Oh, Rats!
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EdWingfield
Well-Known Member
How did the rat get aboard? Possibly in with the stores/provisions.
To kill, remove all sources of food on board. Use poisonous bait. Find corpse and dispose.
Move fast, as rodents gnaw as well as eat. They have to gnaw to keep their fast growing incisors in good shape. A favourite is wiring insulation = short circuit = Fire.
To kill, remove all sources of food on board. Use poisonous bait. Find corpse and dispose.
Move fast, as rodents gnaw as well as eat. They have to gnaw to keep their fast growing incisors in good shape. A favourite is wiring insulation = short circuit = Fire.
ghostlymoron
Well-Known Member
Whatever you do, do it quickly. There may be more than one, and two can rapidly multiply and cause an infestation.
Spyro
Well-Known Member
I see from your profile you have a SO 36i. It's not that big a boat to search for a dead rat. I'd go with poison if the traps fail. It's a modern boat and there can't be that many places for a rat to hide and die. There must be areas that are sealed off so you should be able to find it. The missing poison and the smell will tell you when to start looking. The areas where you are finding droppings should give you an idea which parts it has access to
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Are rats too clever to enter a cage or crate with a sprung one-way door? Surely such an enclosure could be created containing something irresistable, and the critter could be captured (and thereafter contained) in the middle of the accommodation, rather than somewhere hard to access?
duncan99210
Well-Known Member
The one time we had a rat, we noticed by way of finding droppings then spotted it in locker, from where it scuttled off... So, I cleared a space in the locker where it was spotted. I then set a Greek plastic trap which has the bait holder positioned above the pressure plate, such that the rat has to stand on the pressure plate to get at the bait.
In the meantime, the Admiral had abandoned ship, as she has always said she would, and was imitating a nervous wreck on the next door boat. I enticed her back on board by the promise of a hotel until the rat was evicted and we set off for the nearest hotel (about an hour away).
On arrival and once the noise of the anchor dropping had stopped, we could hear scratching from the locker with the trap. The rat had taken the bait but wasn’t dead. I took the trap and rat to the stern and dropped it overboard. Wretched thing didn’t know what was good for it and attempted to board the boat again. So I whacked it firmly with the boat hook and watched it sink into oblivion, cheered on mightily by the much received Admiral.
So, find a trap, human or otherwise, which requires the rat to move over the trigger plate to get to the bait. Set it in a dark, relatively confined area where the rat will feel moderately safe. Bait with something truly attractive to rats: we find peanut butter to be good, for other suggestions see above. Do not place trap near other potential food sources as these will distract the rat from the incredibly tasty morsel you’re using.
Not much point in putting traps in the open if the boat is occupied as the rat will avoid moving into the open by any means possible. You’ve got to locate the trap in a safe to rats area so that it’ll feel relaxed enough to investigate and get caught.
If you haven’t caught the blighter within 48 hours, I’d give up in traps of any type and set poison. The problems of corpse recovery are minimal in comparison to the damage a bored, hungry rat can cause. To say nothing of the hotel bills in my case (which thankfully didn’t arise....).
Good luck.
In the meantime, the Admiral had abandoned ship, as she has always said she would, and was imitating a nervous wreck on the next door boat. I enticed her back on board by the promise of a hotel until the rat was evicted and we set off for the nearest hotel (about an hour away).
On arrival and once the noise of the anchor dropping had stopped, we could hear scratching from the locker with the trap. The rat had taken the bait but wasn’t dead. I took the trap and rat to the stern and dropped it overboard. Wretched thing didn’t know what was good for it and attempted to board the boat again. So I whacked it firmly with the boat hook and watched it sink into oblivion, cheered on mightily by the much received Admiral.
So, find a trap, human or otherwise, which requires the rat to move over the trigger plate to get to the bait. Set it in a dark, relatively confined area where the rat will feel moderately safe. Bait with something truly attractive to rats: we find peanut butter to be good, for other suggestions see above. Do not place trap near other potential food sources as these will distract the rat from the incredibly tasty morsel you’re using.
Not much point in putting traps in the open if the boat is occupied as the rat will avoid moving into the open by any means possible. You’ve got to locate the trap in a safe to rats area so that it’ll feel relaxed enough to investigate and get caught.
If you haven’t caught the blighter within 48 hours, I’d give up in traps of any type and set poison. The problems of corpse recovery are minimal in comparison to the damage a bored, hungry rat can cause. To say nothing of the hotel bills in my case (which thankfully didn’t arise....).
Good luck.
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Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
I have heard that rats are like Manchester United supporters. You are rarely more than 10 feet away from one!!!!!. Now if you could bear to invite one aboard & lock him in for the night perhaps they would kill each other.
Mind you you would have to get a Milwall supporter to remove the carcass so it could be a bit like the old lady who swallowed a fly.
Mind you you would have to get a Milwall supporter to remove the carcass so it could be a bit like the old lady who swallowed a fly.
Major_Clanger
Well-Known Member
A sticky trap is the way ahead. Get a dedicated one for rats and put it somewhere you know the rat has already been. They're not very humane but their use is justified in this case IMO. It won't kill it, you'll have to knock it on the head afterwards, but it should catch it quickly.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
That really is a disgusting conclusion to have reached.
By the way, you meant "Wind & Tide dependent".
Major_Clanger
Well-Known Member
If you ever have a rodent in your car or on your boat, you may well have cause to modify your opinion. Sticky traps are pretty nasty but they're certainly no less humane than rat poison. If checked daily, at a minimum, it means the rodent will have had a far quicker death than any other method, at least one that's practical on a boat.
If there's more than one rat, or it's a pregnant female, then all hell could be unleashed on the OP's boat. Best thing to do is catch it, bloody quickly. After having had a two year old car written off by mice I'd deploy the sticky trap first and then discuss whether it was humane afterwards.
Thank-you for pointing out my spelling error, I am much obliged to you.
[3889]
...
Thank you for the continuing advice.
The story so far: I'm only on the boat to winterise so need to act fairly quickly. I've bought a couple of traps, not very good design as the bait, cheese and peanut butter, has disappeared twice without springing the trap. So I've gone for poison and secured all other food on board. The poison has disappeared two nights running so I think El Rato's days are numbered. Problem is (s)he's unlikely to die before I fly home so I'm going to have to deal with the consequences when I return.
A 36' boat doesn't seem big until you're trying to crash and stumble between cabins in pursuit of a near silent rodent which has the run of the bilges, pipe and wiring ducts. Then it seems enormous.
The story so far: I'm only on the boat to winterise so need to act fairly quickly. I've bought a couple of traps, not very good design as the bait, cheese and peanut butter, has disappeared twice without springing the trap. So I've gone for poison and secured all other food on board. The poison has disappeared two nights running so I think El Rato's days are numbered. Problem is (s)he's unlikely to die before I fly home so I'm going to have to deal with the consequences when I return.
A 36' boat doesn't seem big until you're trying to crash and stumble between cabins in pursuit of a near silent rodent which has the run of the bilges, pipe and wiring ducts. Then it seems enormous.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Alright, we'll agree that's not the same thing if the boat is attended and these monstrous traps are frequently checked.
Don't misunderstand me, I'm not a fan of anything uninvited sharing my home or boat, and I'd readily dispatch a rat or mouse with a shovel or air-gun if the space and line of sight permitted. But there are right and wrong ways...
...there is something icily at odds with the seafaring spirit, in first trapping the wretched thing, then tossing it overboard when it's still able to swim, then finally bludgeoning it to death as it tries to re-board. More humane to tip your shrieking admiral overboard.
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