smerchly Posted January 14, 2023 Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 They seem to have some reason to come back every winter .There's no food here except a couple of bird suets hanging from a tree . I saw rat tracks in the snow ....baited my old spring trap with a piece of smelly sardine .... Low and behold I got a thumb rat today ! As I was baitingt the trap the spring let go and caught the back of my thumb ! It swelled up instantly & I wrapped a snowball up in a face cloth to bring the swelling down .....thought I may have smashed the upper thumb knuckle ..... Those springs are strong !! It is very sore when bending the thumb slightly ....need that thumb for my spinning reels ! The swelling has gone down some after 30 min under ice . I got one rat so far & have 2 traps baited for his daddy ! me sore thumb.... Bubba14 and boogaloo 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave524 Posted January 14, 2023 Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 Aren't you supposed to bait them before you set them ??? like this one ??? boogaloo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted January 14, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 That's the one Dave . It was baited & I decided to add a small piece of fish to the bait plate & touched it accidently with my finger ...Whammmm ! The corner of the spring wire hit my thumb knuckle & it swelled up in seconds . First time I have got caught . I need to get some reflex meds , getting a tad slower these days. Hope to have a nice rat pic tomorrow ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba14 Posted January 14, 2023 Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 Damn that looks tender Bill! I get the rats around my place as well. It appears that they use my backyard only to get from one place to another as there is no food out there whatsoever. Apparently a neighbour a couple of houses over keeps his garbage outside which is likely the magnet for them. I caught another one last night, big guy. I'm up to 6 now this winter, almost enough to make a hat!! Davidp16 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightfisher Posted January 14, 2023 Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 Bubba no sense letting all that meat go to waste 🤪 https://www.tasteatlas.com/rat-stew smerchly, boogaloo and Bubba14 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted January 14, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 Six rats already Scott , must be a ton of them in the hood ....like the people who live close to the old GM plant at Ontario St . I have seen pieces of bread end up in my yard the odd from someone tossing it out for birds , I have 6 nice bird feeders but don't use them now. Good luck on the pig tail hat , save another two skins for ear muffs . Just now, knightfisher said: Bubba no sense letting all that meat go to waste 🤪 https://www.tasteatlas.com/rat-stew Ugh Dan ....I thought they used rats for "Ratsui" in China ..... Watch for ticks when you clean those rats Dan ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave524 Posted January 14, 2023 Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 1 hour ago, smerchly said: That's the one Dave . It was baited & I decided to add a small piece of fish to the bait plate & touched it accidently with my finger ...Whammmm ! The corner of the spring wire hit my thumb knuckle & it swelled up in seconds . First time I have got caught . I need to get some reflex meds , getting a tad slower these days. Hope to have a nice rat pic tomorrow ! Hair trigger LOL smerchly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba14 Posted January 14, 2023 Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 I think I'll take a pass on the stew... knightfisher and smerchly 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler0420 Posted January 15, 2023 Report Share Posted January 15, 2023 6 hours ago, smerchly said: They seem to have some reason to come back every winter .There's no food here except a couple of bird suets hanging from a tree . I saw rat tracks in the snow ....baited my old spring trap with a piece of smelly sardine .... Low and behold I got a thumb rat today ! As I was baitingt the trap the spring let go and caught the back of my thumb ! It swelled up instantly & I wrapped a snowball up in a face cloth to bring the swelling down .....thought I may have smashed the upper thumb knuckle ..... Those springs are strong !! It is very sore when bending the thumb slightly ....need that thumb for my spinning reels ! The swelling has gone down some after 30 min under ice . I got one rat so far & have 2 traps baited for his daddy ! me sore thumb.... Ouch looks sore smerch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted January 15, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2023 Just now, Tyler0420 said: Ouch looks sore smerch. I said a lot more than ouch Ty.....the air was blue in my garage for a while ... I won't make that mistake again . boogaloo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightfisher Posted January 15, 2023 Report Share Posted January 15, 2023 4 hours ago, Bubba14 said: I think I'll take a pass on the stew... Grow a set will ya Davidp16, smerchly and Bubba14 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markster Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 Just and fyi, Rats and mice can’t burp. As long as they are outside, put bait traps with baking soda and corn meal and a little bit of icing sugar in areas that they will find it but not exposed to the weather. Your rats and mice will eat the cornmeal and sugar and the soda will cause them to gas up and die and they’ll be gone from around your place within a few weeks. I used to have rats around my place, now no sign in any snow of anything around my place for quite awhile. DO NOT do this inside. They will stink up your house as they decompose. smerchly and Bubba14 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coyotehunter Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 Several years ago my next door neighbour complained about rats. They were chewing up stuff in his garage and elsewhere. He had set traps but they weren't catching the rats even if they took the bait. He came to me because my wife was putting out bird seed for the critters. (By the way too expensive to do that now). I told him I was in the process of replacing the scope on my target air rifle and would look into the problem as son as it was sighted in. Two days later he asked me what had happened....I had shot 15 rats. Emptied out all the feeders and only put seed out on a small deck which was 20 yards from my patio doors. It happened to be the range my air rifle was sighted in for. Unfortunately I didn't know Markster could make up a rat hat at the time. smerchly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Row dog Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 I use conibear 110's do the job nicely no escapees Bubba14 and smerchly 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markster Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 Hey Coyotehunter i draw the line at rats. Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted January 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 10 hours ago, coyotehunter said: He came to me because my wife was putting out bird seed for the critters. (By the way too expensive to do that now) Rats eat bird seed . My last dog Maggie (pug/jack russel) killed one while it was eating the seed . I was buying a sack of 18 kg.bird seed for $19.99 + tax . It is now $28.99 + Needless to say ....no more bird seed , now hanging 2 suet packs from a tree .(Dollar Store ,$1.50) My rat traps are set for the winter ! 1 hour ago, Row dog said: I use conibear 110's do the job nicely no escapees I caught a mouse in one of those traps ....got it by the foot ! Released it to warn his buddies to beware of the Smerch ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted January 17, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2023 Last night a big rat decided to try my delicious sardine which was pretty well frozen . I set the trap behind a wire gate leaning against my solid wood fence where I saw a trail in the snow .I set the trap at 90* from the trail . It took the bait last night & as expected took it from the side/corner of the trap . It's a big one , could make a hat for my dog with a nice rat tail for that Kung Foo look...... You can see the rat foot prints in the snow and the trail behind it . Just gettin even for my very sore thumb from the trap spring whacking me ! Rip rat .... Bubba14 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler0420 Posted January 17, 2023 Report Share Posted January 17, 2023 10 hours ago, smerchly said: Last night a big rat decided to try my delicious sardine which was pretty well frozen . I set the trap behind a wire gate leaning against my solid wood fence where I saw a trail in the snow .I set the trap at 90* from the trail . It took the bait last night & as expected took it from the side/corner of the trap . It's a big one , could make a hat for my dog with a nice rat tail for that Kung Foo look...... You can see the rat foot prints in the snow and the trail behind it . Just gettin even for my very sore thumb from the trap spring whacking me ! Rip rat .... Pike bait? Bubba14 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted January 17, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2023 2 hours ago, Tyler0420 said: Pike bait? Musky or Barracuda ...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markster Posted January 17, 2023 Report Share Posted January 17, 2023 Nice catch smerch. Now you have to thank all your sponsors. “i would like to thank woodstream for their fine line of rat eradicators, dollar general for their great line of affordable canned sardine bait,…” 🤣 smerchly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted January 18, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2023 For rats I buy the cheapest sardines with just water . They are quite chunky but no good for fish bait as they fall apart ....... unless you bag them in cheese cloth for catfish.....or use for carp chum in the winter . They do stink up the hands and may attract every cat in the hood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooseslayer Posted January 18, 2023 Report Share Posted January 18, 2023 The neighbour and I catch at least a dozen or more every year and I even made a box to put the spring trap in so the neighbours dog, squirrels, cats don't get in it. My neighbour just got a new one that can catch multiple rats. You put the bait in the middle, accessible from the top latch and they go in and the ramp tips forward and then tips back. The person that told him said they got a dozen in one night. They run around and squeal in there and attract more. He caught one the first night and 2 more last week. He put it by my composters and the first one was running around squealing when he saw me as I went to dump my compost. A hawk heard/saw it and hit my ear with it's wing and landed on the cage 2 feet away trying to get it. Very cool...and we live right in the middle of Thorold. It looks like this. Probably the same one. Multi-Rat Trap | Canadian Tire Bubba14 and NiagaraRiverFisher 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boogaloo Posted January 18, 2023 Report Share Posted January 18, 2023 On 1/14/2023 at 4:29 PM, knightfisher said: Bubba no sense letting all that meat go to waste 🤪 https://www.tasteatlas.com/rat-stew Hard no!!! smerchly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genec Posted January 18, 2023 Report Share Posted January 18, 2023 Bill, you should live trap them - as Tyler suggested, they would make great swim baits for big pike!! Just would be a little tricky tying on a couple of treble hooks 😏 Hmmm…wonder how you could tie up a braid harness for rats?? There’s a winter project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted January 18, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2023 2 hours ago, genec said: Bill, you should live trap them - as Tyler suggested, they would make great swim baits for big pike!! Just would be a little tricky tying on a couple of treble hooks 😏 Hmmm…wonder how you could tie up a braid harness for rats?? There’s a winter project. Hmmmmm.....I think I could make up a small rat harness using velcro and crazy glue .I would tranquilize the rat while I add the big trebs before launching it into the lake .... sounds like a plan ! Or ....I could simply mount it & use for jerk bait .....? (top H20 bass) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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