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
Norway Rat Biology
The Norway rat is typically nocturnal. It is a good swimmer; however, unlike the related black rat, it is a poor climber. Norway rats burrow well, and regularly uncover broad tunnel systems.
Rats are equipped for creating ultrasonic vocalizations, both as grown-ups and babies. They may likewise transmit short, high frequency, socially-prompted vocalization during interaction with different rats or animals. This call most takes after a trilling sound but is undetectable to human ears. Rats can discernibly be heard through calls sounding like squeaks when they are in trouble.
These rats are omnivores. This implies they can eat both plants and animals. As predators, rats are opportunistic.
The Norway rat can breed consistently if the conditions are reasonable, and a female can deliver up to twelve litters in a year. The gestation period is just 21 days, and litters can number up to fourteen, albeit smaller litters are common. In this way, the rat population can increase rapidly. Rats have a lifespan of around three years, yet regularly live less than one year.
Norway rats live in enormous hierarchical groups, either in tunnels or subsurface places, such as sewers and basements. When food is hard to come by, the rats lower in the social order are the first to die. If a large portion of a rat populace is eliminated from a zone, the rest will expand their reproductive rate, and rapidly reestablish the old populace level. This makes it imperative to have a plan to get rid of the entire rat population on your property if an infestation occurs.