rat!

[jami dodgers]

The Warfrin in the poison will cause the rat to dehydrate and suffer internal haemorrhaging.

 

Not very cheerful I'm afraid, especially for the rat.

 

Good luck extracting the carcuss, it will stink you out if you don't.

[Tiny]

Warfrin is also used as a blood thinner for humans. Its great for slimming too!

 

We had a rat and brought a trap but the rat ignored it until we managed to trap the rat in the same bit of pipe as the trap. We sealed the pipe at both ends and assume the rat did the honourable thing as we never heard more from it. The trap is still in the pipe which we never did open up. Bottom line - rats are very clever but if you are determined you might get lucky.

[fuzzyduck]

We had a rat and brought a trap but the rat ignored it until we managed to trap the rat in the same bit of pipe as the trap. We sealed the pipe at both ends and assume the rat did the honourable thing as we never heard more from it. The trap is still in the pipe which we never did open up. Bottom line - rats are very clever but if you are determined you might get lucky.

 

Ignoring the cruelty of the above post for a second.

 

One day, a few hundred years in the future, some Archaeologist is going to have a field day with that.

Edited November 16, 2008 by fuzzyduck

[Yoda]

The rat has probably gone quiet because its having a litter of babies and doesn't want to broadcast the fact. Just wanted to cheer you up!!

 

Some dogs are good ratters but a cat can be left, with food and tray all day. Cats can also work in smaller spaces. Rats and mice are naturally really scared of the smell of a cat and will do anything to get away. To cats a rat is a really good kill and they like to show off their prowess by carrying the thing around in their mouths.

 

There was an old woman who swallowed a fly............

[US Marines]

There was an old woman who swallowed a fly............

She choked and croaked, and the rats had a field day of their own.....

 

 

[sorry!]

Edited November 16, 2008 by US Marines

[Theo]

ah well we have considered this too...but do cats actually fend off rats well and kill 'em when they come accross them?

 

Our cat, Oddbod, used to catch rats, drag the carcases through the cat flap and then settle down to eat everything except the head and the tail.

 

Nick

 

 

Good luck extracting the carcuss, it will stink you out if you don't.

But not for ever. ~Evenually the carcase will be consumed by bacteria or dry out after that, no smell. I might take a month or two, though.

 

N

[sueb]

Make sure the rats got some water to drink. It makes the poison work quicker!!

Hooray! My rat bit through the water pipe. Did it know about making the poison work quicker?

Sue

[debbifiggy]

Get a cat.

 

I agree, the only time we had problems with rodents on our boat was the time between the departure of Theakston over the Rainbow Bridge and the arrival of Merlin. No problems at all since a large Norwegian with a penchant for small furry things that go squeak has arrived to sit and purr and disembowel things on our bed.

D

[Lady Muck]

I agree - terriers are excellent rat-catchers but for all that they are not a deterrent.

For some reason cats tend to deter rats from coming aboard . . .

 

 

My lurcher is a diddy one (part Jack Russell) and hes an excellent ratter. Its hard to persuade him to stop hunting come in somtimes. He likes to sit on the bows, listening for them.

[Tim Lewis]

help help help!

 

We are in battle with a RAT ! it has moved in under the floor boards...makes a racket all night and scrabbles inside the wall down the side of the boat. We laid poison 5 -6 days ago EVERYWHERE on the advice of an expert....but yet he still scrabble and scratches about. He got in though an open vetilation hole in our engine room ( having work done to the engine so was left open....) he couldnt handle the rain so thought he'd move into our lovely warm and cosy boat.

 

It is starting to have a serious affect on the ol' mental stability...i am getting traps tomorrow to try out. ...Luckily he cant get into the boat - we have blocked all sneaky holes and gaps.

 

Any advice for two sleep deprived folk with a very unwelcome guest?????

 

By the way I am fully aware of the fact he may well die under the floor - and the pong will follow.... but at least it will be quiet! So any grand plans or words of experience would be appreciated,

 

cheers!

 

We had a rat on Fulbourne a few years ago - it was a f*****g nightmare to get rid of, didn't help that it was during the winter when we weren't on board much. Fulbourne is a fairly basic boat but it ate its wat through the boat, including into thef ridge!. It eventually succumbed to a trap set in a kitchen draw.

 

Tim

[mayalld]

Never had a rat as yet, which we put down to the bloody cheeky mink that hangs out on our mooring.

[sueb]

We had a rat on Fulbourne a few years ago - it was a f*****g nightmare to get rid of, didn't help that it was during the winter when we weren't on board much. Fulbourne is a fairly basic boat but it ate its wat through the boat, including into thef ridge!. It eventually succumbed to a trap set in a kitchen draw.

 

Tim

Been on the sherbet tonight Tim?

Sue

[Reptile Smile]

My cats have never caught a rat and I don't somehow see it. Mice - check; toads - check; tweets - check. Rats, they don't seem fussed about, but I guess I shall soon find out as am hoping to move on to a boat before Xmas...

 

Would a dog on a boat be able to get to where it needed to get to in order to hunt the rat..?

[jojoknitter]

well i was thinking of finding a ferret to go in and drag it out. Now its gone quiet ( 2nd night now wooo!) i dont think i will need the ferret unless they like dragging dead ones out too..?!

 

If it is having babies under the floor, then this is all out war, and i will get a dog, cats and ferrets on to them. All at once.

[RLWP]

My cats have never caught a rat and I don't somehow see it. Mice - check; toads - check; tweets - check. Rats, they don't seem fussed about, but I guess I shall soon find out as am hoping to move on to a boat before Xmas...

 

I would have a stiff word with your cats, they're not pulling their weight. Ours will often bring in a rat, or perhaps half a rat (yuck)

 

Richard

[Chris Pink]

Any advice for two sleep deprived folk with a very unwelcome guest?????

 

By the way I am fully aware of the fact he may well die under the floor - and the pong will follow.... but at least it will be quiet! So any grand plans or words of experience would be appreciated,

 

cheers!

 

The problem now is that the poison takes anything up to 5 days to kill the rat, quite why in this day and age it takes 5 days to kill a rat is beyond me but it will die.

 

The problem then will be finding the body although the blue grain that its grandmother should have advised it to avoid, works by dehydrating the rat (so it dies of thirst) and therefore they tend to dessicate rather than rot if anywhere not too wet.

 

Loverly.

[Bamboo]

I'm about to start looking for a new home for our pussy cat

 

Five weeks ago she brought a rat in to play with and promptly "lost" it. By the time I got downstairs to see what Irina was screaming about it had vanished.

 

It avoided attempts to hunt it down, stole the bait from traps and ensured a complete kitchen cleaning every morning before breakfast.

 

Found it dead in the hall this morning. I must say it's the biggest one I've seen, probably due to the excellent eating from the traps. I'm glad I didn't find it when hunting for it.

 

Mike

[brown]

If you're thinking of re-fitting, I'd have filled the bilges with water, he'd be out pretty quick.

[blackrose]

I don't know why anyone would suggest poison - if the rat dies under the floorboards or in a wall cavity the rotting smell of death will mean you'll have to rip out the interior until you can find the body and then refit the boat.

 

If you've got a rat it's likely there's not just one. I heard about a guy who had rats under his floorboards and apparently the way to get them out is to catch one alive in a trap and then torture it. The noises it sends out will make the others relocate. Well, I was told that's what the guy did - don't know how true it is but it's a good story!

[Derri]

I have two boat ferrets - they can get to the places a cat/terrier just can't reach!

 

No rodents on our boat.

[blackrose]

How did the rat(s) get in? Someone on our moorings told me they saw some nesting in their gas locker - they just swam in from the canal and entered through the drain holes, but how did they get into your cabin and under the floor?

[nigel fryer]

I have two boat ferrets - they can get to the places a cat/terrier just can't reach!

 

No rodents on our boat.

now thats a fine ferret

[jojoknitter]

How did the rat(s) get in? Someone on our moorings told me they saw some nesting in their gas locker - they just swam in from the canal and entered through the drain holes, but how did they get into your cabin and under the floor?

 

 

the little delight came in when we had heavy rain through an open vent in the engine room ( we are having work done at the moment...and we heard it scrabble down inside the wall then under the floor. We have just bought the boat and it is FULL of little weird and wonderful cavaties and has an old water tank under the floor through parts of the boat. (!?!?) Weird but hey! We have since been round and sealed all of the holes that we can see....it makes the hunt for the rat even more interesting.

 

 

 

I have two boat ferrets - they can get to the places a cat/terrier just can't reach!

 

No rodents on our boat.

 

that is a very pretty ferret.