Who to call

[MamaGarcia]

Here's an idea for a creative approach to the rat issue... How about going to him and asking him for his advice about "your" rat problem. Tell him you've noticed a lot of rats around your home and are concerned about the health issues and diseases. He might say he has them too and you can both work together to come up with a solution. Yeah, cats do hunt rats and all, but if the rats are carrying something nasty, the cats will just help to spread it. Yuck rats! I'd definitely vacate for a couple days and set a bunch of traps. Maybe find out where they are coming from. They'll probably keep coming back, but at least you can figure out what those rats want with your home and eliminate the bait. Aloha!

[StillHope]

I totally agree on peaceful approach.

But there's a bigger picture here - poverty.

You will not find rat infestation in an affluent neighborhood.

And there's plenty of it in slums.

People working low paid jobs just to pay the bills, coming home to

collapse...They are too exhausted to do stuff around the house.

I wish people quit asking whether or not a person did their

"homework" buying the property.

Unlikely anyone hasn't.

When I was buying a land I had a choice to pay half of what I paid

in the same area.But when I saw the picture of the nearby houses,I

told myself :"I'll pay this much not to live there".

I didn't have the cash to buy the better property.But I was able to get

a loan in my bank.Was it easy for me? No!

But with my very good credit history and nice collateral I managed.

Not everyone has that opportunity.

Sometimes a person has to do what he has to do.

A lot of people chose Puna because they can not afford elsewhere.

So asking "why did you buy there?" or telling a

person that what he gets for not to buying an oceanfront in Kona or

Hilo is not so nice.

Who to call? Try God and hope he has an answering machine...

[MarkP]

You say there is a rat problem. I suspect that there is a general problem with the neighbor's housekeeping. There may be more rats because of this but I don't think that the rat issue will stand on its own. I don't think it is worth trying to pursue that angle.

Generally speaking I don't think there is a way to get your neighbor to improve his housekeeping short of enlisting the authorities, which would totally alienate the neighbor, and which again isn't going to happen for a number of reasons not the least of which is there is a long list of responsibilities the authorities are not so good at meeting. This would be true anywhere but in Hawaii there is this cultural phenomenon whereby people identify and cherish a "local" culture. This has its good points but also bad points such as severe nepotism and when it comes right down to it racism although many of the participants don't realize it because supporting "local culture" is "good", so they think they are taking the moral high road.

All this makes it more difficult to address certain social issues that would always be difficult to start with, namely getting a messy neighbor to conform to social standards. Chickens? People throughout Hawaii are proud to have those little houses for fighting cocks in their yard, even though cock-fighting is illegal. Dogs? Ever seen a house with dogs chained strategically around the perimeter like guard towers around a concentration camp? Rats? Well, rats live all over Hawaii and it would be an uphill battle to prove it was due to the neighbor.

I bought in Eden Roc. In retrospect I could have picked a better situation as one of my neighbors is intensely stand-offish and somewhat hostile. He is local and I am from the mainland and I think this matters to him so much that I think we will never sit down for a beer. Also, I cleared right along the property line, something it would probably have been better not to do since he seemed to take it personally. Ironically I did it to some extent because of him. I wanted the use of my property and I wanted the property line well defined. I didn't want to leave part of my property as a no-go zone because of the crazy neighbor. Maybe it was the right way to go. I don't know. Clearing along the property line is sort of my version of trying to get the neighbor to clean up his property. I didn't get the results I had hoped for but I did get the property line cleared. I don't know how much it cost me as far as the neighbor goes. He may never have been approachable.

I think someone who already lives with the conditions you describe would only laugh at you if you suggested there were health implications.

[Bullwinkle]

" cleared right along the property line, something it would probably have been better not to do since he seemed to take it personally"

Bingo

may be a good thing to plant a screen

Rat poison will take em out, be careful though as the stuff goes right up the food chain. Cats, Raptors all will be affected.

1/10th of a gram will kill a 90lb dog!

"trap indoors, poison out doors" for best results look up "bait stations" as to how to make your own

[sistersue]

My friend bought 3 little cattle dog puppies and now they are 12 months old and he hasn't seen a rat for 8 months. Of course he has a fenced yard. Dogs can't catch rats if they're on a dog run. As for the ugliness of your neighbor's yard, built some kind of "yard divider" so you can't see the neighbor's property. If there's a bad smell coming from the neighbor's property, then I would just close the windows on that side of my house. I know that doesn't seem fair, but there's nothing else you can do. I walked over and befriended all my neighbors 20 years ago. One of them doesn't speak English very well, but we like each other a lot. I like my neighbors very much even though they have done things that I hate (sounds like family?). If you become friends then you can bitch about the smell and they clean it up! I'm just giving you my honest experiences. I've lived in Puna for 21 years. Welcome!

[DanielP]

Rats have a way of getting bait off of traps, so, whenever they appear, I take a piece of an oatmeal raisin cookie and gorilla glue it to the bait tray. They just don't know when to stop! I have never had a rat get away with the cookie. Works time after time. Then the cookie just sits there and no more rats. Other cookies probably work as well, but oatmeal raisin is what I have.

[sistersue]

Rat traps are better than poison because you can dispose of the bodies. When rats die from poison the smell is so bad and if you can't find the bodies you have to live with the stench! Also dogs, cats and mongoose can get the poison instead of rats.

[kani-lehua]

i wouldn't call fern forest the slums. we don't live in poverty. we are very good housekeepers. ask anyone who has been to our house. yet, we have rats due to having chickens. they're after the food. renee just trapped her 8th one the other day! i'm going to have her try and use the gorilla glue and cookie bait idea. maybe she'll catch even more. from our own experience, being local doesn't get you a free ride. no matter your ethnicity, if you are a newcomer to the area, the reception doesn't seem to be instant. it takes time.



"chaos reigns within.
reflect, repent and reboot.
order shall return."

microsoft error message with haiku poetry

[Bullwinkle]

In the mainland cabin I have spent months matching wits with the little bas... I mean furry guys, they are clever.

I have had some success with this very simple trap and some modified versions using a 3/4" round dowel and peanut butter. The the corn or dowel needs to be drilled dead center for the trap to work well, a little wd40 on the wire attracts them as well as keeps the roller very "tippy"

The upside is it catches multiple rats and disposal a breeze

http://www.journeytoforever.org/at_rattrap3.html

[Carey]

Any chance this was another Flame? Baja only posted once, a week ago...