You Dirty Rat!

"The Ratpocalypse is Here - Why Rat Populations Are Booming During The COVID-19 Pandemic"

https://www.automatictrap.com/blogs...t-populations-are-booming-during-the-covid-19

"It's the perfect storm for the year of the rat. The temporary closure/scaleback of countless restaurants and businesses have depleted rat food sources. Many rodents rely on scraps, trash and leftovers in urban areas as a means of survival.

"According to experts, there is now a significantly larger prevalence of rodents in major U.S. cities than there was at the beginning of the novel Coronavirus pandemic. This has been reflected in numerous outlets and cities reporting a spike in rat activity.

"Because the pandemic induced a dearth in trash, rats are now even willing to risk coming out by day to find viable food sources.

"Some are turning increasingly to residential areas to feed on household trash, which is more plentiful than ever with most cooking at home. The combination of food scarcity and desperation has caused some to speculate on a rat population boom or at least a visibility boom. In short, the Ratpocalypse could be coming to your doorstep in search of a food source.

"The British-based National Pest Technicians Association warned earlier in April that closing down pubs, hotels, restaurants, schools, tourist hangouts, and similar public places in order to maintain social distancing rules will have unintended consequences for rat populations. Larger populations could quickly spring up in now-empty buildings and grow bolder because there are no people around (granted they find a viable food source).

"Across major cities of the United States, there has been an increase in sightings of rodents in the last month. Seattle, Chicago, New York, and New Orleans have especially seen rising complaints regarding rat populations while under lockdown. The Baltimore Sun has reported some Baltimore exterminators have seen calls regarding rat infestations double.

"Another by-product of food scarcity has cause stressed rat colonies to increasingly turn to cannibalism to feed themselves. Rodents will first kill one of their own. Next, they then clean the meat off of the unfortunate victims down to the bone in no time. This grisly behavior in New York is becoming all too common. Some experts warn this continued cannibalism could lead to a breed of more agressive, smarter rats.

"Rats Are Grand Masters of Adaptation

"Rats are formidable animals that have become greatly successful by locating reliable sources of food using their sensitive noses. The COVID-19 pandemic has proved no different, they are easily able to reduce such barriers as plastics, doors, and fabrics in minutes. The pests are everywhere in the world because they are so adept at adapting to different conditions and circumstances"
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"Humans Are Driving the Evolution of Urban Rats;

"Through control campaigns against urban rats, humans may be driving their evolution in unexpected and troubling ways."

https://undark.org/2019/12/17/urban-rat-evolution/
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Don't forget to fry-up meat without onions. Wild onions work just fine as do ramps.



Me, I like squirrel meat and will forgo rats until things get really bad. Even then, I'll pop birds with pellet rifles and bird shot before turning to rat. Groundhog tastes gamey, so I don't EVEN want to think about what rat tastes like. Really poor folk eat possum. I've never eaten possum.


Warning, there's a plant that looks similar but is poisonous, theDeath Camas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxicoscordion_venenosum

 

OG, Rat taste as bad as you think it will. Or at least, I thought it was nasty. I actually like squirrel,...soooo. Squirrels are related to rats but not similar in taste. Closer to chipmunk, but not that good.

Dale

 

check out australia....mice are overrunning everything AGAIN...

 

Rats should make good bait for trapping a more desirable creature for consumption . Preppers may want to consider their rat trapping plan .

 

Ground up rats or mice are great bait for all predators, especially canines and felines. 5 pounds of rat/mice mix with 3 ounces of beaver castor (ground), 2 ounces of muskrat musk (ground) with 5 tablespoons of Sodium Benzoate (preservative) after tainting the rat, is one of the best predator baits I have ever used. Add some skunk essence for late winter/deep snow use.

Bobcats love this (make it better for cats with a couple drops of catnip oil) and are very good eating. They taste a lot like veal. Lynx and mountain lion are also good eats.

Oddly enough, cat (Bobcat or house cat) makes a great canine bait. The rat bait is also great for mink and raccoon. With the skunk it's also good for fisher and martin.

Dale

For good meat from the trapline. Go for beaver or muskrat. Use blind sets or beaver castor for beaver and muskrat musk for muskrats. Muskrats will also come to apple and carrots readily and are the best animal to being trapping.

 

Dale what is your thoughts on putting a live rat in a glass jar in the back of a live trap ? I am thinking seeing the moving rat might make a predate throw caution to the wind in a frantic attempt to seize the rat . I have never tried it so this is purely conjecture .

 

Try putting it in something like a minnow trap that the ends are wired up or a small cage. Most predators hunt more by smell than by sight. Give the rodent wool, cotton, feathers to nest in and that smell will be in the air far more than the smell of the animal alone. I used to do this with mink using mice. I would mix seeds into wax for a feed block for the mice so I didn't have to feed them near as often and that nesting smell attracted every mink that passed the trap area. I always preferred using mice over rats as the rats can bite through thick leather gloves and the mice can't. Used ground squirrels a few times with success. For those up north. Wolves love beaver and they are a primary food source if they live in the wolves territory. Beaver caster attracts EVERYTHING!

Dale

 

I like tree rats (squirrels) deep fried. A lot of people here eat Nutria rats. They are about 2 feet long in the body then have another foot or so of scaly tail and weigh 22 pounds or so. LOL the first time someone that wasn't raised here sees one they totally freak out. They look like a nightmare sized rat!!! I don't care for them much they tasted a little like a racoon and were gamey as hell. I could probably eat a wood rat but not a urban trash eating rat unless I was REALLY hungry.

 

Destructive as all Hades too. Worked a contract in Washington years ago to thin the population of the things from the canal system around Kelso. They would dig way back into the dikes and could make them collapse. We actually took a couple albino's from there.
I agree about the taste. I prefer beaver or muskrat any day. Actually, I prefer beef. LOL!

Maryland was paying a bounty for nutria. Seems like some of Louisiana is too. There not very smart, so it's not that hard.

Dale

 

Trapping nutria used to be a very profitable pass time. You got a bounty for the tail (proof of killing it), then you sold the hide and then the meat. Where I grew up it was rice farms, and the nutria would dig holes in the levies and either flood or drain a field at the wrong time. THAT can cost the farmer a lot of money, so they were serious about paying people to kill them. Back when minimum wage was less than 2 dollars an hour 15 to 25 dollars for a rat was GOOD money.

 

AR-15, nutria, $tails$, supper



another nutria recipe/supper



Nutria w/mushrooms/tomato sause

 

Nutria in Russia? Russian nutria burgers? No way!

Da!

https://www.fox8live.com/story/33804557/trending-now-nutritious-nutria-the-russians-think-so/

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Deer = tall rats

Glockodeer and Nutriaglock

 

You want to be careful if it's not real cold eating animals out of traps that are dead. In mild weather the meat can spoil long before the hide does. The youtube above with the rat in the conibear. That can get dicey. Use good judgement.

Dale