Coincidentally, just last week I had one of my pet prints euthanized, because he had a horrible tumor of the Zymbal’s gland which had finally impacted his quality of life to an unacceptable extent. He was a very sweet little guy and it was a difficult decision for me and my wife, and we miss him. Sorry, not really relevant to this thread I guess.
I resigned myself to the fact that euthanasia is my best option. I will not, however, be using any sort of firearm.
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Since you have resigned yourself to euthanasia, I strongly recommend the battery-powered electrocution traps. I had an incursion of mice in my car. They were tearing up all kinds of things, including wiring. I tried a bunch of options, including many mentioned in this thread. No joy.
Then a friend who had a rat incursion in her garage put me on to the electronic traps. I picked up a couple. Over the first few months, I murdered close to 30 mice. As the population became reduced, I caught fewer and fewer. I am now up to 37 in just over a year. The killing is quick and humane, no poison is involved, disposal of carcasses is easy and you don’t have to touch them. I’ve only had to change the batteries once in over a year. They work.
Good luck.
I’m really envious. My electronic trap caught one rat, and no more. No matter how well I cleaned it, the other rats knew to keep away – for years. Not unusual, according to the exterminator. Maybe it had to do with the rat having to enter from the end, instead of from the front like a little room the way yours is. It just looks more inviting…
Wow, that is discouraging. My friend who trapped the rats in her garage caught many with her traps. Next time I see her, I’ll ask if she did anything special to clean them in between.
I think you may be on to something with the way they enter. I’ve never used the rat ones, so I wasn’t aware there was a design difference.
That, or mice are simply not as particular. I only cleaned mine when there was obvious mess. I caught lots without even cleaning the traps between kills.
I’m sure sorry yours didn’t work as well, but it’s good to know.
Wow, those are impressive results. I did not go that route because a friend tried battery-powered zapper traps and did not catch a single rat. Also, I already own a live trap cage and a big plastic tub; I’d have to purchase the zapper.
My other concern is that I don’t want to electrocute a non-rat critter who may wander into the trap.
I’m a big baby when it comes to animals suffering. My one rat-drowning was as tolerable experience (from my end) that I could hope for.
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As a rat lover, I find the idea of a rat drowning just horrifying. But I recognize that any method of dealing with wild rats is not going to be pleasant for me to think about. I think I may need to stop reading this thread.
I understand that, I really do. Which is why I first went to the trouble of catching live and releasing, and stopped that only because of reasons listed upthread.
I don’t even like to step on ants. Seriously. But I also don’t want rats in my yard.
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Yeah, I understand that too. There isn’t really a perfect solution.
BTW, I’m not by any means implying that you’re a bad person for killing the rats in your yard. I’ve done the same thing myself, for rats in my house. My apologies if I gave that impression.
Not at all. I even get why some folks keep them as pets, they’re actually sorta cute (except for those ratty tails, ew).
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But are they Evil Nazi Groundhogs?
Ha! No, ours are more like Communist Chinese groundhogs-- polite, industrious, numerous, and will probably take over completely some day.
Interesting thread, thanks! I’ll have to read the whole thing to see if I can get any good groundhog control tips. I read the OP-- I’m surprised to hear the poster describe their groundhogs as aggressive. Ours are very timid; as soon as I encounter one it makes a beeline for the nearest groundhog hole. Even when I’ve trapped them, they don’t act aggressive toward me, they just try to get out of the trap. Squirrels are more aggressive.
That’s the thread that got me to love the SDMB.
Me too. Truly a classic.
Is there anything you can do to get your neighbor to address the problem? If you’re seeing rats in your yard in broad daylight, its only a matter of time before they will be in your house.
Yeah, we are going to tell them the situation. The rats’ home seems to be the area behind their garage, it’s pretty weedy.
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Seems like drowning is just about the worst way to dispatch of them then. That just sounds slow and horrible. A quick zap in the electric trap is instant. They work great for mice, I have never had to use them for rats though.
Wow, I missed the evil Nazi groundhogs somehow. I read that thread all morning! 
Top ten SDMB threads, and we forgot the Evil Nazi Groundhogs when we were compiling the SDMB Enemies List some months ago.