Taking care of rats ... with a blacksnake?

[Al Gerhart]

I know this probably wasn’t meant as a serious question but it varies a lot more than that. There is no set schedule with nature obviously but every 7-21+ days is a good average. And only for around 6-8 months of the year. As snakes get older and bigger they start eating less frequently so a snake big enough to eat an adult rat might only be eating 8 times a year.

I figured as much from people I know that owned large snakes. No way snakes alone are going to control a rat population and if I understand that is the point of your posts. Thanks for the info on this.

 

[Toothpick]

Lots of traps. I wouldn't introduce a future problem to get rid of the current one.

Also, consider removing what the rats are there for. Probably chicken food and the eggs. Collect the eggs twice a day if you can and remove the food/water at night. Or only put out enough food/water that the chickens will go through in a day.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Rats will likely kill and eat the snake, I've seen this.

 

[123RedBeard]

I live down in the Springfield, MO area ... When I bought this house a little over 3 years ago, I acquired a mouse in the house problem!

First night I set 4 traps, before I laid down to bed ... Snap, snap, snap, snap! I went and emptied, and reset, in the morning I had four more ... I'm a long distance truck driver gone for weeks ... Every time home, I empty the traps and reset .. worked on sealing up the cracks and openings ...

I knew from the house inspection I had a small 2' black snake (rat snake) in the crawl space which has direct connection to the basement, and has a concrete foundation around it ... I didn't know that there were more snakes ... Until ... One spring day I left the basement door open ... When I went to close it after a few hours ...

I had quite a fight to get this 5'+ black rat snake out ... It wasn't happy and neither was I ...

Another about 2' long ...

In all, since I sealed up everything ... I pulled 7 snakes out ... Two were over 5' ... The 2' was the smallest ... They couldn't keep up with the mice, even with me helping ... !!! Mice weren't scared of the snakes!

I got 4 kittens ... No more mice in the house, and they catch the rats (and mice too!) out in the field ...

Our field/woods rats are not huge ...

The rats are there because they have found a nice home ... They have shelter, food, and water . . . Make it not a nice home!

 

[Rosefiend]

I live down in the Springfield, MO area ... When I bought this house a little over 3 years ago, I acquired a mouse in the house problem!

First night I set 4 traps, before I laid down to bed ... Snap, snap, snap, snap! I went and emptied, and reset, in the morning I had four more ... I'm a long distance truck driver gone for weeks ... Every time home, I empty the traps and reset .. worked on sealing up the cracks and openings ...

I knew from the house inspection I had a small 2' black snake (rat snake) in the crawl space which has direct connection to the basement, and has a concrete foundation around it ... I didn't know that there were more snakes ... Until ... One spring day I left the basement door open ... When I went to close it after a few hours ...View attachment 4057554

I had quite a fight to get this 5'+ black rat snake out ... It wasn't happy and neither was I ...
View attachment 4057552

Another about 2' long ...
View attachment 4057548

In all, since I sealed up everything ... I pulled 7 snakes out ... Two were over 5' ... The 2' was the smallest ... They couldn't keep up with the mice, even with me helping ... !!! Mice weren't scared of the snakes!

I got 4 kittens ... No more mice in the house, and they catch the rats (and mice too!) out in the field ...

Our field/woods rats are not huge ...

View attachment 4057541

View attachment 4057546

The rats are there because they have found a nice home ... They have shelter, food, and water . . . Make it not a nice home!

That, sir, is an excellent life lesson!

I think (hope) the rats are field rats. While we had the 500 feet of snow (it is finally melting) I found little rat tracks hopping out of the chicken pen. It was able to squeeze through the holes in the chicken wire, and left little tail imprints in the snow behind the two hind feet. I made a note of the places it visited.

I've covered the two holes they gnawed into the chicken house with 2x4s, and other holes with bricks. I take the pan of feed out to the chickens in the morning and late afternoon, then when they're done I take it away.

I've heard about leaving traps with bait out for a couple of days without setting them - then once the rats are comfortable with their presence, then we'll set them. Then the chickens can add a little protein to their morning diet.

 

[123RedBeard]

If you're feeding them out of a pan, I'd suggest getting some kind of bigger tray or jelly roll pan to put under it to catch any spillage ... As the rats are obviously eating something ... That's why they are there.

Treat the wood "plugs" with hot pepper sauce" or they will just chew through them again!

I'd clear the area around your coop and run "moon scape" clear ... If grass, cut to less than an inch high, they are probably living within 25' at most of your coop, mine can hide in 3" tall grass to my eyes, my cats "find" them again ... Rats don't like being out in the open ... They also need water ... Chickens don't need water overnight, bring it inside too ...

 

[Rosefiend]

If you're feeding them out of a pan, I'd suggest getting some kind of bigger tray or jelly roll pan to put under it to catch any spillage ... As the rats are obviously eating something ... That's why they are there.

Treat the wood "plugs" with hot pepper sauce" or they will just chew through them again!

I'd clear the area around your coop and run "moon scape" clear ... If grass, cut to less than an inch high, they are probably living within 25' at most of your coop, mine can hide in 3" tall grass to my eyes, my cats "find" them again ... Rats don't like being out in the open ... They also need water ... Chickens don't need water overnight, bring it inside too ...

I used to throw the grain on the ground -- never doing that again. The coop sits on the ground and the rats are living underneath it. I want to find some way to raise it up on concrete blocks so there's space underneath for chickens to scratch, and also so I can more easily get at the ratholes. Maybe even dig out some of the dirt and pouring Quikrete underneath, because I'm done with this nonsense. President Truman talked about having enough sense to "pound sand in a rat hole" but Quikrete might be a more permanent solution.
Lawn is mostly mowed. I wanted to grow raspberries next to the chicken fence but probably should choose a better location.