How to get rid of rats in a cabin?

[Matagorda 118]

Ive got a cabin in the Ozark forest and its great.  But we only go about one weekend a month and it keeps getting rats.  Its clean, but is basically in the forest so every winter they invade seeking warmth.  
 

Im using poison to kill them, but with dogs I dont like the chance its going to kill one of them at some point.  Still, they chew wires, leave a mess, and Im just sick of them.  Its too remote for a exterminator and I dont go enough to dump a bunch of stray cats there.  

Got any tips to get rid of them? 

 

 

[Prepuce of Doom 21073]

Dump only one stray cat then? 

[Baboontyme 2812]

Buy the hottest reaper sauce you can find, dilute it with tequila or water or antifreeze and spray it along the perimeter of the house. I have no idea if it would work but it might be fun to watch the results play out. 

[MonkeyDoughnut 10235]

Sounds like you need me to watch over the place while you're not there. Not a problem.

 

Seriously though Jif Corn Bread Mix and Baking soda. Search YouTube for it. Can put in medium tupperware container with hole cut in side (get containers at dollar tree etc).  Rats go in and eat the tasty mix and then later when they drink/digest the baking soda / stomach acid mixture ends up killing them.

 

 

[Matagorda 118]

2 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Sounds like you need me to watch over the place while you're not there. Not a problem.

 

Seriously though Jif Corn Bread Mix and Baking soda. Search YouTube for it. Can put in medium tupperware container with hole cut in side (get containers at dollar tree etc).  Rats go in and eat the tasty mix and then later when they drink/digest the baking soda / stomach acid mixture ends up killing them.

 

 

Perfect.  Thanks

[Rimbo 25933]

3 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Sounds like you need me to watch over the place while you're not there. Not a problem.

 

Seriously though Jif Corn Bread Mix and Baking soda. Search YouTube for it. Can put in medium tupperware container with hole cut in side (get containers at dollar tree etc).  Rats go in and eat the tasty mix and then later when they drink/digest the baking soda / stomach acid mixture ends up killing them.

 

 

This is great. And it doesn't pass up the food chain the way most rat poisons do, I take it?

[tx 3 putt 76957]

ultra sonic repellent devices around the house. people with toyotas use them to keep mice from eating up their truck cables 

[Knoxtnhorn 5976]

If the baking soda idea doesn't work AND mice and rats have the same dislikes, try mint spray.  You can find it on Amazon.  I swear it worked really well for us at the time.  We have a mouser (cat) now, so I haven't seen a live mouse in over a year.  Anyway, you spray it around the outside of the house and, especially, in area which you think they're getting in.  It won't hurt the dogs, and it smells pretty good as well.

[Matagorda 118]

55 minutes ago, BeardIP said:

 

Wouldn't this result in the rotting dead carcass' of dead rats in your nice home, to stink and disgust the place upon your infrequent arrivals? Then you spend hours cleaning up and airing out the place?

I like the one stray cat idea.

Thats the weird thing, the poison is some

kind toxic anticoagulant so blood trails all over the floor, but the rats somehow crawl out the way they get in (by chewing holes through wood walls) before dying.  So place hasnt stunk yet.  Plus its cold weather, so I suppose they just take a while to stink if dying in the walls. 

25 minutes ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

If the baking soda idea doesn't work AND mice and rats have the same dislikes, try mint spray.  You can find it on Amazon.  I swear it worked really well for us at the time.  We have a mouser (cat) now, so I haven't seen a live mouse in over a year.  Anyway, you spray it around the outside of the house and, especially, in area which you think they're getting in.  It won't hurt the dogs, and it smells pretty good as well.

Im going to try this as well.  Thanks.  

[Prepuce of Doom 21073]

I buy a few boxes of these sumbitches and toss them all around the corners and doors and nooks and crannies of my garages each fall. 

They're pretty potent, so I don't know that I'd advise extensive use (any use?) in an indoor living area, but thought I'd share. 

[Sbbruin 21853]

I read "rats" and" cabin" and was on a totally different train of thought.

[baboso 6056]

Snek(s) are what you need.

[Handcruser 2805]

You need cats and an automatic feeder.

Problem solved.

This is what cats are for.

Trust me.

[ballrific 215]

See cat piss thread next to this one. And you only need 1 cat and the auto feeder mentioned along with a big bowl of water. But only have feeder go off once a day, you want a backup food source for cat but also want them hungry.

A hungry female adult cat is an apex hunter (I don’t count coyotes but they will probably eventually eat your cat but just replace it, plenty that need adoption)

[Yarbr 123]

I feel like the cat thing is too easy. What does the guy do, a cat door or is it going to murder and shit all over the cabin? I’ve never had a cat, I don’t know how they work.

[ClubWhatever 12144]

43 minutes ago, Yarbr said:

I feel like the cat thing is too easy. What does the guy do, a cat door or is it going to murder and shit all over the cabin? I’ve never had a cat, I don’t know how they work.

A cat door is the best.  But it will work without one.  They shit and piss in a big box full of tiny pebbles.  They will eat most if not all of the rat.  There shouldn't be a huge mess.  You might have a couple of dead but not eaten ones.  But leaving one all alone like that is cruel.  Go with two that get along and can't breed.  

[Handcruser 2805]

Idiots.

You leave the cat outside. It will be fine.

Rats won’t venture anywhere near the house.

[Snake Diggity 4624]

2 fixed cats.  Leave them outside with an automatic feeder and a place to keep warm when needed.  This is the way.

Spraying orange oil worked for keeping all wildlife away from my shed.  But that is a temporary solution.  The cats will work for years.

[Incredulity 11671]

If you are only there one weekend a month the cat will move on to greener pastures(the local old lady who will feed it).  Also cats can cause significant collateral property damage left to their own devices.  Screens and posts shredded.

Perimeter bait boxes with poison(there are low secondary kill risk professional baits) are the only thing that will work at this point.  You need ongoing bait program and a serious effort to secure any access points.  Now you have a path of rat piss marking the paths into your cabin that won’t fade naturally for several years.

[Bevo 13577]

A bon chat, bon rat.

[ballrific 215]

The rat piss trails will be covered by rat intestines and innards after a few months. That trail won’t smell as appealing to those rodents.

That’s also true about the cat moving to the next sucker who gives it food and a cozier shelter. True mercenaries, no loyalty.

[Matagorda 118]

1 hour ago, Incredulity said:

If you are only there one weekend a month the cat will move on to greener pastures(the local old lady who will feed it).  Also cats can cause significant collateral property damage left to their own devices.  Screens and posts shredded.

Perimeter bait boxes with poison(there are low secondary kill risk professional baits) are the only thing that will work at this point.  You need ongoing bait program and a serious effort to secure any access points.  Now you have a path of rat piss marking the paths into your cabin that won’t fade naturally for several years.

The closest gravel road is 1 mile away, pavement is 7 miles away.  No old ladies.  

[orange dream 1251]

[Prepuce of Doom 21073]

2 hours ago, Matagorda said:

The closest gravel road is 1 mile away, pavement is 7 miles away.  No old ladies.  

Perhaps you could adopt one stray old lady to go with your one stray cat? 

[Gene Parmesan 4007]

Do the cat thing.  I would love to read the aftermath thread of having a soon to be feral cat living in your unoccupied cabin.

[mbtex 683]

 

[Bevo&Pevo 5145]

Skip to 30 seconds.

 

[Guest]

Install a three foot fence at a 45 degree angle around the entire property made of smooth metal. 

The real answer is that there are a lot of rat trap videos on YouTube. Figure out which one you like most:

https://www.youtube.com/@nikinatyamice

 

[DaysOff 7951]

[Gil Bang 25957]

we got some motherfucking rats in this motherfucking cabin

[RPM 26320]

On 11/13/2023 at 3:20 PM, Matagorda said:

Ive got a cabin in the Ozark forest

 

 

Cabin?

[markstanco 12577]

At our lease cabin we have ultrasonic plug in thingies and also play FM static radio at full volume when we leave on a $25 clock radio. Never a single rat or mouse.