Rats form family groups and are territorial, especially common brown rats (also called Norway rats or Hanover rats.) They live in hierarchical groups. I think it would be helpful to pinpoint where we are seeing them. Personally I have not seen evidence of any in Rio Grande.

I am also wondering if it's a localized problem, versus wide-spread. We have lived here for four years - south of 466A, in Collier. We are on the water and we and many of our neighbors have palm trees. We have never seen a rat or evidence of one where we live; nor have our neighbors.

The answer.
 

OK, dear friends, I have the answer to "The Villages Rat Problem" if there is really such a problem.

1. Every home should have a Rat Terrier or some similar dog, such as a Jack Russell Terrier. These, active, feisty little dogs are (literally) death on rats.

Don't deceive yourselves that a cat will do.

2. Protect your garage, which cannot be sealed against entry by rodents, snakes, etc., by putting out rat poison or sticky traps, at your option. I prefer sticky traps. The poison or traps must be positioned so your dogs cannot get to them.

3. A trap in the attic, if you have access, would be a good idea as well. This is the most likely place that you might have a rat problem.

Do these three things and your house should be secure from rats. As far as it goes with rats outside, as someone has already observed about other wildlife: you are in Florida. Get used to it.

By the way. Keep your terrier on a leash whenever outside. The instinct to chase rats, squirrels, and other critters is very strong, and voice command would likely not be sufficient restraint.

(Terriers need a lot of exercise. Walking them daily would probably be good exercise for you too.)

Whoever said "you can't buy love" never owned a dog.

.

But thy are so cute! Adorable rat portraits look to remove stigma attached to rodents

I spoke to three different people from my Pest Control Company. they all confirmed it is a " community "problem vis a vis "a select village problem. they explained that they can't keep the bait boxes filled fast enough.

My wife believed I was making too much of this and laughed when I complained that she was leaving the garage door up too long; that is until she happened on one in our yard. Since then it has been a joint and continuous campaign of prevention and eradication

I suspect the reason some people have not spotted these critters is because a) they are not really looking', b) those who have have bait boxes

Look at the layout of TV, its trees, thick vegetation approximate closeness of homes, expansion, mild winters and its a recipe for a perfect storm

( Forgive my lapse but I can see his face but momentarily forget his name). However he was one of Nixon's staff that went to prison during the the Nixon Watergate scandal and when he was released became a celebrity with a radio talk show.

A movie on his life was made and two unforgettable events presented to define who he was as a person.As a boy he climbed a tree during a heavy lightning storm daring God to strike him dead. And again as a boy decided to go to his basement, catch rats and eat them because he was afraid of them and did not want to be afraid of anything.

Good morning sir. Trying to not think of rat eating.

Thoughts this morning are of Irma.

I don't like rats but I dislike category 5 Hurricanes more. Do we take the kitties and get out of Dodge?

Good idea to get a dog. Bad idea to take dog to a Shelter when the rats are gone.
Don't get a dog because you have rats -- you have to love animals, dogs are a lot of work.
Sticky traps are inhumane and horrible.
No-one wants rats invading their home, the professionals use bait boxes. Good idea about the attic.

Would it be G. Gordon Liddy? I moved here from Abingdon, Maryland and G. Gordon Liddy lived in Abingdon from 2001 to 2006. I looked up the info on him when I kept seeing him around town, he had such an unmistakable face. I had a business that required I go to the post office everyday and I would see him there at least once a week. We also took my mother once a week to Bob Evans and would see Mr. Liddy there as well. I don't know why he picked out that town, it was a good ways from Washington, not distance wise but heavy traffic. Abingdon is about 20 miles northeast of Baltimore. He looked exactly like his photos, always a very stern look and well dressed, not someone I would want to have a scuffle with even though he was about 75 at the time.

http://cdn.quotesgram.com/img/14/82/...rdon-liddy.jpg

Citrus tree fruits also attract rats and other nuisance animals. So be safe and put the traps down before rats are in our homes.

John , yes thank you what an interesting guy. His life story was fascinating. Talk about living a spartan life

apparently my wife went to Public at Southern Trace and the shelves were empty. She spoke to one of our neighbor's who works there and he said it was extremely busy all day. for me i won't turn my attention away from what I believe is the current problem Irma has to wait until the weekend:D

Wondering what would happen to rats during a natural disaster such as a hurricane I found this from the CDC which is highly informative about controlling their presence in general. Rodent Control|Natural Disasters and Severe Weather

Ratso Rizzo rides again!
 

Weeeeee,doggies! We have a lovely; energetic palmer rat named Jethro. We have 12 palm trees on our patch of Heaven.
Sadly, some folks are PLACING FULL LOAVES OF BREAD on the ground at the postal station behind my villa. Folks are also creating kitty condos in the bushes.
Sweet BUT.... COME ON. Use yer NOGGINS.
Leaving foods around creates issues everywhere. My small dogs go insane chasing the critters well into the night. We keep the trees trimmed up and no foods are provided for the critters. It's bad enough that we have to clean up poop from the lazy and entitled pet owners. Now duking it out with Jethro and friends is just over the top. With the construction happening at Publix on 441, more pals are surfacing. Please BE CONSIDERATE.

Hmmm, I can see this RAT thread isn't go'in away anytime soon...

Please pick-up ur dog poop... the Rat's just might make a meal out of it when it dry's out over night....


p.s. Just a thought, what day do U put out ur garbage? Do U put it out the night before, or just in time when the truck come's around to pick it up?

Reminder - rats are nocturnal. You probably won't see them during the day.

G. Gordon Liddy
 

I knew Liddy at the White House. Some space opened up in the office next to mine and I tried to get it because it was a corner office. I didn't get it. Later I found out that it went to The Plumbers, headed by G. Gordon Liddy.

He did that thing of his of holding a flame under his forearm longer than anyone else to show he could handle the pain. He certainly beat me. Of course, I'm sane.

Eating Rat
 

Manaboutown, if I ever decide to eat Rat it would likely be this delicacy you speak of in this post. Rat from a wine cellar, Yum you say! The closest delicacy to cooked rat is cooked rattlesnake that my uncle brought to a party one year at a family gathering. He never told anyone what it was until much much later. I remember---it wasn't really that bad. Yum....

Just plain irresponsible and illogical

i have a brother who was always an adventurer. he has eaten snake, camel, bear.........

Me the most exotic I dare go is veal.

Goat was once the most eaten meat worldwide but has been overtaken by chicken because of the ability to raise them so rapidly and at a heavier weight (more meat). this has caused what experts refer to as woody chicken breast.

Personal Best Regards:

Several places sell the black bait boxes. The best is Rural King in Leesburg. That is the only thing I would use....they work. Before we moved to a home on Belle Glade we had a lot of mice and rats in TV of Charlotte. Had bird feeders and seven palm trees. Here in the new home we have no palms and no bird feeders. Therefore only a slight problem with field mice but have solved that one.

My brother has an apartment in Tudor City, NYC. The building he lives in is on E. 42 St between 1st and 2nd Avenues. This is around the corner from the UN. If you have been to NYC for pleasure, you may know where the UN is. Great part of The City. Nestled just off of 1st Ave, there is a lovely park above 42nd St .. Well, one summers eve, James and I went to sit in the park having coffee and conversation. As we chatted, I noted that the ivy ground-cover moved a bit in MANY areas. James explained that we had about 7 minutes to liftoff. Apparently, the nocturnal landlubbers surface as the sun departs the visible sky and THEY WANT THEIR BENCHES!!! Yes, indeedy. These cat-rats were fat rats. fat, Fat, FAT and made their presence known. Rat bite is no fun and I avoid it at all cost. Roaches and rats.... no F---U---N at all! The old timers there are realists and they SHARE the real estate as there is little chance of the Pied Piper skipping along blowing TAPS. They adapt. I LOVE NEW YORK! (the villages aint bad, neither.) nomesayin?

The truth
 

A squirrel is but a RAT with a furry tail.

As to RATS, that little ???? nature preserve behind Eisenhower rec center has RATS. I've seen snakes chasing rats there. Interesting someone said that Rats and bunnies do not live together. They must have signed an agreement with the UN I've also seen a huge bunny and last month about 6-7 young ones

It is interesting to watch some of the pampered dogs around here walk right past foliage where I know ther is a rat or a rabbit and the dog either does not know or does not care.

NATURE IS TRULY AMAZING. Far as RATS-for centuries they have survived man's attempt to get rid of them.
They have in the past,AND WILL AGAIN survive the HURRICANE.

Irma will be drowning all the rats very soon ;-)

It was a joke.
 

First, a dog in every house was a joke.

Second, no one said to take a dog to a shelter when the rats are gone. They will never be gone.

Sticky traps are good. They don't kill the animal. You can take them to the edge of the woods and release the animal from the sticky trap by pouring vegetable oil on the paper. (Read the instructions.)

Bait boxes kill the rats with their poison bait. This is more humane than catch and release?

I don't know about that. I was at BassPro and saw a group of rats buying rat-size life jackets and an inflatable raft!

:22yikes:

Had the pest control mgr come to my home to do an inspection of the premises and the attic. He found no evidence of a problem in my attic , operative words "no evidence"

As to my property the gentleman observed potential problems because my back yard is adjacent to a long championship course hole adorned fully with high oriental grasses and a pond katty corner to my house.

He did not find fault with my landscaping nor its maintenance. He noted that I have french drains and the one downspout open on my driveway had been screened off as also being sound prevention.

He placed a second bait box on my property explaining that its a good defense against pests trying to breach a home.

He said his company is out of bait boxes. He said that since we spoke last spoke 8/29 his phone has been non stop with calls concerning about rat breaches

I was told that The Villages a few years back contracted with the pest control companies to treat palm trees as an eradication process. Why they stopped the program, or if this information is accurate is unknown by me?

The little bustards are gonna have to swim or air glide.

Hope they and us are here on Tuesday.

According to one source on the Internet, a rat can have as many as 20,000 babies a year, depending on the size of the mommy rat. Another source says 15,000 in two years.

That’s a lot of rats...


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Eaten by coyotes, cats, hawks, snakes, owls, foxes, etc. Enemies and Predators of Rats

The circle of life.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1d21ec350f.jpg


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Rats
 

[QUOTE=rubicon;1442413]I hope what you say is true , and I know people will not like hearing this . However, my pest control company has stated that "The Villages" has a serious rat problem and they can't keep homeowners rat stations ( black boxes) filled fast enough.

The District needs to take a proactive approach both in education and operation to eradicate this problem. Ignoring it is only going to make it worse.

Just a comment. Not all rats have the same feast. But some of them do have fun tearing open bags at the street and getting the goodies. Because?
Due probably to the food particles people place in the bags. Nature prepared our rats with good sniffers to detect and good little sharp claws to tear open plastic bags, so they do have the tools to do the job.
Rats like to eat.
bbbbbb :22yikes:

I'm told that people who have cats and people who feed feral cats do not have a rat issue.

We have rats in Sanibel. I am now getting a kickplate for the bottom of my lanai to keep them out.

Disney, NY and Chicago use cats to control the rats.

i think it's time to consider TNR, Trap Neuter and Release

Google it. It works!

Yes!!!! We have a rat problem.

Are we talking about species rattus palmarum? FWIW, the palm rat is listed as Vulnerable (VU), considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Encourage feral cats into the area. They will reduce the rat population dramatically.

Just bought a home south of 466A and have 3 in our traps in the garage! Have not moved in yet and hope we can figure out how to keep them out.

We live near Sumter Landing and see the black rat boxes everywhere. We have seen some live rats as wel