Reptile & Amphibian Forums

O.k., I know there must be some people on this forum who raise rats so you might appreciate this story. At my job about a month or so ago, we noticed we had a rat that ate the ketchup packets left over from the lunch table (yuk!) Dog food left overnight on the floor untouched-ketchup was her favorite. I vowed to catch the rat with a live animal trap which I brought in every day and tried various placements throughout the shop with peanut butter, chick-fil-a nuggets, ketchup....nothing. She set the trap off almost every night without getting caught and licked it clean, sometimes ignoring it altogether and chewing a hole in the wall a few feet away!? After my failed attemps for a week and after she chewed through some wires that shut down our time clock, my boss called in a pro.This rat was so big and smart it drank out of the toilet(you could see hair and footprints,) reaked havok on every corner (chewed a wall every night,)and evaded a professional's traps for a week. I always had my live trap set and I hoped to catch her before the lethal traps, but eventually, she got careless and got nabbed by a lethal trap set by the pro (peanut butter.) She was brown and fat and about 8 inches long without the tail. Funny thing is-she NEVER touched the shop dog's water or food which was on the floor over night many of the nights, preferring to drink out of the toilet and eat weird stuff, plastic, ketchup, ect. It's been a week now and no more chewing, so I think she was a loner.

The pro that was called in said that rats were "alost blind" and usually hugged the walls using their whiskers for guidance. is that true?

Ketchup inside the rat?!?
Man, that's a great time condiment saver!

All you need is a bun.

Seriously... yum!!!

Reading your Rat story, I developed a soft spot for your Rat. I was pulling for you and the Rat that it might be tempted by your bait instead of the the death trap. I guess one careless step was all it took. Brownish instead of that dirty Grayish color maybe a little domestic back ground in her. I think Rats have poor eye sight,didn't think they were practically blind though. I do think older rats develop cataracts that can leave them blind.
. . . . . . Lar M
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Boas By Klevitz
Boas By Klevitz

Yeah, I was sad the way it turned out too.Every one was slappin' high fives and cheering and I just had a big lump in my throat like a little b**ch! What do you mean by domestic? Some where in it's bloodline was in a pet store?

Yes that's what I mean somewhere along the line it might have blood ,gentics from a petstore type rat.
. . . . . Lar M
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Boas By Klevitz
Boas By Klevitz

I HATE rats. As a kid we used to hunt rats with BB guns.

The only thing worst than a rat IMHO is someone who reneges on
a trade or is a chronic liar.