Question about rats

there is a colony of them..flip it over check the sex of it..looks female...she might have babies..another mother will come to care for them once they cry out..their are others..they will walk the power lines at night...looking for food!

It depends, the general wisdom is if you see one there are many more like cockroaches. I have a rock wall full of big holes for critters to call home and after I shot the 1 I saw I have not seen another one for months now. Only way to find out for sure is to stay vigilant! 

rats will travel some distance to nest .. for sure theres others in the vicinity, but for example i know i have no rats around here but my dirtbag neighbors have basically a garbage dump flea farm for a yard several hundred yards away .. occasionally one will show up .. i had one try to nest in an unused nesting box in my coop a couple of times and occasionally i'll see evidence of one in the shed .. i always get after them pronto .. they dont last long ..

Looks to be a Norway rat aka brown rat (smaller ears with tails not longer than the body) but hard to tell for sure from the pic. Google rattus norvegicus and rattus rattus aka the black rat (larger ears and tails longer than the body). It could also be a pack rat depending on where you reside. Norway rats can live in huge colonies (the ones you see at dairies or farms) but black rats are territorial and live in much smaller family groups.

All good info above. 
Small ears , looks like a Norway rat to me. 
What I have learned is rats are almost always in pairs. So, you should set up a little bait pile of bird seed. And hunt over it for the next week. If you get one of these driveway motion sensors. Harbor freight sells them for under $20. It will alert you when a critter is at your bait pile. 

Looks to be a Norway rat aka brown rat (smaller ears with tails not longer than the body) but hard to tell for sure from the pic. Google rattus norvegicus and rattus rattus aka the black rat (larger ears and tails longer than the body). It could also be a pack rat depending on where you reside. Norway rats can live in huge colonies (the ones you see at dairies or farms) but black rats are territorial and live in much smaller family groups.

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thanks for the great info! Pretty sure the one I got was a black rat and I haven’t seen another one yet. What you said totally makes sense, it had very long tail and big ears.

The drive way alarm is a neat trick. Should work for the rabbits also.

Mr. Vetmx,

I have woodsheds that are covered and provide perfect homes for rats. I have been trapping them for years, with a low success rate, never used poisons due to the many other animals here.

Two years ago I saw a pellet rifle video and learned about ATN night scopes. I now have several pellet rifles, air compressor, adjustable tripod and an ATN scope. 

I was experiencing damage to the wiring on my equipment, lots of rat droppings and some nests. I live in the mountains, lots of trees, water troughs, brush piles and sheds. I needed to do better at pesting, so I set up a semi-secluded hide to hunt the rats at night from the woodsheds. I have a really slowed them from damaging my equipment and I have a new hobby, Pesting with my Pellet Rifles, perfect for a retired old guy.

I figured the rats were Roof Rats from pictures and text on the internet. I know, not the best source for information, truth being I did not really care what kind of rat they were, just needed to control them better. I took pictures of some of the rats I shot. I don't always see any to shoot, but with all of the habitat I have they keep replenishing. You guys can tell me what kind they are if you know, maybe more than one kind???









Good luck with your pesting, stay healthy and safe

Arrowhead1951

I too got into airguns because of a rat problem. I had been shooting them for almost two years when one day I noticed the tail on the rat I just shot was really long. Like , longer than it’s body. Seemed different from the last rat I’d shot. So I looked them up. I get both 

Well I used to. I’ve got the population under control now. 
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Looks to be a Norway rat aka brown rat (smaller ears with tails not longer than the body) but hard to tell for sure from the pic. Google rattus norvegicus and rattus rattus aka the black rat (larger ears and tails longer than the body). It could also be a pack rat depending on where you reside. Norway rats can live in huge colonies (the ones you see at dairies or farms) but black rats are territorial and live in much smaller family groups.

Click to expand...

thanks for the great info! Pretty sure the one I got was a black rat and I haven’t seen another one yet. What you said totally makes sense, it had very long tail and big ears.

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You’re welcome! Definitely a rattus rattus. I shot this huge male rattus rattus a couple months ago….shape is like a Norway but it is the thickest black rat I’ve encountered.