AHHHHHHHHHHH A RAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[taffydales]

I have spotted a rat around Tommy,s stable I hate rats I have a real phobia of them, I have been putting rat poisen down its like a blue granule, but just wondered if anyone had any good tips.

[greydales]

Get a yard cat! We've only seen one rat around here since we moved in - it was sitting on the window sill looking at Dave as he was working LOL! Not long after we found a dead one got by the cats - hope it was the same.

You can often get semi-ferals through cat rescue. Although if you did still have a rat problem after that you'd have to be careful with poison, especially as you have dogs.

At my previous yard I did use poison which was pretty effective as we hardly ever saw one but had to make sure it was put down in places the dogs couldn't access it.

[harveydales]

Ahhh horrible! I know we've got a dead rat somewhere in the hay barn - I can smell it.

We also use poison which I put in plastic bait boxes and somewhere where Ben can't get at. The blue grain stuff seems to work well but I might consider some feral cats too.

[NFK Dumpling]

My suggestion would be to make sure that you aren't inadvertantly feeding it.

The only times I've had rats is when I put carrots in a vegetable rack (I had to suspend them from a hook in the ceiling) and leaving ferret food out for the robins (this was a particularly stupid rat that thought it could get in and out of the ferret's cage and met a predictably sticky end).

When we had pigs we used poison - the thing is to work out the rat's route and put the poison down on its route under cover so it feels safe to stop and eat it.

If you use a trap try baiting it with chocolate - a waste I know - but effective.

We had a hunting terrier club near us and they'd come for nothing but you have to put up with about twenty people and even more dogs tearing about! NB: Terriers aren't choosy about what they set aboard.

[nic]

I have a mouse problem and after doing research totally agree with Greydales, a cat is the way to go!
I heard of a story recently where a cat ate a rat who had just eaten poison and lost the use of its back legs so do be careful if u have cats or dogs about and use poison.

[SuzieP]

Call me old fashioned, but I really don't like poisoning animals. It's cruel to the rats (they can't help being rats) because they die a horrible death, the bodies might be eaten by something which gets poisoned in return, they invariably die somewhere inaccessible and stink the place out and you have to be so careful to make sure no other animals can get to the poison.

If you can't have a yard cat, humane traps which kill them quickly would be my choice - and checked regularly so that if they get caught by a leg or tail they can be finished off quickly with a brick on the head.

[taffydales]

I have two yard cats and to say they are useless is an understatement, I had one around the same time last year and got rid of it, and have only just spotted one again in the last few weeks, the blue poison tends to work well, I can actualy drop it into the run and I am always carefull about the cats and other animals.

[Daftmare]

If you phone cats protection league they will bring you some feral cats. Wild ones are good hunters they bring all their food etc to last them while they are kept in.

[bevbob]

We have a rat problem too, although I havent seen any for a while. Big buggers arnt they? I had one that had died in my tack room and was full of maggots!!! not very nice and I got the Y.O to move it lol.

[PonyGirl]

We have rats. But, the jacks take care of them really well.

[zeldalithgow]

I haven't seen a rat here in all the time we've been here, think our little semi feral cat colony keeps them down - fingers crossed ;D I'm not keen on poisoning either

[Debbie]

Ooh, I adore pet rats, but I can fully understand if you've a phobia about them.

I'd go with the poison again as its worked well for you in the past. If it doesn't work this time, I'd contact a terrier man, or someone with a ferret, but let them know you've dropped poison down a particular run. That way they can keep their animal safe whilst figuring out how to despense with the problem.

Rats can sometimes be too big for cats, and the cats are not stupid. They'll ignore the problem and let someone else bigger do the business.