| Author |
Message |
    
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 6927
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 1:25 pm: | 
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I just called my exterminator about something, and was told that they are starting to get rat calls in Maplewood.
So, put away that bird food, seeds & clean up those winter piles of crud.
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John Caffrey
Citizen
Username: Jerseyjack
Post Number: 119
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 1:36 pm: |
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Be careful with rat bait.
Secondary poisoning can happen with dogs,cats and our new resident hawks if they eat a poisoned rat. |
Tommy O'Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 13033
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 3:04 pm: |
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So what can we do?
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greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 6930
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 3:08 pm: |
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Clean your yard of debris piles, make sure that you don't have garbage, compost, etc. laying around. Don't leave food out for birds/animals. Put any plant seeds, food in airtight containers if they are stored in your garage.
It's really a bitch; I hate having to give up my bird feeder. |
McMem
Citizen
Username: Mem
Post Number: 5899
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 3:10 pm: |
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I'm firing up the stove! |
LilLB
Citizen
Username: Lillb
Post Number: 1398
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 3:15 pm: |
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We had rats in our garage a couple of years ago (Most likely because of the bird seed I had not enclosed in anything)...
We used rat poison, and I will NEVER, NEVER, can I repeat...NEVER use it again. I must be naive, but I just thought the rat would eat it and then just collapse and die. I felt horrible that it was suffering like that - it is not a quick and painless death for the rat. We switched to the snap traps after that to take care of the problem - at least it's quick... It takes a long time for the rat to die with the poison and they're suffering the whole way. If not for the reasons John sites, please don't use this stuff, even for the sake of the rat. |
McMem
Citizen
Username: Mem
Post Number: 5901
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 3:17 pm: |
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Plus they don't taste that good when they eat rat poison. |
LilLB
Citizen
Username: Lillb
Post Number: 1399
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 3:26 pm: |
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True mem....True.
Do they serve Rat skewers at your hotel's swim up bar?  |
McMem
Citizen
Username: Mem
Post Number: 5904
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 3:39 pm: |
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Lil - We'll be having skewered gecco and tree frog. |
Arnomation
Citizen
Username: Arnomation
Post Number: 511
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 3:48 pm: |
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Lucky for us there are a couple of stray cats that I see wandering around our yard |
Project 37
Citizen
Username: Project37
Post Number: 20
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 4:06 pm: |
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Question from a soon-to-be resident: Is this a seasonal thing, or was the exterminator suggesting an actual increase in overall infestation?
We had glue traps for the mice in our NYC apartments. Now *THAT* was grim...  |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 6934
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 4:22 pm: |
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Project - we've been here for 9 years and never saw a rat. Last summer, however, we starting seeing them during the day (never a good sign). That's when I found out that Maplewood has an underground creek around Oakview which has been nick-named "Rat Hollow" for many years. The health officer also told our neighbor that they tend to move from neighborhood to neighborhood. I guess that last year, we got "lucky". I also think that it had something to do with the construction on Springfield Ave and the fact that a neighbor a few houses down seems to have a thriving jungle in her backyard.
It is, indeed, quite gross. There probably is an increase. I also learned last year that the rat population is increasing everywhere; not just in cities. It's the time of the year for all the hibernating/nesting critters to wake up so we will see more.
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Carl Thompson
Citizen
Username: Topcat
Post Number: 193
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 5:05 pm: |
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Does the presence of cats keep rats away? Our neighborhood is overrun with cats, both domestic and feral. The cat sh*t in my yard bugs me sometimes, but I’ll take cats over rats any day.
If the cats can’t do the job, I may need to get a pet wolverine. He would keep the rats and the cats at bay.
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mwnewbie
Citizen
Username: Mwnewbie
Post Number: 22
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 5:34 pm: |
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Could the teardown for the police complex that recently started on Springfield be the cause? It's been on my mind as we are only a few blocks away. Seriously, I'd sooner deal with poisonous snakes or spiders... |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 6936
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 6:42 pm: |
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I don't think cats do anything; there are a couple outdoor neighborhood cats that like to sit inour plants.
I think that construction can uproot them. In my Brooklyn days, whenever a nearby brownstone was renovated, the mice all seemed to move in with me. |
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 4389
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 12:16 am: |
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Greenie-
At least they aren't bats! (sorry couldn't help it) |
aquaman
Supporter
Username: Aquaman
Post Number: 776
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 12:42 am: |
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JTA,
Thanks for turning the subject back to you.
Tell me, how is your infected leg, dandruff, unwanted memorial guests, bats, abductions, etc. doing?
Dr. Arthur Curry |
Stevef
Citizen
Username: Stevef
Post Number: 182
Registered: 5-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 12:55 am: |
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You forgot Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. |
John
Citizen
Username: Jdm
Post Number: 14
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 1:26 am: |
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Greenetree wrote:
I don't think cats do anything; there are a couple outdoor neighborhood cats that like to sit in our plants.
Oh, the cats around our house do a pretty good job of killing things, even the ones that look fat and lazy. I wouldn't sell them short. I think even their smell makes their prey more wary of creeping around. |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 6937
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 12:01 pm: |
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I actually like our bats. They eat a gazillion mosquitoes an hour. We enjoy sitting out on the deck around 11p, watching them swoop thru the trees. I think that they are playing. A few years ago, one of them got into our neighbor's house & was killed. We were very sad.
We used to have a bat nest in our garage (according to our exterminator who saw the huge pile of droppings), but they moved out.
I would much rather have bats than rats.
Our housecats torture and then kill the occassional mouse who ventures indoors. I always feel sorry for them; I've taken more than one mouse away whom the cats were using as a soccer ball & let it go outside. The outdoor cats don't seem to mess with the rats, tho. |
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