RATS!!!

tasie C5

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Fellow Frogger
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
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761
Location
St Helens Tasie
Had a few nibbles on the C5's engine bay insulation a couple of days ago. Fitted a couple of rat poison blocks in the area and set off to Launceston and return.
The following day I started the car and it stalled immediately. Checked the engine and smelt fuel. Removed the engine cover to find the primer bulb almost eaten in half, the sump breather chewed through at the joint on the air intake, all the bait blocks gone and various nibbles around the place.
I propose to fit a generic primer and patch up the breather tube to get me going. Any suggestions. Allan.
 
G'day,
we just spread lots of ratsak round the place, which sends them quiet.... :) Buggers were in the shed - eaten the black plastic top off a gallon bottle of linseed oil. Been in the roof as well, a right PITA.
Next trip to Ballarat we're going to see if we can get another sonic repellent thing for the roof space. The cheap ones are no good, I see that they have one with two speakers, $50, could be the go. We have two of the 'big cheese' $48 units in the house, one at each end, we used to catch quite a few mice inside before these things arrived, haven't seen one since.
The sonic things get a lot of bad press but they need to be placed sensibly with lots of clear space, near the floor.
Bit of a plague on at the moment, I see that Bunnings have bugger all traps in stock....
Bob
 
HAS ANYONE FITTED A GENERIC PRIMER BULB TO REPLACE THE ORIGINAL. LOOKS LIKE ORIGINAL PARTS COM AS A COMPLETE FUEL SUPPLY SYSTEM.
 
My farmer mate tells me the best deterrent are the cubes you see in public urinals.
 
Talking about rodents..... we've had zillions of mice for about 7 months now. Putting baits out attracts them.
I'm not using poison baits at all at present, because the dogs are catching and eating mice every day.

Indoors I'm using these 4 way traps
16230214772018113374586839727378.jpg

Which are the very best! If you can get them.

Outside I'm using my own version of the see-saws ..... baited with nutella.
16230216000417387929054166969746.jpg

I've given up counting how many I've caught, I weigh them.... by the kg.
My 24hr record is 17kg, which equates to about 1,500 mice.
About 300 were inside, the rest in the see-saw bins.
At present it's about 1 to 2 hundred daily.

We tip them in a gully up the paddock, where the birds are enjoying the feast.
Now the bloody crows are taking our oranges off the trees.
 
I thought I had had a nightmare run, until reading Bob's story. It started with finding a rat's nest on top of a Xantia engine (was resting in a shed). Same car has a sickening smell in cabin, after bait placed inside got eaten, and minor nibbling of wiring. Amazingly other cars seem to have escaped damage, although if any problem occurs my first thought is "what have they chewed?"

So here are my thoughts based on experience over several months:

1. Make sure inside of cars is clean - free of all food, including crumbs - and don't put bait in cabin. I put bait in cabin due to past incursions, but realised that I was simply attracting them into the cabin, and making it likely they would die there - probably somewhere in the dash board.

2. People are having success with home-made traps that involve peanut butter (or Nutella) to attract them, and a bucket of water (see Bob's post).

3. Deterrent. I have heard that peppermint oil is effective, but obviously has been unobtanium. I like the idea of urinal cubes!

4. If using poison bait, read the label.
a) The most effective poison currently available is Brodifacoum, aka super-Warfarin. It is an anti-coagulant (antidote is Vitamin K). One feed is supposed to be enough to kill rats and mice. However it takes 3 days (at least) for them to die, and doesn't seem to reduce their appetite (for the first couple of days anyway). I use fine wire to tie the blocks to something solid, as a rat will steal them and stash them for later. Tying them down also prevents them being dropped where pets/children might find them.

I have considered removing the bait after first night (assuming it was found and nibbled), then putting it out again after 3 or 4 nights. This would stop the greedy ones eating more than they need to. Given how difficult it was to get more baits I probably should have done this, but obviously it would increase the potential for them to go on chewing at your cars etc. for longer

Down side is it remains toxic for a long time (months), and will kill birds and animals that eat the poisoned rodents. Found a dead cat in my shed - fortunately I'm pretty sure it was feral. I do a patrol outside the house and inside and outrside the shed, picking up the bodies. I have heard advice to bury them. We put them in domestic rubbish, which was probably a bad idea (but might help reduce rodents at tip !!). Don't leave them lying around for obvious reasons. Despite my efforts, we are concerned for the local Tawny Frogmouth.

b) Warfarin baits are still available. This requires more work (and more expense) as you have to persuade them to keep eating it for a week. Remove all possible alternate food sources (chook food, bird seed, dry dog food, fallen fruit, food scraps in compost etc.).

Advantage is that is supposed to be much less toxic to anything eating the poisoned creatures. Disadvantage is that they keep chewing your car for longer.

c) Ratsack Naturals. No actual "poison" - this contains corn meal, gluten and salt, and is somehow supposed to cause rodents to die of thirst. If it really works we should all be using it...

5. Placement of baits etc. . Just as I have realised that putting bait in the cabin just draws them in, I have realised that we should be putting baits outside the engine bay. A tray of pellets underneath should draw them out of the car. Also note that Talon blocks are wax, and will melt and dribble over your engine. Tomcat and others are more heat stable, but more water soluble.

I tied blocks to a piece of timber and shoved it under sheets of roofing iron - they gobbled it up. Perhaps put bait inside a box with rodent-sized hole where they can feast in peace.

Leaving bonnet up is supposed to help - lets the heat out if car has been used, and makes it a less inviting environment. I have had them making a home between bonnet and under-bonnet insulation. Also the anti-coagulant makes them thirsty - suggest provide water well away from the cars. I have found them dead in a bucket with just a drop of water in bottom, so place bucket where pets etc. won't have access.

Cheers

Alec
 
All good advice!
I still use cheese on my indoor mechanical traps.
The 4 way traps pictured in my previous post, have one central bait (cheese) which the mice can't reach. The mechanical trigger is between them and the bait.
I can usually catch 30 or 40 mice on 1cc of cheese.
 
Primer bulb?
You mean like on my chainsaw?
On a car?
He means like a boat tank primer .... It theory it should work. I've been avoiding touching modern diesels unless there is no alternative.

You need to use this stuff for rat/mouse poison.

https://www.mitre10.com.au/tomcat-rodenticide-blox-28x28g

I was struggling to get it there for a while, when I asked where it was at mitre 10, they said the wind farms were buying out there stock as they'd also found out its the only thing that works.

You can throw them around the house roof and sheds if its mice, for rats, you will need to tie them something like a house brick. A rat can carry an entire container of them off. They only need one feed to die, but a rat will still live long enough to collect up all your baits and carry them away.

The first time I bought this tomcat stuff, I kept the empty container in my shed so I wouldnt' forget what it was..... A year or so later I found mice had eaten through the lid of the empty container try to get at "what was inside".
 
Tomcat comes in 2 colours. Red is the more toxic Brodifacoum, Green (as illustrated) is Bromadiolin, which they need to eat more of. I have previously used Tomcat Green and been disappointed with results. There are other brands which are equivalent and also available in big buckets.

I usually start with rural stores (Norco, Grazag, Elders, Landmark, etc.) then try hardware stores if the rural stores are out of stock (which they mostly have been for the last 5 months).

Here's a poisons list from NZ:

https://predatorfreenz.org/resources/bait-stations/introduction-bait-stations/summary-baits/
 
Tomcat comes in 2 colours. Red is the more toxic Brodifacoum, Green (as illustrated) is Bromadiolin, which they need to eat more of. I have previously used Tomcat Green and been disappointed with results. There are other brands which are equivalent and also available in big buckets.

I usually start with rural stores (Norco, Grazag, Elders, Landmark, etc.) then try hardware stores if the rural stores are out of stock (which they mostly have been for the last 5 months).

Here's a poisons list from NZ:

https://predatorfreenz.org/resources/bait-stations/introduction-bait-stations/summary-baits/

That's interesting. I've found the green one amazing. Green mice shit everywhere means you have mice/rats around again.
 
Mice and Rats are dirty words around here at the moment
There are literally 10's of thousands of them
Wire box traps with funnels work very well
Poisoned wheat is great for outdoors
My shop is position between a maccas and a KFC so there are always feral cats
Due to the amount of poison and such that we are all having to use to control this plague the fast food cats seemed to have dropped in numbers which sadly means that's another mouse catching avenue lost
People here have them running through their houses, drawers into their beds and crawling over them as they sleep
It's indescribable what we are putting up with
Peppermint we have found doesn't work with huge numbers, they just power on regardless
They will chew into anything, doesn't matter what it is
I had bags of shell grit, they chewed into that
Hell they even chewed my day book on my shop counter for no other reason than to piss me off I'm sure
8 months we have been weathering this shit and Gladys turns around and offers us $1000 upon proof of bait purchase to help us out &$%#^ sake
Anyway, use a generic bulb, it will be fine and work for many years
 
I found a very simple, cheap and harmless solution except for rats and mice is a mixture of 20% cement powder/plaster of Paris (obviously better for French cars :giggle::giggle:) and desiccated coconut mixed together and placed in a small flat container. Sprinkle a bit of the coconut on the top to attract them initially. The cement powder dries them out from the inside and 'sets' them. Because the moisture has been soaked up they don't stink. You can play around with the mix ratio. We've only had small incursions of rats and mice here in Crows Nest.
Cheers, Robin
 
I got a solution, we send up a bunch of our whinging protesting suburbanites from Melbourne here,give thema big stick each and tell them to get to it. that should sort out their priorities about spreading disease. I really feel for everyone dealing with the mice plague, I had an apprentice 30years ago whose family were on a farm in robinvale who had been through the same disaster, mice in their house everywhere, the despair in his voice when he spoke of it.... jim
 
Talking about rodents..... we've had zillions of mice for about 7 months now. Putting baits out attracts them.
I'm not using poison baits at all at present, because the dogs are catching and eating mice every day.

Indoors I'm using these 4 way traps
View attachment 133644
Which are the very best! If you can get them.

Outside I'm using my own version of the see-saws ..... baited with nutella.
View attachment 133645
I've given up counting how many I've caught, I weigh them.... by the kg.
My 24hr record is 17kg, which equates to about 1,500 mice.
About 300 were inside, the rest in the see-saw bins.
At present it's about 1 to 2 hundred daily.

We tip them in a gully up the paddock, where the birds are enjoying the feast.
Now the bloody crows are taking our oranges off the trees.
Your mice can follow directions, Bob? They're clever up your way mate :ROFLMAO:
 
Like Pugrambo in Parkes, we have more than enough rodents here in Narrabri and have done for past 3 or 4 months.! I have managed to get them out of the house and only now bait the shed with Talon (Brodifacoum). I find I'm cleaning up dead mice every few days now which is less than last month. Being fastidious with cleanliness and making sure there is no potential food sources or scraps around to entice them into the building is a must but not a guarantee. We don't have a dog or cat to worry about collateral damage with baits or poisoned mice but it pays to be careful as neighbours do have. We are on 25 acres but close enough to neighbours to worry about nearby animals as this stuff doesn't break down fast.

I have a strong suspicion that mice have nibbled some wiring in the D Special and have a local auto-electrician coming around this week to check as it doesn't start now. Has sat for 2 weeks since last outing. Ignition on gives dash lights (oil, temp, LHM warning etc) as normal but starter clicks and everything goes dead. Leaving it for an hour or so gives you dash lights again but same blackout when trying to start. :(:mad:

Anyway, we are well over the little bastards...
 
Like Pugrambo in Parkes, we have more than enough rodents here in Narrabri and have done for past 3 or 4 months.! I have managed to get them out of the house and only now bait the shed with Talon (Brodifacoum). I find I'm cleaning up dead mice every few days now which is less than last month. Being fastidious with cleanliness and making sure there is no potential food sources or scraps around to entice them into the building is a must but not a guarantee. We don't have a dog or cat to worry about collateral damage with baits or poisoned mice but it pays to be careful as neighbours do have. We are on 25 acres but close enough to neighbours to worry about nearby animals as this stuff doesn't break down fast.

I have a strong suspicion that mice have nibbled some wiring in the D Special and have a local auto-electrician coming around this week to check as it doesn't start now. Has sat for 2 weeks since last outing. Ignition on gives dash lights (oil, temp, LHM warning etc) as normal but starter clicks and everything goes dead. Leaving it for an hour or so gives you dash lights again but same blackout when trying to start. :(:mad:

Anyway, we are well over the little bastards...

You need to clean the battery terminals and possibly re-tighten the clamps.
 
o
HAS ANYONE FITTED A GENERIC PRIMER BULB TO REPLACE THE ORIGINAL. LOOKS LIKE ORIGINAL PARTS COM AS A COMPLETE FUEL SUPPLY SYSTEM.
On a 306 but whitworths sell them biodiesel compatible too in my case.
 

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