One near me is having an issue with rats. I think really they just need better trash pickup mainly, and better shelters in general, but they’ve specifically asked for help getting rat poison. Would bait boxes with poison even make a dent in an outdoor environment like that? I can’t singlehandedly improve the cleanliness of the camp or get everyone rat-proof shelter obviously, but I feel like just going straight for the poison could have adverse consequences and not be effective, potentially.
Keeping the sources of food and other things that rats seek out at a minimum is likely to go the furthest comrade. I’m not in pest control but going straight for the poison route makes me think it is just as likely to make someone there sick by accidental exposure.
Also, depending upon the type of rat (Norway rats for example), it can be resistant to warfarin and other types of poisons available for those without a pest control license. At that point you are likely wasting money, exposing humans to poisons unlikely to affects rats, etc. And supposing you get hold of the newer types of poison, and someone ingests it accidentally or otherwise, some of the newer poisons aren’t “fixable” like warfarin exposure in humans is.
I’m not in pest control but going straight for the poison route makes me think it is just as likely to make someone there sick by accidental exposure.
Spot on. I think putting out bait boxes with blocks in them could work as part of a strategy focused on prevention first, if cleaning up and such doesn’t work on its own, but apparently in the couple hours since making the ask for help, they’ve already just started putting out plates of pellet poison mixed with food, which makes me want to run away screaming. I’ve broached in the nicest possible terms the fact that they’re just going to poison the local cats and other wildlife doing that shit and offered to help do it safer, we’ll see where that gets me. If they insist on continuing to just put out loose poison I won’t be a part of it, frankly.
I don’t know what country you’re in but pretty sure you can get some pretty strong non-coagulant poisons in the US without a loicense. Not to say its a good idea, you’re right about the risk of human exposure, but I don’t think that not having a license will be an issue.
That’s what I was envisioning in my head. Bait on plates, out in the open. Just waiting for some cross contamination. That’s potentially bad for animals and humans alike. Bait boxes are exactly what are needed. They’re rat sized, but not cat sized, etc. That’s leaving aside the whole problem with second generation poisoning or whatever they call it when a cat eats a poisoned rat and dies. I think some of the more modernized rodenticides are less prone to this type of poisoning but I think you need a pest control license. But then again I’m constantly amazed at the shit I can purchase from the local Tractor Supply so who knows.
Anyway, good luck. Be safe when you’re dealing with poisons.
Thanks. Bromethalin is what I was looking at and it looks like they have it at the hardware store. Supposedly the concentrations involved in killing a rat make secondary poisonings of predators unlikely, but I’m sure the industry has every incentive to say that whether its true or not so idk.
I was hoping to avoid this problem by being proactive in offering to help but I guess a couple hours was too long to wait :/
It’s one of those things where I get it, having rats sucks, and I love to see people taking things into their own hands, but in this case its suuuuuuch a bad idea to just naively do
Plastic bins for food and trash storage would probably do a lot. Although with the trash there would have to be regular pickup or it would defeat the purpose immediately.
they have trash but I don’t know the details on how often it gets picked up, it always seems near full when I go there, but afaik it is getting picked up.
Food is going to be a problem. It was more organized in the past, with a central kitchen tent with storage at least off the ground, and some progress made on containers, but now things are way less organized, if any food is kept on hand it seems to pretty much live in people’s tents, cause I don’t see it when I go.
Last outdoor shelter I worked at had bait boxes all around it, and a pest control guy who came by every week or so. We also had to regularly cut back foliage and places where rats could nest. But even with that, if we ever slacked on cleaning up food and clearing trash we’d have to deal with rats running around every night.
Thanks!
I want to help, but I know bait boxes aren’t gonna be a solution on their own. To make matters worse it sounds like they already put out poison just like, on plates mixed with a little bit of food. The whole situation is starting to upset me, but I’m just staying calm and trying to offer support however I can. Its tough because like, without someone living there to coordinate, things fall apart so fast. If you can like, keep a stocked pantry, you can eventually build up enough trust to mostly convince people to not to hoard food in their tents, but its so easy for someone off the street to walk in and take all the food and walk off and then the trust is broken again, and everyone’s back to survival mode. Sometimes you get a strong presence who helps keep people in line and rally them to keep things running smoothly but it never lasts forever
Even with regular hot meals, food box deliveries for our clients, and a stocked pantry, my shelter started locking the fridges because food theft was rampant. Food insecurity is hard to unlearn.
Poison is going to be a part of any solution
Cats?
Unfortunately cats aren’t very good at dealing with rats. Mice they’re great for, but adult male rats are shockingly big, cats typically leave them alone
Terriers are what you want for rats
My even my lazy dipshit Boston terrier killed several on the streets of NYC while on a leash, just whenever he got the opportunity
Sounds like you need bigger cats
Getting plastic bins for folks tents is probably the way to go like others here have posted. 5 gallon buckets with lids can probably be had pretty cheap or even donated. Then bait boxes for the rest.
Gotta eliminate the food sources.
Rats will gnaw through plastic like nothing. Sometimes they eat plastic just for fun. If there is already an infestation some buckets aren’t going to do a thing other than turn into trash.
Start a feral cat colony? Jokes aside I wish you luck. Dealt with a rat problem recently and they’re so awful. Hope you can help these people out!
Rat poison will definitely bring the numbers down. I don’t touch the stuff but I don’t live in a city so I worry about secondary poisoning. You’ll never get rid of all the rats until there is nothing to eat and nowhere to live but poison can keep them to manageable levels but you have to keep it up.
