tom wrote:
On Mar 27, 9:35 am, Robert Allison wrote:
My question is about rats. I have a shop that has been invaded
by rats and I am currently without a cat that catches mice and
rats. My old cat kept them at bay, but the new one just likes to
watch them, apparently.

Anyway, I have set out rat traps and I have shot 2 with my pellet
gun. The first night with the traps I caught 3 rats. After 3
more nights with reset traps and new bait, not a single rat.

I am wondering if rats learn to avoid traps after they see what
they do, or did I get them all the first night? I don't know if
I am just lucky and there were only five rats, or whether they
all left after realizing they weren't welcome, or whether they
have learned to avoid being seen and to avoid the traps.

Anyone know?

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

Try leaving the traps unset and baited for a couple of weeks, training
the "smart" ones to eat without consequences. Then.... Tom

Exactly. Rats are neophobic, e.g. they are wary of new things and careful
with their first experiences with them. If that inaugural experience is
finding
brother rat dead inside a trap, avoidance is the result. The idea is to
rotate types of attacks
and not set all traps to kill initially. But, of course, you could use
deadly devices--say
an unbaited field of set traps-- to channel the rodents into an area with
baited traps that are only later activated. Then again, there is a
mongoose....

Regards,

Edward Hennessey
activated.