How would you get rid rats in your yard?

Here's some context - my wife and I bought a new home last April, and when we moved in one of the neighbors said something to the effect of "you have to worry about rats." Flash forward a year, and when I let my dog out I've seen a rat run away two times in a couple weeks. I have no reason to think they are making it into our house, but I assume that's only a matter of time.

There is a big golf course pond along a creek that is less than 200 yards from our house, so I assume they will always be around. I'm a teacher and off right now so I plan on dealing with it myself. There is no food or trash in the backyard, but we have lots of plants/trees/shrubs I prefer we keep. I trimmed them up after the first run in.

I prefer not to use poison since we're close to the creek, plus I don't want to accidentally kill my dog (or anybody else's). I'm not 100% opposed to it, but really only as a last resort.

I think I'm going to add sage and mint because the Internet tells me rats don't like those, but I want to make sure I get rid of the rats that have been around. Thanks in advance!

How open are you to killing the rats versus trying to ward them off?

If you want to set up traps you should watch this guy's youtube channel as he tests a bunch of different types of mouse/rat traps.

https://www.youtube.com/c/ShawnWoodsprimitive-archer

Spinning can with food on it over 5gallon bucket with water trap is right up your alley.

I'm not opposed to killing a couple, but I'd rather not use poison that can kill animals down the food chain.

After watching a couple Youtube videos that was my first guess, but the guy caught 74 mice(!), but 0 rats with it.

For my garage I use the Victor snap traps. I hot glue small pretzels to it so they have to pull on it to get it away and it triggers. I tried peanut butter but they are smart enough to lick it all off without it triggering.

Tractor Supply has TomCat bait stations. You can secure them to the ground and they lock. You can purchase the bait there as well. Once these are secure inside, the rats eat them inside and you don't have issues with them hauling the poison all over and getting other animals sick. They sell several varieties of poison including the multi feed and one bite styles. I keep three versions of poison on hand so none of them get accustomed to any one poison.

Get an outdoor cat.

Had a client recently that swore these mint bag things solved their rodent issue completely. They had them around the yard and said they had throw them throughout the attic.

Can't vouch for them personally, but might be worth a try.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/EARTHKIND-Stay-Away-Rodent-Deterrent-4-Pack-Box-SA4PROD/317711000

I would check your attic.

I started noticing droppings in my garage shortly after the February 2021 snowmageddon and put out traps. They kept getting worse. A few months later, I called a rodent guy to help me get the rats out of my garage and he said that they were actually roof rats, and there was a decent sized population of them living in my attic.

They can get in from almost any small gap and they can climb vertical brick walls.

The solution was to have him put traps in my attic first. He used some sort of tube with a powdered poison on it with sunflower seeds in it. When the rats went to eat the seeds, they would get the poison on in their fur. When they left in the morning (roof rats only sleep there, but leave to find food and stuff during the day, evidently -- which may be why you see them on occasion), they would go have a big rat orgy with other rats and the powdered poison would get all over them and they would stroke out, dying (outside of your house instead of inside).

After a period of about 3 weeks, checking the traps every few days, when they stopped hitting the traps (meaning everyone that used my attic as an f shack), he quickly sealed up all the little gaps in my roof line, vents, etc. Anywhere a rat could get in.

Super ****ty process and cost a lot of money.

Not saying you have rats in your attic at this time, but chances are if you see them out and about, they could be and if you wait a period of time thinking they are just in the yard "so far", you might be setting yourself up for some pain in the future.

https://www.pestworld.org/pest-guide/rodents/roof-rats/

Quote:

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Signs of an Infestation

There are many key indicators of a roof rat infestation in the home. First and foremost, seeing an actual rodent, dead or alive, is a telltale sign of a potential roof rat problem. Another common sign of a roof rat infestation is the presence of droppings around the home. Fresh roof rat droppings are soft and moist, whereas old droppings are hard and dried. The droppings usually measure about " (12-13 mm) and have pointed ends. Droppings from Norway rats are larger measuring about " (18-20 mm) with blunt ends. The discovery of gnaw marks, damaged goods, nests or greasy rub marks also indicates roof rat activity. Other common signs of an infestation are noises in the attic or house walls and damaged electrical wires. To learn more about common signs of a rodent infestation, click here.

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dubi said:

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Get an outdoor cat.

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And dont feed it! Hungry cats hunt.

Also, back when we had horses and pigs as a kid, we had squirrels that would always get into the feed rooms. Dad got a 55 gallon drum, made a ramp to the (open) top of the drum, placed some sweet feed in the bottom. Squirrels would jump in for the feed, and couldnt get out. I'm sure something similar would work for rats.

A cat's not an option because I have a dog that eats cats. Plus I really hate cats.

I'll try the mint bags, then probably have to suck it up and put poison traps in my attic and outside. I definitely don't want them in my attic. I'm going to plant mint and sage anywhere it would looks decent. Hopefully that keeps me from poisoning non-rodent wildlife.

It was ~$1,000 to have our pest control company do the rodent "first time" service and get rid of the ones we have. I don't want to pay that if they're just going to install $100 worth of traps - and now I have the time.

BadMoonRisin said:

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they would go have a big rat orgy

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So, the cheapest and best option isn't an option. Got it.

My BIL HATES cats, but around every shop and barn on the farm, there's a cat or two running around for this very reason.

Cats kill way too many songbirds for them to be outside. They're terrible.
The 5 gal. bucket thing is legit.

As someone who lives in Houston where we have approximately 10 billion feral cats..... People who live in neighborhoods and buy cats to leave outside suck.

The 5-gallon bucket thing is legit for mice - it caught 74 mice buy 0 rats in this video (rats visited):

Plus I'd rather not walk around with a 5 gallon bucket of rats whether they're dead or alive.

atmtws said:

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dubi said:

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Get an outdoor cat.

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And dont feed it! Hungry cats hunt.

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A cat won't stick around if you don't feed it.

I can for sure say don't bother with those black boxes with the poison at the end (common at Home Depot). I had a rat problem and the rat made a nest in the box and never touched the bait.

Snap traps with peanut butter have worked for me but they take time. The rat has to get real comfortable with it being there.

you are gonna need these and some bait stations. They love this stuff. Most feed stores carry it.

https://www.domyown.com/farnam-just-one-bite-ii-bars-p-4586.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuarY5-yR-AIVU8vICh3beg3CEAQYASABEgIccPD_BwE

Rats are constant around my pool equipment as we live by a creek. My terrier gets one every now and then.

Sweet little dog becomes an assassin!

This worked for me. I almost never have mice or rats in my barn.

Buy the Tomcat rat bait with the hole in the middle.

Build a couple bait stations.

Buy a couple PVC 2 inch tee, caps,and a few feet of 2" pipe.

Cut two , 3" pieces and glue into opposite ends of the tee.
These are to keep dogs from reaching the bait that will be hung inside the pipe.

Cut a 12" piece and glue in the top of the tee.

Drill a 3/16 hole in the cap.

Cut apiece of scrap wire such as #12 electrical wire about 20" inches long.
This will hold the bait.

Bend a small loop in the bottom of the wire so the bait doesn't slide off.
Slide five of the rat bait onto the wire.
Stick the wire through the hole in the cap, put the bait in the 12" pipe, put the cap on the pipe loosely.

Adjust the wire so the bottom bait almost touches the bottom of the tee.

Rats and mice can't carry the bait away since it's on the wire. As they eat one the next one slides down the wire.
Dogs can't get to it and the feeder is rainproof

Put them along walls where you see rats run.

I made three of them years ago, they work great.

We have one of those 5 gallon bucket spin traps that we got on amazon. It works - we've caught mice & rats with it. We leave it set up, sometimes even without food, they just walk up the plank & fall in. Just have to remember to check it often.

I had some in my attic. I used rat traps with little pieces of chocolate. I used the glue traps.

You need to put out traps and bait in the yard or area they roam. Also they like to move along hard surfaces for better protection so place accordingly.

Live on a ranch and deal with pack rats, mice and other vermin all the time. When we bought the place the barn was infested and they were in crawl spaces in the attic. I tried everything and two things work.

1)Barn Cats - we keep around 4 barn cats and they are straight up killers. These dudes are not pets but they are bad asses. I know you can't have those but they are the best option.

2) Rat zappers ultra. Put some peanut butter in these and they will flock to it. Only downside is after about 10-20 kills they stop working. I've caught pack rats so big in there their ass was hanging out the back and they were stuck in there because they are so big.

Absolute said:

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Had a client recently that swore these mint bag things solved their rodent issue completely. They had them around the yard and said they had throw them throughout the attic.

Can't vouch for them personally, but might be worth a try.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/EARTHKIND-Stay-Away-Rodent-Deterrent-4-Pack-Box-SA4PROD/317711000

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I know people that plant mint and it seems to work REALLY well for mice....but not rats.