Rat snaring in doors

[sidebyside 0]

I have a problem job on the go at a farm that is basically falling down, over run with rats, has tons of loose grain on the floors, no doors on the grain store barns and kids that bugger about with baits and steal traps. I have convinced myself that snaring could help to reduce the rattus population.

 

The problem:- the snaring will have to be done inside, the walls are 9" hollow concrete blocks and the floor is concreted.

 

Anyone have any ideas how I could make up free standing ie supported by a frame or what ever indoor snares?

[sidebyside 0]

We have used smokers, terriers, multicatch you name it it has been tried, I get paid hansomely for doing the work so no real problems other than the kids bugger up traps and scatter baits, snaring is an option that we want to look at, there are plenty of place we can get to snare that would be to difficult for the kids, in the past if we have put in traps they get damaged, 23 Mk4 Fenns and tunnels stamped on can get costly, snares, once the design is sorted are a lot more discreet that traps in tunnels and hopefully less costly.

[TOMO 29,360]

why make work for your self , just poison them .

 

if there living inside the holow walls put the poison there.

 

if there are earth burrows , bait there as well.

[sidebyside 0]

By law you have to retrieve any bait that is not consumed at the end of the treatment it would be impossible to get bait out from the wall cavities, this job is being over looked by the powers that be , it is an enforcement.

The burrow baiting has been done for those that resided outside, tracking dust and feed have been used we know now precisly where they come from but everytime we use baits or traps kids create havoc.

I would like ideas for in door snaring, we are competent in all other methods of rodent control, this is a one off job that is causing difficulties.

Any ideas of how to make a free standing snares.

[zig zag wanderer 0]

I don't have an answer to your snaring problem but as TOMO says poison them. Retrieval is no problem, just use blocks secured on a wire so that they can easily be inspected and removed when sorted. Probably not as much fun as snaring though. Having said that if there is a lot of loose grain about they may not be hungry enough to thake the bait, in which case you could try liquid poison hoppers (out of the way of children of course)

[john b 38]

You could try something like these, taken from Camp Life in the Woods

. But as simple tunnels over the runs.

 

THE BOX SNARE.

This is a most unique device, and will well repay anyone who may desire to test its merits. It may be set for rabbits, coon, or feathered game, of course varying the size of the box accordingly. For ordinary purposes, it should be seven or eight inches square, leaving one end open. Place it in the position shown in the illustration and proceed to bore an auger hole in the top board, one and a half inches from the back edge.

 

This is for the reception of the bait stick. Directly opposite to this and an inch from the front edge of the board a notched peg should be inserted. A gimlet hole should now be bored on a line between the auger hole and notched peg, and half an inch from the latter. A small stout screw eye should next be inserted at the rear edge of the board, and another one fastened to the back board, two inches from the bottom. With these simple preparations the box is complete. The bait stick should be about five or six inches long and supplied with a notch at the upper end. It should be of such a size as to pass easily into the auger hole, and provided with a peg inserted through it at about an inch and a half from the notched end, as shown in our illustration at (a). The object of this peg is to prevent the bait stick from being drawn entirely through the hole by the Page 56 force of the pull from above. The catch piece should be only long enough to secure its ends beneath the notches in the peg at the top of the box and the projecting bait stick. It should be bevelled off at the tips as in the instances previously described, and attached to a piece of sucker wire, the point of attachment being at about an inch from the end of the stick. The wire should be about two and a half feet in length, the catch piece being fastened at about six inches from one end. To set this neat little invention it is first necessary to procure a strong and elastic switch about four feet in length, sharpen it slightly at the large end and insert it firmly in the screw eye at the back of the box, securing it in place at the top by strings through the screw eye at that place. By now attaching the short end of the wire to the tip of the sapling, inserting the bait stick from the inside of the box, and securing the catch piece in the notches, the other pieces will be in equilibrium, and the only remaining thing to be done is to pass the long end of the wire through the gimlet hole, and form it into a slipping noose which shall completely fill the opening of the box. In order to reach the bait the animal must pass his head through the noose, and it can be easily seen that the slightest pull on that tempting morsel will release the catch piece and tighten the wire around the neck of the intruder. Where the trap is small and the captured animal is large, it will sometimes happen that the box will be carried a distance of several feet before overpowering its victim; but it is sure to do it in the end if the spring powers of the sapling are strong and it is firmly secured to the box. If desired, the box may be tied to a neighboring stone or tree to prevent any such capers; but it will generally be found unnecessary, and a few minutes' search will always reveal it with its unlucky captive.

 

We have described the box with its spring attached; but this is not a requisite, as it may be used with growing sapling when required.

 

The same trap may be constructed of a pasteboard box and whalebone, for the capture of small birds, and used with good success. The size we have mentioned is adaptable for rabbits and animals of the same size, but is really larger than necessary for feathered game.

 

 

THE DOUBLE BOX SNARE.

This is another embodiment of the same principle which has already been described, viz.—the knotted string. By many it Page 57 is considered an improvement on the box snare just mentioned, owing to the possibility of its taking two victims at the same time. It may be set for rabbits, mink, or muskrat, and will be found very efficient.

 

It consists of a box about eight inches square, one foot in length, and open at both ends. In the centre of the top board a hole of the diameter of a lead pencil should be bored, and a smaller aperture also made in the middle of each end near the edge as seen in the accompanying engraving. The spring is next required. This should consist of an elastic switch or small pole, three or more feet in length. It should be inserted in a slanting auger hole, made through the middle of one of the side boards near the bottom at the angle shown at (a). Should the switch fit loosely it may be easily tightened by a small wedge driven in beside it. The bait stick (b) should be about four inches in length, and large enough to fit easily into the hole in the centre of the top board. Next procure a stout bit of cord about eight inches in length. Tie one end to the tip of Page 58 the switch and provide the other with a large double knot. A second knot should then be made, about an inch and a half above the first. A piece of sucker wire is the next necessity. Its length should be about five feet, and its centre should be tied over the uppermost knot in the string. If the bait is now in readiness, the trap may be set. Bend down the switch until the end knot will pass through the hole in the centre of the board. When it appears in the inside of the box, it should then be secured by the insertion of the top of the bait stick, as shown at (b). This insertion need be only very slight, a sixteenth of an inch being all that is sufficient to prevent the knot from slipping back. The spring is thus held in the position seen in the drawing, and the loose ends of the sucker wire should then be passed downward through the small holes and arranged in nooses at both openings of the box. Our trap is now set, and the unlucky creature which attempts to move that bait from either approach, will bring its career to an untimely end. The bait stick may be so delicately adjusted as to need only the slightest touch to dislodge it. Such a fine setting is to be guarded against, however, being as likely to be sprung by a mouse as by a larger animal. The setting is easily regulated, being entirely dependent upon the slight or firm insertion of the bait stick.

[sidebyside 0]

Now we are rock and rolling, I will sit back and have a look at the design and see what I can come up with, keep the ideas coming for snares.

 

As I have said before 99% of the other available methods have been tried all have one problem or another, liquid bait in an area that has no doors and more holes in the roof than Tommy Lipton has tea bags water water everywhere.

[bowers1986 3]

Ive personally snared rats in my old chicken shed,,,Didnt really intend to catch anything when I first set them and to my shock the next day had one,,caught 3 in total over 5/6days.You will probably have more luck using a Live catch trap or even better invite some terrier lads off this site up and have a couple of days at them,,,Im sure this will be the most effective method of getting rid :thumbs:

Edited December 30, 2007 by bowers1986

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

kids bugger up traps and scatter baits, snaring is an option that we want to look at, there are plenty of place we can get to snare that would be to difficult for the kids

 

 

Lost me. How can kids not bugger up snares, just as well as traps? Where can ye set a snare that ye can't set a trap ~ and kids not get to?

 

 

 

we are competent in all other methods of rodent control

 

 

Then why not competently secure ye Boxes, by any of the variety of anchors available through ye usual supplier, so that said kids can't do shit but stand there glaring at the box? Or bust their feet attempting Criminal Damage.

 

Ye say ye being paid " hansomely " (sic)? So buy the proper standards of boxes for the job and do it " Competently ". No?

[snareman 3]

set some leg holds let the kids stamp on them that would piss me off if they did that too me

s by s. you don,t say if they are the kids from the farm , or their age, or ones who are prowling fom out side , if they are older youths

then give the fcukers a good slap , like we would have gotten in our day , also double a length of 3 mil, wire and bend the double length, around a 1 inch diameter bar then staple the two fork ends into the back , this will kill rats easily , you can make them in minature with square plastic pipe cover , similar to a home made mole trap ,

[heart of wales 19]

If the rats are running through cavities use a product like contact dust,If children can gain access to your posion to mess about with it ,it should either be securely positioned or removed.Have you got any photos of the place.

[RatSnatcher 0]

Looking at the box trap drawings that John B put up.......

 

.couldn't you drill a hole in some of the hollow blocks you talk about and set it up the same as johns drawing.....you may be able to find some laying about the farm

[sidebyside 0]

The idea is to set wires in the hollow blocks, the kids are aged from 10 - about 18 all from the local estate, last year they torched 2500 straw bales for fun, anything and I mean anything gets smashed up, the old bill are as much use as a chocolate tea pot.

 

I don't need ideas like secure the boxes well or use rodenticide powder we have been through all of these, even metal bait boxes inside purpose made steel cover boxes have been ripped from the rag anchor fixings and thrown into the hedge. If we can come up with a design of a snare that can be manufactured at a suitable price we will go with it, the damaged equpment is costing the farmer a small fortune.

[john b 38]

Can you post any pics of these walls ? I'm struggling to visualise how you are going to get 'inside' them. Are there blocks you can take out and replace with a 'snare block' ?

 

If that's what you're planning then the snares would be 'invisible' to the marauding kids. But it would be just as possible to create 'trap' blocks ? A hollow 9" block sounds like a good bodygrip cubby or fenn tunnel to me.

 

John

[Squirrel_Basher 17,102]

Im not pretending to be better or as good as the next man but being a builder ,i know the construction of 9" hollow pot walls .If the rats are living in them ,then its simplicity itself to bolt rats from them for waiting terriers.Just simply tip a bucket of water in each pot and wait for them to bolt .In the past we have rigged up places like this with sliding doors etc so that all exits are blocked before we enter a building .Dont overlook the terrier as a means mate and it intails no great financial outlay .