I need to catch some rats in a single family home. A few holes in the walls rub marks under sink from hole to hole. Lots of activity. I wanted to pre bait for about 10 days. My boss stepped in and traps were set immediately with lots of dead rats expected the next day.
We have trex in Lp stations baited with Nutella and a little bird seed + 2 with peanut butter.Ten in total. We caught one rat in two nites . This is about my normal. My rat catching really sucks need help!

Day 5 still only one rat. They run in the ceiling ( un accessible )They also keep the occupants up at nite chewing at the bottom of pantry door. The small pantry has spices and baking goods inside.
I decided to listen to the rats and give them what they say they want.
I rebaited several traps with liquid chocolate and sprinkled oat meal from the pantry on the triggers. The chocolate should firm up and stick the oatmeal to the triggers.
I moved one baited Lp to in front of the pantry door + sprinkled a little oatmeal in side the Lp. I should have rats right at the Lp while they chew on the pantry door tonight.
I expect to catch very few rats, possibly one in total.
I am a hero with poison and pretty much a zero with rat traps. I did not want to jump into the poison because of pets + stink up the home . Still need help.

Have you tried setting your snap traps right where they pass through the openings?

We used Trex snap traps inside Lp stations. Three under the sink.There are holes and rub marks in this location.
The Trex aren't a very sensitive trap + the Lp creates a mini maze . It looks professional but there are a few too many negatives for my liking .

Are you using the droppings to help the rats become familiar with the traps?

Day 7 still stuck on one rat.
Lots of droppings. I never used any on the traps for conditioning.
I snuck 4 small cardboard boxes into the attic today with,un set victor rat traps bedded in hamster bedding and oatmeal. The neophobia should be over now or shortly.
I expect to visit a local feeder rat breeder and scoop up some soiled rat bedding from female rats and create a intruder rat location in the attic.
It must be time for a camera.
The up side is, we will soon start to lose money and I don't own the co. I met a nice old lady and am on a first name basis with Ralph her 150+ lb. mut.
Still need help.

You have to prebait unset traps and teach them it is safe. They are smart....and know what happens when they approach the trap. You captured the one untrained one. Try a different looking trap and dont set it.

I agree with the pre baiting.I think that setting traps right from the get go was a mistake and a good way to educate rats. I expect my boss will throw in the towel pretty soon. I will then set off all the traps and pre bait heavily. This will probably put us at least two weeks behind and try the owners patience.

What has worked for me. 1 1/2 weak long spring traps. Set very lightly. Dry cat or dog food sprinkled around the traps, both inside and out side the jaws. Be sure and wire the traps to something strong. A leg caught rat can drag a lot of weight. Don't know it until you have tried it.

This and other rat threads sure are an eye opener. I never thought of rats as being smart, nor hard to trap. I have NOT trapped many rats, so I haven't seen what you've seen, but I still think it's wild.


Trap shy rats. It would be funny if it weren't frustrating!

Personally I don't believe you have to prebait rodent traps. I dab a little bait on the base of the rat trap far enough back under the pan to force them to set it off. Rats are gluttons they will devour another rat that's in a trap and continue eating the bait on the trap. If you have a bait they want, a trapped rat isn't going to bother them much. They'll lick that baby darn near clean and often start eating the trap itself. If you feel the need to prebait try slapping some bait on the edges of the trap, but I personally wouldn't leave traps unset. jmo

I'm not a pre baiter either. My guess is they have another food stash. Any dog food missing?

Day 8 still one.
Thanks for the advice . Not pre baiting has hasn't worked for me. I don't know how you guys can get reliable results with just setting traps. A rat or two yes but a clean out ???????????
I don't expect to get complete control of food sources or better yet water.
I disassembled all the lps, took out the Trex traps installed 5 un set wood snap traps, hamster bedding ,oatmeal and bird seed covering the traps + a little chocolate. That will be 5 in the high activity kitchen areas 3 bait stations in the attic + 1 in a exterior bin . I will let these set for about a week or longer if necessary.
The drama needs to end!

I am not in love with rat trapping for the reason you describe. I prefer baiting. I like to place familiar droppings and familiar food into the bait stations. Use the exact food they've been eating. If it smells like uncle Fred they will probably be more at ease. I'd imagine the foreign bedding would be an interesting smell, but as far as placing them at ease, I imagine it puts them on guard. That smells like a competetor. The bait let's them get used to it on their own time.

And zp can be your friend.

I'm a fan of pvc pipe for directing rats to a location, whether there's a trap at the T or opening. In attics, along edges where applicable, and along joists/under insulation has owned a lot of rats. Sometimes bait isn't necessary either.

Six days of pre baiting in kitchen area, a little longer in the attic. The attic stations show some activity. I also accidentally picked up a rat in this location today. ( a set trap I forgot ) The attic activity may be foiled.
Little if any feeding in the kitchen.
Maybe rats are not as messy , kicking around the wood shavings as I expected.
I convinced the lady of the house to put the dog food in the trunk of her car + there will be no garbage or likely food sources for the rodents.
I will probably add a little dog food to the mix and set the traps in about two more days.
It looks like I involved myself in a rat fools errand . It would be nice to be wrong but it's kinda what I expected .
The poison will come out soon.
Still need help.

Good luck! Hopefully they haven't stashed too much away!

Are you positive these customers aren't cleaning out the traps?


Are you sure that you're dealing with rats and not mice or squirrels?



I'm not trying to say anything rude. I'm just trying to help figure out a solution.

Set all the traps today after 8 days of pre baiting. Activity in 4 attic stations. Even a big glob of hardened nutella and bird seed on the pan of a extra trap was clean. Nil in the down stares kitchen. 2 extra days seems to have made a difference. If this does not work I am afraid the rat trapping knowledge well is bone dry.

Have you tried what I told you a few days ago?

Jim I put a few 1 1/2 out side to air out because of your suggestions. They will probably be part of a back up plan if necessary.
Thanks

I picked up one more small rat in the attic. + I set a foot trap as Jim suggested. Slow going so far.

Not for nothing, but if you feel they were feasting on the dog food, I'd make a paste out of a little and smear it on snap traps. I've never used anything else besides snap traps for rodents, incorporated weasel boxes into the equation at times, but not many. I'd also poke around outdoors as well, lace up the perimeter of the house with traps. If you have any exposed pipes that sweat, I'd also set there as well. Believe it or not, I've trapped more rats on the way to a structure than I have inside of one. Don't get me wrong you need to address indoor activity, rats can be tricky, but you have to remember they're just rats.

I picked up another small rat from the attic today 3 rats out of 4 from the same trap. I experimented with the dog food as Jim and TDHP suggested . Slow going.
THDPs pictures....... make it look easy!

How often are they leaving sign in the house? Does sign suggest they're spending a whole lot of time in the house, or are they coming and going?

Aix lots of poop in one portion of the attic as well as lower kitchen cabinets, one very short trail leading from the home to a large wooden bin. two rat holes with swing marks in kitchen.
In the past when I have found a population of rats there quite often are very visible ground burrows. Not a single burrow to be found. I can't trap the trail because of the dogs.

Thats when weasel boxes are nice to have or you could construct your own setup to place rat traps in to avoid that situation.

Pulled another rat out of the attic today 4 out of 5 rats from the same trap. Jim's leg hold trapping suggestion was going to work . The dog food on and under the leg hold was gone. ( I could not control the pan tension well enough ) I was too slow to go with the winners and discard the non producing baits. I also suspect the lady of the house fibbed a lot about eliminating competing food sources.
Traps went out poison went in . The dog and pony show is over.
I would like to think I learned a little, but I am afraid that I remain in the rat trapping also ran category.

thanks for the help

Bob; Why did ye never consider cage traps?

Pest's Dad - I have caught a rat in a cage before....... I thought that there is nothing I can do with a cage that I can't do better with a snap trap.
Jim's leg hold method was going to work had I implemented them sooner and smartened up on pan tension.
For the most part tough lessons and very little learning curve.

Bob; One thing ye can do with a cage, that ye can't ~ usually ~ do with any form of snapping trap, is multiple catches.

Now, I've caught single, full adult rats in rectangular, shutting door, cage traps. Those rats were as good as any others I'd caught. But, yes; A little pricey on the outlay, all things considered.

However, there's trap out there to this day (I'm afraid I've no idea what it might be called, in US. Even if they offer them there?) It's the tunnel shaped one. Ramp up to an entrance hole. First compartment has a weighted trap door leading to the second. That make any sense?

Anyway; That trap I've seen so packed with young rats, it was like students in a phone box.

And don't ignore small body grips either. Slip a piece of dried vegetation stem over the wires. Place them over holes or against walls.

Snares ....? Where rats are concerned? Variety is the spice of ending their lives. Throw everything ye can at them. That's always been my policy.

Pest's Dad - Most of the work we do is show up solve the problem and leave.Poison works. But trapping rats won't work to our time frames. I tend to look for silver bullets or super baits that aren't there. I find a nugget of wisdom once and a while usually the follow up to a lot of head scratching and empty traps.
I like to find old English ratter web sites. These people take their ratting seriously .
Thanks for the info. I will keep plugging away.

Bob; If ye haven't already? Get yeself a copy of the (Now in modern paperback) Mark Hovell book; " Rats And How To Destroy Them ". My original, old hard back copy is the book I'd grab in case of fire! He was a Real Rat Catcher