The rodents in our antique house have exceeded our ability to turn a blind eye. The Ratcatcher wants to put down Top Gun bromethalin rat poison. He says the cats and dog won’t come to any harm if they eat the dead rodents. Is this true?
The bromthalin traps themselves will be behind the fridge where the pets can’t reach.
Hmm. I hadn’t thought of termite tenting … that’s safe for animals down the food chain?
It’s not so much that I can’t deal with snap traps as that I don’t know how many rodents we’re talking about, here, and I’m not sure how many traps I’d need and so on. It sounds like there’s a three ring circus going on in our kitchen and our current feline roommates could not be less interested.
Also, we need help moving the appliances to try and find their method of ingress. The exterminator helped with that.
Well, Vikane leaves no residue. Not sure about consumption of a rat killed by Vikane. But the rats will either die in inaccessible places, in which case you’ll have to live with some smells or stay out of the house for a few more days; or if the rats crawl out to die, you’ll see them and can dispose of them before your animals come back in.
Snap traps are a chore, but you don’t have to worry about the poison aspect–though you do have to put them where your pets can’t get to them. Not sure how easy that is for you.
This kind is effective and much easier to set than the “classic” style:
Second the trap suggested by TSBG. They are good for several uses, and they are easy to release the dead rat. I just toss mine in a bucket of bleach solution between uses.
Load them up with peanut butter mixed with coconut oil for bait.
Thanks for the responses. I’m not happy about any of this. This house is ancient and we live in a fairly rural part of town. The occasional rodent is just part of the landscape, here, but once they built a nest behind the kitchen appliances, I’m afraid Steps Had To Be Taken.
I believe they got the last laugh, though, because now our refrigerator fan is dying. I suspect something got screwed up yesterday. I’ve got all but a few rooms closed off to keep the pets away, in case they find a corpse before we do.
Poor little ratties. I’m sorry, guys. I hate being the predator.
Don’t put poison out unless you know your cats can’t get it and keep track of each and every packet that you or the exterminator put out. Cats will eat it and it will kill them.