My two neighbours' composting bins have attracted unwanted squatters, and the crass trespassers have been showing up at will any and all time of the day.
Those once-on-a-rare-occasion sightings in the backyard have become daily, so...
I'm not Trump, so I can't build a wall and then say I'll just bill my neighbour for it... but Plan B was on the table.
On Wednesday, July 11, 2018, I declared my own private war on rats and mobilized the troops. The first casualty fell within an hour.
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| Heavy weaponry deployed on the border at the primary source of infiltration. |
My version of Homeland Security... and it works.
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| Several years ago, immediately after the first sighting of a rat running under Oddblock Station, I installed quarter inch grid-wire all around the building's base. 100% success rate against infiltration. Seated on a concrete slab prevents burrowing and the little blighters haven't appeared with wire cutters... at least not yet. |
Guilty only of friendly fire, (squirrel caught in the crossfire) this trap has yet to score a hit on the enemy.
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| Obsolete weaponry, but it's all-out war. |
Poisons don't work but those can kill something else, such as someone else's pet.
As I said earlier, "It ain't pretty" so if you don't like grisly images, then this is the place to stop looking.
Day 1
I didn't think to record the first casualty, but I did the second catch of the day.
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| Rats have long been considered deadly pests. |
Day 2
Greedy
to snag another one overnight, I left the traps outside.
Bad decision.
This next morning all traps had been sprung. One contained a half-eaten
mouse, the other nothing and the third had vanished without a trace.
The
battleground reeked of raccoons, so I suspect the missing trap may have
contained a victim which the other trespasser disappeared with to
consume elsewhere. Scratch $9.95 plus tax.
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When
introduced into locations where rats previously did not exist they can cause an
enormous amount of environmental degradation. (Wikipedia)
|
Day 3
You'd
think I'd have learned something, but... I left the traps out overnight
again and sure enough this following morning, another had vanished
without a trace. My last one had been triggered but was empty.
So much for that, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Some friend... and scratch another $9.95 plus tax.
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| Rats can serve as zoonotic vectors for certain pathogens and thus spread
disease, such as bubonic plague, Lassa fever, leptospirosis, and
Hantavirus infection. (Wikipedia) |
Day 6
After three days they stopped coming. I was beginning to think I'd caught them all because at most I'd only seen two at once running around.
I could not have been more wrong... so back to Home Depot for reinforcements and more fire-power.
After three days the rats had learned to avoid the bait and ignore the traps. This one had been snagged trying to jump over the trap after I'd moved it in a change of tactics.
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The
common species are opportunistic survivors and often live with and near
humans; therefore, rats are known as commensals. They may cause
substantial food losses, especially in developing countries. (Wikipedia)
|
Day 7
You cannot imagine how frustrating it is to step outside the back door and see three more rats on the lawn run for cover and safely bypass all the traps.
More redeployment of the traps snagged another jumper late in the day.
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| The ship or wharf rat has contributed to the extinction of many species
of wildlife including birds, small mammals, reptiles, invertebrates, and
plants, especially on islands. (Wikipedia) |
Day 8
This trap didn't even have bait in it but the rat ran out of the cement block head first into the jaws of death. I'll take it.
I have trouble wrapping my head around the caption I've added below, especially Wikipedia's second part naming West Virginia.
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Rat meat is a
food that, while taboo in some cultures, is a dietary staple
in others. Rat stew is consumed in American cuisine in the state of
West Virginia. (Wikipedia)
|
Day 9
As a youngster I heard a story from Grandpa about him finding a rat in the toilet. Grandma didn't dispute it so I know it was true; just another incident of everyday life on his farm. Anyway I know firsthand that mice in the house were a constant problem.
This one was caught by the leg, so obviously it was very much alive when I found it, but seconds later I made sure it was dead so I could safely record this image.
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Rats have the ability to swim up sewer pipes into toilets. (Wikipedia)
|
I've already caught 9 rats and they just keep on coming.
I don't think I can win this war, but if they keep coming, then I'll do what I can to increase the body count.
Honestly, I don't like having this problem and having to brutally deal with it, but I shall NOT make any apologies for my actions.
The Canadian province of Alberta (population 4.25 million) is notable for being the largest inhabited area on Earth which is free of true rats due to very aggressive government rat control policies. (Wikipedia)
You can tell I don't live in Alberta.
The Oddblock Station Agent
Day 10
The ink had barely dried on this blog posting and only this morning another enemy attempted to sneak across the line by playing Evel Knievel but failed to clear the jaws of doom.
This tenacious pest ran off with my trap and was burrowing its way beneath next door's retaining wall.
Appearing on the crime scene at the right time, I put a stop to its escape in progress. One less disease carrier to worry about.
And if you thought rabbits are busy...
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| Rats, generally, are baby-making machines. Female rats can mate around
500 times in a six-hour period and brown rats can produce up to 2,000
offspring in a year, according to Discover Magazine. Brown rats can have
up to 22 young at once, though eight or nine is more the average. (LiveScience) |
Day 11
Catch of the day.
Last evening I decided to secure two traps with 16 gauge wire nailed to the wooden retaining wall, thinking if this test proved successful, then I'd put all traps to work 24 hours as well as keep them from walking off during the night.
Checking from a window early this morning, both traps had indeed been sprung and both looked empty. Going out to investigate, the first was definitely empty and the other had been pulled into my neighbour's stone retaining wall. Grabbing on the wire to drag it out, something yanked it back. Thinking I'd caught a large rat, I pulled harder only to discover a leg stuck in the trap's jaws and too large a leg even for a big rat.
I had no idea what I was messing with now, only that it was alive, looked black and had wedged itself between the concrete block and stones. Feeling certain it wasn't a rat, I removed the trap, retreated a safe distance and waited. Sure enough about a minute later a skunk surfaced on Neighbour 1's side of the fence and let loose anyway.
Talk about a narrow escape! I'd been close enough to touch the skunk but I guess it was wedged too tight in there to spray.
Those Tomcat rat traps really work well... and definitely better than the neighbourhood's wandering felines.
Day 17
Following my unexpected catch on Day 11, all my traps have since remained untouched and I haven't sight enemy intruders in spite of watching for them; I haven't see any white flags either.
One of last night's infiltrator didn't make it back because old weaponry can still pack a punch.
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| Rats are scavengers.
They have an excellent sense of taste and a good memory. A rat can
identify certain substances, including rat poisons, after just a tiny
taste of it. (Pest World for Kids) |
The rats next door are no longer interested in the bait... in fact, this trap wasn't even baited. The challenge has changed to trying to identify where these troublemakers are running and then set the traps like land mines.
This one was nabbed running across the trap into that gap.
And I can still smell skunk odour most mornings.
An Update - January 23, 2019
After this last one was caught I haven't seen a rat around since. This said, I doubt very much they were eradicated this easily. I'm ready for a round two when spring comes.
This following item was attached to an on-line news article I stumbled upon last week - sad, but no surprise here!
The Oddblock Station Agent
Update March 04, 2019
They're back! And I ain't happy about it.
Fresh snow fell Saturday afternoon but I didn't tackle the clean-up until yesterday.
Love it or hate it the snow doesn't play favourites, and eagerly betrayed this latest intrusion made by those unwanted infiltrators from next door.
When I went out to grab this image, I startled one of those hated pests. It vanished like a sniper would after firing off a shot.
Update March 30 2019
The snow has gone now, and yesterday after I thought I glimpsed a rat scurry into the brush next door, I set out a few traps next to the fence.
Sure enough I forgot about the traps and didn't put them away last night. When I checked this morning, two traps had vanished. After some searching I found one trap with a deceased, partly eaten infiltrator caught in it.
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| Soaked by the heavy rain. This one was caught by the feet. |
I couldn't find the second trap but I'm certain something was in it that would entice an ally to carry it off.
The fight goes on...
Update June 25 2019...
and feeling besieged.
Occasionally, and more often than I'd like, I see rats scurrying away but nabbing them has become more of a challenge. The following three catches all occurred during the night.
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| May
26, 2019 - This one managed to pull itself free from the trap it
triggered, but mortally wounded it didn't quite make it through the fence. |
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| June 06 2019 - and after this casualty was recorded, the enemy has learned how to remove the bait without triggering the traps. |
Yeah! It's frustrating to check only find empty untripped traps... because it means I'm feeding them.
Yesterday afternoon I startled a rat not two feet away on the other side of the fence. Annoyed, I rebaited and set out every trap I have.
Last evening I put away the traps because heavy rain was in the forecast. Rain ruins the bait and once in a while triggers a trap.
June 25, 2019 - I left one trap that's near then end of its usefulness out overnight, and together with trying out a different bait, a water-soaked victim awaited me this morning. I'll take it!
June 26 2019 update from the eastern front...
and revenge is sweet
Last evening I set out two new traps hoping to snag another varmint. This morning I made a quick cursory check only to be disappointed upon discovering zilch.
Several hours later when I went out to relocate some traps, only then did I discover that the bait had been stripped clean from every trap without triggering a single one. What the...?? How?? I was astounded!
Refusing to throw in the towel, I re-baited the traps and within an hour I had nabbed this monster.
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| June 26 2019 - At first glance this might look like a rat caught in a mouse trap, but no. That's a rat trap and this casualty is huge, dwarfing every rodent I've nailed prior to this one. |
July 02 2019 more casualties...
and NO apologies
Discovering that some traps had again been stripped of their bait, I re-baited and redeployed some traps to new locations.
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| June 27, 2019 - Another large fat rat was terminated about an hour after this trap was placed. Not pretty but this war is hell. |
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| June 30, 2019 - This one was small and I'm not sure weather it was a mouse or a young rat. Regardless, a rodent is a rodent and a dead on is one less pest. |
All my traps have remained untouched since this June 30th victim was snagged, but last evening when I opened the front door to my home, sure enough a rat in front of the car beat it under the fence to hide out next door.
This fight is far from over...
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| July 06 2019 - A mouse snagged by its tail but very dead when I found it. |
September 28, 2019 - more casualties
I continue to see these detested pests running around in the back yard but they've become experts at stealing bait without triggering the traps, or when traps are triggered, the rats aren't getting caught.
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| Rat August 16, 2019. This one was very much alive and I had to kill it. |
Collateral damage
The problem with traps is they cannot distinguish between neutral and foe and occasionally other victims are caught.
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| I have no quarrel with squirrels but unfortunately this one was snagged. |
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| The last thing I ever expected to fall victim to a rat trap was a bird |
