FYI: Re Rodents

[Doctari]

Sad to hear that. Is she the one I saw? That one looked to be a hand full.

No, that was Sugar, she is indeed a handfull. Lizzy was sleeping (Hey, she was OLD ) & no longer liked to be outside.

After you left, Sugar was mad at me, she had thought she was going for a car ride.

Thanks for the sympathy.

[Doctari]

I'm sorry for your loss. Pets add so much to our lives.

Thanks!!


Doctari.

[mindi]

I too had pet rats and I know that no matter how short their lives are, they leave a lasting mark on your heart.
My ratties also kept 'stashes' all over the place. Bear was my big fattie, and his favorite food was popcorn. I'm not sure how much of it he ever ate though, he really just liked to hide it.
Calvin was my sweet little hairless, and Crackers the albino. (I called him Stevie Wonder because he swayed back and forth when you talked to him, on account of his bad vision.)
I still miss all of them terribly. Are you planning on getting more?
Mindi
p.s. This is why I won't stay in shelters with people who bring traps.

[RITBlake]

Sugar, Mary, Silk, Shangrila & Tulip are well. They are (still) over fed & spoiled. 7 rats in a "cage" that is large enough for 1,000+ according to a web site "pet rat calculator". And one with free run of a 30' X 30' house (upper floor).

Doctari you have to post some pictures of this, i would love to what these guys look like.

[Toolshed]

They can jump UP at least 2x their body length. They can jump for distance 3 - 4 times as long as they are. I have seen Elizabeth drop 7’ onto a concrete floor & run over to climb the shelves again. A fall for me of similar height would be about 58 feet, I am reasonably sure I would not survive.

Common Roof rats are much more adept to heights than the Norway Rat - which can still take a good jump, though.

While mice are a bit more skittish, they are almost totally fearless under certain circumstances (10 Oz rat terrorizing a 16 Lb cat, no he isn’t de-clawed, yes he hunts)

Back in the 70's we'd gas them with Cyanide on large commercial jobs and I have had them come at me when cornered - Kind scary....

They (Rats at least) can eat ANYTHING, and can chew through almost anything. Poison may work on a few, but the rest will soon learn what is killing their friends and avoid the bait.

I have seen time relapse video of a rat chewing through thin steel in 52 nights. One of the new featues in rodenticides came out about 2 decades ago - was the introduction of slow kill baits that would not allow the rodent to associate the meal with death. We also ended using loose bait granular rodenticides and went to bait blocks where we could nail them to studs, joists and anything else to monitor feeding and cust down on replacement material applications due to hoarding (Nothing like seeing 1/2 lb of rodenticide bait stored neatly in a burrow )

We have taught them that food is readily available in/near the shelters, along with fantastic bedding material (wool, poly pro, fleece, etc) and mental challenges (food suspended from tuna cans, etc). From watching the girls, their priorities are: Food, hiding places, water, fun, sleep, companions.

Integrated Pest Management - Reduce Rodenticide and use smart practices and put stres on them. Change the environment - remove all weeds, tall grass, garbage, dirt and anything else that provides cover near your building. remove all sources of water and food and you can effectively eliminate the problem as they will migrate elsewhere.

[Doctari]

We have decided to "always have rats in the house". Still have: Silk, Shangrila & Sugar. None will ever replace or make up for Elizabeth. We were just commenting a few minutes ago how we missed her daily. She has been gone over 3 months & I still watch were I walk "so I don't step on Lizzy".
The 3 remaining girls, are in a 55 gallon aquarium with a 20 gallon one sitting on top of it, there is no door, they CAN come & go as they please, but in 3 months have never left their home. Right now Sugar is asleep in the "upstairs apartment" Shangrila & Silk are "downstairs". Unlike "Lizzy" the remaining 3 are terrified of cats. Lizzy loved the cats, they loved (& still miss) her. The other 3 will eat anything & have no favorites. Lizzy LOVED Ginger Snaps: I cant eat them anymore, and cartoons, her favorite was "Fosters home for imaginary friends" on Cartoon network, when the theme music would come on, she would come running, sit & watch the entire episode, then go back to what she was doing. Her favorite episode was when Max got sugar. I can't watch Fosters anymore.


Doctari.

PS: I too will not tolerate killing of shelter mice, so I stay elsewhere.