Scott – how did your kania traps work out?
Kania traps really work and are deadly. Does anyone here have the video of the squirrel ‘catapult’ video that we had on GW. You could re-run it for days and still laugh!
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Oh Auburn!!! It was Super Squirrel. That is just ingenious! Hysterical. Thank you so much, you made my day!
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Here is my cut and pasting for roof rat control that freaked the populace of Phoenix so much they destroy their citrus crops annually to control them. Why? I have no idea; the rats chew on electrical wiring insulation, but that is a self eliminating problem. They will strip a particular citrus cultivar they find tasty, but then why strip the fruit yourself if you care? I think it is mainly the residents don’t like the image of rats on their property. But they do have some experience with rats in trees:
Roof Rat
The black rat (common name) aka Rattus rattus, is a common long tailed rodent. While thought to have originated in Indomalayan area, it has spread to all continents of the world.
First discovered in Arizona in the east Phoenix’s Arcadia area in 2002.
A very generalist omnivore. Pet food. Feed on birds and insects.
5-8" long excluding its 7-10" tail which is longer than rest of body. Can be several color forms besides black including gray, brown and tan, whitish belly.
The thinner and leaner roof rat prefers warmer habits and fares poorly
in competition with its brown rat competition (R. norvegicus) which is
its main predator where co-existing. It is now found throughout the sun
belt states of the USA and throughout Mexico.
Highly adaptable. Like human habitats. They are great climbers and prefer to live in trees (where they can threaten birds). They are very good climbers. They can also burrow into the ground next to plants if no trees are present. They like to be near water. They are found in the upper stories of buildings. They are usually not found on the ground or in the open.
They like routine and will stay in an immediate area unless conditions change prompting their moving.
Openings larger than 1/2" allow access.
Can have population explosions if conditions are favorable. Usually ten teats. Roof rats mature in 2-5 months. Are adult at 9-12 months. And gestate in 3 weeks, weened at 4 weeks, 4-6 litters per year, 6-8 young per litter. With no natural predators in an urban setting survival rates are high. Keen senses except vision and are colorblind.
Most active at night. Primarily feed after dusk and before sunrise.
Control: Exclusion most effective. Keep them out. Keep food sources sealed. Eliminate protective cover when the are out. Trapping…but rats are suspicious of anything new in their “home” and may require a long time before getting trapped. Poison bait may require pre-baiting to get them used to accepting handouts before the poison bait is introduced. Some bait requires multiple feedings.
Rat’s teeth grow as much as 4" per year so they must continually be gnawing. For this reason they gnaw on many man made items causing a lot of damage per year.
https://www.maricopa.gov/EnvSvc/VectorControl/RR/RRIdentification.aspx
https://www.maricopa.gov/EnvSvc/VectorControl/RR/RRPrevention.aspx
https://www.maricopa.gov/EnvSvc/VectorControl/RR/RRFaq.aspx
http://roofrat.net/Dealing_with_Roof_Rats.html
http://roofrat.net/eRATication_that_works_.php
There goes Rocky. Can he take the hint?
I can attest to the efficacy of the Kania trap. One trap has kept my yard free of pestilence, greatly reducing the squirrel population over the past year. It allowed me to eat my peaches and nectarines instead of the squirrels.
Just be careful to mount it with the opening at a downward angle so only climbers like squirrels can get in. I have not caught any birds or cats in the trap, just squirrels and the occasional tree rat.
lifespeed – what did you do to entice the tree rats to visit your kania traps? I baited mine w/ sunflower seeds and peanut butter but haven’t gotten any takers yet.
Thought I would add that in mandarin chinese, the word for squirrel is
松鼠 (Sōngshǔ) - which literally means “(pine) tree rat”, though in chinese culture rats don’t have the same negative reputation they do in the west.
Still nothing in my PVC pipe squirrel trap… guess I’ll have to do something smarter. Meanwhile, they’ve dug up my carrots and leeks about 20 times! Bah!
They got one of my super marzano tomato seedlings so your not alone. Anyone found a good way to lure them to a kania trap?
whole peanuts/ peanut butter
That’s what I did. I stuffed the fill cage but for some reason they wander right by it. Maybe I need to move it to a better location?
I caught a squirrel the other day. It managed to lick the peanut butter off the trap clean without triggering it. I should have set the bait dangling on the other side of the trigger. But to my amazement, it came back to lick off the trigger one more time and got trapped.
bleedingdirt – is there an optimal place to put your kania in your yard?
PEANUT BUTTER MIXED WITH EX-LAX.
No kidding it works.
Mike
Keep a water hose nearby to keep the cage clean. Don’t be late.
What’s a kania?
Scott used Kania to trap squirrels with very good results.
Tony
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