[clomoll]

2 days ago our dryer quit working so we pulled it out and trying to figure it out. When I pulled the exhaust hose thing off, there was a t-shirt pulled in side and ripped to shreds. And then the smell. Rats. I hate rats. They freak me out. In 12 yrs, we had only had them one time despite my neighbor being infested with them.

We've been having nasty weather, lots of rain, plus it seems all the neighborhood cats have moved into my neighbors (she is staying with her sister so the house is pretty much empty) and probably chasing the rats my way. Also probably why that cat that Reba killed was in my yard. So anyways, I freak out. Clean, wipe everything down and put out glue traps as I'm not using poison with the dogs.

Also gave Pongo a good cussing as at one time, he was the best ratter in the world! But he is 15, mostly blind and almost deaf. And then Circe got one b/c she is a RAT terrier, but she has never seen a rat nor knew what they smelled like.

But has all changed. I got glue traps and we caught one last one night! The trap was upside down so I approached cautiously and had Pongo and Circe with me. When I flipped it over, Circe went bonkers, I let her grab it since she is short haired and Pongo is fluffy and I didn't want glue on him. She ripped it off and Pongo grabbed it from her, she grabbed it back and they tore it up.

Circe is now sitting inside the kitchen cabinets on the back side of the laundry where they had chewed a hole thru growling. Pongo is in the laundry. We have waged war on rats! Pongo is a bit more destructive. He knocked a hole in the dry wall to get to them. But I prefer holes in dry wall over rats.

Pet rats don't bother me, but wild rats give me the creeps!

[Antelpebabe]

Ew, Wont your dogs get something from the rats

[dolaBeetCeage]

Make sure to cover your dryer vent where it exits with a removable frame covered in hardware cloth, that will keep them out of your dryer.


I don't mind my dog killing rats, but I won't let him eat them, they can carry paratyphoid...i believe.

[clomoll]

They were both bred to hunt rats. Pongo has killed hundreds of rats over the years and never had a problem. He is Jack Russell mix. Years ago we took him over to the ballpark when they were doing construction and they busted out a dug out that had rats infestation underneath. He was killing rats left and right. I had to stop him b/c I thought he was going to have a heart attack from the excitement. He was grabbing one and killing it and then grabbing another. There were probably over a hundred rats, they were running everywhere and going into peoples homes and sheds that lived near the ball park which we happened too at the time.

[clomoll]

They don't eat them, just kill them. Now my Greyhound Casey (RIP) did eat them so after Pongo killed them, I had to scoop them up quick, or he ate them. Made me want to vomit! Sooooo gross. That dog ate some of the grossest things.

[poekfpojoibien]

They were both bred to hunt rats. Pongo has killed hundreds of rats over the years and never had a problem. He is Jack Russell mix. Years ago we took him over to the ballpark when they were doing construction and they busted out a dug out that had rats infestation underneath. He was killing rats left and right. I had to stop him b/c I thought he was going to have a heart attack from the excitement. He was grabbing one and killing it and then grabbing another. There were probably over a hundred rats, they were running everywhere and going into peoples homes and sheds that lived near the ball park which we happened too at the time.

The bolded part made me lol. I don't like vermin and I have no problem letting my dogs or cat do their thing. Unfortunately, we have one cunning rat that comes onto my property every so often ad no matter how hard the dogs try they can't get him. He's fast and smart, damn him. If they ever manage to kill him there will be steak.

[clomoll]

The bolded part made me lol. I don't like vermin and I have no problem letting my dogs or cat do their thing. Unfortunately, we have one cunning rat that comes onto my property every so often ad no matter how hard the dogs try they can't get him. He's fast and smart, damn him. If they ever manage to kill him there will be steak.

LOL!

In his prime,Pongo took rat hunting seriously. He would kill a dog if it got between him and a rat. We had a purebred JRT one time and he tried to go for the rat, Pongo killed the rat and beat the hell out of him! Never went after another rat when Pongo was around. He rips through doors/walls/dry wall, tries to tear up floor boards. He can do some major damage to get to a rat. He found their nest one time and just biting up mouth fulls of baby rats. He screams and goes totally bonkers! His pupils dilate, he literally shakes like he is having seizures he gets so worked up! And it takes hours for him to chill out after killing a rat.

If I screamed rats and pointed, he would go nuts trying to find them. My friend's husband thought it would be funny to do it at their house. Well he point to the fire place that had a wire grate infront of it and said rats. Pongo ripped the grate off, got up in the fire pit and he is white dog. Need I say more? And if Bobby didn't think that mess was enough, he opened a kitchen cabinet and told him there was rats in there. He ripped everything out of their lower kitchen cabinets looking for rats!


Pongo can't go to the rodent section at pet store either!

Looks all sweet and innocent! Until a rodent gets near him!

[poekfpojoibien]

So Pongo's drug of choice is rats, rofl! What you describe is like what happens to junkies when they see a fix! I now very much like this lil dog! I'd rather do some home repairs than live with wild rats.

[clomoll]

Very much so! He is a rat addict! I was actually excited to see him perk up so much today. He sleeps 22 hours a day and barely does anything, but this rat got his blood pumping again! He will 15 yrs old in a few months and is really slowing down. But he still can get a rat! I said if he made it to 15 I was going to buy him one, but now I don't have too! He got a freebie!

[poekfpojoibien]

Heck, when my lil mutt dog got to 15 I was giving him treats for things like being awake and breathing. If he'd got a rat at that age I would have fell over.

[Yartonbler]

Good little terriers!

My dogs would LOVE for us to have rats in the house! haha. As it is, if I let them, they'd tear apart the wood pile to get the chipmunks that have bravely taken up residence lol

[FLOMOUSLY]

He sounds like a dog worth having around.

[Waymninelia]

My grandpa had a little terrier mix that would kill varmints by name. You could point to a brush pile and call "coon!" and in she'd go, or to a tree and call "squirrel" and up she'd go, but if you pointed and called "rat" (or whatever)and no rat was there, she would come back and bite you just enough to let you know killing varmints WAS NOT a game!
As kids we'd only try that once, Ouch!

Glad Pongo can kick some rats ass

[ZesePreodaNed]

Where i live,I get rats all the freeking time...My dog will hear them in the roof,follow them from inside the walls,and just sit for hours waiting for them to pop out..a couple of quick crunches and its over..She just kills them and goes back to whatever she was doing...If you just say "evil mousy" she flips out and starts sniffing the walls looking for the enemy,then sits at your feet whining,waiting for you to tell her where it is if she cant smell them..She knows getting them is her job,abd she loves her work..When we walk at night and see rabbits (they are everywhere) she wants so bad for me to let her go after them but doesnt fight me when I make her just continue our walk,leaving them alone...

[poekfpojoibien]

Good little terriers!

My dogs would LOVE for us to have rats in the house! haha. As it is, if I let them, they'd tear apart the wood pile to get the chipmunks that have bravely taken up residence lol

That totally boggles my mind. Why the hell, as a chipmunk hoping to live, would you set up house in a yard with a natural predator already in residence?

Speaking of chipmunks, my sisters cat is a badass. She regularly kills chipmunks, small rabbits, birds, snakes... you name it, she kills it and brings it into the house for proper praise. The week my kids were out there visiting there was a mystery small in my sisters room. They tore the place apart looking for it and found out the cat had a chipmunk stash under the bed. There was a fresh kill and 3 others that looked to be a couple days old. EWWWW! You go, Cupcake the cat, but please stash your kills outside!

[ZesePreodaNed]

OK,lets talk funny kills...I had a rottie who would sit at the back door and be teased by squirles on the top of the fence...But as soon as I opened the back door she would charge the fence and slam into it hoping to knock the squirrel into the yard...She got quite a few this way...

[Pypeassesty]

That totally boggles my mind. Why the hell, as a chipmunk hoping to live, would you set up house in a yard with a natural predator already in residence?

Speaking of chipmunks, my sisters cat is a badass. She regularly kills chipmunks, small rabbits, birds, snakes... you name it, she kills it and brings it into the house for proper praise. The week my kids were out there visiting there was a mystery small in my sisters room. They tore the place apart looking for it and found out the cat had a chipmunk stash under the bed. There was a fresh kill and 3 others that looked to be a couple days old. EWWWW! You go, Cupcake the cat, but please stash your kills outside!

Animals are DUMB.

Lucy has recently started killing mice. Apparently aside from Stove Mouse, there's mice living in the old fencing outside. She's also been getting chipmunks, trying for squirrels (but they're smarter than her) and of course, moles and birds. You say birds, squirrels, bugs, mice, chipmunks, ground hogs, moles, and her ears perk up, she tilts her head, and then whines and warbles until you let her outside to patrol the yard with Dumbass by her side (they're hunting buddies).

There's 4 dogs and a cat on this property. You'd think the critters would have more sense than to come here.

[Pypeassesty]

Update!

GREAT SUCCESS! Dumbass has caught and killed Stove Mouse!!! Way to go buddy!

Sent from my HTC-PG762 using Tapatalk 2

[Yartonbler]

That totally boggles my mind. Why the hell, as a chipmunk hoping to live, would you set up house in a yard with a natural predator already in residence?

I haven't a clue O.o The wood pile is at the front of the yard, and the dogs don't really spend time there... and the yard is over an acre. So I guess they feel relatively safe? lol

[Waymninelia]

Update!

GREAT SUCCESS! Dumbass has caught and killed Stove Mouse!!! Way to go buddy!

Sent from my HTC-PG762 using Tapatalk 2

Not to take away from Dumbass, but do you think stove mouse just might have died from old age?