Show me yours and I'll show you mine,... BAIT STATION ! (Pic heavy)

[Matt15]

Just remember  that unless the cats are neutered they will out breed their food supply and then they will start to compete with the coyotes for the chicken dinner 

[cwlongshot]

Last night about 3am, I had a "Nature call"  SO I took advantage to go on "stand" for about fifteen minutes.

Two quick glimpses but no shot, grabbed a water bottle and took another quick look... Pe'pe LA Pew came a callin'... 

I was hesitant, as he was close to the house. but decided to try a heart lung shot. I was shooting the Crosman 2200 with FTS copper pellets at just over 600 FPS.

Critter took shot, spot on and walked three feet and tipped over DEAD! Best part... he DID NOT SPRAY!!!



ONE LESS STINKY BASTID!! 

CW

[Matt15]

Last night about 3am, I had a "Nature call" 

It usually calls at the weirdest times!

[calixt0]

what needs to be done, to keep the dinger dry if anything?

Shaun

[Tonycalves]

Nice shooting! I took 2 a few weeks ago: .25 polymag to head sprayed   , 43.2 Eunjin Texas heart no spray . Gotta love the no spray.

[RedRiderF26]

what needs to be done, to keep the dinger dry if anything?

Shaun

Some people put a can around it. A tin can or a soda can... If it gets wet or moist frequently then open it up and spray some wd-40 in it. Mine got totally flooded and was toast. Then I opened it up and sprayed it with wd-40 and left it for a day, it came back to life.

[cwlongshot]

Nice shooting! I took 2 a few weeks ago: .25 polymag to head sprayed   , 43.2 Eunjin Texas heart no spray . Gotta love the no spray.

I was really hesitant about shooting... Thought about scaring but knew that would also lead to discharge.. I have head shot a bunch and always spray... This is first I ever heart shot... Now yours I will do it again next chance I get... I scooped him with a long handled shovel into a hole out back... still no squirt. Even with him falling off and BOUNCING!! 

CW

[deliminator]

what needs to be done, to keep the dinger dry if anything?

Shaun

Some people put a can around it. A tin can or a soda can... If it gets wet or moist frequently then open it up and spray some wd-40 in it. Mine got totally flooded and was toast. Then I opened it up and sprayed it with wd-40 and left it for a day, it came back to life.

I did the can cover but it still got corrosion inside. It's been 3 times and every time it comes back to life with WD40 but in less than 15 minutes. If someone knows of a better quality one, meaning better sealed, let me know to buy it even if it is more money.

[TutorN1]

Try this on the dinger, or even on a new one.
Take it apart, and try the RVT silicone around all seams. All it takes is a small line to seal up places, it will keep water out. Even around the battery door, and it's not hard to break loose when you do need to change them.

I've used this on electric fencers where they were somewhat exposed the the weather, and it worked on them. It's worth a shot if nothing else.

[nervoustrigger]

I put mine in a plastic coffee can.  It has been in use for 2 years. 

A picture is on page 2.  The can is perched up on two scraps of 2x6 pressure-treated pine laminated together to elevate it slighly, and the plastic coffee can has a few weep holes drilled in the bottom.

[Tater]

Mine hangs on a pole about 8" off the ground and last winter is was completely buried in a snow drift for 2 weeks straight. Still works great and it's 2+ years old. Doesn't look too bad inside either.
I'll have to remember the WD40 trick, it's probably near the end of it's life cycle.

[Tonycalves]

I've had the same luck as Tater. Except I get earwig infestations in the sensor, and bugs ruin it. I just got a new 1 this summer and for 9 $ I get 2 year free replacement. They put a Harbor freight on my way to the scuba shop and my Chiropractor.

[BRAAP]

what needs to be done, to keep the dinger dry if anything?

Shaun

Put mine in a water bucket that has flat side, works great. Still gets sprayed with blood some times, but stays dry from the rain.

Station has been revised a bit from this this pic, now 18 yards under a tree, night light is 5w that hangs directly above the bait in shielded pan.





Set mine back up again month ago due to nocturnal rodent activity getting the dogs attention, a few racoons, they get a free pass till Nov 15th, then its time for their Lead injections. Only other activity at the bait station is neighbors cat which has permanent free pass. Was hoping for Opossum as they are open all year.
15 more days....

Bait station kills this year;
6 Racoons
4 Opossums
2 skunks

[ronbeaux]

Got a double rat kill last night after being on the road for a week. It was sweet. Managed to get one on video.

[Monkeydad1969]

Got a double rat kill last night after being on the road for a week. It was sweet. Managed to get one on video.

Way to put it on those rats.  Wish I had rats---not to many forums you would that on.

Joe

[Gerard]

Gosh, the warning about the topic being old and me being sure I want to reply is intimidating! But hey, this is ratting we're talking about, even if it wandered off into skunks and raccoons for a bit. And I've been helping out my end of the block lately with the escalating rat problem, and wanted to share a bit about my setup. If a moderator gets mad about my reviving an ancient thread, well, delete the darn post and no hard feelings, really.

Last year the rat problem started getting pretty bad. Our city council has made several vague announcements regarding the need for citizens to be more careful about leaving food available... but it goes nowhere, and pest control companies thrive while not really doing much about the problem. So I put a red-filtered somewhat dim LED flashlight with a lens between that and the filter to focus a narrow beam, strapped it to my Brocock Atomic carbine (sub-500fps PCP with LW barrel) and set to work. Filled the odd half hour with suspense and the odd thrill last summer and I managed 8 of the critters. Rat feces and urine on various porches stopped appearing. Problem sorted. I thought.

Then we started hearing them a lot more, scrambling across the roof, along aluminum gutters, in the walls. Hired an exterminator and they put down bait traps, strong poisons we were assured. Got a few mice. No rats. So I did some searching and came up with the cheapest IR monocular, after deciding that at least for this year I'm not quite ready to commit to a Yukon XT or whatever for $1,000+. Got the Carson Mini Aura NV-200. Big name for a tiny pocket device which burns through 3 AAA batteries pretty darn fast, say 30 minutes or less of continuous use. Tried a couple of ways of mounting it to the back of my RWS compact 4x scope, then finally realised spacing and isolation of the IR illuminator were problems I could only resolve with surgery.

So took the thing apart and soldered in longer wires, then glued the illuminator into an aluminum tube which is mounted quite clear of the scope. PVC pipe cut and heat-bent to form around it, hot glue to hold it together, bit of electrical tape to hold it in place solidly, elasticized cloth bands to hold it to the scope knob caps... Bingo. The 3" back of the ocular lens position of the monocular gives it enough room that I can play with the focus dials on the little thing and get an almost-clear image of both reticle and target from about 6 metres to 20 metres. Never fully clear, but those glowing rat eyes don't let me down.

So out into the night with me to enjoy some starlight and some ratting. No bait stations necessary, as eventually they turn up. Especially in my neighbour's chicken coop. Before looking there I'd taken them in random garden corners and trees (they're fantastic climbers!), and by late May I'd taken 24 this year. Then my neighbour with the chickens spoke up saying they were building a superior feeding station which shouldn't spill any feed on the ground, but she was really worried about disease as there seemed to be a lot of rat droppings to clean up every morning in the meantime. She has three hens with a little run, and the first night looking at that through the scope I saw 10 pairs of eyes staring right back at me. Plainly they saw the red glow, but it didn't scare them yet.

I picked off 4 that night in about 90 minutes, between 6 and 10 metres. Shot one, waited a while, then 2 or 3 would get bold and come out again... repeat. I'm up to 37 now for 2016. Today I did some research and found a seller of 37mm diameter metal-ringed 950nm IR pass filters in China and ordered a couple. About $15 for the pair. I've since acquired a second NV-200 for spotting, so each unit will get a visible light blocking filter. If the darkness of a visible spectrum blocking filter proves too much to see rats, I've got a 30mW focusable laser mounted under the barrel with a little switch I embedded in the grip frame. Runs for months of momentary use on 2 AAA batteries inside the grip. That laser was $10 on eBay, plus a bit of black delrin I machined for a housing with set screws to aim it. Lights up about a rat-sized area at 10 metres, so when the scope is on the 3rd and lowest brightness setting where I can just make out the glowing eyes, I hit the button and light them up for a second and squeeze the trigger before they bolt. Not ideal of course, as full invisibility is essential for longer-term management of these clever rats.

As it stands they fear the red glow so much I only catch the odd one napping. Mostly they dart past for a quick check for red and are gone. Numbers apparent are much reduced on this end of the block. From what I've seen this week it's down to 3 maybe. Once I get my filters I'll take care of those. And maybe replace the laser with a proper IR flashlight with a 950 or 940nm LED to really light things up, invisibly or close to it.

Anyway, here's the rig and below it a phone camera shot through the lens, which is slightly blurrier than I'm seeing but close:



That's a cast iron mouse on a painting frame in the house, at 5 metres in pitch black, no lights on at all, the NV-200 on dimmest setting. If I were to build again there'd be another inch behind the scope I think, to bring everything just a bit sharper. And make a longer wire stock to get the proportions better for such a rearward eye position. But it's compact and light, quick to move, tuned very efficiently to lob JSB 18.13gr pellets at 435fps - RWS Hobby pellets worked nicely at about 493fps, but they make too much of a *SLAP* sound on impact. Don't want to disturb the neighbours. The JSB round nosed are noisy hitters too, but not so bad, especially if I get them right between the eyes. The chicken owner's boyfriend says she wants to learn about airguns... says she's kind of thrilled with the idea of managing rodents herself. Scientist, in genetic research. Plant stuff. I would not have guessed. Seemed like such a nice person. 

[BenjiHunter]

The thread only gets old if no one is posting.
Great shooting. Cool looking gun.

[Tater]

Cool setup. Is there any way to hang a battery or solar powered red light over the shooting area? They would probably be less spooky with a more permanent light than with short bursts of red light.

[Gerard]

Just upped the total to 38. Little rat at only 4 metres, sitting on the corner of a garden box full of young lettuces, looking at me and panting... almost felt sorry for it before I pulled the trigger. But then I thought about how my neighbours would feel in the morning, looking at a couple of dozen lettuce stumps. Easy call. Blurry though. About 1.6cm holdover at that range to compensate for the scope height of 34mm above the bore. Smack between the beady little eyes.

I asked about a dim red light a couple of weeks back but she'd rather not, feels it my upset the delicate balance of her hens' laying schedule. They spook easily. Though apparently not because of rats. It's alright. I've got those filters coming. Little cloaks of invisibility. I had a gel filter of similar type when doing B&W infrared photography back in the early 1980's. Put a piece over a Leica Noctilux lens and another over a flash. Even at highest intensity there was only the faintest of red glows from the flash when I stared at it from a foot away, you'd never notice it if not looking for it. Blocking all visible light's great. The infrared that's left is brilliant from a normal flash gun, lights stuff up to 150 feet away. This little thing will probably suffer more being so low power but should still be workable. Might try getting a small bit of the gel to put in front of the laser instead of an IR flashlight.

[Demiles]

That's a nice setup you've got there! I've been hunting rats since late Febuary this year and have taken 25 of them. Last night I missed a small one and hit a large one that made it through the fence. After my coffee I'll go into the neighbors yard and see if I can round him up. I found a few blood drops where he went through so I know he's hit. I love reading this thread, I go back and visit it every now and then.