Another rat story

[finchbreeder]

Looking at your pic Tint could be right. Rats will chew at entry points where electrical or water pipes go throught the walls, to make a bigger hole. Check these. We put poison baits in our ceiling every year. One of the joys of being largely surrounded by bush.
LML

[tbird]

Tintola, I agree with you. I thought my avairy was totally rodent proof. In the photo the solid wall is actually double brick and the fourth wall that you can't see is glass. Where the 2 glass walls in the far corner of the photo join is where I heard the rat running down. On the weekend we will have to dig around that area to see if we can find anything. I also agree that putting wire on the ground would destroy my plantings so I wondered if I could cut the wire around them, going as close to the stems as possible. Do you or anyone else know just how far a rat will tunnel? Thankyou for you input

[BluJay]

Tbird, I am truly sorry for your troubles with critters, you Aviary is beautiful. Don't know what to say about critters here - but back home, Golden Marlin Fly Bait, is what I used, don't know if they have it here or even the chemicals that are used in the product. What I can tell you, any critter that ingested it - made it about 5 to 10 feet and they were four feet up - literally! Hope you are able to fix the problem.

[natamambo]

Tbird I have a couple of spare breeding cages 3'x18" you could borrow to give the birds a bit more space for a little while if you wanted to while you sort out the mess. I'm in Rowville, so not that far from you. PM me some contact details if you want to.

[Fincho162]

Never underestimate a ###*****#### rat!!! Just "removed" a 3 foot tiger snake from one of mine so that tends to keep the rats on their toes!!!

Just a tip if u are going to have your finches in a cage for a lengthy period then try to use natural softer wood perches as one of the main problems with extended stays in cages are the hardwood perches and finches feet.

As to attracting your rat to terminate it with extreme prejudice...........if the conventional methods fail u then off to the brewing store for some conc. Aniseed essence............actually banned for fishing & trapping but in this case.....who cares!!!
Happy hunting.

[Tintola]

Tintola, I agree with you. I thought my avairy was totally rodent proof. In the photo the solid wall is actually double brick and the fourth wall that you can't see is glass. Where the 2 glass walls in the far corner of the photo join is where I heard the rat running down. On the weekend we will have to dig around that area to see if we can find anything. I also agree that putting wire on the ground would destroy my plantings so I wondered if I could cut the wire around them, going as close to the stems as possible. Do you or anyone else know just how far a rat will tunnel? Thankyou for you input

Let us know where the rat was getting in and we will take it from there as to the best solution to stop it happening again. If you wire the whole base and leave spaces for the plants to grow through it will create a chink in your armour and you will never feel secure that you have solved the problem. Maybe a 60 cm trench dug straight down in line with the wall and a barrier of 1/2 inch wire mesh might work, if that is where the point of entry is found to be. I would not like to estimate how far a rat would tunnel, remember they have nothing to do and all night, every night, to do it!

[tbird]

Thanks everybody for your input. Natambo thanks very much for the offer of your cages. I will certainly PM you if it goes on much longer. I think I have double trouble. This morning I saw mice running around in there. I don't know how any rodent is still alive with all the rat bait they have eaten. So I googled can mice behead birds and rip them open in an avairy and the answer was no. So I have to presume I have both rats and mice, although google said they are very unlikely to be in such close proximaty to each other.I have seen where the mice are coming in. I was sitting in my dining room in wait watching through the glass....its where the double brick wall joins the glass wall. Wish I new where the rats were coming in. I got up onto the roof yesterday and there was no sign on them coming in from up there at all. I think your idea tintola of digging a trench all the way around the edges and putting in a barrier of wire may be the answer. I also have to wonder if its a bit of karma. A few months ago I posted about my neighbours cat getting up on the wire roof of the avairy and scaring the birds night and day. Well a month or so ago the cat went missing and I promptly told my neighbour that It wasn't me but was secretly rubbing my hands together.Maybe it was their wandering cat that had kept the rats and mice away from my avairy!!
I guess like eveyone who has this problem, the thought of putting the birds back is really upsetting because you just never know if you have the situation under control.

[SamDavis]

Sorry to hear your rodents dramas continue. If there's a rat about you'll see its poop - even a single rat seems to produce an incredible number of poops per day. Also, are the nest boxes still up? They'd be a favourite spot for both mice and rats.

[E Orix]

rats 001.jpg

rats 002.jpg

This is a happy Rat story now,its dead.It was a fully grown adult
I went into my big flight this morning only to fine it dead.I have no idea how it got in for sure.
Thankfully I have permanent bait stations through out my setup.Its a sobering thought because this aviary is just far to big
to chase one down,it is fully planted and covers some 400+ sq m. A resonable check leads me to believe no rare species have been
taken infact it may have come from my bird room looking for water. once again how do they gain access.

[Brooksy]

Wow bet your glad you found it dead & not scampering around that aviary, unnerving to think how it got in.