Besides poison, what are rat traps usually baited with? I know that
mice like chocolate, cheese, peanut butter etc but I assume rats have
their own preferences?

mj wrote:
Besides poison, what are rat traps usually baited with? I know that
mice like chocolate, cheese, peanut butter etc but I assume rats have
their own preferences?

Beer,Fags and someone to pick on. :-)
--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

On Sat, 03 Dec 2005 12:03:34 GMT, (mj) wrote:

Besides poison, what are rat traps usually baited with?

Whatever they're used to. If they're currently living on grain or cow
nuts, then feed them that. If they're eating out of dustbins, then try
some kitchen waste. Mayonnaise or chocolate always seem to go down well
though.

Rats hate novelty. Feed the traps or poison boxes _unset_ for a while
first, to get them used to them. Then set the traps and add the poison.

In article ,
mj wrote:
Besides poison, what are rat traps usually baited with? I know that
mice like chocolate, cheese, peanut butter etc but I assume rats have
their own preferences?

Bits of humans who despatched their mates - best of all bits of those who
contemplate using poison on rats.

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

"John Cartmell" wrote in message
...
In article ,
mj wrote:
Besides poison, what are rat traps usually baited with? I know that
mice like chocolate, cheese, peanut butter etc but I assume rats have
their own preferences?

Bits of humans who despatched their mates - best of all bits of those who
contemplate using poison on rats.

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing
sausages are supposed to work

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 03 Dec 2005 12:03:34 GMT, (mj) wrote:

Besides poison, what are rat traps usually baited with?

Whatever they're used to. If they're currently living on grain or cow
nuts, then feed them that. If they're eating out of dustbins, then try
some kitchen waste. Mayonnaise or chocolate always seem to go down well
though.

Rats hate novelty. Feed the traps or poison boxes _unset_ for a while
first, to get them used to them. Then set the traps and add the poison.


Yes
I heard a maker of rat poison on radio saying that he is
successful because he adapts the recipe to suit the food
eaten in the country he's selling to. So you'll just have to
interview the rats and find out what they've been eating!!

Do you leave out food for birds? Presumably the rats can't
get into your bin? Is there livestock (stable, kennel,
small-holding) around?

Good luck. Its an uphill fight.

Peter Scott

In article ,
Huge wrote:

"John Cartmell" wrote in message
...
In article ,
mj wrote:
Besides poison, what are rat traps usually baited with? I know that
mice like chocolate, cheese, peanut butter etc but I assume rats have
their own preferences?

Bits of humans who despatched their mates - best of all bits of those who
contemplate using poison on rats.

Enjoy your Weill's Disease. And the flea bites. And the faeces in your
food. And the bites.

And get a grownup to tell you the difference between vermin and pets.

I've already defined vermin. If you want a more objective definition then by
all means try it - and you'll almost certainly be on the list.

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

John Cartmell wrote:

I've already defined vermin. If you want a more objective definition then by
all means try it - and you'll almost certainly be on the list.


Just what exactly is your problem??

I'm on the whole an animal-loving veggie, but I have no problem with
killing a wide range of animals which would otherwise have an adverse
impact on my life. This includes flies, rats, pigeons and a whole range
of other critters.

Why do you have a problem with killing rats?


--
Grunff

Scraps after a chicken meal will do very well - that's why the bones and
such should never be thrown on the compost.

Keith




"mj" wrote in message
...
Besides poison, what are rat traps usually baited with? I know that
mice like chocolate, cheese, peanut butter etc but I assume rats have
their own preferences?

In article , Grunff
wrote:
John Cartmell wrote:

I've already defined vermin. If you want a more objective definition then
by all means try it - and you'll almost certainly be on the list.


Just what exactly is your problem??

I'm on the whole an animal-loving veggie, but I have no problem with
killing a wide range of animals which would otherwise have an adverse
impact on my life. This includes flies, rats, pigeons and a whole range of
other critters.

Why do you have a problem with killing rats?

Check back at my objection which was to someone killing rats 'because they
were rats' without any reference to 'adverse impact'. Also note that the
species with greatest 'adverse impact' on everything and everyone else is H.
sapiens; unless you provide a much better argument you are justifying general
slaughter of all of us. I'd object to that! ;-)

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

In article , Huge wrote:
Geoffrey writes:
On 3 Dec 2005 13:30:38 GMT, (Huge) wrote:



And get a grownup to tell you the difference between vermin and pets.

We used to have a pet rat. She was lovely. I'd recommend a rat to anyone
whose children are desperate for a pet.

Seconded. Pet rats are intelligent, affectionate, clean and amusing pets.

Farmyard rats are intelligent, aggressive, dirty, disease ridden vermin.

Just ask where the disease comes from and who provided the conditions for the
disease.

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

John Cartmell wrote:

Check back at my objection which was to someone killing rats 'because they
were rats' without any reference to 'adverse impact'. Also note that the
species with greatest 'adverse impact' on everything and everyone else is H.
sapiens; unless you provide a much better argument you are justifying general
slaughter of all of us. I'd object to that! ;-)

???

I'm talking about an adverse impact on my own existence - not on the
planet as a whole (the latter can take care of itself just fine, and
doesn't need anyone's help).

--
Grunff

Bits of humans who despatched their mates -
--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 [url Wrote:
www.finnybank.com[/url]
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

When you say mates do you mean mates as in sexual partners, ie wives
and girlfriends or do you mean mates as in other rats they go to the
pub and play football with.


--
Nick H

On Sat, 3 Dec 2005 15:51:22 +0000 (UTC), "Keith \(Dorset\)"
wrote:

Cheers for all the suggestions - besides the dead one (by the smell it
had been dead for 3 or 4 days) that I found this morning in the attic
there have (so far) been no signs of others so I'll keep my fingers
crossed that his/her mates don't come looking for him/her.

We've been here for a couple of years now and it's the first rat I've
seen in the place.

As for what they like to eat around here - we have no external rubbish
bins (or anything that rats would like to consume) and the food for
the handful of sheep is kept in a strong, sealed plastic container. I
guess if we get any others that I'll have to experiment with chocolate
and the like.

In article , Grunff
wrote:
John Cartmell wrote:

Check back at my objection which was to someone killing rats 'because
they were rats' without any reference to 'adverse impact'. Also note that
the species with greatest 'adverse impact' on everything and everyone
else is H. sapiens; unless you provide a much better argument you are
justifying general slaughter of all of us. I'd object to that! ;-)

???

I'm talking about an adverse impact on my own existence - not on the
planet as a whole (the latter can take care of itself just fine, and
doesn't need anyone's help).

But are you distinguishing between rats that inconvenience you and rats that
just happen to be passing? Are you even distinguishing between rats that
inconvenience you and something that happens to dine on that rat after you
have poisoned it? Humans are far more vermin-like than any other creature
unless we use special pleading arguments, so on the 'rats are better off dead'
or 'kill vermin' philosophy we should all have our necks on the line.

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

John Cartmell wrote:

But are you distinguishing between rats that inconvenience you and rats that
just happen to be passing?

What planet are you on?


Are you even distinguishing between rats that
inconvenience you and something that happens to dine on that rat after you
have poisoned it?

If you make a little more effort, you might come close to being understood.



Humans are far more vermin-like than any other creature

Not in my house/stables/sheds, they're not. If they were, they'd also
get shot.


Let me guess. You live in a tidy little house in a town/suburb, and have
zero experience of dealing with a rat infestation. Right?



--
Grunff

mj wrote:
Besides poison, what are rat traps usually baited with? I know that
mice like chocolate, cheese, peanut butter etc but I assume rats have
their own preferences?

Rats go for chocolate too. IMO it's ideal vermin bait, lasts a long
time, smells strongly, difficult for them to prise off the trap so they
are guaranteed to set the trap off trying to pull it off the peg.

Owain wrote:
Huge wrote:
Enjoy your Weill's Disease. And the flea bites. And the faeces in your
food. And the bites.

Would rat fleas actually want to bite humans?

All together now: "OF COURSE THEY WOULDN'T!"

and:

"IT'S BEHIND YOU!".

John Cartmell wrote:

Let me guess. You think you have been the victim of a rat infestation that was
not caused by humans?


I give up.


--
Grunff

On Sat, 3 Dec 2005 20:18:28 UTC, Owain
wrote:

Huge wrote:
Enjoy your Weill's Disease. And the flea bites. And the faeces in your
food. And the bites.

Would rat fleas actually want to bite humans? Aren't fleas more or less
host species specific?

Yes. But that won't stop them biting you first to find out. I've
experienced cat fleas a few times...notably when we moved into this
house. Previous owners had five cats and a lot of flea eggs were left in
the living room carpet. The fleas died of course, but they tried biting
us a LOT first. Luckily we were working on the house before moving in
properly, and were eventually ripping out the carpet anyway...this just
made us do it a week earlier!

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
Avenue Supplies, http://avenuesupplies.co.uk

On Sat, 03 Dec 2005 15:54:53 GMT, Geoffrey
wrote:

We used to have a pet rat. She was lovely. I'd recommend a rat to
anyone whose children are desperate for a pet.

Rats are lovely pets - shame they live such a short time though 8-(

On Sat, 03 Dec 2005 20:07:33 +0000 (GMT), John Cartmell
wrote:

Humans are far more vermin-like than any other creature

Absolutely. Now I just need a rat trap big enough to catch an Astra.

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
John Cartmell wrote:

Let me guess. You think you have been the victim of a rat infestation
that was
not caused by humans?


I give up.

You can take a horse to water etc...............................

"Steve Firth" wrote in message
...
mj wrote:
Besides poison, what are rat traps usually baited with? I know that
mice like chocolate, cheese, peanut butter etc but I assume rats have
their own preferences?

Rats go for chocolate too. IMO it's ideal vermin bait, lasts a long time,
smells strongly, difficult for them to prise off the trap so they are
guaranteed to set the trap off trying to pull it off the peg.

We use a bit of dried out bacon rind to good effect

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember (mj) saying
something like:

Besides poison, what are rat traps usually baited with? I know that
mice like chocolate, cheese, peanut butter etc but I assume rats have
their own preferences?

I've had some measure of success with pieces of dog chewy strips.

snap!

#Another one bites the dust...

--

Dave

More rat news
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/05/mutant_rats/

Andy Dingley wrote:
More rat news
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/05/mutant_rats/

"They don't seem to be frightened by human people". What?