Hunting cabin rat infestation

I built a pier & beam hunting cabin onmy place, south of childress a few years back. I went with hardy board siding and put in corrugated metal sheet as a "skirting" for the place. I have a rat problem and a big one at that. There are 3 or four holes dug around the cabin and rat scat (say that 5 times fast) everywhere. I pulled some of the skirting of the cabin away, yesterday to see how big of an issue I have and was met with the overwhelming odor of rodent urine and reptile. I basically have a hunting cabing sitting on top of a 16×20 rat nest.

The rats are a big enough problem. However,as the circle of life goes, with them we also have a BAD rattlesnake problem at the cabin. I have killed 5 rattlers in the last 3 weeks right at these dug out rat entrances.

I have put big rocks in the dug out entrances, thrown packages of moth balls, put out poison but they still keep coming and digging and dragging half of the pasture under there for nesting. I'm out of ideas to get thos stopped. Anybody have any other rat stop-all ideas?

Lots and lots of rat poison and don't quit feeding it when you think you are gaining ground keep at it.

Sorry it's the only option :

Pallet of peanut butter and send in SapperTitan for a three day weekend. They dont stand a chance.

Go to the local animal shelter and get yourself a few cats.

Pull off the skirting

Fire is your friend.

I don't know if I got enough pellets

The survivors will tell stories of what happened for 10,000 years.

I know one of my hunting buddies had a bad rat problem in his trailer one year. He asked the feed store we would buy corn from what they use since feed stores are always fighting this problem. Wish I could remember what it was, but they sold him some liquid they use that you mix with water and he'd leave it in trays under and around his trailer. Didn't take long for the problem to go away completely. That was during dove season and by beginning of rifle, they were gone.

Get some "one bite" bars.

That probably be your best source of poison. Stop at a small town feed store.

Finally found my info, get some Tomcat Rat Poison. Follow the instructions, you might even search THF for info about it, I am pretty sure I heard about it on THF.

Tomcat

Use 1/2" hardware cloth for skirting. Trench it into the ground about a foot. Keeps all the critters out.

Make sure you get it with the Bromethalin. I have heard of a liquid poison that is suppose to be more potent, do not remember what it is?

Not to pile on, but in west Texas - where's there's rats there's also rat eaters....

Already said by others, but I will add my .02

Tomcat by the bucket full - and keep it up, even after you think you've fixed problem. It may take some time to make a dent, but eventually you will get to a point where you just have to maintain. It is cheap and effective. Get the blocks and use LIBERALLY. It took me a month or so, but now, the only vermin I see are dead, and so far, no snake problem.

I would try a big bowl of antifreeze under the house.

We had a problem a while back, think we have it under control now...our was a camper. Our solution...spray insulating foam anywhere there is a gap. Antifreeze under the trailer (never found any in the antifreeze, but it was not a task to put it out). Big thing...put any food/paper products in airtight bins (not cans goods or bottled stuff of course. But one bag of chips on the counter is like a dinner bell. Biggest thing...believe it or not...drier sheets. We put out a box of drier sheets every time we leave the camper. The are less than $2.00 at any dollar store. Apparently the critters hate the smell or the chemicals or something. My wife is pretty sensitive to the things. so I go in ahead of her and pick them up...just a bit of scent left over.

Give it a shot...and let us all know your results...

That might be fly bait, some people mix it with coke and put it near their feeders to help control the racoons.

Get some Farnam 'Just one bite II' bars, probably have to buy them at the feed store in a case lot.

The ones I use come 8 in a pack, for an infestation such as yours use 2 packs, break into the 16 individual bars & try to space them out under the structure.
Keep replenishing until they are no longer eaten, meaning you will always have the bait under the cabin, at least a few.

I'm telling ya, these things will kill the mice & rats.

The only way I've found to prevent critters from getting under a rural structure is either a concrete foot wall extending about 4" - 8" above grade then attach flat skirting to the inside of the wall or a 12" to 16" deep x 1" wide trench & flat steel or galvanized wall/skirting.

Bring in more rattlesnakes.

it now has a bittering agent....thankfully.

Slide a few smoke bombs underneath your cabin put them in a metal tray see what come out have a shotgun handy

you could start with the borax blend, pretty much kills everything, just keep your pets away

Golden Malrin, a very effective fly bait works wonders on mice & rats and coons. For the small critters, mix the bait with grape soda or peanut butter. Any mouse or rat that eats this is GRAVEYARD DEAD in 24 hours or less. I will warn you when using it for coons, you will have casualties of war if left were deer, pets, etc. can get to it. For coons, I mix a batch of bait with PB and put in a small metal can, such as a canned veggie can which I then screw to a tree near a feeder @ 6' above the ground. They will search it out due to the aroma. Works like a CHAMP if you have coon problems terrorizing your feeders. I enjoy trapping them with dog proof traps baited with mini marshmallows as well. As for the mice and rats, put it out in problem areas free choice in a confined space such as cabin or trailer. REMEMBER, keep your pets away when using this method.

While I am by no means laughing at your problem. They way you told the story was spectacular! Very funny indeed and told so well. I don’t have any suggestions but it looks like several guys on here so. Good luck!

Your snake problem will go away with the rat poisoning. As they eat the rats, they will die also. You have a problem that will need continual monitoring, because if you stop the poisoning, they will be back.

C 2 on the golden malrin

I tried anitfreeze, didn't work, nothing would drink it.
We had rats so I put out a pan of it. I left if for a week after I saw that the cats wouldn't touch it.
We watched as skunks, possums, and raccoons would come up on the porch to mooch cat food, nothing would drink it. It set there for another week when we we brought our dog out. I panicked when I remember the antifreeze and I ran to the porch. He stood there looking at the bowl, turned his nose up and walked away. We still had the same rat problem.
I even tried tried the hotdogs soaked in antifreeze for some feral dogs that were chasing deer. I left that out for a few weeks and the critters wouldn't even eat them.
Maybe some have had luck with antifreeze, not me.
The TomCat poison took care of the rat problem.

Make sure you get it with the Bromethalin. I have heard of a liquid poison that is suppose to be more potent, do not remember what it is?



[/quote this, must have the Bromethalin, keep water out

This is why I have not put any skirting on our Dumont cabin as of yet...Floor and plumbing is well insulated but waiting to see how these cold winter north winds affect all...see my cabin on pics. have not had a snake or rat problem as of yet but always a few field mice...waiting on the wasp invasion and see how it holds up...good luck...If it don't stic-cut sting or bit
.your not in west texas......

Actually, you're in west Texas when you see your first Allsup's.

I use bait boxes to put that Rat Poison in. Works great and keeps the pets and other non-target animals away from eating the poison. You see them around commercial buildings, etc.

My brother uses the liquid stuff and likes it as well.

TomCat LIQUID poison is the way to go. The little blocks mentioned above are pretty worthless, I've found them stashed away before but not eaten. Order some of the liquid stuff and put it in little chick waterers from the feed store!

Last summer with all the rain caused a huge rat problem in our hunting cabin the likes of we had never seen before and a rattlesnake problem under it. Because I have the dog, I made it my responsibility to do all poisoning on the lease so I know what is out where and when. The problem with the warfarin based baits was that it takes more than one feeding to kill rats. We were not going to be there to keep putting it out. What it took to knock the rat population out was a block poison called Fastrac. It is a purple block. It only takes a single feeding to kill them, but still takes a day or two so they in theory have a chance to leave the site, but the whole area stunk to high heaven after. This one causes the rats to stop eating. It worked better than expected and I noticed because it stops them from eating and kills them faster, that less poison was needed than the old green blocks. Note this one has no antidote. Do not use it if there is the slightest chance of a hunting dog getting to it. I do not use at the hunting camp during season while my dog is with me. I don't know if the snakes were poisoned eating poisoned rats or if they left because the rats were gone, but the snakes have not been seen or hear from again since last summer.

I use the purple Fastrac and no problem thus far for a year.

Use bait boxes so they can't carry them away.

I had a crawfish boil out at my place one time and sprinkled the left over Slap Ya Mama spice everywhere I saw mouse sign and then around the trailer wherever it made contact with the ground. I haven't seen a mouse since. Knock on wood..

Well this post now comes with a disclaimer, the Tomcat I bragged about above did not work worth a darn on Pack Rats, they/it were eating it like candy hauling it off to its nest so I had to take strong old time measures on this one

...THIS WORKS.... We pulled off all the skirting on out cabins...No more mice ..rats or snakes....All of them hate open air....

The blocks work. You can buy them by the bucket load for relatively cheap. They worked at my place. They do sell them with different chemicals. They will dry out after about a year so you have to put more out every 6 to 12 months. Use them liberally.

This. Small farm behind me sold out and they started building houses. Rats moved in. I tried several other poisons unsuccessfully, but this is what killed em. I purchased from Gebos.

Someone should start a “trophy rat” thread for the biggest rat killed.

My dachshund killed this one that got into my trailer through a panel that had been left open.

Take off the sheet metal.

D-Con Just One Bite.

Barn cats. Get them spayed or neutered, first. Unless you like the 'aroma' of Tomcat everywhere.

Problem solved.

Stuff fine steel wool around any pipes or places they’re getting in the cabin. Get sulfur pellets at your feed store and douse the area around and under cabin. Peppermint oil also runs them off. We tried the poison and killing method at our place. We finally just had to make it inhospitable for them.

We also sprayed dead and mowed all vegetation around camp for a good ways.

Last season I had a rat issue at our hunting cabin. It is a metal building, that was made out of reclaimed material. There are holes and cracks everywhere. Sealing it is not an option. I bought some "Tomcat" pellets from Amazon, they were a reasonable price for a 10 pound pail. It took me about 3 weeks, but the pellets did work. Now it is time to do it again. I also bought some rat traps that did not work, because the ants kept eating the bait.

WINNER

I have a bunch of kittens ready to go... they are not pampered either they are out of cats that get feed twice a week lol. you wont have rat issues once they get older

Word of caution on using poison. Apparently it makes them very thirsty and if you have that new flex tubing instead of PVC pipe, they will chew threw it to get to water causing lots of water damage. Don't ask me how I know.

Walk The Plank works for me. This one was baited with peanut butter. (See examples on YouTube).

Believe it or not but horse apples makeup very good rat / Mouse deterrent. They're extremely poisonous to them and the smell they put out drives him away. You can read about it.

Get yourself a rat terrier. We had one on the farm and she killed more rats than all the cats combined.