.
Only ever seen the one rat but i fear there are more about as we have fields and woodland behind our house.
We used expanding foam to block holes and thick wood and it still chewed its way in.
Would bait traps work? I have to be careful as i have a nosey dog. If bait was used im worried it will drag and leave it where my pets can potentially eat it.
Click to expand...

if you have 1 rat now, likely you will have many soon.

baited traps would be VERY risky with pets around. a disaster waiting to happen.

rats will chew through pretty much anything, given time even brick. foam will be useless & wood virtually useless.

likely they would attack guinea pigs & possibly rabbits too. then there is the disease risk, fleas & other parasites.

the rat may be looking for food and/or accommodation. good idea not to have ANY food in the accommodation overnight. just feed what can be eaten immediately.
 
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I would be very worried about disease or the rat harming the pets, especially guinea pigs. I wouldn't use baited traps or poison around your pets. I think the live trap is the way to go. I used them for mice when I had them in my kitchen and managed to clear them all out fairly quickly. I have pet rats so wouldn't want to harm a wild rat but also considering the safety of your pigs and buns I think it would be the best option
 
Last year a rat killed 4 of my baby rabbits. There wasn't anything wrong with killing it, not at all. Projecting human feelings on rats is pointless, there's no shortage of rats. There's one thing you should be aware of - if a rat has a good living, there will be lots of them in no time. Apart from the costs and struggle to get rid of an infestation your pets aren't safe when they get bold and hungry. Not to mention the reputation that comes with being responsible for a rat infestation in the neighbourhood.

Sure, they are adorable, intelligent creatures with awesome stamina, but that is not an issue where romantic feelings should get the upper hand.

Be carefull where you place snap traps so that nothing else gets into it. Not outdoors without a box over it, a bird in a snap trap is a sad sight. Bread with some peanut butter is good bait. Live traps are just delegating the problem, unless you get the rat killed, once they learned that there's a good living around humans they'll go back there. I see no point to stress them with live traps. Seek help of experienced people if possible.
 
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Uhm. Once this winter my free range house rabbits started to thump in the middle of the night, I donned gloves and winter gear and cought that rat. Giving ground is imho not a good idea.
 
Graciee said:
They love peanut butter, but have you ever caught a rat or mouse in a human trap? Because with all the ones I've caught, none of them every were silly enough to go into the humane traps [emoji849]

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I caught 12 or 13 last year with that same trap :lol: they were creating havoc under my floorboards.
I think one trick is to wear gloves while handling the trap so they don't smell humans. also they just can't resist peanut butter :D
 
mikek said:
I caught 12 or 13 last year with that same trap [emoji38] they were creating havoc under my floorboards.
I think one trick is to wear gloves while handling the trap so they don't smell humans. also they just can't resist peanut butter :D
Click to expand...
I'm wondering if London mice are smarter.. Hear me out [emoji38]

So at my parents - London Borough but it's greater London, we don't bother, they aren't in the house, they are just field mice and tbh they're very sweet [emoji38] I reckon I could trap them, not that I want to.

But when I lived in more central London the ones there were ridiculous! They seemed to be super mice, they were impossible to catch! I tried everything! Peanut butter would go, but the traps would be empty [emoji849] [emoji38]

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Graciee said:
I'm wondering if London mice are smarter.. Hear me out [emoji38]

So at my parents - London Borough but it's greater London, we don't bother, they aren't in the house, they are just field mice and tbh they're very sweet [emoji38] I reckon I could trap them, not that I want to.

But when I lived in more central London the ones there were ridiculous! They seemed to be super mice, they were impossible to catch! I tried everything! Peanut butter would go, but the traps would be empty [emoji849] [emoji38]

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Click to expand...

haha.
we've had mice here in the past but easy to catch with the humane traps. pretty much a mouse a night per trap.
not so clever at avoiding being caught but very clever at picking their favourite crisps. I can't remember exactly what flavour they preferred, but they could tell which of the packets in a multi-pack they were (through the individual packet) and always went for those first :lol:
it was fun having them at first but soon became a bit of a nuisance. one actually ran up the inside of my ex's trouser legs one time.
 
mikek said:
haha.
we've had mice here in the past but easy to catch with the humane traps. pretty much a mouse a night per trap.
not so clever at avoiding being caught but very clever at picking their favourite crisps. I can't remember exactly what flavour they preferred, but they could tell which of the packets in a multi-pack they were (through the individual packet) and always went for those first [emoji38]
it was fun having them at first but soon became a bit of a nuisance. one actually ran up the inside of my ex's trouser legs one time.
Click to expand...
Omg I'd have freaked out [emoji38][emoji38][emoji38] first time I knew we had mice I was standing in the kitchen in the flat (it was above a kebab shop... Looking back Idk what I was thinking except affordable [emoji38]) and this furry brown thing shot across the floor in front of me and I screamed so loud my boyfriend thought I was being murdered [emoji38][emoji38] came running in with a baseball bat [emoji38]

They were smart tho, a loaf of bread on the counter, tiny hole you couldn't see, ends of the bread untouched, hollow in the middle of each slice though! [emoji38]

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Graciee said:
They love peanut butter, but have you ever caught a rat or mouse in a human trap? Because with all the ones I've caught, none of them every were silly enough to go into the humane traps [emoji849]

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

We had mice before and the only thing they would eat was proper Nutella! They were absolutely not interested in the cheaper Aldi version but as soon as the proper stuff went down they couldn’t stay away!!


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Mice literally pee everywhere,they have such fast metabolisms.They can carry salmonela.I have one that hangs around the garden,looks like a field mouse,comes out in daytime.It makes a temporary nest under the wheelie bins,where it stashes peanuts that I chuck out for the squirrels.
 
We have rats under the rabbits shed. Put a humane trap down. No takers. It has been down for a couple of weeks in various locations.

Pest control not operating due to covid19.
 
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