We've got a RAT!!!!

Carol K

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Last year our son said there was an animal getting into the basement. Justin said it was a "big" animal. We couldn't imagine how a big animal could get in the basement. And when I asked Justin about the blockage he put on the shelf, he said, "It's too big to squeeze through there.

Well to make a long story short I saw this "big animal" the other day, and it's still around, and I know how it gets into the basement. But I don't know what it is!!! It seems like it's a rat, yet it is TOO BIG to be a rat.

When I saw it, it wasn't running, it was kind of waddling toward the hole. Now we have to figure out how to get rid of it. I thought about blocking the hole with a brick, but I would rather block him "out" then block him in.

Then we thought about getting some poison, but we don't want it to die and stink up the house. I looked at the rat traps on google images but the traps are crazy looking, and Vlad says rats are too smart for traps.

Suggestions???

Check out the hole!
 

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If its too big to be a rat its probably a possum. Should be able to catch it in a live trap baited with meat. Good luck,Ron
 
Theres a trap called Havahart. It traps the whole animal in a cage. Then you can release it away from home. Maybe a store with a large garden section would have them.
 
Hmmm.. maybe it is a possum, I don't know. :?:
It was brownish black fur, short, and no hair on the tail

Here' a rat and a possum.
 

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Carol

Go to Home Depot and get a couple of glue traps and sprinkle a little bird seed or peanutbutter on it and by morning you should have one sticky rat.. all you do is pick it up and throw it in the trash :)
 
Oh man Craig, that website is too much! :lol:

If we have a rat, it is extremely healthy.
 
Well Carol, this is how we rednecks get rid of Armadillos under our house. (armadillos, possoms with armor) Gunpowder, thats right gunpowder. two different ways to go about it.(A) As an accelerent for pushing an object at a high rate of speed toward the object to be elliminated. or (B) pour a small charge of powder into the hole or route used by the critter. Take precautions by removing anything flammable around the area of the gunpowder. light it with a extended match. there will be no bang, just a flash and the smoke. they hate the smell. Oh yeah, keep the flask of powder away from the flash point. About a hundred feet should be safe. He won't be back either way. Or, you could use a trap. :roll:....Gil
 
user18 said:
Those glue traps are so mean :(

Carol, does it have kind of a long snout? If you got a close up look of it and you can't tell if it's a possum or a rat, it's probably a rat (how big did you say it was???) :shock: Our dogs catch possum so I get a close up view of them all the time (they present them to us as gifts :roll: ) They don't really look like rats - their snouts are longer and they have little claw like feet, sort of.

Can you take a picture of it? :grin:


Carol

Give me directions to your house... I'll come up and blast it with my shotgun so the poor little ratsy doesn't get glue on its feetys :lol:
 
"Git ur done" Should you happen to get scratched or bitten by a possum trying to be "Humane" get yourself to the doctors post haste. Their cuteness only go'es so far.....As far as being trap smart, they are not as bright as rats. How many rats do you see squashed in the middle of the road? :( me again
 
Hahaha, Thank you for all the rat remedies.

RonC, they do have kangaroo rats!

If this rat has a long snout I can't tell, because he is a "fat" rat.

As soon as I saw it go into the hole, it actually turned around and looked out. So it does have big brown eyes. But the snout was not unsually long.

I went in to get the camera hoping it would pop back out, but alas, I did not want to stand there waiting for hours. :roll:

Are they generally day creatures or night creatures? Because it was in the afternoon that I saw it.
 
here is an idea it calls for 2 small sticks a large rock, 4 ninjas and a rocket from the acme company. if your interested i'll email you the diagram... good luck. keith
 
I would say that it is a groundhog. I have one under my barn, it digs a large hole under buildings or a mound in a field. They can be agressive if cornered or with young. A live trap is a humane trap that traps them live to be released elswhere. What attracted this one will attract others, just part of the way we live. I let ours stay put, I like to see him come out and run through the pasture, he doesn't bother me and I give him the same courtesy. I would say that they do damage property though.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=groundhog&gbv=2
 
Wow, the groundhog's face is a pretty good match, but the tail is wrong! They have furry tails. :roll:

If I knew for sure it is not a rat, I wouldn't care if it lived there. But rats have such a bad reputation, and multiply too fast????
 

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Are you near water? IS it a beaver or Otter?

Bob, that is an awful way for any creature to die. They starve to death or die of thirst, I have heard them squealing and it chills my heart. If you want them dead, use a mouse or rat trap, much quicker and no torture.
 
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