AusVarmint

We've had an ongoing rat problem for a while,actually the missus thinks it's a problem,I reckon it's bloody great,but anyway.......
Generally the younger more bold rats get picked off first and the older,cunning rats get nailed eventually.The best baits I've used so far have been sunflower seeds as a main bait and crushed dog kibble which seems to get their noses going.Penut butter has worked if the ants stay off it,hence the seed and kibble.Two of the most shifty buggers I've come across would only pause for a few peices of skin off a roast chook and we had a rat brawl erupt over an anchovie,so that obviously works well.
Their numbers are thin at the moment but a couple are still about and wont surface for quids so I'll lay off them for a while and try a different approach and see if that works.In the meantime has anyone used a bait that has worked in drawing out some pretty stubborn rats?

I have heard tin of mashed up sardines is good - also brings in the cats LOL

Also feed corn - but you cannot have any other sourse of grain around laying about like spillage at the bottom of silos etc.

We don't have much of a rat problem, there are signs of a few about, but more field mice as we have lots of winter grass seeding.

As we are not always around, the first night we were there on the farm, I had mice and rats in my car's engine bay... next morning when I took the battery out to use it to start the tractor I could not believe how much crap they dumped all over the engine and gearbox etc.

Put out the Rat bait... and the next day 2 dead rats in the sheering shed

My grandfather always swore by bacon fat, but I agree that peanut butter (peanut paste to us old-school croweaters) works well.

cheers and good luck,

curan

Bacon fat rings a bell.I'll give that a go.

Thanks

Pumpkin seeds soaked in vanilla essence should likely work too

How did you go Toggle?

Anything work particularly well?

cheers, curan

Get a can of sardines, or dog/cat food and punch nail holes all around it. The rats have to get up close to lick/gnaw at the can, which will give you more time to deal with them. Be careful to avoid ricochets.

Sorry for the late reply.I persisted with the sunflower seeds and rather than try my luck just after dark,I found the rats were at the bait from about 11pm onwards.Crafty little buggers.
I managed to pick them off over two seperate nights and had to change the bait location
to get one of them.
The bait itself worked,it was the time and placement that had to change for these two.
Thanks for the input,i will try a few of the suggestions if I can keep the ants away.