RATS!!! in Barns (Any help?!?!?)

[SNylund]

I am doing a halloween event in a large old scary barn. Lots of rats, eventhough there has been no animals or food in the barn for many years. I put out some of those poison little blocks of food (about 50 blocks), but I was wondering, am I wasting my time? If I kill 100 rats with poison, will there be another 200 to take their place? And will the barn now be smelling horribly from dead rats everywhere? Just wondering if I should have just let them alone.

 

[SNylund]

Oh rats!!!

 

[Mellie2162]

Do you live near this barn? Yikes. Can you get an exterminator to come in and look it over to let you know if its a waste of time or not? I really dont think I would want to go to a party in a barn full of rats. I would imagine there is lots of excrement that has to be cleaned out?

 

[EMom]

Half the teachers at DD's school seem to have them as pets. Maybe there's a future as a petstore owner for you. My brother once found a nest of little white mice and took them to school, where he sold them to classmates. He was thrilled at his ingenuity, but the mothers of the new pet owners weren't so happy. My mother, who knew nothing of his plan, was mortified.

 

[NotUrsula]

Can you station a few cats on the premises? This is why people who have barns have barn cats -- rats don't move in when there are cats in residence.

 

[teacups]

Make sure you clean it good no matter how you get rid of them. People can get REALLY sick from rats. Extermintaor at this point I'd say. Then you have all the dead bodies to deal with. Yuck. Hire it out. You dont want to deal with that mess. PS: If you have already put out poison DO NOT put cats in there. If they eat a poisoned rat they'll also be sick or dead.

 

[teacups]

PS: LOVE the idea of a haunted house in an old barn!

 

[Explodo]

take a 5 gallon bucket. fill it 1/3rd full of water...set two or three of these water filled buckets in the barn. The rats will crawl in the bucket to drink and subsequently drown.

works like a charm.

 

[Rora]

I would hire an exterminator if you are willing to spend the money. If not, try everyone's suggestions and keep putting down rat poision..

Hope this ends soon!!

 

[SNylund]

take a 5 gallon bucket. fill it 1/3rd full of water...set two or three of these water filled buckets in the barn. The rats will crawl in the bucket to drink and subsequently drown.

works like a charm.

WOW! thats a great idea thanks! BTW its for a haunted house type thing walk through, not a hang out and party kind of thing, people will actually be in and out of this part of the HH in about 2-3 minutes. But it is actually a perfect place for a HH, its an abandoned ranch. I was actually surprised to see any rats at all because there has been no food or animals in this barn for probably over 10 years or more. I always thought rats were just attracted to the food and stuff that an active barn has.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!! That is too funny that some kids were selling the rats. Now there is a future Donald Trump!!

 

[Jennasis]

Rats are plenty spooky. I'd leave 'em!

 

[luvmy3jewels]

Rats are plenty spooky. I'd leave 'em!

That's exactly what I was going to say....you can't get any more authentic with your decorations than that!! Truly spooky!!

 

[SNylund]

That's exactly what I was going to say....you can't get any more authentic with your decorations than that!! Truly spooky!!

That was actually my first plan until........ a rat ate one of the cords off of one of my strobe lights. So I have to go to war with them otherwise my lights and equipment might get eaten. Had to be a rat because the light was hidden in a rafter area, either that or I really do have ghosts!!

 

[Green Tea]

I'd be afraid to leave them. I'd be afraid that the poison would leave stinky rat carcasses around. I'd be afraid to hire an exterminator for fear he'd tell people in town I had a rat problem. Oh heavens, I am so numbed by fears I don't know what to do!

Heebie Jeebies. Even if you get rid of them, I'd put a big BEWARE of RATS sign outside the haunted house!

 

[Auggietina]

take a 5 gallon bucket. fill it 1/3rd full of water...set two or three of these water filled buckets in the barn. The rats will crawl in the bucket to drink and subsequently drown.

works like a charm.

Peanut butter also works to attract them to the bucket. This is what dh did in Iraq.

good luck!

 

[SNylund]

I'd be afraid to leave them. I'd be afraid that the poison would leave stinky rat carcasses around. I'd be afraid to hire an exterminator for fear he'd tell people in town I had a rat problem. Oh heavens, I am so numbed by fears I don't know what to do!

Heebie Jeebies. Even if you get rid of them, I'd put a big BEWARE of RATS sign outside the haunted house!

Actually Haunted Houses is the one business where real rats can be a plus! Unlike say a restaurant. RATS Haunted Houses Good, RATS Restaurants Bad!

Plus they sell fake rats at Halloween stores, I have real rats! much better. Actually I'm going to try some of these ideas, I like putting out the water buckets.

Oh forgot to mention the real snakes. I found a kingsnake roaming around so that was another reason I thought the rats shouldn't even be around. We have authentic creatures at our attraction. Kind of like Bush Gardens or Animal Kingdom.

 

[Green Tea]

OOOhh. Snakes and rats. You better double your admission price! Get some roaches and you have a perfect trifecta.

 

[SNylund]

OOOhh. Snakes and rats. You better double your admission price! Get some roaches and you have a perfect trifecta.

I've actually just scratched the surface, try spiders, tons of dirt dobbers and nests, like literally everywhere you look there is a dirt dobber nest in rows. Dirt dobbers flying around everywhere (of course) and wasps/yellow jackets/bees/hornets. I've seen roaches and lizards, rabbits (sorry I know not scary), squirrels, and I know I can think of a few others.

 

[minkydog]

If you've got rats, you've got rat food somewhere. They won't stay where they can't eat. The snakes are there because the rats are there. Rats are snake food. I would never go into a haunted house that was infested with real rats, snakes, yellow jackets, and spiders. From a safety standpoint I don't see how you can pull this off unless you invest heavily in extermination and deep cleaning. I wouldn't let my child go in there, that's for sure(and I'd be mad if I found out about it after the fact!)

 

[SNylund]

If you've got rats, you've got rat food somewhere. They won't stay where they can't eat. The snakes are there because the rats are there. Rats are snake food. I would never go into a haunted house that was infested with real rats, snakes, yellow jackets, and spiders. From a safety standpoint I don't see how you can pull this off unless you invest heavily in extermination and deep cleaning. I wouldn't let my child go in there, that's for sure(and I'd be mad if I found out about it after the fact!)

Its not as bad as I made it sound, the dirt dobbers are harmless and that is really the main insect, only see the other bugs as much as you would see any outside in a rural area. Only seen the kingsnake once and it is also harmless. The rats should be mostly gone by opening and its not like they would attack someone. They wouldn't be in any more danger in getting stung by a bee than if they were in their own yard in this area. And its a quick walk through the barn, they would only be in it for 2 minutes or so. And as someone mentioned on the Dis, you can get snake bit at Disney, snakes are everywhere and are no more prevalent on this place than anywhere. Plus they will have a designated path that we walk and make sure its clear from any critters that may wander onto it, which is not likely . Out of the hundred times or more I've been there have only actually seen one rat and one kingsnake. But there is evidence of more rats of course which is the reason for this thread.