FYI, if you get a bad infestation of rats...

I finally found the solution. They weren't IN the house (thank God) but I sure got a bunch of them when the vacant lot behind me was mowed. I called Carmen Canales who came out & her 2 guys were shooting them with air rifles & chasing them all over the yard beating them with my broom. They got a pile of about 40-50 dead rats by the end of the day. That didn't do it. I bought the traps from the hardware store in Ajijic. That didn't catch even one though I had about 4 traps. Carefully, I tried poison & patrolled each morning to pick up any dead ones so no dogs could get them. Only got a few that way & stopped because I was worried about hurting an innocent critter.

I had screens put on the fireplace tops on the roof because I could hear them in there at night. I was so tired of the smell & sweeping the rat poop from my patio & garage daily & I also was tired of seeing them peering at me in the eaves of the patio & garage so I got a guy to come out & take the tiles off & concrete in the spaces between the tile & the walls in the eaves. That finally worked.

But that's not the end of the story. My car kept smelling funny & I had the concrete man check under the hood of the car & there was another rat so I took the car to the car wash by Lake Taco & explained the problem. The pressure-washed the engine & 2 rats popped out & ran. The car started smelling funny again & it took 3 engine washes to finally get rid of them. The last one was killed by this nasty snap trap I brought with me when I moved here which I loaded with peanut butter & placed near the front of my car. Killed a really fat one which I suspect was pregnant & nesting. What kills me is I've been driving around with rats under my hood all this time. Luckily, they didn't seem to do any damage to the wiring.

So if you get a bad rat infestation, forget the traps, exterminators & all the other stuff if you have any roofs made of those half-round terra cotta tiles with spaces where they can nest. This whole mess has cost me close to 10,000 pesos & I could have saved at least half that if I had sealed off their nesting places in the first place. I used to sit & watch them at night running up & down the bars on my sliding doors. Now I'm rat-free. I forgot to mention that the little 10 lb. dog in my avatar picture managed to kill a few as well. The bigger dogs ignored them.

Strategicly placing real corks soaked in rancid lard will kill them also even better soak them in bacon and or sausage grease. The corks swell up inside them and bursts along with the digestive system effectively killing them.

That's good to know. Unfortunately, there were soooo many I'd have had to have a cork factory to get rid of them.

Cats.

JACK RUSSELS - they live to catch critters like rats. Get two or more together and it is a competition to see who runs off with the biggest piece. I have never seen anything like it before, they are obsessed with killing them, if they get into a nest the little critters are snapped up like popcorn at the movies.

otrocanuck wrote:JACK RUSSELS - they live to catch critters like rats. Get two or more together and it is a competition to see who runs off with the biggest piece. I have never seen anything like it before, they are obsessed with killing them, if they get into a nest the little critters are snapped up like popcorn at the movies.

True!! Only problem is you have to live with a Jack Russel Terrier the rest of the day LOL.
They are the most intense dogs I have ever seen. Makes a Blue Healer look like a Lab.

You mean a lab without a tennis ball....

Carry Bean wrote:I finally found the solution. They weren't IN the house (thank God) but I sure got a bunch of them when the vacant lot behind me was mowed. I called Carmen Canales who came out & her 2 guys were shooting them with air rifles & chasing them all over the yard beating them with my broom. They got a pile of about 40-50 dead rats by the end of the day. That didn't do it. I bought the traps from the hardware store in Ajijic. That didn't catch even one though I had about 4 traps. Carefully, I tried poison & patrolled each morning to pick up any dead ones so no dogs could get them. Only got a few that way & stopped because I was worried about hurting an innocent critter.

I had screens put on the fireplace tops on the roof because I could hear them in there at night. I was so tired of the smell & sweeping the rat poop from my patio & garage daily & I also was tired of seeing them peering at me in the eaves of the patio & garage so I got a guy to come out & take the tiles off & concrete in the spaces between the tile & the walls in the eaves. That finally worked.

But that's not the end of the story. My car kept smelling funny & I had the concrete man check under the hood of the car & there was another rat so I took the car to the car wash by Lake Taco & explained the problem. The pressure-washed the engine & 2 rats popped out & ran. The car started smelling funny again & it took 3 engine washes to finally get rid of them. The last one was killed by this nasty snap trap I brought with me when I moved here which I loaded with peanut butter & placed near the front of my car. Killed a really fat one which I suspect was pregnant & nesting. What kills me is I've been driving around with rats under my hood all this time. Luckily, they didn't seem to do any damage to the wiring.

So if you get a bad rat infestation, forget the traps, exterminators & all the other stuff if you have any roofs made of those half-round terra cotta tiles with spaces where they can nest. This whole mess has cost me close to 10,000 pesos & I could have saved at least half that if I had sealed off their nesting places in the first place. I used to sit & watch them at night running up & down the bars on my sliding doors. Now I'm rat-free. I forgot to mention that the little 10 lb. dog in my avatar picture managed to kill a few as well. The bigger dogs ignored them.

Please don't use poison, you will kill more cats and dogs then you know..........CATS are best option.

Cats aren't an option with 3 dogs. Anyway, the problem is solved now.

Carry Bean wrote:Cats aren't an option with 3 dogs. Anyway, the problem is solved now.

Carry Bean, Biggest cause of Rat problem is pet owners leaving food bowls outside.....just an FWI for neighbors.

Probably true, but I never did. They moved to my house when the empty lot behind me was mowed. We're not talking about a few - there must have been a hundred or more.

I brought a RatZapper with me from NOB but it only kills one at a time. We had a few rats in Roca Azul because they liked the banana trees. Between the RatZapper and the Corgis, no rats.

Ms Carry Bean...
Your an inspiration to us all.
I can see you now guns blazin an spittin fire
after those vermin ratzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I've had roof rat problems but after reading
about your problems, well I'm a wimp. (Crying in by beer)
Great work on your part.
Rats will stink up your place and if you kill them others
will pick up the scent and figure there must be good pickins.
You must exterminate them. It's you or them.
Great job Girlllllllllllllllllll............

Thanks for the info Carry Bean, very informative.

old farm trick we used to rid barn of rats!
leave 5 gallon buckets 1/3 - 1/2 full of water rats climb in to drink cant get out.

we got rid of loaaaaddds of rats this way when the farmer down the road torn down his old rat infested barn

Momma cat (Katie) and my gattito ( Tigger ) regularly deliver at least 1 or 2 mice/rats to me every day .....must think I'm starving ..... AND they no longer use the litter box instead doing their biz outside ! .....WOO HOO !
Best thing I ever did ......didn't even know we had mice/rats .....

gravy wrote:Momma cat (Katie) and my gattito ( Tigger ) regularly deliver at least 1 or 2 mice/rats to me every day .....must think I'm starving ..... AND they no longer use the litter box instead doing their biz outside ! .....WOO HOO !
Best thing I ever did ......didn't even know we had mice/rats .....

You're a kind man, Gravy........and I like to hear the good karma come around for taking in those kitties!

My God, where does someone live that they get rats? We don't get rats where we live, just possums.

johninajijic wrote:My God, where does someone live that they get rats? We don't get rats where we live, just possums.

I live in LAS and I have rats. Saw their poopy. I beleive someone can't remember just who borrowed a couple of those red block poision thingys a few years ago. Have had three rats in my pool. Maybe because there is a corn field directly in back of my house. Haven't had any in the house, if I can remember correctly someone had those itsy bitsy mice in their kitchen. Just hope they don't get into the house, but then I have two cats and a dog. You're lucky, you haven't had mice or rats.

little italy wrote:

johninajijic wrote:My God, where does someone live that they get rats? We don't get rats where we live, just possums.

I live in LAS and I have rats. Saw their poopy. I beleive someone can't remember just who borrowed a couple of those red block poision thingys a few years ago. Have had three rats in my pool. Maybe because there is a corn field directly in back of my house. Haven't had any in the house, if I can remember correctly someone had those itsy bitsy mice in their kitchen. Just hope they don't get into the house, but then I have two cats and a dog. You're lucky, you haven't had mice or rats.

Probably because of the houses that back up to the farmers fields. Mice can go anywhere especially if people leave their screens open.

johninajijic wrote:

little italy wrote:

johninajijic wrote:My God, where does someone live that they get rats? We don't get rats where we live, just possums.

I live in LAS and I have rats. Saw their poopy. I beleive someone can't remember just who borrowed a couple of those red block poision thingys a few years ago. Have had three rats in my pool. Maybe because there is a corn field directly in back of my house. Haven't had any in the house, if I can remember correctly someone had those itsy bitsy mice in their kitchen. Just hope they don't get into the house, but then I have two cats and a dog. You're lucky, you haven't had mice or rats.

Probably because of the houses that back up to the farmers fields. Mice can go anywhere especially if people leave their screens open.

OPPS! guess I better start closing my screens after leaving them opened for seven years damn hate to do that.

Keep leaving them open like house # 18 does and you'll have mice inside.

CanuckBob wrote:Just like the big rat in #12............jajaja.

Mice and rats can get into anywhere if they are motivated enough. They will chew through your screens in a second if they want in. They are usually after food and water. Particularily water in the dry season.

And the new one who will be moving into # 13. And we're keeping our newly acquired Chihuahua...........jajaja