Guilford County, Greensboro Rat Control Situation:
I am having a problem with Nordic Rats in my chicken coop. Over the last year, I have caught 7 skunks (live trap), 1 possum (live trap), 10 rats (1 in live trap, and 9 in rat traps), 4 robins and one chicken (my own dumb animal). The rats are getting into the coop and eating the chicken food. So at night I cover the food box and turn on the night camera. A photo of last nights problem and a previous one are attached. I have many photos of them, even sequential ones of them digging a tunnel into the coop. What you see in the photo are two sticky pads (total 11" wide) with him (12" body) in front of the hole he made into the chicken coop at the corner. I have put gopher gassers in the holes twice, but unsure how successful I have been. They have dug tunnels all around and under the completely wired coop. They even have chewed through the wire. I have concreted in many of the tunnels, but they dig around them. I set 9 rat traps at night, with apple and peanut butter. Usually they ignore them for the first night or two, then they all get set off, sometimes I get lucky and get one, but usually, they are just sprung. The apple is tied on and the peanut butter is under the flapper. I am almost at my wits end on how to eliminate them. I have tried one exterminator and told him to pack it up after a month of absolutely nothing. They filled his traps with soil from their excavation. They have even filled my live trap with soil during their excavation. So I am looking for someone that is ready to meet the challenge and help me solve the problem.
Greensboro Rat Control Tip of The Week
What Can I Do About A Trap-Shy Rat?
There are instances where rats tend to be trap-shy by trying as much as possible not to get too close to the trap to avoid getting caught. This particular situation can be a result of several reasons. The first and most common reason is that the rats have witnessed other rats getting trapped. Another reason is that the rats might be scared of the newly introduced object along their route.
Whatever the reason might be, getting the rats to put aside their fears and go for the bait requires a whole lot of planning and patience. Right here, we will be taking you through what you can do to stop the rats in your home from being trap-shy.
Aside from being a very common household pest, rats are habitual and will study their environment as much as they can in other to easily detect when something goes wrong or differs from the way it used to be. This naturally prompts them into being trap-shy when they notice the unusual new trap in their environment.
To stop this and make the rats in your home attracted to baits, you are going to have to take your time and repeat the following process continuously. The first thing you have to do is to make the rats in your home feel comfortable around the traps. To achieve this, all you have to do is place unset traps along their route and let them move around it without getting trapped. Naturally, rats like to move around on sawdust. You can also place sawdust on and around the traps to make it more appealing to them and make them feel comfortable and safe around the trap.
After doing that for a while, you can then go ahead and set the traps with bait. To increase your chances of trapping them, you can choose to place sawdust on and around the traps.
