"Cat" wrote in message
...

I am not too sure local authorities in Ireland have rat exterminators
ready
to pounce at the citizens' request... though of course I might be wrong.
I propose to put rat traps - not poisoned ones, as I wish no harm on the
neighbours' cats - more the larger versions of what you get for mice.

So your neighours won't mind their cats getting broken legs or noses? :0)

"ex WGS Hamm" wrote in message
...

"Cat" wrote in message
...

I am not too sure local authorities in Ireland have rat exterminators
ready
to pounce at the citizens' request... though of course I might be wrong.
I propose to put rat traps - not poisoned ones, as I wish no harm on the
neighbours' cats - more the larger versions of what you get for mice.

So your neighours won't mind their cats getting broken legs or noses?
:0)



What's better.. a cat with a broken leg, or a cat dead of poisoning? Of
course, if the flipping cats were any good in the first place, I would not
be in my current predicament ;-)

--
Cat(h)
The world swirls...

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 4 Oct 2004 15:46:54 +0100, "Cat"
wrote:

I'm no expert (as is painfully obvious from postings)... but I know
two
people who got Weil's disease - one died from it, the other was lucky
to
pull through and spent considerable spells in hospital before,
thankfully,
making a full recovery.

from cats or rat urine?

Rats' urine in both cases.

What you need is a couple of healthy cats, cat.

Despite the name, I am not much of a cat person...
Traps don't need to be litter-trained, and no one expects traps to love you
for yourself, rather than for the quality of your kittekat, or the adequacy
of your sofa as a scratching post...
Traps look like an attractive option.
All I need now is to plant a few seedlings of "Kitty Scat" (ruta
graveolens) around the traps, to avoid leg and nose breakage...


The only rat I have seen locally was one the cats caught.


I wish the neighbours' cats did their job.


If you google you will find that Weil's disease is rare, it's
surprising how many people know somebody, who has caught it.
I know of two too.
--
Martin
--
Cat(h)
The world swirls...

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 4 Oct 2004 16:43:48 +0100, "Cat"
wrote:



I wish the neighbours' cats did their job.

maybe they are delivering the rats to your garden? :-)

Alive and kicking, though... and not even a *little* dishevelled. Never
were healthier rats seen in a compost heap!
I still say the cats are incompetent.


--
Cat(h)
The world swirls...

Phil L wrote:
Cat wrote:
Gasp!
I was turning my compost bin over the week end, and four rats ran
out of it...
I was warned not to put any cooked or meat based organic stuff in
the bin, and have been careful not to.
The following is what goes in:
Grass clippings (possibly a little too much, as it is a bit wet
and yukky at the moment)
Shredded paper (newspaper and other, but not glossy paper)
Kitchen waste (veg peelings, stale bread, and such)
Shrub/tree clippings
Weeds

The only things to interest rats in this lot is the bread..they
already have an ample (and free) supply of all vegetable products,
so
there's nothing much in that department of any interest to
them...cut
out the bread and watch them disappear!


Is some of what I am putting in at fault? Is the fact that my
compost is too wet part of the problem? I have added shredded
newspaper this w/e to try and mop up the wet.
Fortunately, my box is at the very end of the garden, and
therefore not near the house - so no danger of rats moving in.
Still, I would like to do something about it, but am a bit at a
loss...
I should say that the land beyond our back boundary - against
which the composter backs - is wasteland which may well have its
own rat population, although I am only surmising this.
So not only do I need to get rid of the current inhabitants of my
bin but I'd need to make sure I am not attracting any more.
I did turn the compost reasonably thoroughly this w/e, so that
the
grassy goo is more homogeneously spread - perhaps rats are not
keen on a gooey home?
I really do not know what to do... help!

It doesn't matter how gooey it is, they aren't living there - just
feeding, remove the food source and they will forage elsewhere.

I'm not at all sure about that: they're much more likely to be
nocturnal feeders around human dwellings, aren't they? That, and
finding a whole group in one place, suggests a nest rather than
foraging. I would cut out the bread, though -- it may not make much
difference, but it's not that much use as compost-fodder, anyhow.

Steve mentioned how difficult it is to catch more than one rat in a
trap: this is true. Sometimes you have to get over their suspicion of
anything new by leaving the trap about for a few days, then, if it
kills one, they get wise. I'm sorry to say that poison is probably
the only answer, unless you can borrow a couple of good terriers --
oops, that's h**ting! I bet the official rat man will use poison if
you call him in.

Mike.

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On 4 Oct 2004 14:31:37 GMT, (Nick Maclaren)
wrote:


In article ,
"Franz Heymann" writes:
|
| Equally well, don't treat them as just large mice and ignore
them.
| They are a significant health hazard, though NOT enough of one
to
| go into panic mode.
|
| Are they genuinely more of a health risk than a pet cat?

A good question. I believe so, but wouldn't be shattered to
find out that converse was true.

We've had two cats for 12 years. We are healthy perhaps rats aren't
a
health risk either.

Agreed.

Children are a bigger health hazard.

Yes.

Franz

Cat wrote:
:: "ex WGS Hamm" wrote in message
:: ...
:::
::: "Cat" wrote in message
::: ...
::::
:::: I am not too sure local authorities in Ireland have rat
:::: exterminators ready to pounce at the citizens' request... though
:::: of course I might be wrong. I propose to put rat traps - not
:::: poisoned ones, as I wish no harm on the neighbours' cats - more
:::: the larger versions of what you get for mice.
:::
::: So your neighours won't mind their cats getting broken legs or
::: noses? 0)
:::
:::
::
:: What's better.. a cat with a broken leg, or a cat dead of
:: poisoning? Of course, if the flipping cats were any good in the
:: first place, I would not be in my current predicament ;-)

I think you would be better off using poison to begin with, you won't deter
them with traps.
You can get some blue pelleted stuff from B&Q which isn't very good, but
it's all they sell...you could do with some of the older stuff, although I'm
not sure if it's available to the public anymore (sigh), which is blue
wheat - obviously the wheat is the bait and the blue stufff is the
toxin...you may be able to get some from a farmer if you ask around.
don't do as I did and re bait every night as it takes 3-4 days to start
working and those you 'fed' on night one are just using up good bait...bait
up at 4 day intervals until the bait stays in place for a few days, then
you're clear.

To prevent accidentally killing cats etc, place the bait in a piece of
plastic drainpipe, this serves two purposes: 1)It stays dry and away from
other animals like cats and dogs, 2) it gives the rat seclusion - rats won't
eat from a 'dodgy' source - if they see another rat die after eating from a
particular baited spot, they will not eat there themselves ('Rentakil' have
properly designed chambers made especially for this reason - there's an
inlet and outlet at each side, with a small box in the centre for the bait)

All this is probably not required anyway, if you cut out the bread you
probably won't ever see them again.

"Phil L" wrote in message
. ..
Cat wrote:
:: "ex WGS Hamm" wrote in message
:: ...
:::
::: "Cat" wrote in message
::: ...
::::
:::: I am not too sure local authorities in Ireland have rat
:::: exterminators ready to pounce at the citizens' request...
though
:::: of course I might be wrong. I propose to put rat traps - not
:::: poisoned ones, as I wish no harm on the neighbours' cats - more
:::: the larger versions of what you get for mice.
:::
::: So your neighours won't mind their cats getting broken legs or
::: noses? 0)
:::
:::
::
:: What's better.. a cat with a broken leg, or a cat dead of
:: poisoning? Of course, if the flipping cats were any good in the
:: first place, I would not be in my current predicament ;-)

I think you would be better off using poison to begin with, you
won't deter
them with traps.
You can get some blue pelleted stuff from B&Q which isn't very good,
but
it's all they sell...you could do with some of the older stuff,
although I'm
not sure if it's available to the public anymore (sigh), which is
blue
wheat - obviously the wheat is the bait and the blue stufff is the
toxin...

I doubt it. The blue is probably only a dye to make the stuff
recognisable, but I may be mistaken.

you may be able to get some from a farmer if you ask around.
don't do as I did and re bait every night as it takes 3-4 days to
start
working and those you 'fed' on night one are just using up good
bait...bait
up at 4 day intervals until the bait stays in place for a few days,
then
you're clear.

To prevent accidentally killing cats etc, place the bait in a piece
of
plastic drainpipe, this serves two purposes: 1)It stays dry and away
from
other animals like cats and dogs, 2) it gives the rat seclusion -
rats won't
eat from a 'dodgy' source - if they see another rat die after eating
from a
particular baited spot, they will not eat there themselves
('Rentakil' have
properly designed chambers made especially for this reason - there's
an
inlet and outlet at each side, with a small box in the centre for
the bait)

All this is probably not required anyway, if you cut out the bread
you
probably won't ever see them again.

"Phil L" wrote in message
. ..
Cat wrote:
:: "ex WGS Hamm" wrote in message
:: ...
:::
::: "Cat" wrote in message
::: ...
::::
:::: I am not too sure local authorities in Ireland have rat
:::: exterminators ready to pounce at the citizens' request... though
:::: of course I might be wrong. I propose to put rat traps - not
:::: poisoned ones, as I wish no harm on the neighbours' cats - more
:::: the larger versions of what you get for mice.
:::
::: So your neighours won't mind their cats getting broken legs or
::: noses? 0)
:::
:::
::
:: What's better.. a cat with a broken leg, or a cat dead of
:: poisoning? Of course, if the flipping cats were any good in the
:: first place, I would not be in my current predicament ;-)

I think you would be better off using poison to begin with, you won't
deter
them with traps.
You can get some blue pelleted stuff from B&Q which isn't very good, but
it's all they sell...you could do with some of the older stuff, although
I'm
not sure if it's available to the public anymore (sigh), which is blue
wheat - obviously the wheat is the bait and the blue stufff is the
toxin...you may be able to get some from a farmer if you ask around.
don't do as I did and re bait every night as it takes 3-4 days to start
working and those you 'fed' on night one are just using up good
bait...bait
up at 4 day intervals until the bait stays in place for a few days, then
you're clear.

To prevent accidentally killing cats etc, place the bait in a piece of
plastic drainpipe, this serves two purposes: 1)It stays dry and away from
other animals like cats and dogs, 2) it gives the rat seclusion - rats
won't
eat from a 'dodgy' source - if they see another rat die after eating from
a
particular baited spot, they will not eat there themselves ('Rentakil'
have
properly designed chambers made especially for this reason - there's an
inlet and outlet at each side, with a small box in the centre for the
bait)

All this is probably not required anyway, if you cut out the bread you
probably won't ever see them again.


You can buy bait boxes from a number of sources including online and the
poison blocks to go with them. Cats do not normally eat dead or sick
animals. I have 12 cats and use poison for rats. I won't use the grain type
as it is food for other animals and I'm afraid in case wild birds eat it.

Cat writes
What do people recommend for baiting traps? Am I right in assuming that
bacon works as well on rats as it does on mice?

Cold pork sausage is where it's at, apparently.


Cooked or raw? And do they expect relish on the side?
Will they go pester the neighbours if I put broccoli instead?
Just wondering :-)

Forget cheese. Cats like cheese. Mice prefer chocolate.
--
David

"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
...

OK, I get the message.
Thank you and all the others for the advice.
I note:
Cut out the bread and such (consider that done)
Use poisoned bait in a special box (i'll see what I can find from local
farmers' co-op shop)
Stay vigilant, as more might come
Don't panic

All sounds like sound advice :-)
Thanks again to all


--
Cat(h)
The world swirls...

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 6 Oct 2004 10:57:37 +0100, "Cat"
wrote:



"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
...

OK, I get the message.
Thank you and all the others for the advice.
I note:

Cut out the bread and such (consider that done)

If you have a large number of rats you must cut out ALL foodstuffs
from the compost. One rat doesn't make a plague.

Use poisoned bait in a special box (i'll see what I can find from local
farmers' co-op shop)

NO DON'T use poison anything, completely unnecessary and a danger to
all wildlife.

Stay vigilant, as more might come
Don't panic

Rats are everywhere. It's the human ones you want to be concerned
with, especially the prats giving dodgy advice here to kill, kill,
kill all wildlife in the garden.



I have no particular desire to endanger wildlife or neighbours' pets, nor
even to kill the rats if I can get them out of my compost heap by other
means. If disturbing them suffices, if turning the heap more frequently
than I have so far, excluding any foodstuff, etc. does the trick, I'm all
for it.
But I don't relish harbouring rats on my premises, and if it is the only
way, I would even consider forgetting about the compost heap altogether.


--
Cat(h)
The world swirls...

In article ,
Cat wrote:

Pete the Troll masquerading as:
"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
.. .

If you have a large number of rats you must cut out ALL foodstuffs
from the compost. One rat doesn't make a plague.

NO DON'T use poison anything, completely unnecessary and a danger to
all wildlife.

Rats are everywhere. It's the human ones you want to be concerned
with, especially the prats giving dodgy advice here to kill, kill,
kill all wildlife in the garden.

I have no particular desire to endanger wildlife or neighbours' pets, nor
even to kill the rats if I can get them out of my compost heap by other
means. If disturbing them suffices, if turning the heap more frequently
than I have so far, excluding any foodstuff, etc. does the trick, I'm all
for it.
But I don't relish harbouring rats on my premises, and if it is the only
way, I would even consider forgetting about the compost heap altogether.

That was Pete the Troll, not me. Ignoring him is essential, even when
he posts apparently sane advice.

You WILL have rats passing through your garden. Live with it. You
can avoid harbouring rats by either disturbing them (e.g. by turning
the heap whenever they appear) or by poisoning them. But, if there
is anywhere to shelter, or any food (INCLUDING worms), rats will be
there and may take up residence. Abandoning a compost heap won't
prevent rats.

You can discourage them, but no more.