RAT bloom.... now it's WAR

[Carey]

PM2...do you have established salamanders near your place? Is this in Hawaii?

[PunaMauka2]

this is up in the summit area of Kilauea. i could very well be mistaken in calling them salamanders. skinks? i don't know, but definitely not geckos or chameleons (none of those in the vicinity, except the Jacksons). slithery little black and grey guys.

[Carey]

If they are skinny, shiny, dry, reptillian scaly, they are the skinks, which have well documented established populations here in Hawaii...there are no documented established populations of the fatter, moist, amphibian smooth skinned salamanders, so I hope your kitty is a decimator of reptiles! ETA: and RATS too! this has bee the Year of the Rat for us!

http://www.explorebiodiversity.com/Hawai.../Frogs.htm

[PunaMauka2]

skinks! thanks for the correction, Carey. definitely skinks. from a quick google search looks like probably 'Lampropholis delicata' type. coloration, markings and location in Hawaii fit description. get choke enough. she doesn't catch many. quite sure the lawn mower is a bigger hazard in the world of skinks.

as for the birds my concern is the mosquito, yet another pestilence which could warrant it's own thread. until about a dozen years or so ago never had but a very few mosquitoes in this neck of the woods. literally would see just a few per year, during the summer months, barely able to drunkenly buzz around. for whatever reason, since then they have become progressively more numerous over an increasing span of the warmer half of the year.

still zero house roaches up here!

[2liveque]

Hands down, the best rat trap I have ever owned. Clean, quick. Zzzzzap.

http://www.amazon.com/Rat-Trap-Infrared-..._3?ie=UTF8&qid=1433811458&sr=8-3&keywords=rat+zapper

[terracore]

According to the study referenced by the linked article below, mammals made up only 25% of the animals killed by cats. While birds made up a smaller percentage (12%), with an estimated 74 million cats in the USA, 'Cat predation is one of the reasons why one in three American bird species are in decline'. Of course, 71 bird species in Hawaii have already gone extinct, so no problem with the cats there, but of the 42 remaining endemic taxa, 33 (31 species and 2 sub-species) are federally listed under the Endangered Species Act.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...hines.html

[bystander]

It may be just my imagination but since my property became infested with LFA, there seem to be less rats around. Maybe the ants have nests where the rats hang out and are driving them away? I also have several cats that used to kill a lot rats but not too many lately. If it is true then at least the LFAs are good for something.

[terracore]

Normally I'm the first to exclaim "Coincidence!"

But the rat bloom on my property happened shortly after I started using Siesta and Provaunt on the LFA and for the most part the LFA are eradicated or at least under control.

I've seen first hand the LFA swarming on newly hatching chicks. I just assumed it was the protein in the egg sack. Is there something else at work here?

Probably not. From what I gather the rat bloom is everywhere in Puna, not just the areas without LFA.

The armchair scientist in me would like to hear more.

[bystander]

I used have a rat problem but not this year. Could be you've eradicated the LFAs and the rats from surrounding areas found an ant free sanctuary there. In the past I've tried traps. The best ones imo are the black plastic ones that snap shut like a pair of jaws. I actually tried setting some up using peanut butter as bait a few days ago after reading this thread. No rats were caught but the LFAs ate up all the peanut butter.

[Tink]

Peanut butter seems to be the likely culprit here. A dab with Tango here and there to get rid of the LFA's seems to attract the rats with the peanut butter odor in the air. Aahhh, life in the jungle! Guess it's time to look like ole Jeb with the gun on his lap at sundown, waiting for the rats to seek the empty peanut butter jar on the lawn...
Actually, a more humane? way is to take a 5 gallon pail with lid, cut a 1 inch hole in the lid. Put gob of peanut butter in bottom of pail, snap lid on pail. Place pail in an area where it won't tip over. Rat will smell peanut butter, then see peanut butter thru hole. Hopefully be hungry enough to try to "reach" peanut butter at bottom of pail and fall in. Can't climb out due to slippery walls and hole in middle of lid.
How you dispose the problem from here is your choice.

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