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Tink, we used to use a similar method back on the mainland, but for mice. 5 gallon bucket with 1-2 gallons of water in it and a small 2 foot long plank of wood placed next to the bucket like a walkway or ramp from ground to top edge. Place a small (2"x2" works) piece of wood in the bucket so it floats and a dab of peanut butter on the wood. Mouse walks up the ramp, jumps down to the piece of floating wood and subsequently drowns when the wood flips it in the water. They couldn't jump or climb out.
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We have yet to use Tango...still only use Amdro, but our LFA population blooms are way down & rat population is up, ...and this house had a BAD rat problem before we moved in... we moved in late '05..never had a rat problem..until this last year...but have had battles with the LFAs... gawd, I HOPE it is only coincidence...as given a choice...I would rather have population blooms of neither!
Oh, and we do have 3 good for nothing cats & 1 dog... one rat actually walked right by the dog a few times one afternoon, until its demise (not the dog or cats... I was able to 'herd' it into a rat zapper...weird as a couple of the rats, including this one, were out during the day)
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Those seemingly brave rats may have eaten rat poison. They are known to act like that after consuming it.
My LFA/rat connection hypothesis might not be true but it sounds plausible. My place is just crawling with LFA. If they bite people they should be biting the rats too. I use Amdro to keep them out of the house and started spraying Malathion under the eaves.
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An alternative to the bucket method we have used with success is to fill a bucket about 1/2 full with water and then dump a layer of wild bird seed mix on top of it. Crushed mac nut works great too if you have a source. The seeds and/or mac nuts float on top of the water giving an appearance of a half full bucket of seed / nut. The rat jumps into the bucket of seeds only to find out that it's quicksand to their death. The nuts don't ever seem to sink but eventually the seed mix slowly does (it can also sprout) so it may need to be topped off. Check the bucket every morning and pull out any drowned rats. You can feed the seed or nut mix to chickens. We usually put the bucket next to a fence so that the rat climbs the fence to access the bucket of doom. A ramp would probably also work but in our case the fence was necessary to keep our animals from drinking/eating out of the bucket.
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I don't want to cross the streams (thread posting) but if you are still using Amdro that is the reason you still have ground based LFA. For us at least, the Amdro was hit or miss (mostly miss) in it's efficacy after it's first use. Siesta has been a miracle product. The granules look the same but the similarity ends there. Siesta is a much better bait, a much more effective poison, and holds up to east island moisture amazingly well. (Amdro is worthless after 4 hours in our humidity).
p.s. Amdro is brand name, in this post I'm referring to Amdro fire ant bait. Not all Amdro products are labeled for, or work on fire ants.
Next time I notice a fire ant bloom I'll try to get a photo of a small pile of Amdro next to Siesta so you can see which ones the LFA are attracted to if I can.
ETA: I don't want to sounds like a Siesta spokesman, but we've eradicated more LFA with about a cup full of Siesta than we ever did with 8 pounds of Amdro over the last 3 years. We are still on our first jug of Siesta and not a fire ant to be found in the area it was used.
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I'm my 100 year old 5 story apartment owning experience, in the cold winters the rats and mice would come, through the sewers or wherever they get in.. I'd buy the cheap little green pellets and sprinkle just a few here and there checking frequently.. How many of those cheap pellets does it take?? When we lived in an 1890's 3 story home,, they'd eat through the dang walls to get in! While I couldn't observe em at the ready, my son had a pet for about 2 years, a big ol'male, and had been warned several times not to let him run freely down stairs.. Albeit one day he forgot. Under my buffet I had 3 pellets tucked deep in a corner. They'd been in place near 1 year..
Sadly to say, his pet ate 1.. End of story.
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quote:
Originally posted by pahoated
It could be helpful to know the general area where large numbers of rats are becoming noticeable. There is the forest being totally eliminated up around Puu Oo. Whatever was in those forests that have burned down are going to move downhill. There are some large clearings being made that will drive out whatever was there before. There are other areas that are just heavily infested with everything, down by the ocean and next to the junk vegetation "jungle". It does seem like the feral pigs are also on the move.
"Aloha also means goodbye. Aloha!"
Kapoho Vacationland
Cat 1 - Rat 0 today!!
Pigs - have seen them on my block, and also my SIL saw one in her yard 2 nights ago. (she has minimal vegetation but does have one totally loaded mountain apple tree dropping fruit. The pig was enjoying a few of the apples!)
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25 years ago when my brother moved into his house in Kapolei they would get waves of mice and rats as each section of cane was bulldozed. Perhaps it was due to the cessation of irrigation in preparation for bulldozing. Either way the loss of rodent habitat nearby could be a factor. Also I never saw any pigs in Eden Roc when I bought the place in 2004 or for many years thereafter. About a year ago they showed up and now act like they own the place. Loss of habitat due to the volcano maybe?
