Rat Blocks....

thinking of putting those rat poison blocks down for over winter, havnt seen anything but I rekon they are always about, passing through.......only thing is I don't want to kill the squirrels , any thoughts on where I can put the blocks without squirrels eating them...?

David I keep them down all year because I'm beside a farm. I use the plastic box type bait stations where only the rats, mice (and slugs) can get in. They're about a fiver each and the blocks are kept in with a skewer so you can tell how much of a problem you may have as bait can't be carried off. And they lock so kids cant get at them. The thing i don't like is any rodents affected before they die off might be taken by the barn owls we have calling every night. Wear them thin latex type gloves when baiting because the rodents won't go in if they smell humans, takes a while for human scent to fade away.

thanks for the info colin, ive already got one of the boxes, I bought it about a year ago from the corn shop.......never used it though.

if I put it under the loft would squirrels go in it, I think it has a 2 inch hole either side, so a squirrel would be able to get in it......

I guess they might David, luckily no squirrels round here.

that's th only thing for me colin, quite a lot of them round here now, and wouldn't like to kill them........its nice seeing them roaming around the gardens.

I would feel the same david, maybe place a length of plastic pipe each side of bait box to the entry points, maybe squirrels less keen of travelling through pipes than rats are?

Not sure how rat poison affects birds David, maybe a google search will help you out
Barnie I meant , sorry

David wrote:

thinking of putting those rat poison blocks down for over winter, havnt seen anything but I rekon they are always about, passing through.......only thing is I don't want to kill the squirrels , any thoughts on where I can put the blocks without squirrels eating them...?

Forgetting the squirrel issue David I would suggest, all should have baits for rats/mice out some where 24/7/52. Nice to think we live in a nice clean type enviroment as such but they are always out there lurking some where from my experience. Bit like cats     maybe, who just enjoy coming out after dark with there killer type habits.

Squirrels, bushy tailed rats the greys...american imports,if there running about so will rats n mice must be a food supply.

Bait under the lofts all the time. Have had for years. Though many get in at times. Pretty harmless. Any virus/bugs they carry was passed on years ago.

Get some rat cages dave catch um live then put them in a bucket of water this time of the year leave them out over night and they will be dead next morning anything else in their than rats let them go