# How to kill a rat face to face



## htabbas (Oct 25, 2011)

This year I noticed that my backyard tomatoes are eaten by rats at night. I can have close encounters with a couple of rats on any night. All I have to do is to carry a flash light, silently/quickly walk to the tomatoes area, then turn on the flashlight, then I will see 1-3 rats on my tomatoes, face to face with me.:furious: These little darn things sometimes will run quickly, but many a time, one or two of them will be frozen there. I tried to use a stick to hit them but I could never inflict any harm.

I setup 10 traps all around my tomatoes along their paths but they simply zip thru the traps, never touching them. 

They always escape thru my fence and into a neighbor's backyard. I will contact the neighbor alerting him this. But more importantly, how can I kill the rats face to face in close range. I thought of a BB gun but my yard is very small and the neighbors are within tens of feet away. What else do you suggest? As long as they have my tomatoes, they don't seem to touch my traps.


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## vsheetz (Sep 28, 2008)

As a teenager buddies and I used to go rat stomping at the local dump... Heavy boots and two pair of heavy pants were the uniform of the day. It was a very old dump, and there were some very large and sometimes aggressive rats that would object to being stomped - and chase back. The buddy with the 22 rifle would help here as needed. 

This activity seemed like a good idea at the time... :whistling2:


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

Once in the dip net, roll it to contain and silently dispatch at your disgression.


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## htabbas (Oct 25, 2011)

vsheetz said:


> As a teenager buddies and I used to go rat stomping at the local dump... Heavy boots and two pair of heavy pants were the uniform of the day. It was a very old dump, and there were some very large and sometimes aggressive rats that would object to being stomped - and chase back. The buddy with the 22 rifle would help here as needed.
> 
> This activity seemed like a good idea at the time... :whistling2:


Well, my situation is that the rats are up in my tomato vines in the trellis, 4-5 ft from the ground. I can use a stick to poke them sometimes but can't even do any harm on them. 

And I'm not sure whether I can do the stomping part. lol. that's a bit too extreme for my stomach to bear. :no:


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## TarheelTerp (Jan 6, 2009)

htabbas said:


> ...how can I kill the rats face to face in close range.
> I thought of a BB gun but my yard is very small and the neighbors are within tens of feet away. What else do you suggest?


a .44

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5wxqFQj76U


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## Daniel Holzman (Mar 10, 2009)

Malcom X reports in his autobiography that he dispatched NYC rats with a baseball bat. Pretty tough dude. At least that is how I remember his story.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Go to the co-op and get some rat pellets and put them under something the rats can still get to. Buy one of these, they work great for grabbing things.


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## htabbas (Oct 25, 2011)

One rat finally got served in the traps I set on top of the fence earlier tonight. :thumbsup:

I also bought a Crosman .177 air rifle and I'll get it next week. But I heard that unless u get to their den, it's not possible to wipe them out.


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## PoleCat (Sep 2, 2009)

A frog gig works great on stationary targets.


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

Put peanut butter on the traps...they have to work hard to get it off..that triggers the trap...

You want to put the traps as close to a wall as possible...if you watch them, they scurry next to a wall for protection...

One neat trick....get a large tube...put it next to a wall...put the trap inside the tube....make sure the tube is big enough for the trap to operate....

Best thing...a cat.


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## Live_Oak (Aug 22, 2013)

Aww, you caught a baby one! LOL! It's nothing like the cat sized one's I've seen in horse barns.

The best control is a dog. Like a Jack Russel or rat terrier or dachshund or Corgi. Those will do more damage to a rat colony for sport than will any domesticated spoiled cat or even a hungry feral cat. My sister's Corgi's keep her commercial barn rat free with a vengeance! Of course, in an urban situation, they will bark some, as they get excited, but they can do some real damage to rattus.


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## AndyWRS (Feb 1, 2012)

> I also bought a Crosman .177 air rifle and I'll get it next week.


Damn the gun laws in CA are rediculous:laughing: Did you have to show ID to buy the ammo too:wink:


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## htabbas (Oct 25, 2011)

AndyWRS said:


> Damn the gun laws in CA are rediculous:laughing: Did you have to show ID to buy the ammo too:wink:


I bought the air rifle and amo from eBay. Well it's really not a gun that can hurt human beings. The seller states that he cannot ship to a bunch of states like Delaware etc. But California is allowed.


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## PoleCat (Sep 2, 2009)

I beg to differ. You can kill someone with a Crossman pump BB gun. 20 pumps give you roughly 900fps.


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## spaceman spif (Jul 28, 2009)

I have a few stray cats that like to chill out under my deck - I'd be glad to ship them to you!!!


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## htabbas (Oct 25, 2011)

spaceman spif said:


> I have a few stray cats that like to chill out under my deck - I'd be glad to ship them to you!!!


lol. If I have to choose, I'd rather have a few tiny roof rats than feral cats living my backyard. :yes:


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## Hardway (Dec 28, 2011)

They are imposable to get rid of completely. Two years ago they were eating my small plants and tomatoes. I cleaned out under the porch and left nothing but the Dirt and a wheelbarrow. Last year no problems, no eating of the tomatoes. This year no problems until the neighbor across the street moved and took his dogs with him. Now the rats are eating the tomatoes. All you can do is try to control them.


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## md2lgyk (Jan 6, 2009)

Living in the woods, I have an inexpensive .410 shotgun exclusively for pest control. With the right load (I use No. 7-1/2 shot) it would make short work of your rats. You don't have to be as accurate as with a pellet rifle, and the shot will not penetrate your fence.

Do not underestimate the power of today's air guns. The are NOT the Red Ryder BB guns of the 1950s. Many will launch a .177 or .22 caliber pellet faster than the bullet from a .22 rifle. If you are skilled at arms, a Gamo Whisper or something similar would be a good choice.


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## md2lgyk (Jan 6, 2009)

spaceman spif said:


> I have a few stray cats that like to chill out under my deck - I'd be glad to ship them to you!!!


None in my neck of the woods, but there is a huge feral cat problem in this area. Believe it or not, there is a local Feral Cat Society that tries to protect and save the miserable things. They'd better not show up at my door asking for donations.


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## spaceman spif (Jul 28, 2009)

md2lgyk said:


> None in my neck of the woods, but there is a huge feral cat problem in this area. Believe it or not, there is a local Feral Cat Society that tries to protect and save the miserable things. They'd better not show up at my door asking for donations.


Save them?? Heaven's to Betsy...why??

I live in the 'burbs, so these cats belong to someone around here. But as typical with far too many cat owners, they have no problem letting them roam the neighborhood. They (the cats...not my neigbors :wink use my front landscaping as their litterbox, or they lay on top of and crush some of my decorative plants, and they like to hang out under my deck or in my driveway and pee and poop.

Drives me nuts, because I'm allergic to cats and last year when I was redoing my deck I could smell the cat urine and it would trigger my allergies. And when I pull weeds in my landscaping, I always step in cat poop or smell the urine, which again triggers my allergies. :furious:


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## md2lgyk (Jan 6, 2009)

spaceman spif said:


> Save them?? Heaven's to Betsy...why??


Whiny libtard freak transplants from MD and VA. It's the curse of my part of WV (Eastern Panhandle).


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## cruies (Sep 22, 2013)

:thumbsup:


These particular mites can bite humans and cause irritation, but cannot complete their life cycle without rats.
Follow the steps above as strictly as you can in order to treat the rats effectively.
The mites may have come from other rats at a pet store, or from Infested bedding. It can be difficult to isolate the source, though, so Focus instead of getting rid of the mites.
Mites are closely related to ticks and may have the appearance of a tick to you.
Remove any wild rodents and bird nests from your home as these may be a source of reinfection.However, they do not burrow under the skin as ticks do, and any Reactions to their bites can be treated with anti-histamine or hydrocortisone cream. If you get red raised pimples from the bites, expect them to take about 3 weeks to go down after treating the infestation
See your doctor if you experience a bad reaction to the mite bites.


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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

htabbas said:


> Well, my situation is that the rats are up in my tomato vines in the trellis, 4-5 ft from the ground. I can use a stick to poke them sometimes but can't even do any harm on them.
> 
> And I'm not sure whether I can do the stomping part. lol. that's a bit too extreme for my stomach to bear. :no:


Bring a shovel. Poke to knock 'em down and then WHAM with the spade end.

Otherwise baits and traps. The tube idea is a good one. I had a _battery operated tra_p that would electrocute them. Worked great. Worked so well that it managed to dispatch three squirrels that were dumb enough to dig through to it while it was stored inside my shed, up on shelving. Such is the power of left-over peanut butter on the trigger arm.


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## htabbas (Oct 25, 2011)

Update: My .177 Air Rifle arrived. But the darn thing is so loud even with 3 pumps (minimum requirement to shoot pellets) that I can't really use it in my backyard in the middle of the night. So I threw $50 into the toilet. 

Over the past 3 weeks, 2 rats were trapped but now the others got very smart and began pushing my traps off the fence every night. The battle is still on-going.

Right now, I can't eat any of my tomatoes 'cause these darn rat probably lick most of them already.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

Being you don't have a fishing dip net to catch them, google *bucket trap* for at least a dozen ideas.


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