What in concrete for rats

[jon f mn]

I have a huge rat problem I'm trying to deal with, unsuccessfully so far. I noticed that they have been eating from some concrete bags I have stored in the barn. They are eating quite a lot and spreading it around some too. It's left over bags from when I poured a small slab in front of the barn. What is it in concrete that they like?

 

[DoubleO7]

Maybe they are only shedding the bag for insulation for their nest?

 

[Rich'sToys]

One would think that eating the actual cement would not be very healthy for them. May, as 007 said, they're just using the paper in their nest.

 

[Tgrasher]

I would think that if they ate the concrete it would kill them. Some of my funniest memories are rat killings with two dogs and a bunch of cats. Me hitting with a shovel, trying not to hit anything but a rat. When it was real cold I would find them huddled under a bale of straw together.
On another note, saw a video once where a guy rented himself and his Rat Terriers, maybe 10 of them, out to farmers. It was something to see those dogs go to work digging out the rats and killing them.

 

[JWinIndiana]

The "mink man".

 

[J Wendt]

I had the same problem. I was buying poison by the bucket, all kinds. I resorted to a service. They put out bait stations with the same baits as I was using but added tracking powder, it gets on there feet and fur, they go back to the nest and lick it off. It seems to be working, I'll know more in the spring, they are still monitoring. You can find the tracking powder on line but cannot buy it with out the correct license., Must be strong stuff.

 

[Tgrasher]

The "mink man".

Thanks for posting, enjoyed the action.

 

[Tony in SD]

Miss Candy found this video on YouTube. We tryed it and it worked for us. We have chickens so using a mink would not be an option.

 

[DennisDW]

I didn't know minks could be pets. Fun to watch.

 

[46m]

Get some pure peppermint oil and put it on cotton balls the rats will leave.also works in tractor cabs truck combines, house ,shop.etc.

 

[jhwis]

Maybe they are only shedding the bag for insulation for their nest?

We had a big rat problem when the dogs killed all the cats in the barn when I was a kid. Once the cats were back...no more rats. Easy solution.

 

[PaGlenn]

Enjoyed watching the mink and pooches do their thing.

 

[1948CaseVAI]

I had the same problem. I was buying poison by the bucket, all kinds. I resorted to a service. They put out bait stations with the same baits as I was using but added tracking powder, it gets on there feet and fur, they go back to the nest and lick it off. It seems to be working, I'll know more in the spring, they are still monitoring. You can find the tracking powder on line but cannot buy it with out the correct license., Must be strong stuff.

Lat time I bought here https://diypestcontrol.com they did not care about a license.

 

[herk]

My 2 cents , this fall our cats all died with in days, then the rats came so we tried the cornbread baking soda we seen very little evidence that it worked at all , bought poison nothing ate it , set some traps cought several , one day my trap was gone ,our dog was looking at some thing in a empty pen , it was a small mink cought by the front foot, carefully let it go, now I have not seen any sign of rats , we do have 2 cats now and the big tom I have seen kill a rat and he is in the barn daily, we also have Guinea hens and chickens and the mink has not touched them. Bryan

 

[herk]

Forgot to mention mix the cement with sugar the rats eat it and it will plug them up , I heard that from several of the old timers around here, also one guy said catch a rat dip it in white paint and it will scare the rat out of their runs and be ready to club them ( never tried it ) was going to this fall but never did . Bryan

 

[Tony in SD]

My 2 cents , this fall our cats all died with in days, then the rats came so we tried the cornbread baking soda we seen very little evidence that it worked at all , bought poison nothing ate it , set some traps cought several , one day my trap was gone ,our dog was looking at some thing in a empty pen , it was a small mink cought by the front foot, carefully let it go, now I have not seen any sign of rats , we do have 2 cats now and the big tom I have seen kill a rat and he is in the barn daily, we also have Guinea hens and chickens and the mink has not touched them. Bryan

You are lucky. Minks are know to chew the heads off chicken. Sometimes they drag them off sometimes they just let them lay. But if you have multiple dead chickens with their heads chewed off, you can be pretty sure you have a mink. I have shot multiple mink in the chicken house. After that no more dead chickens. In my nearly 70 years of dealing with chickens, I’d rather not have a mink near my chickens. Besides our Great Pyrenees would kill a mink or anything else that attacks our chickens.

 

[DoubleO7]

You are lucky. Minks are know to chew the heads off chicken. Sometimes they drag them off sometimes they just let them lay. But if you have multiple dead chickens with their heads chewed off, you can be pretty sure you have a mink. I have shot multiple mink in the chicken house. After that no more dead chickens. In my nearly 70 years of dealing with chickens, I’d rather not have a mink near my chickens. Besides our Great Pyrenees would kill a mink or anything else that attacks our chickens.

When the rats are decimated by the mink, the chickens will be next.

 

[NoDakInMN]

Simulator to a mink is the ferret. Ferrets are often domesticated, eat pet food and use a litter box, but are also a natural predator of rats that I've been told their scent alone can cause rats to flee. Had one old timer tell me he released a ferret into a rat infested hog barn and even the baby rats, whose eyes were not yet open, were fleeing the barn. He also had several people on the roof with shotguns and destroyed many of them when they ran out of the building, but the rats were more terrified of the ferret than the gunfire, so they kept coming out.