Rats/Mice Chewing Horses Hooves - How Do I Prevent?

[Ponycatraz]

Bandage saver spray/bitter apple?

I’ve had luck with my own pepper spray out of Carolina reapers that work fantastic but I wouldn’t put it anywhere a horse could get it in their eyes or mouth!

BO/BM def needs to be aggressive on mouse control! I won’t poison as I don’t want to risk the lives of owls and other critters that eat mice, but I have a variety of snaps, electric, and trough traps. Of course I haven’t seen a mouse since my barn snake moved in!

Many animal rescues will adopt out feral cats for barn situations.

[lenapesadie]

@vxf111

It’s a regional thing. I have never heard of it in the northeast. Never. No matter how badly rodent infested a barn is. It IS a thing in the south. I think weather/climate plays some role? Rodents never get a “hard season” in the winter that reduces their numbers? I’m not sure.

I’d never heard of this problem prior to this thread. I’ve lived in the South East my whole life. Rat infestations definitely can happen but not eat the horses kind of infestations. Seems like some of the posters that have experienced this issue may live and keep horses in urban areas? I know the rats are wild in cities like NOLA, perhaps the combination of urban horse keeping in / near a big city in a mild climate?

Sounds like a tough issue regardless of why it’s an issue.

[vxf111]

@lenapesadie

@vxf111

It’s a regional thing. I have never heard of it in the northeast. Never. No matter how badly rodent infested a barn is. It IS a thing in the south. I think weather/climate plays some role? Rodents never get a “hard season” in the winter that reduces their numbers? I’m not sure.

I’d never heard of this problem prior to this thread. I’ve lived in the South East my whole life. Rat infestations definitely can happen but not eat the horses kind of infestations. Seems like some of the posters that have experienced this issue may live and keep horses in urban areas? I know the rats are wild in cities like NOLA, perhaps the combination of urban horse keeping in / near a big city in a mild climate?

Sounds like a tough issue regardless of why it’s an issue.

Come to think of it, yes every place I’ve heard of it was more of an urban setting.

[Simkie]

@endlessclimb

Dropped it straight into the walls where they were living.

Do note that this is actually illegal, unless you used a rodenticide that’s labeled for use in this way.

Poison should ALWAYS (ALWAYS ALWAYS) be used according to labeled directions, which for most is deployed in a locked bait box.

This is SO IMPORTANT because accidental primary poisoning–where non target animals get hold of your bait–is a huge problem and is SO easily avoided by just following the directions. Locked bait boxes will also be more effective with rats, because they’ll actually eat the bait, instead of carrying it back to their nests and hoarding it.

And anyone who is thinking of poisoning their rodents should know there are safer rodenticides out there than the anti coagulants which are so very deadly to the rest of the food chain. Terad3, for example, is a cholecalciferol bait (vitamin D) and has not shown any secondary poisoning risk.

tl, dr: Use bait boxes. Follow the directions. Choose non anticoagulant rodenticides.

[endlessclimb]

This is what we used. It specifically mentions use in walls. It is not an anticoagulant.

JT Eaton Top Gun Rodent Bait Blocks

[endlessclimb]

For the feedroom walls, they are frame off 2x4s, and look like shiplap? Not sure how to describe. The floor is concrete. The “shiplapped” portion of the walls are 8’ high. They were living down in them. There is zero chance another desired species or child would get to the bait.

[Simkie]

Here’s the label for that one:

“Bait stations are mandatory for outdoor, above-ground use”

I suppose you could argue that dropping poison into the walls is “inside” but rodents can move bait that’s not secured into more accessible areas.

Bromethalin is less likely to continue up the food chain than the anticoagulents but is such a potent neurotoxin that primary accidental poisoning is just really likely to end poorly.

[endlessclimb]

It was inside the building, with concrete floors. Unless they carried it up the 8’ wall, over and out, there was no getting the poison out of the walls - there’s no rust at ground level on the siding.

That said, fair enough. I think a rat could move bait in a small bait station anyways, which is what would have been needed to drop them in the walls. It did quickly eliminate the problem - for a short while, ripping the walls out was contemplated in order to get the smell remedied. We opted not to do that in the end, and the smell subsided on its own.

[Simkie]

@endlessclimb

I think a rat could move bait in a small bait station anyways

One benefit to the bait station is the bait is secured. Rodents go in, chew the bait, and leave. It’s not just loose in there. This yields better results because the rodents are consuming the bait, instead of taking it and hoarding it (rats in particular are stock pilers) and is much, much safer than loose bait, because it’s a whole lot less likely to travel. While it’s possible that small pieces may be carried out once the bulk of the block has been consumed, attention to the station at regular intervals can eliminate or drastically reduce this risk.

If you have any further problems, please strongly consider using bait stations at the base of the walls. It’s just so much safer

eta this is a good example of how bait is secured inside the bait station. A rod threads through the bait, locking it in place, at least until a good portion of the block has been consumed. Rodents can’t just make off with the bait until they’ve chewed it off the rod, and if you check the station at regular intervals, you can remove & replace the bait before that happens. The point here is to tightly control where the bait is and what can access it, something you just don’t have if you put out loose bait.

[endlessclimb]

That’s a good point. It did seem super safe because the walls are so high - plus I had never seen the rats running along the base of the walls. All my snap traps were placed on beams or shelves on the wall they were living in. I didn’t even think that bait along the bottom of the wall would be effective, but maybe it would have been! I hope to never have a round two to find out.

[Simkie]

@endlessclimb

I hope to never have a round two to find out.

Gawd, I hear you there. I’d never experienced rats before moving here, and it’s no fun at all. Thankfully things are under control now but that was really an unpleasant surprise right after moving in!

Rats aren’t natural climbers–they have to be pressured to go up. No doubt they were along the base of the walls, too.

[endlessclimb]

@Simkie

Rats aren’t natural climbers–they have to be pressured to go up. No doubt they were along the base of the walls, too

Yyyyyuck! These guys were up from the start! The door to the hopper is about 18’ from ground. Now its sealed TIGHT, but their little rat brains were in ‘up’ mode from jump. Nasty creatures! Thanks for the tips for the (never ever ever) next time!

[leheath]

I definitely doesn’t just happen in the south or in urban areas. I’ve seen it happen in the PNW (on Vancouver Island) although never to the point that wounds were created - we just saw the teeth marks around the coronet band area. When we saw it, there was no evidence that the barn had more than the “normal” number of rodents but I think it was a year when maybe food was scarce due to weather issues. It wasn’t an “all the time” occurrence.

@Simkie

Terad3, for example, is a cholecalciferol bait (vitamin D) and has not shown any secondary poisoning risk.

Thank you very much for posting this. I have a mouse & rat problem at my house and the snap traps are not being effective (apparently I have very smart rodents?!). My pest control company wanted to use the sticky traps for the mice but that is inhumane so I vetoed it. I’ve avoided all poison due to secondary poisoning risk as I didn’t realize there were poison options that avoided that risk.

[Ponycatraz]

You might have had a black rat/roof rat infestation. They are fantastic climbers and will spend time in trees, roofs, etc

[Simkie]

@leheath

I have a mouse & rat problem at my house and the snap traps are not being effective (apparently I have very smart rodents?!). My pest control company wanted to use the sticky traps for the mice but that is inhumane so I vetoed it. I’ve avoided all poison due to secondary poisoning risk as I didn’t realize there were poison options that avoided that risk.

Thank you for not using the glue boards! They are SO inhumane and trap other things indiscriminately

Consider pre baiting your traps before you go to poison. Basically, bait them but don’t set them until your rodents are conditioned to eating from them. Then set them ALL (have a bunch, the goal is to get everyone!!) to catch as many rats as possible at once.

They are so smart! But if you can teach them that it’s safe to come up to the traps, you’ll be far more successful. Rats that are used to people and traps sure know what they are and how to avoid them.

@Ponycatraz

You might have had a black rat/roof rat infestation. They are fantastic climbers and will spend time in trees, roofs, etc

Wonderful point!

[endlessclimb]

I prebaited my multi catch trap for a few days per instructed. Caught 3 in it. I felt like garbage drowning them… is there a better way to handle that in a multi catch? Relocation is a hard no. I just want it to be as humane as possible. Even I dont use glue boards, and I’m pretty ruthless

[leheath]

@Simkie

Thank you for not using the glue boards! They are SO inhumane and trap other things indiscriminately

Ya I missed one the pest control company put down and it caught a lizard and I spend a traumatic, but ultimately successful, 30 minutes getting him off. I really can’t believe anyone thinks those things are remotely OK?! Will try the pre-baiting of the snap traps - I’ve had 2-3 go off but not catch anything…

[Simkie]

@endlessclimb

I prebaited my multi catch trap for a few days per instructed. Caught 3 in it. I felt like garbage drowning them… is there a better way to handle that in a multi catch? Relocation is a hard no. I just want it to be as humane as possible. Even I dont use glue boards, and I’m pretty ruthless

I’ve avoided those multicatch traps for that reason, drowning seems like a terrible way to go I wonder if carbon monoxide would be kinder?

I had one rat wind up in a heated tub in the middle of winter. It was about 1/3rd full, so she was really just enjoying the hot tub I’d been trying to trap/poison that one for awhile but when they’re hanging around for the nesting sites instead of for food it’s HARD to entice. So I drown her. I still feel bad about it, poor thing

[LilRanger]

Water bucket traps work great, and they drown the rats/mice for you. You’d need a big one for rats, but for mice, they work really well and are super easy to use. They also don’t use any poison.

[Bluey]

@LilRanger

Water bucket traps work great, and they drown the rats/mice for you. You’d need a big one for rats, but for mice, they work really well and are super easy to use. They also don’t use any poison.

Those bucket traps work wonderfully for mice and our big brown Norwegian rats a few summers ago when we had a severe invasion of them: