My neighbour has a massive macadamia tree. The tree provides a ready supply of rat food which means a ready supply of rats. The rats nest in my shed, my garden and anywhere else they feel like. At night they make a terrible noise while they eat the fruit and veggies growing in my garden. They have destroyed a lot of stuff and make a lot of stinky mess so they have to go. Removing the main food source (the macadamia tree) is not an option as it does not belong to me. So sadly it is time to set traps and lay baits.
I did not want other animals to eat the baits and I did not want to spend a lot of money on a commercial solution (where is the fun in that) so I designed my own bait holder made of junk.
The idea is to make the bait inaccessible to animals that are not rats, but still make it easy to for me to inspect and change baits.
I did not want other animals to eat the baits and I did not want to spend a lot of money on a commercial solution (where is the fun in that) so I designed my own bait holder made of junk.
The idea is to make the bait inaccessible to animals that are not rats, but still make it easy to for me to inspect and change baits.
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Signing UpStep 1: Tools and Materials
The tools:
- Screwdriver (ar an electric drill)
- A marking pen
- A pair of scissors
- A craft knife
The materials:
- 600 mm length of ag pipe (flexible drainage pipe)
- A plastic jar with a screwtop lid (must be wider than the diameter of the pipe)
- A bit of wood longer than the pipe
- 2 screws that are long enough to fix the top of the pipe to the wooden base
- 1 shorter screw to attach the bait to the wooden base
- Screwdriver (ar an electric drill)
- A marking pen
- A pair of scissors
- A craft knife
The materials:
- 600 mm length of ag pipe (flexible drainage pipe)
- A plastic jar with a screwtop lid (must be wider than the diameter of the pipe)
- A bit of wood longer than the pipe
- 2 screws that are long enough to fix the top of the pipe to the wooden base
- 1 shorter screw to attach the bait to the wooden base
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The commercial baits are stronger but you can use the off the self versions but try the ones not using 'Warfrin' which is a blood thinner and toxic to anything in larger than controlled quantities.
You need to check how the rat population is doing as they may be dying in their burrows so cant be seen.
Get some kill traps too and fit them into the tubes the same way as your bait, dont set them but put bait food in them for a week so the rats get happy with the object. After a week set them (make at least 6) and use them with the baits.
Kill traps need to be checked and emptied regulary, also fresh bait all the time, chunky peanut past or nut based chocolate is yummy to rats.
Every 2 weeks leave them unset for a week, to let new comers get happy with them.
I'm confident you have made an impact, the Exterminator needs your cash so may mislead you.
I still had lots of live rats and had found no dead ones so I called the council rat control guy. He explained that my bait stations will not work for 3 main reasons.
1. rats love to go through their own tunnels but are less likely to use one made by a person
2. the jar would be too claustrophobic for them
3. the ag pipe let water into the bait area and having wet bait is no good. Apparently rats are fussy with their food. Wet bait =bad, power cable = delicious. Go figure.
Anyway, I will leave the instructable up as a 'do not do'. I am still proud of my failure. It just shows how important a bit of research is to a design.
Wayne.