The following is a video of wildlife seen from my kitchen window.

They started coming into my place when a neighbour dug up their home under his fence. They’re not doing any harm, eg. not coming into any of the houses. I like them.

What is the best way to deal with them? We want absolutely NO bycatch in the way of wild birds, pets or possums – we have small wild birds that eat all the same foods. No baits of any sort or sticky traps.

Here

this video is private.

mollwollfumble said:

The following is a video of wildlife seen from my kitchen window.

They started coming into my place when a neighbour dug up their home under his fence. They’re not doing any harm, eg. not coming into any of the houses. I like them.

What is the best way to deal with them? We want absolutely NO bycatch in the way of wild birds, pets or possums – we have small wild birds that eat all the same foods. No baits of any sort or sticky traps.

Here

Can’t do videos.. what sort of wildlife?

go see steve norton and ask him if he has access to any elliot traps. i presume steve still works at csiro in the mammal section. and i also presume that the animals in the video which we can’t see will fit in one.

:-)

ps, i knew steve years ago when i was in the mammal survey group.

I can see the video. Looks like blurry Rattus rattus.

poikilotherm said:

I can see the video. Looks like blurry Rattus rattus.

OK well these are difficult to remove if there is a food source.

Need to attack nesting sites or enlist a pair of sparrowhawks and one of owls.

roughbarked said:

poikilotherm said:

I can see the video. Looks like blurry Rattus rattus.

OK well these are difficult to remove if there is a food source.

Need to attack nesting sites or enlist a pair of sparrowhawks and one of owls.

or.. remove the food source.. In my case that is walnuts.

poikilotherm said:

I can see the video. Looks like blurry Rattus rattus.

I’d have thought Rattus norvegicus.

I’ll wait to see what Bubblecar has to say.

Wocky said:

poikilotherm said:

I can see the video. Looks like blurry Rattus rattus.

I’d have thought Rattus norvegicus.

If that is the case then the problem has a different method of solution.

Peak Warming Man said:

I’ll wait to see what Bubblecar has to say.

He’ll suggest throwing them lifebouys.

I’d have thought Rattus norvegicus.

you’ll need the stranglers then.

morton btw not norton.

Contrary to popular belief, I know little about catching rats.

Bubblecar said:

Contrary to popular belief, I know little about catching rats.

This information will be a major boon for members of the Rat Rescue squad looking to move up the ranks to chief rescuer.

Definitely Rattus rattus, tail too long for Rattus norvegicus, plus wrong body shape. You should trap them as they are very good climbers and likely to invade your roof and wall cavities. They are also dynamite on small wildlife including young birds in the nest. The only good thing about them, is you wont have any house mice when they are around (they eat them).

PermeateFree said:

Definitely Rattus rattus, tail too long for Rattus norvegicus, plus wrong body shape. You should trap them as they are very good climbers and likely to invade your roof and wall cavities. They are also dynamite on small wildlife including young birds in the nest. The only good thing about them, is you wont have any house mice when they are around (they eat them).

They also eat each other. I’ve seen where the rat in the trap had it’s brain cavity eaten out more than once.
Rattus rattus has a tail that is longer than the body. None of the others do.

The babies in the nest cannot tolerate borax. The rats will not nest where borax is going to get on them.

roughbarked said:

PermeateFree said:

Definitely Rattus rattus, tail too long for Rattus norvegicus, plus wrong body shape. You should trap them as they are very good climbers and likely to invade your roof and wall cavities. They are also dynamite on small wildlife including young birds in the nest. The only good thing about them, is you wont have any house mice when they are around (they eat them).

They also eat each other. I’ve seen where the rat in the trap had it’s brain cavity eaten out more than once.
Rattus rattus has a tail that is longer than the body. None of the others do.

The babies in the nest cannot tolerate borax. The rats will not nest where borax is going to get on them.

The NQ rat prevention system consists of a small to medium sized carpet snake in the ceiling. Keeps the possums out too.

Seriously, The black rat is a fruit and nut eater in general, it is a tree rat and if it can get that sort of food it will at first not be a problem but over time as it breeds up then it will look further afield for other foods and will destroy everything and anything to get it. It will drill holes through the walls and destroy all your stored stuff. What it doesn’t tear up it will urinate and defecate on.
It is suggested that they’ll get into your roof space and walls. They do this very well and it is short work to get into the house by drilling the ceiling or the wall sheeting. Far better to sprinkle a lot of borax in the roof space and fix all the possible entry points. Do the same for wherever else they inhabit.

roughbarked said:

mollwollfumble said:

The following is a video of wildlife seen from my kitchen window.

They started coming into my place when a neighbour dug up their home under his fence. They’re not doing any harm, eg. not coming into any of the houses. I like them.

What is the best way to deal with them? We want absolutely NO bycatch in the way of wild birds, pets or possums – we have small wild birds that eat all the same foods. No baits of any sort or sticky traps.

Here

rats

Can’t do videos.. what sort of wildlife?

roughbarked said:

Seriously, The black rat is a fruit and nut eater in general, it is a tree rat and if it can get that sort of food it will at first not be a problem but over time as it breeds up then it will look further afield for other foods and will destroy everything and anything to get it. It will drill holes through the walls and destroy all your stored stuff. What it doesn’t tear up it will urinate and defecate on.
It is suggested that they’ll get into your roof space and walls. They do this very well and it is short work to get into the house by drilling the ceiling or the wall sheeting. Far better to sprinkle a lot of borax in the roof space and fix all the possible entry points. Do the same for wherever else they inhabit.

rats

roughbarked said:

Seriously, The black rat is a fruit and nut eater in general, it is a tree rat and if it can get that sort of food it will at first not be a problem but over time as it breeds up then it will look further afield for other foods and will destroy everything and anything to get it. It will drill holes through the walls and destroy all your stored stuff. What it doesn’t tear up it will urinate and defecate on.
It is suggested that they’ll get into your roof space and walls. They do this very well and it is short work to get into the house by drilling the ceiling or the wall sheeting. Far better to sprinkle a lot of borax in the roof space and fix all the possible entry points. Do the same for wherever else they inhabit.

The above is a very good reason to NOT use pink batts or any colour insulation batts as these are perfect rodent nesting space. If you want to insulate the walls and ceiling, use the shredded newspaper which has been saturated in borax. This is both fire resistant and rat resistant.

Tamb said:

roughbarked said:

PermeateFree said:

Definitely Rattus rattus, tail too long for Rattus norvegicus, plus wrong body shape. You should trap them as they are very good climbers and likely to invade your roof and wall cavities. They are also dynamite on small wildlife including young birds in the nest. The only good thing about them, is you wont have any house mice when they are around (they eat them).

They also eat each other. I’ve seen where the rat in the trap had it’s brain cavity eaten out more than once.
Rattus rattus has a tail that is longer than the body. None of the others do.

The babies in the nest cannot tolerate borax. The rats will not nest where borax is going to get on them.

The NQ rat prevention system consists of a small to medium sized carpet snake in the ceiling. Keeps the possums out too.

in india there catch a few rats live
sew up there butt hole and let them go
it rat dies due to the fact it cant poo
but in the last few hours of its life before it dies
it goes on a ramoage and kills lots of other rats
win win

robadob said:

Tamb said:

roughbarked said:

They also eat each other. I’ve seen where the rat in the trap had it’s brain cavity eaten out more than once.
Rattus rattus has a tail that is longer than the body. None of the others do.

The babies in the nest cannot tolerate borax. The rats will not nest where borax is going to get on them.

The NQ rat prevention system consists of a small to medium sized carpet snake in the ceiling. Keeps the possums out too.

in india there catch a few rats live
sew up there butt hole and let them go
it rat dies due to the fact it cant poo
but in the last few hours of its life before it dies
it goes on a ramoage and kills lots of other rats
win win

I prefer the plaster of paris and flour mix with a thoughtfully provided bowl of water nearby.

If you don’t want to injure other animals, but get rid of the rats you need a small cage trap, of which a good size is 18cmx12cmx35cm (available from produce stores, pet shops and some hardware stores). You bait it up with equal quantities of rolled oats, honey and peanut butter (often peanut butter on its own is enough), which is rapped in a piece of bandage and then attached to the trap’s bait hook.

The advantage is the captured animal can be seen and freed without harm if not the target, but this is not a good idea with Rattus rattus as they are so destructive and can find their way home from considerable distance. The easiest way of disposal is to place the rat and trap into a large polybag and fill with car exhaust (not hot) and close the end so it is airtight. The rat will lose consciousness very quickly and die within a few minutes.

Rattus norvegicus it is. At least six at once and probably many more out there, of various ages.

My first thought was to put in a metal plate to stop them burrowing into the yard under the fence. Am giving your suggestions a lot of thought.

I rather like the idea of non-pet mammal visitors, so long as they stay out of the house, but my wife isn’t keen on rats. We feed brushtails and ringtails on oranges, fruit loaf and jam sandwiches. We like fruit bats. We already put out cooked oats and sausage mince for the birds – two of our ravens like the cooked oats so much they’ve gone vegetarian.

As it happens, it looks like we may be getting a grown-up kitten in the very near future. Not the way to minimise by-catch, but it may discourage the R norvegicus.

mollwollfumble said:

…

We already put out cooked oats and sausage mince for the birds – two of our ravens like the cooked oats so much they’ve gone vegetarian.

Two ravens? Isn’t that attempted murder?

mollwollfumble said:

Rattus norvegicus it is. At least six at once and probably many more out there, of various ages.

My first thought was to put in a metal plate to stop them burrowing into the yard under the fence. Am giving your suggestions a lot of thought.

I rather like the idea of non-pet mammal visitors, so long as they stay out of the house, but my wife isn’t keen on rats. We feed brushtails and ringtails on oranges, fruit loaf and jam sandwiches. We like fruit bats. We already put out cooked oats and sausage mince for the birds – two of our ravens like the cooked oats so much they’ve gone vegetarian.

As it happens, it looks like we may be getting a grown-up kitten in the very near future. Not the way to minimise by-catch, but it may discourage the R norvegicus.

A cat won’t help. You need a big python.

roughbarked said:

mollwollfumble said:

Rattus norvegicus it is. At least six at once and probably many more out there, of various ages.

My first thought was to put in a metal plate to stop them burrowing into the yard under the fence. Am giving your suggestions a lot of thought.

I rather like the idea of non-pet mammal visitors, so long as they stay out of the house, but my wife isn’t keen on rats. We feed brushtails and ringtails on oranges, fruit loaf and jam sandwiches. We like fruit bats. We already put out cooked oats and sausage mince for the birds – two of our ravens like the cooked oats so much they’ve gone vegetarian.

As it happens, it looks like we may be getting a grown-up kitten in the very near future. Not the way to minimise by-catch, but it may discourage the R norvegicus.

A cat won’t help. You need a big python.

I’d strongly dissuade you from feeding wildlife. Ask yourself how you got the rats. If you want wildlife visiting, plant food plants that attract native species.
If you do get a cat I’d like to try and persuade you to keep it inside.

mollwollfumble said:

Rattus norvegicus it is. At least six at once and probably many more out there, of various ages.

My first thought was to put in a metal plate to stop them burrowing into the yard under the fence. Am giving your suggestions a lot of thought.

I rather like the idea of non-pet mammal visitors, so long as they stay out of the house, but my wife isn’t keen on rats. We feed brushtails and ringtails on oranges, fruit loaf and jam sandwiches. We like fruit bats. We already put out cooked oats and sausage mince for the birds – two of our ravens like the cooked oats so much they’ve gone vegetarian.

As it happens, it looks like we may be getting a grown-up kitten in the very near future. Not the way to minimise by-catch, but it may discourage the R norvegicus.

They are NOT Rattus norvegicus for the reasons I have explained. If you want to plan the management for a different animal with different requirements that will be your problem and they will become a problem, especially as they look to have at least one breeding pair.

I cannot verify which species of Rattus as I have not viewed the video. However, the tail length is the indication.

Two ravens? Isn’t that attempted murder?
———————————————————————

Fuck thats funny…

But I don’t think three is enough for a flock…

Wocky said:

mollwollfumble said:

…

We already put out cooked oats and sausage mince for the birds – two of our ravens like the cooked oats so much they’ve gone vegetarian.

Two ravens? Isn’t that attempted murder?

That Wocky’s clever.

Peak Warming Man said:

Wocky said:

mollwollfumble said:

…

We already put out cooked oats and sausage mince for the birds – two of our ravens like the cooked oats so much they’ve gone vegetarian.

Two ravens? Isn’t that attempted murder?

That Wocky’s clever.

I thought that was crows.