Give it up. Short of full enclosure for the MG or an automated laser cannon, the rats are going to dance along your fence and laugh at you. (You really don't want to know what they get up to at night!)

The place to attack them is where they (want to) live. We put down bait under the house and now they seem to have moved on to a less toxic habitat.

'Course, the cat may have helped. She just loves hunting in the attic (no carcasses so far, though).

Dennis

P.S. My brother assiduously avoids looking at them, alive or dead. The are cute enough to induce massive guilt in tender-hearted persons.

Rats are a neighborhood problem. Everyone must cooperate in removing potetnial foods and habitats.

Suggest you investigate if your county has a Vector Control District.
If it does, they will provide advice, possibly trapping assistance.

Hey CHFIII , I'm in N. Texas too, but in the "not-so-affluent" city of Garland. But nevertheless I've been battling the rats for years now in my garden. I have seen them running along the fences at night, so I know its them. I have won a few minor victories by setting out lots of traps. But its such a pain, as often days and days to by before I catch anything, and I have to keep baiting them.

The major problem they have cause me was eating my cabbage/broccoli plants in the fall/winter. And the past few years they have gotten a liking for my squash blossoms. They must have discovered the nectar in the flowers. This year they have been eating my female squash blossoms (the ones the fruit come from) and its been very maddening. I've had to cover the flowers with some mesh fabric. That seems to have worked.
Hey jean001a, that is a good idea. I wonder if the City here is Garland has any "trapping assistance" or other program available that can help. I need to investigate.

About making the fence rails inhospitable, here was my idea. I was able to put some rat traps on the rails, so that the rats encounter them when walking along the rail. I have trapped a few this way. Way I did it was to stick a couple of nails along the top edge of the rail, basically extending the area the trap can lay on to make it more stable. Or another idea I just thought of might be to drill a small hole in the trap, and nail the trap to the fence,so the rats see it as they move along the rail. I need to give that a try.

This post was edited by ccabal on Tue, May 27, 14 at 16:43