What to do about rodent problem with outdoor grill.

[mthomas58]

After many years of grilling with no such issues, I've suddenly developed a rodent problem on my infrared grill/griddle. Recurring rodent droppings found inside on a daily basis. Didn't know if was a mouse, rat, chipmunk or other so I set up a camera overnight and caught the culprit in the act. I've seen this fella hiding out in the hose reel and hanging on the bird feeder. As you can see in the pics he is getting into the grill via the 1-3/4" hood vent opening. I can block the opening with a removable piece of sheet metal so he can't get in. Thereafter, do I trap or set out poison? If I have one rat are there more? Suggestions?

[pmax]

Originally Posted by mthomas58

Cute.

Just close off the opening, I mean, it is outdoors, lots of critters out there.

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by pmax

Cute.

Just close off the opening, I mean, it is outdoors, lots of critters out there.

Kinda what I was thinking. As long as he stays out of the grill I really don't care where he hangs out. Here he is on the bird feeder.

[Bob Kontak]

Snuff it/them with poison.

If it took this long for a rodent to find the grill, eradicate the lot of them.

Let the clock start over.

[Chocaholic]

Perhaps you can fabricate a piece of wire screen/mesh as a permanent solution.

[Steve Carlton]

You've got the grill. Not sure what the problem is...

[expatriot98]

Ratzapper. Amazon - He'll be gone first night.

[450knotOffice]

I'm a live and let live sort of guy. I won't kill anything unless it absolutely has to happen, and then I feel bad.

When I lived in south orange County, we had bird feeders right in front of our kitchen window, along with our barbecue. We had rats and mice. It was the bird seed on the ground that the birds threw out of the feeders. There was no way I was going to eradicate the lot of them without removing the feeders too, which wasn't going to happen. The birds directly in front of our kitchen window were just so awesome to have there. I ended up screening in all the openings into my BBQ and that was that. No more rats into the BBQ.

While not ideal, I didn't really mind the rats and mice. They're just rodents. They help keep the Hawk and Owl population fed.

[Jeff Higgins]

[Tervuren]

Based on previous posts I've read on forums;
Don't go with poison if you're in a neighborhood.

Animal 1 eats poison.
Animal 2 eats poisoned animal.
Animal 2 dies of the poison.
And that animal 2 might be cared about a lot.

Not to mention you don't have control of where animal one might crawl into to die that would need to be cleaned out yet hard to get to.

Trap will fix it now for the existing crittter(s).
Closure of openings will ensure you don't have to trap future animals.

[mepstein]

I have this problem from time to time. I buy pepper spray on amazon or ebay. Hit whatever you don't want chewed or messed with. It keeps them away for quite a while.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Tervuren

Based on previous posts I've read on forums;
Don't go with poison if you're in a neighborhood.

Animal 1 eats poison.
Animal 2 eats poisoned animal.
Animal 2 dies of the poison.
And that animal 2 might be cared about a lot.

Not to mention you don't have control of where animal one might crawl into to die that would need to be cleaned out yet hard to get to.

Trap will fix it now for the existing crittter(s).
Closure of openings will ensure you don't have to trap future animals.

When our rat problem got to be bad enough to where I got tired of shooting them, my wife and I went to poisoning them. We used a product called "Rat X", which is marketed as "pet (and livestock) safe". It would kill the animal that ate it, but would metabolize quickly enough to not be a danger to whatever ate that animal. Our vet recommended it.

[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by expatriot98

Ratzapper. Amazon - He'll be gone first night.

I concur. I got the Victor Electronic Rat Trap from Home Depot and it works great!

[FPB111]

Sticky trap?
https://www.amazon.com/Kat-Sense-Sticky-Control-Solutions/dp/B07QP8XLQR/ref=asc_df_B07QP8XLQR/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=366327447072&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3497550583435110336&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003710&hvtargid=pla-807902482065&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=75870826946&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=366327447072&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3497550583435110336&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003710&hvtargid=pla-807902482065

[vash]

I have no suggestions, but I want to commend you on the awesome game photos.

regular snap traps are not working? (get those on camera!)

[IROC]

Originally Posted by 450knotOffice

I'm a live and let live sort of guy. I won't kill anything unless it absolutely has to happen, and then I feel bad.

I used to be this way until we got rats in our chicken coop/house. "Live and let live" progressed to rats traps and poison really quickly.

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by vash

I have no suggestions, but I want to commend you on the awesome game photos.

regular snap traps are not working? (get those on camera!)

I've never had any luck with old school snap traps. Years ago I lived in Lakeland FL and had a terrible rat problem in an old house. They were big rats likely attracted by neighborhood Orange trees. I trapped them using glue boards but had to nail them down to plywood to keep them from running off and dragging the glue boards with them. I would then drown them in a five gallon bucket. They would squeal if I tried to club them. After 30+ years, it still gives me chills thinking about it.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by IROC

I used to be this way until we got rats in our chicken coop/house. "Live and let live" progressed to rats traps and poison really quickly.

Yup. We have all kinds of smallish wildlife in our yard on a regular basis. Biggest are coyotes, followed by raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, and a myriad of birds right up to and including Bald Eagles. I leave them all alone, because they leave me, and my property, alone.

Rats destroy things. At their worst, they will get into the walls of your house or outbuildings and start chewing wiring. We all know where that leads. So, well, I kill rats. Everything else is left alone. Plus, everything else is kind of fun to have around, and they don't make my wife scream when she sees them.

[GH85Carrera]

We have a biological early alert system. Our male dachshund. If he starts circling the storage building or the grill and trailing things with his nose to the ground, I get the traps back out.



If Reuben catches it, it gets a biological, organic and holistic natural disposal. If I catch them with conventional snap traps they get flushed and turned into compost at the city sewer treatment plant.

Rats or mice are dispatched with great prejudice as the are truly destructive disease carrying vermin.

Bunnies, squirrels, possums, cats, water buffalo, velociraptors and polar bears are all vigorously chased from the back yard by Reuben, but allowed to escape unharmed as long as they don't return.

[WPOZZZ]

This is what my rat zapper does. My cats are fat, old and lazy.