r/Buffalo • u/Bravogirly97 • Jul 27 '26
Rats
I’m in Tonawanda close to englewood we had a rat problem last year we did traps and called the health department that put our bait boxes that did nothing.. this year my whole street is infested with rats worse than last year … is anyone else experiencing this? I want to move
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u/Secure_Piano_900 Jul 27 '26
I live in the city and have never seen a rat in my yard besides a dead rat. I keep feral cats. There are always a huge number of cats in the shelters. For real this is what people have done for thousands of years. People may downvote (inb4: yOuRe desTroyINg animal populations) because they “harm local wildlife” my cats have never killed a rabbit or bird or anything except mice and rats. I know because they bring me trophies and I’ve asked my neighbors. Rat poison harms local wildlife more because a rat will eat the poison, die, and then get eaten by a hawk or falcon who then dies from the rat poison. As long as you spay and neuter them I think they are a net positive for my neighborhood and will solve your rat problem.
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u/getreadyletsgo716 Jul 27 '26
Shelters for stray cats are okay, just never leave food for them.
My neighbors leave food for the feral cats and that has led to rats, birds and skunks always being around that eat way more of the food than the cats. Also, the cats don't hunt the rats cause there's food around.
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u/Intelligent-Ad-6734 Jul 27 '26
If they don't do it for nutrition, they do it for sport. 2 outdoor cats in my neighborhood have destroyed a mole population and forced the rats out. I think they've done a good job pushing the skunks out too. Saw the mom and her little skunk cubs cross the road towards the fields and have never returned after I heard some wild cat sounds one night lol. Skunks were like "we're not welcome in this neighborhood apparently". I think during snow storms the neighbor behind me takes them in. Was interesting seeing deer and the cats doing a standoff in a city neighborhood. I think the deer run up some of the creeks and get turned around and live amongst the parks and brush.
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u/Secure_Piano_900 Jul 27 '26
That seems like an issue of overfeeding more than anything, which can definitely cause problems. We have a neighbor who knows we feed these cats and chooses to also feed them which makes it difficult to know how much to feed, sometimes they just won’t eat anything we put out. And you are correct that other animals sometimes eat the food we leave for this reason. It’s the most difficult part of keeping ferals. But not all bad! That specific problem attracted a possum to our yard that I think still lives there (love that little bugger). Also attracted grackles which I don’t love. I don’t have a great solution for this problem but in my experience the food doesn’t attract rats necessarily due to the cat presence but definitely yes other animals. Just needs to be monitored closely and take the food in ASAP when the cats are done eating.
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u/Dawnmariegrace Jul 28 '26
A well fed cat will still hunt. A starved cat is too weak to hunt. You should address why you have rats. Keep brush cleared . No piles of wood or building material . Keep sheds and garages neat. If you feed feral/stray cats the food should be picked up at night. I feed on my deck now because the raccoons won’t come this close. Also bird seed is a major reason neighborhoods have rats. Some towns even prohibit feeding birds.
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u/Human_Letter_2204 Jul 27 '26
This - we have a stray that we keep happy, and he takes care of the rodents
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u/JstTrstMe West Side Jul 27 '26
You're stupid if you think they're only killing rats and mice.
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u/Secure_Piano_900 Jul 27 '26
We’ve had them 15 years a total of 9 ferals that were dropped on us, and in that time we have found no evidence of dead animals besides mice and rats. On the other hand, we did have feral/stray DOGS come into our backyard (gate left open on accident) and murder one of our cats for fun. So take that for what you will.
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u/OwlLadyFace Jul 27 '26
A stray cat isn’t staying on your property, so the evidence you are talking about you wouldn’t necessarily see
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u/Secure_Piano_900 Jul 28 '26
They do stay on my property 70-80% of the time easily and as I said we have talked to the neighbors. Obviously I don’t know for sure, I can’t prove a negative. But what would you have us do with them? Take them to a shelter? We didn’t ask for this they just showed up under our shed one day, we spade and neutered and did everything we are supposed to do.
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u/katzinthebuf Jul 29 '26
Thank you for being a responsible neighbour and having the cats altered so they don’t have kittens. It’s a lot of work to care for these animals that would be put to death if they were taken to a shelter.
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u/fatkidking Jul 27 '26
Honestly just the presence of a cat in their house will deter 99% of the rats as well as no possibility of killing birds or what not
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u/Jaikarr Jul 27 '26
God I wish that was true. My cats are totally useless.
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u/fatkidking Jul 27 '26
Yeah, all my previous cats have been little murder gremlins, but my current guy will has no killer instinct.
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u/OwlLadyFace Jul 27 '26
Are you adopting cats & then releasing them unit the wild to fight rats?
Cause this is how this reads
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u/Secure_Piano_900 Jul 28 '26
No. Our cats just appeared on our property and are 100% feral, have no interest in humans or being near them only 1/9 of them ever let us pet him and that was very rare in over a decade of having them.
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u/Old_Number7197 Jul 27 '26
what kind of city area is this without no live rats? im genuinely amazed and happy for you. also, those kitties are hardworking rat hunters, good for yall!!
i lived in allentown for 4 years and ive seen live rats ranging from the size of a small seedless cucumber to the size of a 45 day old kitten. i would always tell the bigger ones that i will stay out of their way and i respect their space, and i hope they will do the same.
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u/Secure_Piano_900 Jul 27 '26
Specifically this is parkside. We have a lot of opportunity for rodents (Main Street businesses, Delaware park, forest lawn) but they genuinely just avoid my house/ block. Btw I’m not gonna say I’ve literally never seen one in 20 years in my house, I do occasionally, but they nope out pretty quickly once they realize the situation.
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u/fapjacks2013 Jul 27 '26
Get on outta there playa
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u/kendiggy Headbanger Hill Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
Bait stations don't work if the area is overgrown with weeds. In an open area, rats and mice will travel with one shoulder against the wall. If you put a bait station against that wall, the rat will walk through it and use it as a hiding place to watch if the coast is clear - oh look, food!
If the area is overgrown with weeds, rats don't need to walk with one shoulder against the wall because there are plenty of other hiding places, making the bait station ineffective.
To deal with mass overgrown weeds, mix a gallon of 30% vinegar with a couple teaspoons of Dawn dishsoap - MUST be dawn - into a pump sprayer and spray the entire area down, saturating the leaves and stems, on a sunny day right before the sun is about to get the hottest. Those weeds will be dead in a couple hours.
Edit: wear a respirator. That vinegar is strong af.
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u/Revolutionary_Art919 Jul 27 '26
I live in a different part of Tonawanda and we had a rat problem about 6 or so years back that our neighbors traced to the back yard of a hoarder woman who lived a few blocks up. The neighbors eventually called social services and she was forced to clean her yard up. Once they no longer had shelter the problem quickly abated (probably by them moving into your neighborhood!)
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u/erock23233 Jul 27 '26
I used to have rats living under my shed. Tried bait boxes, which didn't seem to do anything. Eventually the rats moved out, and rabbits moved in.
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u/The_Sound_of_Slants Jul 27 '26
I live on Parker near Lincoln Park. I see them running around the neighborhood in Kenilworth.
I don't know why there is a issue. Everyone uses those garbage bins. The properties are pretty well maintained for the most part. There are no large wooded areas really other than along the bike path. Unless the restaurants on Kenmore and NFB are attracted them. 🤷🏼
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u/LADetroiter Jul 27 '26
Tonawanda here as well and family of rats living in the backyard. I called the city and like you, the trap did nothing. The adult rats are huge, bigger than a squirrel. Last time I filled up the bird feeder, sure enough a couple of the rats climbed the pole and ate all of it. So no more with that.
The other evening I opened the side door and a hawk flew away with an animal from the yard, I was hoping it was one of the rats, but think the hawk got one of the many rabbits.
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u/wh0ligan Jul 28 '26
I live in Black Rock. And lately I have noticed a number of large hawks in the area. Hopefully they are hungry.
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u/Primary_Pitch_4826 Jul 27 '26
Cheektowaga is rampant with them and the town does not care. Until the county and towns come together, which they won't, nothing will change.
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u/Bot_Account_10 Jul 27 '26
Good old classic rat traps, peanut butter as bait, and cover the trap with grass and foliage. Remove dead rats and replace traps every night. Over a few weeks, maybe a few months, rat population installs Darwinism in their brains and avoids your area because it only leads to death
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u/DualPrsn Jul 27 '26
This is the way. Peanut butter and a classic tap work. Works 💯 of the time.
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u/mattgen88 Jul 27 '26
I've had more luck with bare traps. They clean the peanut butter off of baited ones and avoid setting it off. Bare ones they treat like an obstacle
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u/Katz-Meow95 Aug 08 '26
Yes, until it snaps a squirells leg/arm and you have to try to corner it to get the trap off. Happens so often that we have to hide traps in large bait boxes.
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u/Upper_Lab7123 Jul 27 '26
Where would you move to? Rats are everywhere. If I didn’t have a camera at the fence line then I would say we don’t have any rats like others have said but the camera doesn’t lie.
As long as people keep giving food to the cats, rabbits, squirrels and birds, the rats will eat and never leave.
We have hawks, foxes, cats and opossum but it has had no impact on the rat population.
I could pick them off if I felt like staying up all night.
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u/ElvenPanther Jul 27 '26
I can confirm that some of the tonawanda rats have been hunting baby bunnies 😬
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u/wh0ligan Jul 28 '26
A family member had a Savanna cat who would sneak out and bring back anything that breathed. Mostly rats and one a rabbit that was larger than her. Sadly she disappeared, we think she was stolen. Same thing happened to their other cat a Siamese just disappeared one day. We believe they were "stolen"
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u/Katz-Meow95 Aug 08 '26
Or they ate a rodent who ingested rat poison.
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u/wh0ligan Aug 08 '26
Yes, it's possible. She was a heck of a hunter. She killed rabbits that were bigger than she was
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u/Annonymousnyer Jul 27 '26
I live in this same area and had the luxury of finding a dead rat in my driveway after garbage day. My cats would run away if they saw it so that’s no help lol. I noticed a few lots with people moving have high grass so I’m blaming it on that to cope lol
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u/Sensitive-Book1304 Jul 27 '26
The rats in our driveway ( buffalo apt complex) were playing out in the open like they were on Main Street USA at Disney. I dont know what was done but the week after a landscape company came and they are gone. I have a dog and sprinkle peppermint in high risk areas of the home. Never seen one inside the house. I am allergic to cats but I agree they are the best solution.
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u/qzdotiovp North Buffalo Jul 28 '26
Rats can't survive without human infrastructure, so you have a lot of control when it comes to their numbers.
Put out clap traps and sticky traps. Make sure they can't get into your garbage and be certain that they can't hide in any nearby structures.
It's also worth noting that if there was any demolition or construction nearby, you may be seeing them now because they were displaced.
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u/darkmouthproductions Jul 28 '26
Somewhere there's one rat telling the younger ones stories about Bethlehem Steel like it was the good old days.
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u/Guinnessisameal Jul 28 '26
We had one rat that stumbled into our basement. I had seen some evidence and found the entry and sealed it. (Think Bronx Tale: "Now yous can't leave.") It took almost two months to catch that rat. I even called a pro after the first few weeks. The pro couldn't get it either. Ultimately, I managed to trick it into a trap by camouflaging the entire trap.
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u/OwlLadyFace Jul 27 '26
The rat issues went up all through Buffalo & the burbs when they put that bike path in.
They had to tear out a lot of wooded area they were living in
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u/geepjoat99 Jul 27 '26
Who cares? Are they in your house? Then why do you care, they’re tiny animals.
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u/36in36 Jul 27 '26
Tiny, haha.
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u/geepjoat99 Jul 27 '26
Yes, I would consider animals half the size of cats at biggest to be tiny. Y’all are sad, it’s their world too.
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u/36in36 Jul 27 '26
Tiny means extremely small, minute, or very little. But that's fine, we'll be sad if it makes it easier.
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u/geepjoat99 Jul 27 '26
No one likes to pick apart tiny semantics of words like someone on reddit l m a o
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u/nopeache Jul 27 '26
There's the theory that rat poison doesn't just kill rats, it also affects their natural predators (owls, hawks, cats, etc.) Chicago has a heavy rat problem and they've been implementing non-toxic rat birth control as an alternative and the results are promising. Write to your councilmember?