We had 5-10 outside cats for decades. For whatever reason our cats dwindled to the point we only had one old one left. he mice started moving in then we got a rat. I gnawed it's way in and was getting fat off the bird seed in my wife's bird room (a converted bedroom). I set snap traps, foot holds and conibears all of which it avoided. I put out poison that it ignored.

My wife had a half-screen in blocking the bird room door so the dogs couldn't get in but heat from the wood stove could. She has cameras in there and we caught it climbing the screen and hopping down the other side.

I put six of the big sticky traps where it was hopping down, caught it the next night. I heard it get stuck and start squealing so I went back there and smashed it's head in.

We got five outside cats again now and haven't had a rodent problem since they became adults.

I need to remember that if we ever have another one come around.

I keep a couple of #1 jumps fastened to a brick against the wall of my barn at all times. Rarely does a rat move in that I do not have him within 24 hours. My sister had a rat in her house. I took a 5 gallon pail put some ground corn type chicken feed in the bottom of the pail and then set the #1 jump in the pail with the brick. Set the pail in a place that the rat could get easily to the top and jump in. He jumped in the second night and that was that.

One other thing to try if all else fails, 5 gallon bucket with honey in the bottom. Probably could use syrup but the idea is the rat can't jump when it gets honey all over it. I inadvertently left a bucket out with an inch of honey in the bottom. Caught a rat I didn't know I had.

If you know someone with a small terrier,say Jack Russell, they can be very effective.

For the bait to work they have to be HUNGRY!!!!! Remove all access to the other food stuffs it's eating now, then the bait, what ever it's eating now, will draw it in.

I've had JRT's

Absolute born and bred killers. It could catch rats with lightning speed and dispatch within seconds. Unbelievable how quick it can clean out a heavily infested area. Made the Navy seal team 6 look like a joke.

When I was a kid , my mom worked in a feed store. Big rat problem in the back warehouse. They tried a housecat first. The rats killed the cat on the second night it was locked up in the back. Very big and well fed rats.

Then the owner got a JRT. Locked up in the warehouse overnight. Came in the next morning , found over 30 dead rats. Blood everywhere , floors , bags of feed even on the 20ft high ceiling. An exhausted blood drenched JRT was waiting for us. Cleaned up the dog , spent hours cleaning the blood in the warehouse. Dog slept all day , totally wiped out. Following night got about 15 more. In less than a week , there were no rats left.

Cragar: Would have loved to see him in action!

How big is this store room? I’d be emptying it out and cleaning it up to get rid of them.

I watched mine capture and kill 5 rats in under a minute. It happens so fast , it is hard to keep up watching the action. Pure bloodlust. I bet if you gave the dog a choice of eating dinner or going after a dog in heat , it would pick killing rats first. Everything else can wait. Had an issue with my neighbor's chicken coop (30 birds) , my dog would just go after rats like a guided missile after we got the chickens out of the way and in a safe place because my dog probably would have killed them just as quick. Had to hose the dog down everytime , just red with blood.

JRT and dogs like them are the best rat killing machines. You could not design anything better. I miss that dog so much.

I can always trap and poison some rats, but there's always at least a few I have to shoot and there's little doubt that there are others that never give me a shot. I need to shoot some more, it's been a few months.

Keith

I had a female JRT growing up. She was a hunting machine. Absolutely great woodchuck hunter. She'd go right down any hole she could fit in and drag them out dead. If she didn't fit she'd dig until she did.

That's awesome Cragar and would be something to see.

I had a Patterdale that was a rat killing specialist and loved doing it. First thing I thought of when I saw this thread.

For those that know these dogs and ones like them , I feel like the quote from the terminator movie as Kyle Reese explains to Sarah Connor of what a terminator T-800 is like.

" That JRT is out there. It doesn't feel pity , remorse , pain or fear. It can't be reasoned with. It will never stop. Ever. "
" Until you are dead. "

Your dog would dig that hole out. Non-stop. 100% effort. As fast as possible. Will dig until it's claws are bleeding. Still continue digging ignoring the pain. You have to psychically pull the dog away to get it to stop. Will ignore any commands once fixated on a target.

I know a guy that used his wife’s house dog, a JRT, for this purpose and it worked great except she came home before he had the dog cleaned up and she wasn’t any too happy. Personally I’d find a weasel, when job is done they’ll move on.

Shooting is a lot of fun. Used to put feed out in the horse stalls and wait in the loft to shoot rats and mice as a kid when uo at my uncle's at night to have somthing to do and keep us out of the house.

In your case I think a thermal would be great and a tax deduction along with that new suppressed rifle.

Running pole set with 1.5 cs. Trap was set the other way (parallel with board) on the lowered ledge, cat food in the cup.

I've been thinking about this thread a lot and soaking up all of your comments.

Back to the OP's ( WhiteCliffs ) rat problem. The biggest problem there is rats are very neophobic and will avoid anything new , no matter what you throw at them they will very carefully be examining anything new by getting closer and closer over days or weeks until they feel safe enough to investigate it closely and get caught. We know that placing traps out unset for days or weeks so the rats get comfortable enough to trapped once baited and set. But that takes time.

Let's take a made up hypothetical scenario of a fake building for arguments sake.

You have this outbuilding/barn whatever. You have absolutely zero rats , none. But , you think that maybe your structure could have rat problems down the road because of wear/weathering or maybe feed will be stored there or whatever reason would bring rats inside.
So you get a box of 6-10 Victor rat traps and store them on a shelf so you are ready.
Wrong.
You take the traps and 'store them' exactly where you would set them. One next to the wall in one spot or near a corner spot or near plumbing or a water heater. Etc.
You have all of your soldiers on the battlefield strategically placed waiting for the command to attack.
Each one of these traps will take on the smells of each location. Same humidity level. Same rot/decay/rust. Same level of dust and UV damage. Become one with it's micro environment. Completely blend. No longer a new object.
Having traps in a box makes them smell like the box and the shelf it sits on. It is slightly protected from rot/decay/rust. No dust or UV damage. The wood even smells like new.

By having all the traps set out but not operational you could eliminate one of the biggest problems with rats not accepting new objects.

3 years go by. Then you see rat activity. I bet baiting and setting the traps you would catch the rat/rats within hours , a few days at worst. Just as easy as catching mice who are stupid and will go right up to a trap was just put in their area.

Thoughts ?

If you are going to the trouble of locating them in probable travel ways ahead of time why not just set them and leave them. You could always drop some bait on later if you felt the need without disturbing them and putting so much scent on them.