With the kind permission of @cat and @james they’ve allowed me to post this (sponsored post).
It’s not often that I come across a game changer in the Pest Control industry and in my opinion this is one, the RatMat. If you’ve experienced rodents gnawing the cabling or plastics of a vehicle you will be aware of just how expensive it can be to repair.
The RatMat is a non lethal electric barrier, which a rodent will not cross. As with an electric fence, it sends a pulse of electricity to deter rodents. You can drive over it, walk over it (with shoes on - you will receive an nasty shock if you walk on it in bare feet!).
It’s perfect if you have a vehicle that’s vulnerable to rodent attack, or left standing for long periods; it silently protects your electric vehicle, motorbike, quad, tractor or camper van.
There are aerosol repellents on the market which have to be reapplied on a regular basis, and of course grandmother’s recipes of peppermint oil and other gloops but none of these come close to the efficiency of the RatMat!
If you are interested, please do not hesitate to contact me by PM or at www.ratmat.fr where you will find more information and FAQ.
Funnily enough I’ve been considering making one of these and have been researching reliable data about the best voltage and waveform that will discourage rather than fry any rodents.
It’s led to some very strange ads appearing in my search engine…
The transformer used is about 40times less shocking than the electric fence transformer. It will give you a shock to remember if you walk on the mat in bare feet, but it won’t knock you over the other side of the room.
Pricey, yes, but after having had to shell out a few thousand euros to repair rodent damage on a car a few years ago, this is certainly an attractive option if you suffer from rodents!
Right now would be great to have something like this surrounding the house
I was wondering just the same thing! Having had a young rat take over our kitchen for several weeks. Finally got rid of him, but I would rather not have had him indoors in the first place - in the garden, no worries, inside, no way! But I’m assuming any such system would be a problem for dog and cat feet?
Furry feet or hoofed animals are not an issue, bare feet they will receive a shock. They will remember the second time.
The only problem would be borrowing under the RatMat otherwise there’s no reason why it couldn’t be done, apart from the cost. The transformer has been tested to 1/4 mile without any reduction in puissance.
Hmm. So that would suggest 200v. The last time I had any test subjects I used 24v limited to 5mA and it didn’t seem to bother them at all. I might up it to 50v and see what happens. Having said that, the mice etc seem to have disappeared for the time being so perhaps word of my experiments has spread
We have a mouse problem in our shared house as a student. A bright spark had the idea of hooking up a metal plate laid on the kitchen worksurface to the mains…flying mice!
I visited the Goodnature offices in Wellington NZ a few years ago. There are no native mamals in NZ except for 2 species of bat so they don’t care what they kill if it is non-native. It has a CO² propelled hammer to kill (humanely).
It’s a very good trap, costing in France around 130€, but it will kill anything that can get into to opening, the attractant is chocolate and it is particularly effective against squirrels. OK for the UK, but you need to be absolutely sure that there are no non target species which could come a cropper.
Quick question : after many years without, thanks to many cats, am pretty sure a rat has decided to attack my kitchen stores now there’s only 1 lazy cat.
What is the active ingredient to look for that will kill it? I remember last time I had to.get something unusual off ebay uk. It worked instantly but would prefer not to use UK ebay for this now. (I was told last time the local rats here were used to the mainstream stuff in DIY stores so it was ineffective.) What chemical have people had recent success with?
Years ago I had a very bad experience with using rat poison - one crawled off and died somewhere and couldn’t find it, but the odour was horrible. I now try to do as much prevention as possible and use traps as the final step!
The problem is that’s too late. At the end of 2021 we noticed that our hybrid had zero charge despite being plugged in all night. We thought no more of it but the battery didn’t charge for several weeks until we left her in for a pre long trip service. We got a call from the concessionaire saying that despite no sign of ingress a ronger had chewed the high voltage cable. Mercedes did their best and fast tracked the cable from Germany but too late for our departure date.
We had found a dessicated unidentifiable rodent under the bonnet a few months earlier so I probably should have taken some action then. A nibbled wiring loom can be a reason to write off a car and (I checked ) it’s not covered by insurance.
Finally got rid of him, but I would rather not have had him indoors in the first place - in the garden, no worries, inside, no way! But I’m assuming any such system would be a problem for dog and cat feet?
