# Your Best Bait for Trapping Rats



## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

After searching HayTalk and not finding this topic, I hope this is the approptiate place to introduce it. The Internet states that peanut butter is one of the best baits for trapping rats. I tried it and didn't get any takers. Neither rats or mice would touch it, and I knew that they were in my shop. When I noticed these vermin would chew holes in 5 gallon plastic buckets to get at shelled corn stored in them, the idea hit me to super glue five kernals of corn onto the trigger of Victor rat traps, and this bait has been catching one or two rats every night. Also, beginning to catch mice in the rat traps.

What bait do you find is best for trapping rats in your farm buildings?


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

Ear corn in a crib will attract more rats than anything I’ve found, lol.


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## Farmerbrown2 (Sep 25, 2018)

Calf starter sweet feed behind a board leaning against if’s wall you don’t have dogs around. If you have dogs put sweet feed on top of a 55 gallon drum with a burlap bag down to the floor. Rats will climb up to get feed . We always used muskrat traps hanging from ceiling so they couldn’t chew there legs off. A rat will chew it’s legs of in short order to get away if trap is on the floor. Our dogs always loved peanut butter so I would never use that.


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## Ox76 (Oct 22, 2018)

I use those bait blocks that come in a pail and just throw them around.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles.....leave a few sprinkled around to attract. Put some in a 1/4" meshwire cage about 2"x2"x4" so that they have to work to barely eat some. attach cage about 4"-5" on a sidewall with a trap underneath. Height is determined by trap type. Sometimes I will put a small board above the food enclosure to keep the rats from perching to eat.

Fruity Pebbles works really well for ***** too....especially if you have some **** cuff traps. Sprinkle a few around where ***** gather and they will dive into a **** cuff trap to get the Pebbles cereal.

Regards, Mike


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

Peanut butter always worked well when trapping mice.

Haven't had to many rats in our buildings. Did have some under a wooden feed shed, there I used a chunk bait called just one bite. That stuff cleaned them out in a few days, still leave a chunk on a nail in the corner for the mice.

Sometimes get rats under carryover straw bales so I try and leave the straw away from the yard. If I find rats under the bales I usually get dad to pick up one bale at a time so I can shoot them with a shotgun, gets pretty interesting as you get to the last bale. Border collie likes to kill them too.


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

I like watching this guys videos. He uses mink and dogs to kill rats.


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## haydust (Mar 2, 2019)

Bait blocks/packets if you can't get a cat in there. We fought them constantly until I got a few cats. Traps will never catch them all.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I can live with a few rodents easier than cats.

Regards, Mike


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Peanut butter, with some sunflower seeds in the mix seems to work the best here. Didn't think about gluing the seeds to the trap, thanks for the idea. 

Larry


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## Palmettokat (Jul 10, 2017)

Have you ever heard Jerry Clower tell about how they killed rats? Sure it is on youtube. He has a few stories.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Americanus Barncatus, if that doesn't work tell the wife/girlfriend to quit feeding them. If you can find em, get some manx cats, very aggressive hunters, originated back in the UK in the wooden sailing ship days, they'd use em to keep the vermin under control which is how they found they're way to other parts of the world. My wife has a manx thats an indoor/outdoor cat. He killed two rats this am out of boredom and let the other cats have em.


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## Farmineer95 (Aug 11, 2014)

5 gallon bucket with some antifreeze in the bottom, grain dust on top floating to give the effect of a "floor". Antifreeze wont freeze and the stuff that drowns in it won't stink up the joint.
The trick is to put a "log roller" on top with the peanut butter schmazzed all over it. Google it, bigger vermin, maybe bigger bucket.


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## Wethay (Jul 17, 2015)

Had some used antifreeze in a five gallon bucket, six inches? deep. It got set on the bench to be dealt with later. It wasn't set straight up but rather on top of the clutter at an angle with the top up against something. Months later I got to it and found half a dozen dead mice in it. Fished the mice out and put it back for a few more months. I've seen one rat on our place, running right up the gravel drive towards the house. Don't remember why I had the 12 gauge in my hand. Tight choke and a head on, running straight at me. Scattered gravel but didn't have much left to pick up.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Palmettokat said:


> Have you ever heard Jerry Clower tell about how they killed rats? Sure it is on youtube. He has a few stories.


He probably got marcel Ledbetter to lift up them bales like IHC did and "shoot up in thare amongst 'em...". I know his dogs was so hungry that when they would toss 'em food one of em would have to call for a fair catch. Sure miss that guys humor....


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## Palmettokat (Jul 10, 2017)

somedevildawg said:


> He probably got marcel Ledbetter to lift up them bales like IHC did and "shoot up in thare amongst 'em...". I know his dogs was so hungry that when they would toss 'em food one of em would have to call for a fair catch. Sure miss that guys humor....
> 
> He had a couple of stories about rat killing. One he killed with an ear of corn if memory is correct..the killing was not the funny part...he telling it and not knowing the preacher was hearing him tell it.
> 
> The one I can relate to was how a old neighbor would hook up his car's exhaust to the rat holes and the exhaust running the rats out with them killing them. I sort of lived that many years ago. Worked short time with a farm supply company and had grain bins. Another employee grabbed a can and some other items off a shelf and said come with me. We covered all the exits and inserted tubing, turns out the can he had was the chemical used to kill even most seeds for tobacco beds, when he punctured that can we learned we had not blocked the holes that well and we about got run over by the mass exodus of the rats.


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## Ajmesbwrt (7 mo ago)

Always had success with this Victor M250S Indoor electronic mouse trap. This Victor Mouse Trap is the perfect set for your house to kill all nasty mice. The no-touch disposal feature makes it easy to clean and safe for kids and pets.


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## ACDII (Oct 1, 2021)

Ajmesbwrt said:


> Always had success with this Victor M250S Indoor electronic mouse trap. This Victor Mouse Trap is the perfect set for your house to kill all nasty mice. The no-touch disposal feature makes it easy to clean and safe for kids and pets.


Yep, First time I used it, got nearly a dozen fro the nest in the wall within 4 hours. I heard zz, looked, red light, mouse dead as a brick. Dumped it in the trash, closed it reset it, 5 minutes later, zzz. 

Whats funny, my coworkers and I were on this very subject this morning about tapping rodents. One guy uses cheez whiz. I used peanut butter, but cheez whiz sounds even better.


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