Rats In Thailand

[dmax]

i am terrified of rats and allways have been but after spending years in thailand im beginning to conquer my fears , last time i stayed in bkk near kao san rd they were running around my feet , there wasnt a night went by when i didnt see a few scurry around the pavement as i walked past, thing is do they ever attack you or bite you ? i remember years ago when i started going to pattaya i would sit on the beach untill sun went down and the rats would come out of the gutters and down from the coconut trees to feed on scraps etc but beach rd seems to be cleaned up now and ive yet to spot one in 2-3 yrs now. chang mai is absolutely hiving with them too . the worst place ive seen for rats is kuala lumpur i seen hundreds of them at night on a rubbish tip just yards from the twin towers outside a restraunt needless to say i took to my heels down the road .is anyone the same as i think one day they just wont scare me at all .

[IanForbes]

I've never been afraid of rats or mice. In fact I've never been afraid of ANY wildlife, including snakes, bears, cougars, crocodiles or any other potentially dangerous critter. The only thing I'm frightened of is certain species of jellyfish found around Australia. They CAN be nasty and the box jellyfish WILL kill you. Keep your home reasonably clean with no easy access to food and the rats will leave you alone. That is what the cobras are for... eating rats.

I've caught lots of rats in traps and used their fur for fly tying material...

Despite spending a lot of time in shark infested water, I'm not sure if I would like to be in this position, though

[jpolten]

Like Ian,most wildlife doesn't bother me (as long as i see them first),but something running across my feet would make me jump!

Seen a lot of rats in Chiang Mai too,mostly around the moat area....Hunted and eaten them in Isan with the locals (but wouldn't eat to many)with a small

light on the fore head and an air gun with a bicycle pump hooked up on it...one of the locals even had an old type musket

[Jocky]

Generally they do't bother me and they won't bite you unless cornered but i was staying in a really chap hotel in Udon Thani where the were jumping out the drains outside my room.

I had to ask them to move over when i went to bed,lol.

I looked out the window into the lane at the back of the hotel and saw maybe a hundere of them and what appeared to be a cat and i was puzzled why the cat didn't attack any.

Then when it moved i realised it must have been mummy rat and i couldn't believe the size of this thing which sent shivers done my spine,so i checked out 10 mins later,lol.

[jlaaway]

Dear Mr. Forbes,

How did you get a single mouse/rat to be caught in two traps at the same time? I mean, you'd think after the first one sprung it would be enough... or is the picture staged?

[whybother]

Dear Mr. Forbes,

How did you get a single mouse/rat to be caught in two traps at the same time? I mean, you'd think after the first one sprung it would be enough... or is the picture staged?

His head would have got caught in the one on the left, flipping him up and around, and landing on the one on the right.

[jlaaway]

Dear Mr. Forbes,

How did you get a single mouse/rat to be caught in two traps at the same time? I mean, you'd think after the first one sprung it would be enough... or is the picture staged?

His head would have got caught in the one on the left, flipping him up and around, and landing on the one on the right.

Okay, I get it. Sorta like the double whammy! You gotta hate when that happens.

[h90]

I remember that guy who posted that he kill every snake he can find in his area, and he was very proud of it, that he cleaned them out....

somewhen 6-8 month he posted that he has now a big problem with rats.....

[dmax]

I remember that guy who posted that he kill every snake he can find in his area, and he was very proud of it, that he cleaned them out....

somewhen 6-8 month he posted that he has now a big problem with rats.....

snakes are my friends i like snakes

[farmerjo]

A good ratting dog helps clean them out.

[neverdie]

I prefer my rats, marinated then tossed in the wok with season fresh vegtables

[MSingh]

Dear Mr. Forbes,

How did you get a single mouse/rat to be caught in two traps at the same time? I mean, you'd think after the first one sprung it would be enough... or is the picture staged?

Staged ??

What, you mean the Rat is acting ??

[smokie36]

I prefer my rats, marinated then tossed in the wok with season fresh vegtables

Sorry can't make dinner tonight neverdie. Maybe another time.....

[IanForbes]

Dear Mr. Forbes,

How did you get a single mouse/rat to be caught in two traps at the same time? I mean, you'd think after the first one sprung it would be enough... or is the picture staged?

His head would have got caught in the one on the left, flipping him up and around, and landing on the one on the right.

Exactly. The rats are pretty smart and can clean out just one Victor trap, but sometimes they'll spring another set beside it. The sticky stuff works okay on the smaller rats, but the bigger ones are too strong and can pull free. Besides that, they don't die and you have to lift the whole thing and dispatch them somewhere else.

I've slept in many mountain cabins where the packrats and mice run around all night and back and forth over my sleeping bag. I've even had mice crawl into my sleeping bag with me to get warm. While camping in Australia one time we had a king brown (venomous) crawl into our tent to get warm and it curled up on my friend's sleeping bag. I rolled out of the tent bag and all, and got a stick to remove the reptile. it was cold and didn't respond too quickly so I felt pretty safe doing it. After that I always insisted on tents with floors and zippered openings.

[jlaaway]

A good ratting dog helps clean them out.

I was having a beer on the outside patio of a local bar in the Bukit Bintang area of Kuala Lumpur. Suddenly, from the table next to me, some girls screamed. A dog ran out from inside the bar and killed a rather healthy rat in the blink of an eye. I was quite impressed, and the dog was rewarded and praised by the bar tender. Apparently, that was the dog's mission. When we heard girls screaming he obviously knew there would be rat and would spring into action.

[Steely Dan]

Dear Mr. Forbes,

How did you get a single mouse/rat to be caught in two traps at the same time? I mean, you'd think after the first one sprung it would be enough... or is the picture staged?

His head would have got caught in the one on the left, flipping him up and around, and landing on the one on the right.

Okay, I get it. Sorta like the double whammy! You gotta hate when that happens.

I guess the boys in brown would have it down as a suicide.

[IanForbes]

I've had a lot of experience with grizzly bears, and taken lots of photos of them

but this is a good time not to test the "theory" that grizzlies can't climb trees.

[Tigs]

Next door has a lot of them and I often see them run through my gate and go behind the hedge. What is the best way of catching these little feckers? I bought a couple of the traps that have a door close on them, I caught two, but the others then wise up and won't go inside them even if I left them a tenderloin with a fresh dark truffle topping!

I have kids but they cant get at the back of the hedge, so I was considering waferen (sp?) the rat poison tablets. The traps above look good but I guess would do a lot of damage to kids unless they were well well out of reach. I saw they do some sticky gluey paper (that and a baseball bat might do), but some of these rats are the size of small dogs/cats. There is no question, the rats have to go. I think the next door neighbour looks upon them as pets!!! Any ideas for rat catching would be great. Thanks

[MSingh]

I've had a lot of experience with grizzly bears, and taken lots of photos of them

but this is a good time not to test the "theory" that grizzlies can't climb trees.

Where were they taken Ian, BC ??

[IanForbes]

Where were they taken Ian, BC ??

yes, all but the last one and I didn't take that picture. We have lots of bears in BC and they are quite commonly seen if you know where and when to go. I just posted the bear photos to bring the topic back to the top of the board.

Getting rid of rats can be a problem when neighbours don't manage their garbage properly. Rats are VERY smart adaptable animals and almost impossible to eradicate. All you can do is remove their food source and kill off their young.

Edited May 4, 2010 by IanForbes

[billythefish]

I would worry more about the people than the rats - the rats don't need to get at your cash!

[Mosha]

Living in Yorkshire, I wouldn't give a cat house room. In Thailand we have several. What changed my mind? A rat running over my foot, while staying at my stepdaughters. Trouble is they catch more snakes than rats. We've had several live bootlace King Cobras in the house.

[Lovedog100]

The worst thing about rats in Thailand is, they attract cobras. Now those are scary.

[Kilgore Trout]

Awhile back a friend of mine broke his collar bone because while he was riding his motorbike down that little road adjacent to Kao San a rat ran up his pant leg causing him to crash, he wasn't even going that fast. Filthy buggers!

[iwad2010]

The 1st place I lived in BKK was a rat alley.

Coming home at night was a bit chilling. You could see their dark shapes on the path. They wouldn't move untill you was right on top of the barstuards.

[andD]

yea im a bit girly when it comes to rats! i was in a bar in jomtien (wont name it) sitting on a wicker sofa and a big bugga ran out from under me with a cat in tow and me right behind them

[simon43]

The best place I've found for 'rat-watching' is at the outside tables at the Landmark Hotel on Sukhumvit. If you sit and have breakfast, you can watch some very big rats dart out from the small patch of green hedge that separates the table area from the pavement. These rats run under the tables to grab food dropped by the unsuspecting tourists who are still seated at these tables.

It's fun to watch and I've yet to see any tourists actually spot these rats running by their feet

Simon

[wlcart]

I think most anyone caught by surprise with a rat running across your body would jump in startle and freak out a bit. if not you got some ice in your veins.

[tingtongfarang]

We had a rat problem in a small village in greece and i used to catch them in a cage and transport them to a tousist area about 3km away by motorbike, i,m sure some of them were back home before i was,

An old greek told me if u set fire to one with petrol and let it scream all the others would vacate the premises...i never tried it,

I did try drowning them in a bucket of water while in the cage but bugger...it was a slow death.

Edited May 6, 2010 by tingtongfarang

[Thongkorn]

These pictures of rats are just small, When We lift the grain dryers after the stores are empty, we get rats as big as a jack Russell, Dog.They are black and to slow to run because they are that fat from gorging on the wheat, The dogs make short work of them. I will eat most things but not rat, because the carry many deceases, usually where you find mice or rats in Thailand , snakes usually follow.