Another rat with a head ache.

[BenjiHunter]

20 minutes of waiting before this guy showed up.
I gave him a lethal head ache.
22 more to go to beat last years count.

Gun: HW97K .20
Pellet: Predator Polymag
Distance: 15 yards

[ToRmEnToR]

HAHAHA! Yeah.. Your not messing around with those things!

[dk1677]

Another nice shot Stefan!

[BenjiHunter]

Thank you.
I never mess around with rats.
If it's on the bait ladder, it's gone. 

[ztirffritz]

What does your bait ladder look like?  Here's mine:



The idea is that on the way to the bait they stop in front of the backstop.  I also put a solar powered motion sensing light, and a motion sensing driveway alarm.

[BenjiHunter]

It's not as nice as yours but it works.
I have a led light from Lowes with a white diffuser.

[PBguns]

Looks like fun!

[BenjiHunter]

It is a lot of fun.

[ztirffritz]

Are you shooting them at night?  What time do you go out?  I sat out on my deck until about midnight watching for rats and didn't see anything.  I set up the rat trap before I went to sleep and I caught 5 rats in 6 days.  Maybe they smell me, maybe they see me, or maybe I'm not staying up late enough.  There's one running around that's the size of a small cat, and I really want to get that one.

[BenjiHunter]

I go out sometime after dusk and at the latest midnight.
They smell you but they don't care about that.
Vision is 20/600, so they cant see you.
We can sit in the patio talking and it doesn't bother them a bit.
What you need is a good bait, like peanut butter and sunflower seeds.
The love oranges and figs as well.
Black rats walk the wires and climb trees.
Brown rats stay mostly on the ground.

[ztirffritz]

So far I've only gotten the brown ones.  We call the black ones 'roof rats' because you can see them silhouetted against the lights on the peaks of the roof at night as they scurry about.  I can't shoot at those unfortunately.  There's no decent backstop making it too dangerous.

[ronbeaux]

Never a dull moment sniping rats!

[BenjiHunter]

Never a dull moment sniping rats!

You're right about that, Ron.

[BenjiHunter]

So far I've only gotten the brown ones.  We call the black ones 'roof rats' because you can see them silhouetted against the lights on the peaks of the roof at night as they scurry about.  I can't shoot at those unfortunately.  There's no decent backstop making it too dangerous.

Yeah, you said it was cat sized so I figured it was a brown one.
You can see the difference between them by looking at the tail.
Roof rats have a tail that is about 110% of their body length and you can pull their ears over the eyes.
Brown rats have shorter tail and smaller ears.
A good back stop is a must.
I have a 1 foot thick wall behind my bait ladder.

[Tuckeron]

I'm getting bait ladder envy

[BenjiHunter]

I'm getting bait ladder envy

Build one.

[HunterOne]

20 minutes of waiting before this guy showed up.
I gave him a lethal head ache.
22 more to go to beat last years count.

Gun: HW97K .20
Pellet: Predator Polymag
Distance: 15 yards

Awesome shot!!!

I have tried baiting them but no success.  Any suggestions???

[BenjiHunter]

First you need  a feeding spot.
Something that you don't move around.
They don't like change.
Get a cheap bowl and attach it to the bait station.
Make sure they have escape routes by putting it close to a bush or a tree.
Peanut butter, sunflower seeds, and fruit are great bait for roof rats.
When they find it they will do an edibility test.
Rats can't throw up so they try out all new food, to make sure they don't get sick.
But it can take days before they come back so be  patient.

[Monkeydad1969]

No rats for me, but the mice have been around.  I just smear peanut butter on my elm tree and that keeps them busy long enough to give 'em some lead.

[BenjiHunter]

Mice, rats, both are fun to shoot.