I posted this a few weeks ago and asked for everyone's advice.

[RebelOne]

I have rats and needed tips on how to get rid of them. I received a lot of good advice. Some said to trap them and some said to poison them. I tried rat poison and that didn't work. I finally had to resort to hiring a professional pest control expert. I live in a mobile home and I looked under the trailer and saw that these critters had ripped out all my insulation. That's when I decided to declare war on them. He has set traps and so far has killed 3 of them, But there are more. I hear them every night. He checks the traps every day. This guy is a professional and promised to get me rat free for only $350.

[MiddleFingerMom]

1. When I lived in a mobile home, the neighborhood stray dogs had crawled underneath...

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... and ripped off a good deal of insulation in order to warm their "den".
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The ex-MsMiddleFingerMom and I couldn't figure out why we had to huddle
directly over the heating ducts wrapped in blankets to get warm.
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.
.

[RebelOne]

2. These are not neighborhood dogs. These are neighborhood rats, n/t

[csziggy]

17. My dog Dan was smarter than that!

He ripped the supply tube loose that carried heat from the heat pump into the house, crawled into the tube (it was a big 18" duct) and was warm and comfy. Meanwhile, during the coldest spell seen in this area in 40 years, it was 38 F in the house and dropping. We ended up leaving the dog in the heat duct and went to a motel. When we got back the next day there was ice inside the aquarium!

For those who want to know why the dog was outside - we'd tried to get him inside, but he was afraid of hubby's cat. He was there the day that cat beat up the pit bull and knew better to enter that cat's domain.

[sibelian]

3. Try getting a cat or two.

They're pretty good with rats.

[graywarrior]

4. Yeah, cats will do the trick in a serious way.

Rescue a few cats and make them happy chasing rats.

[RebelOne]

6. I am not a cat lover. Dogs are my preference.

I already have 2 small dogs, a mini-pin and a Chihuahua. I am seriously thinking of getting a rat terrier.

[freshwest]

8. My Jack Russell took them out at my place. They were bred for this, like rat terriers.

They have some problems in training but have an instinct to dig and kill mice, etc. Mine also went after snakes.

[RebelOne]

11. OK, I'll also check out Jack Russells. n/t

[freshwest]

12. Make sure you can train them. They can be aggressive but are generally great pets.

[RebelOne]

13. It couldn't be more aggressive than my killer Chihuahua. n/t

[freshwest]

14. And why hasn't Killer taken out the rats? LOL. Good luck. Important to take care of this.

[RebelOne]

20. Because the rats are bigger than she is. n/t

[freshwest]

25. Are you sure they aren't nutria or opossums? They won't fit in a trap...

Could be that you have some armadillos nesting under the trailer. That happened to me. The dogs didn't have a clue what to do with the one that made its home under the thing. Only learned of it when I stepped outside one day and it gave me that little armadillo lick on my heel... I nearly jumped a few feet in the air. I decided to let it stay. Like I said, my dogs took care of the mice...That and the snakes, one or the other. Mice and rats do encourage snakes. You don't want them setting up house in your environment, either.

[RebelOne]

5. There many feral cats in my neighborhood and some

have sneaked into my garage, which is where a lot of the rats are, but I don't think they have any interest in catching them.

[graywarrior]

7. They probably made a pact with them.

[freshwest]

9. See Sibelian's thread... Yes, it happens...

[sibelian]

10. Feral cats are no good. You need proper domestic tabbys

Feral cats don't care about rats because they're too much trouble and want to spend their energy on killing to eat. Domesticated cats will have great fun with rats because they're already fed and have plenty of energy and will want to kill for fun!

[Major Nikon]

24. The study done on feral cats suggest they are far more active than home cats

It's just that they are active at night when critters like rats are also active so you don't see them as much.

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2011/05/the-secret-lives-of-feral-cats/

[Throd]

15. I got rat-free for the price of eight traps and a jar of peanut butter.

I reckon I killed about 60 of 'em before they figured out they were not welcome.

[RebelOne]

16. I have a professional pest control person working on killing them. n/t

He has traps all over the place. So far, only 3 have turned up dead. And some of the traps have been sprung with no rats in them.

[freshwest]

18. I'd reconsider ypur $350 investment. If they didn't bait the traps, that's an epic fail.

[RebelOne]

19. Nope,plenty of bait in the traps. n/t

[Kali]

21. unless you are particularly squeamish that money would be better spent

fixing/blocking entryways

a couple traps and some peanutbutter is more of a do-it-yourself project

tie a light chain or wire to the trap and secure it to something so they can't drag it off, then bait but do NOT set for a few go-rounds. Once you know they are taking the bait THEN set the traps. It may take a while but it will work. You also need to work on eliminating whatever they are after if it is food or bedding, and block them from entry. 1/4 inch hardware cloth works quite well. Rats CAN chew through metal, but won't if there is someplace easier to go or no other reason for them to want to get in.

[RebelOne]

22. I have every entrance blocked off.

But I want these little bastards dead. And I don't want to have to do it on my own and deal with dead carcasses, so I would rather have a professional do it. In fact, after some traps were tripped with nothing in them, my pro giuy did set out bait traps to see where the rats were coming from. He is also doing what you were suggesting. Believe me, this guy is a real pro and is doing whatever he can to kill these little SOBs. We have already gotten 3 of them in the traps and they were very, very dead.

[Kali]

23. I understand the squick factor

they are smart and will learn to steal bait off set traps, but you can fake them out by feeding them unset for a while - they will get careless

good luck, those bastards can do a lot of damage fast, might have your wiring looked over when it is all done (plumbing too for that matter - esp plastic)

[RebelOne]

26. That is exactly what may pest control guy is planning to do.

I have already had wiring destroyed a couple of weeks ago to the turn of $565. That is when I decided to take action against these little bastards.