Mix red pepper flakes with bird food. Birds aren't bothered by pepper but rodents dislike it. Or, just be cool with having rodents in the box. I've gone both ways at various times.
Now put a sheet metal bent downwards under the feeder and you should be good. Or you can make a trapdoor for the front and then dispose of rats by your preferred way.
This window box is explicitly for the purpose of making the outside, which this rat clearly is, viewable inside. As this actually changes nothing topologically about the rat/house relationship *and* it lets you see the rat, who is awesome, I fail to see the problem.
An old upload, something I cropped for the comments probably a year ago. You can still share anything you uploaded previously, it is only uploading more that won't work.
And that your house isn't made out of toothpicks. Given the primitive sliding windows, it's likely a North American home, so they have probably already found several ways inside.
Ah yes, old European homes. Famously rat proof, oh wait. Hate to piss on your weird parade but European homes are not airtight. There's nothing wrong with stick frame construction. It has its pros and cons and can be the better choice depending on climate and location. Also more environmentally friendly to build.
I wasn't talking about old European homes. Building a home out of bricks is the better long-term choice and it's vastly more environmentally friendly to have a house that can easily last for centuries instead of decades. Not to mention, a modern European home is vastly more energy-efficient as well, which has a huge impact on the environment. Water instead of air for heating, practically mandatory outside foam insulation, double- or triple-paned glass and heavily incentivized use of renewables.
The same exact things can be said of stick frame houses. Just like how Britain has wartime/postwar brick houses that are shoddy slapped together shit boxes, so too are there cheap slapped together stick homes. A proper built stuck frame home can also last centuries and the wood is a carbon sink as opposed to bricks which are carbon intensive. We have triple glazed windows in Canada too and you can actually insulate stick frame better with spray foam. Heat pump furnaces are as good as water based
My neighbor buys bird seed that is laced with cayenne pepper. The birds can't taste/react to it, but the squirrels and bears learned pretty quickly not to mess with his feeder.
What is a squirrel if not a tree rat?? And I happen to love squirrels. And all animals. Except scorpions. Fuck scorpions. And hornets too. You know what, fuck everything with a stinger. Except bees. I love bees. Except carpenter bees. Fuck Carpenter bees. They mean well, but, still, that's my brand new deck bro. Lay off. Anyways, what were we talking about again?
I keep a badminton racket on the porch for carpenter bees. It is very satisfying to whack them over the fence. Before the haters chime in, I love bees. I think they are an invaluable member of the ecosystem and I protect and promote them. Except for Carpenter bees. Those get the racket.
My scorpion story: The first time I saw one I was in my 30s and vacationing in Italy. We stayed in a little mountain village that was mostly rotating vacation rentals.
I kept finding scorpions in the house. I complained to my Italian wife about the number of scorpions after the sixth one. She asked what I did with them. I explained I caught them in a jar and tossed them out the kitchen window.
My wife then let me know that directly below our kitchen, is the village playground. Oops.
I held a baby scorpion at the zoo once. It was all pink and translucent. I had to hold my hand on the table because it could run off and “ hurt” itself.
15 years ago moved into our house. First mouse in first 6 months. Caught it and 6 others. Then nothing for about 5 years and caught 3 more. Then nothing until furnace wiring was chewed on, but still haven’t seen any
That is was my garage. I finally went nuclear and sprayed all inside, outside the house, placed bait down everywhere, and cleaned the fuck out of it. The weather the year before was so wet that the outdoor ones made a home in my garage. Nasty little fuckers!
I live in a very old building that used to use fireplaces for heating before base board radiators were put in, but the landlord didnt bother removing the brick fireplaces and matles. Just bricked over the chimneys. Anyway that is where mice like to come into my room, so I put down glue traps around there and after catching a few they stopped working. Now every once in a while I am treated to mice performing a mission impossible scene over the glue traps.
The sign is you can see the dirt and oil residue from their coats rub and make those black marks, You can tell on the bottom of houses the same if you have rodants
And they can chew through ANYTHING. Wood, plastic, mortar, bricks, even steel. The only rat deterrent is a thick steel wool type mesh and not because they can't chew through it but because the thin mesh gets stuck in their teeth and they have to give up. Guess how I know this.
I'm no ratologist but when we had rodent abatement done the specialist with the full time job of keeping rats out of things said they don't put in sheets of stainless steel because rats will chew through it. They use mesh only.
MidnaDS
Rat is short for Ratthew.
boognish115
It’s cute watching a window shut perfectly around that thing. Must be a new suburban home.
netutoring
"Listen here, you little shit...."
manthraxx
Well then you know that you need to call the rat-catcher
AgamemnonsMemes
There is never ONE rat...
kyro
Cayenne pepper. Mix it into the seeds.
Birds can't detect spicy. Capsaicin - the spicy chemical - attacks glands that birds don't have.
Mammals never come near my feeders.
GreaterDog
"Honey, why is the outside wall smeared with petroleum jelly?"
lildude52ca
?
GreaterDog
The "relative who gets obsessed with stopping the squirrel from getting into the bird feeder" trope basically
tinyfootprints
Mix red pepper flakes with bird food. Birds aren't bothered by pepper but rodents dislike it. Or, just be cool with having rodents in the box. I've gone both ways at various times.
kaltralliart
Windowsill full of poop
ImNotActuallyEvilAfterAll
duh
geraltofriva
RATS! 🎶aaaaaaaaah🎶
sunnydayingermany
this help rats be more vegetarian
SimSimSimsalabim
Now put a sheet metal bent downwards under the feeder and you should be good. Or you can make a trapdoor for the front and then dispose of rats by your preferred way.
JohnWickdidnothingwrong
Rats are awesome.
aRabidGerbil
Pet rats in your house are awesome, and wild rats in the wild are awesome, but wild rats in your house are very much not awesome.
JohnWickdidnothingwrong
This window box is explicitly for the purpose of making the outside, which this rat clearly is, viewable inside. As this actually changes nothing topologically about the rat/house relationship *and* it lets you see the rat, who is awesome, I fail to see the problem.
cousteau
Wait… is this a rebranded old post, or does video upload work again?
DeltaBladeX
An old upload, something I cropped for the comments probably a year ago. You can still share anything you uploaded previously, it is only uploading more that won't work.
cousteau
Yep, that's what I suspected. Sigh, this site was nice while it lasted.
TwitchFox
Not the rodent I expected.
proxyinitiative
Expected a bird crashing into the window
TheInitiated
* capybara spawning sound
TwitchFox
I woulda been mad impressed if a Capybara managed to find its way into that little feeder. XD
kaneinencanto
Cat would probably enjoy watching just the same. Just make sure that lid is good and secured...
DdCno1
And that your house isn't made out of toothpicks. Given the primitive sliding windows, it's likely a North American home, so they have probably already found several ways inside.
BrdCdn
Ah yes, old European homes. Famously rat proof, oh wait. Hate to piss on your weird parade but European homes are not airtight. There's nothing wrong with stick frame construction. It has its pros and cons and can be the better choice depending on climate and location. Also more environmentally friendly to build.
DdCno1
I wasn't talking about old European homes. Building a home out of bricks is the better long-term choice and it's vastly more environmentally friendly to have a house that can easily last for centuries instead of decades. Not to mention, a modern European home is vastly more energy-efficient as well, which has a huge impact on the environment. Water instead of air for heating, practically mandatory outside foam insulation, double- or triple-paned glass and heavily incentivized use of renewables.
BrdCdn
The same exact things can be said of stick frame houses. Just like how Britain has wartime/postwar brick houses that are shoddy slapped together shit boxes, so too are there cheap slapped together stick homes. A proper built stuck frame home can also last centuries and the wood is a carbon sink as opposed to bricks which are carbon intensive. We have triple glazed windows in Canada too and you can actually insulate stick frame better with spray foam. Heat pump furnaces are as good as water based
FrozenMojo
Or don't and have a real show with dinner
TheFastpaws
Ya, that is just a vector for rodents, fleas, ticks, mites and such. Terrible idea.
chaylar
yeah...
Nebbo
Burglars must love a window that's permanently jammed open though!
Telemapus
I reckon she knows that rat. He is way too glossy and dark to be a wild boy.
thepeenisbehindthetrenchcoat
perfect. you can trap it, skin it and make a sweet rat fur jacket of him.
widiwi
and sell rat burgers
CyberHexx
For the other rats...
EstoyPoopis
https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1a3draW1sMDhzYW1qbzhrM3B2dnlyZG1tb2VnZTFlN21hYjVwMjZ2eiZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/CnP4JGzvFVARx9mXSI/200w.webp
sowhat4
My neighbor buys bird seed that is laced with cayenne pepper. The birds can't taste/react to it, but the squirrels and bears learned pretty quickly not to mess with his feeder.
Kilo11
Ok but how do you make them pay rent
BrownWoim
Insert another box in another window sill for the $ drop box
Kilo11
Oh..... so no guns
RobertLong02
Needs to be on second floor?
OrkenMork
Looks like someone needs some snakes.
Bobdole010
But what would eat the snakes?
Kats8652
Skinner: Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.
Lisa: But then we're stuck with gorillas!
Skinner: No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.
Colopty
Why would you want to get rid of the snakes?
DdCno1
Perhaps, because you're the British Empire occupying India.
Colopty
In that case just offer a bounty for dead snakes, no way that can go wrong!
Heavychunkymoisture
mongoose
emu314159127001
#Shadowtherat
Heavychunkymoisture
I know a guy that can help. The pied piper of hamelin
SimSimSimsalabim
So, the Edguy guy was right, huh? The Piper never dies.
Thorketil
But don't forget to pay him properly, otherwise it could end badly.
Samerious
I mean the rat is still kind of cool!
Sfingks
I love rats as pets, but I absolutely don't want wild rats near my house. They're destructive, carry diseases, and hard to get rid of.
dedpan
Yeah but you really don't want to attract them to your house
GuyWithDog
Yeah, just not the wildlife ones. They do carry a lot of potentially very nasty stuff
JimmyDalai
Ticks! https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1NHYwazRyc3lucHZvc215cmx4aHB2bWJpamJpdzQ3bG55YnVpdm05aSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/AKU4NtRPGDURwQd5lL/200w.webp
Innuendobot5000
Just like birds… And your mom.
DrSleepyPhZzz
Ha got 'em!
GuyWithDog
That's why we put her in the retirement castle. Your point?
pixelsnader
Guluzinyu
It's anthrax.
digifuzzy
You still got a close-up view of wildlife.
IAlwaysUpvoteLowBudgetCreativeWork
6 inch closer than usual
salunatics
Expected a squirrel
netprincess
Get a rat!! :)
017renegade
PushPullMagnet
There you go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFZFjoX2cGg
cytherians
Hadn't seen this one in a few years -- thanks! Mark Rober must be making enormous bank with no effort now... 72m subscribers! Holy effing...
counterintel
What is a squirrel if not a tree rat?? And I happen to love squirrels. And all animals. Except scorpions. Fuck scorpions. And hornets too. You know what, fuck everything with a stinger. Except bees. I love bees. Except carpenter bees. Fuck Carpenter bees. They mean well, but, still, that's my brand new deck bro. Lay off. Anyways, what were we talking about again?
PantlessThunderGoose42
I keep a badminton racket on the porch for carpenter bees. It is very satisfying to whack them over the fence.
Before the haters chime in, I love bees. I think they are an invaluable member of the ecosystem and I protect and promote them. Except for Carpenter bees. Those get the racket.
smax410
Scorpions taste good
SocoFox
My dad used to say that squirrels were just rats that learned how to be cute.
kathlTvVillain
😂😂🐝🦂 Thank you for the laugh 😂.
decarnatedame
Rats with swiffer tails.
gggihgg
Id argue the tail matters. It's the worst part of a rat.
nachosyndicate
That was a rollercoaster of a comment
kyro
My scorpion story: The first time I saw one I was in my 30s and vacationing in Italy. We stayed in a little mountain village that was mostly rotating vacation rentals.
I kept finding scorpions in the house. I complained to my Italian wife about the number of scorpions after the sixth one. She asked what I did with them. I explained I caught them in a jar and tossed them out the kitchen window.
My wife then let me know that directly below our kitchen, is the village playground. Oops.
nachosyndicate
I held a baby scorpion at the zoo once. It was all pink and translucent. I had to hold my hand on the table because it could run off and “ hurt” itself.
cytherians
Carpenter bees are pollinators. And they have no stingers. Just treat your wood and you're golden.
ChickenTendercles
Or hang a block of cedar in the yard, away from your house.
cytherians
That's a really good idea -- give them something even tastier to nosh on.
homoerection
Your big deck, bro
spaolo3140
Remember, when you see a rat there are many of them
neospor1n
15 years ago moved into our house. First mouse in first 6 months. Caught it and 6 others. Then nothing for about 5 years and caught 3 more. Then nothing until furnace wiring was chewed on, but still haven’t seen any
ElAburrimientoMePuede
More so if they show up at daytime.
Thorketil
Snooj
Remember, when you don't see a rat there are many of them.
Neurisko
Same with roaches. If you see any during the day, whoah nelly.
PepperoniAndFingernailPizza
That is was my garage. I finally went nuclear and sprayed all inside, outside the house, placed bait down everywhere, and cleaned the fuck out of it. The weather the year before was so wet that the outdoor ones made a home in my garage. Nasty little fuckers!
ImtheEyeintheSky
I HATE roaches! I was complely traumatized by those little fuckers one summer when I was a kid. They really don't like when you turn on an oven and they have a huge colony underneath. https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1c2hlbmRicDhwcWZicHM5NXQ5cjI1M2xnZjVzZnQyYnZxY2twdGc3ZCZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/XQG4g9Mvq0VqxcPmAN/200w.webp
Neurisko
FiftyShadesOfMascarpone
And once they come to associate your home with food & warmth they'll find a way inside. All rodents can scale walls, not just squirrels
Lutki
I live in a very old building that used to use fireplaces for heating before base board radiators were put in, but the landlord didnt bother removing the brick fireplaces and matles. Just bricked over the chimneys. Anyway that is where mice like to come into my room, so I put down glue traps around there and after catching a few they stopped working. Now every once in a while I am treated to mice performing a mission impossible scene over the glue traps.
BonafideHomicide
I fed my backyard rats so they'd leave the cats alone. They never bothered coming inside.
Cornflakes91
spider rat, spider rat...
DeltaBladeX
I'm going to show this to my sister and make her cry
Amouthfulofhornets
https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1dHpuZHhzeTFyYWV3bThrOWRqb2Z4OWN0MWw4YjJsMXcyeGVzcDdzeCZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/xTiIzL9Btjx9hegHT2/200w.webp
SPQAAE
buahaha
terajack2048
The sign is you can see the dirt and oil residue from their coats rub and make those black marks, You can tell on the bottom of houses the same if you have rodants
Leonon
Well, not all rodents.
iLoveItWhenMyFingersSmellLikePussy
Wouldn't that be a sight to see!
AlexSomething
No need to climb walls when you can just walk through them.
MapleSyrupMafia
This dude is allowed in the house tho!
myeyesthegogglesdonothing
We don't KNOW that they can't climb walls, we've just never seen it
AngurProne
CAPYBARA TRIALS 2026! A Thorough Research on Pet Feasibility. /s
TheBigBadBonerBiter
Tbf they don't need to, if a capy wanted in I'd probably just let him in.
zigbigidorlu
They're friend shaped!
Sturdycrotch
That's bullshit why can't we have that ability
CatThatsNoLongerCurious3
It’s called training. Humans can climb pretty much anything if we want it bad enough.
relsky
We do. https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1bDljd285ZzYycndhN3RqcDBsdDRvaDN6OWFlZ2tmOHdhcDhzNzRqNyZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/I5yH9Aeq0EGCA/200w.webp
Snooj
And they can chew through ANYTHING. Wood, plastic, mortar, bricks, even steel. The only rat deterrent is a thick steel wool type mesh and not because they can't chew through it but because the thin mesh gets stuck in their teeth and they have to give up. Guess how I know this.
losersmanual
While rats can chew through some of the softer metals, they cannot chew through steel and iron.
Snooj
I'm no ratologist but when we had rodent abatement done the specialist with the full time job of keeping rats out of things said they don't put in sheets of stainless steel because rats will chew through it. They use mesh only.
Noesies
You're a rat
Snooj
And I'm typing this from some person's computer in a house they thought I couldn't chew my way in to.
Noesies
https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1ODFjOTk1MmI0bmdwZDFuOGZ3YWt1cjNtNTZ0bHdieWtvb3E1M3BxdyZlcD12MV9naWZzX3RyZW5kaW5nJmN0PWc/SWbgItMEFVbAXh9ZhO/200w.webp