Immediate Success -- Night Rats Theory -- LED Lighting

[Moke]

thank you, @Preston shoreline.

I'm trying a new lighting approach tonight.
I've found that diffuse lighting is OK; softer seems better. But, I'd like a deeper lighting; meaning a deeper reach of light back towards my patio blind. I see mice foraging on the edge of the lighting, between well defined light, and, nearing black. So, I'd like to broaden the depth of field in that sense.
So, I have moved the light up to a piece of PVC pipe mounted/clamped to my rain gutter. That rain gutter ends at the corner of the house nearest to the Shooting Gallery.
So, tonight, the light will be dispersed from perhaps 9' tall, and out at the outer edge of the 5'x6' Gallery area. The previous nights had the lamp mounted onto the vertical pipe pieces at closer to ground level.

 

[Moke]

So, i got up for the midnight pee. I looked out the bedroom window onto the red light district, and what do I see? There were at least 3, and perhaps 4 Rats on the dirt floor of the Shooting Gallery, blissfully vacuuming up seed.
However, by the time that I stumbled out onto the patio, and behind the blind, they all vanished.

And, today, I just ordered a new 16" .177 barrel and, stainless steel pellet probe for my Crosman 2289 (making it a 1789?)

 

[Moke]

Alrighty,.... awesome success with this theory. I've run out of Rats, already.
It has literally been a week since I've seen a Rat. I'm popping lots of Mice, but the Rats are no longer, it seems. I know that I have them in plenty of other places out further in the yard (an acre), but the local Rats nest (yes, I also found that in this effort), have been cleaned out.

If you think you might need something like this - DO IT!

and,.... adding,...
My Crosman 2289 Backpacker is no longer that (.22 with 14" barrel and skeletal stock).
It is now a 1789, with a new 16" .177 barrel added. I like it.

 

[Moke]

Well,.... I've not run out of Rats.

So, flat lighting is an issue that I've been having. There is not much in the way of depth, and shadows mess with dimension.
one of the isms with the flat light is on what I now call the Rail, or, the runway created on the top of the two stacked baseboards. The shadows and flat light make it a bit of a challenge to discern between the baseboards and the fence boards that create the taller backstop.

To counter that, I've been thinking about how I might be able to highlight the Rail.
Reflective tape.

AND,.... a big part of the reason behind my wanting to highlight certain things,....
I've changed my bait to 100% Sunflower seeds. And the black seed shell makes them impossible to see in this odd lighting. So, I place the seed below the center-most of the reflectors, to indicate their locations on the Rail.
Sunflower seeds are the shizzle for Rat bait. Its like Rat crack.

This is an image with my flash on, on the camera. In no way is the tape as bright as it is in this image under the LED lighting. The tape reflection was made to jump out by the camera flash, to show what I'm trying to accomplish.

These images are more reflective of what I'm trying for;... just to highlight a certain level that I call the Rail. The tape pieces are cut with angled points, a bit like arrow pointers, and are pointed downward. Anything lower than the tape, and downward to about an inch and a half is the Rail.
My camera sucks at low light levels. Sorry for the image quality.

The reflective tape does not seem to bother the rodents. I've bagged two fat Rats overt the last two night, directly below the reflective tape.

 

[sqweeler]

Wife's make-up lamp with the top off a Lee die set. Give's me shooting light out to 20ft.

 

[Moke]

A gent over at GTA has been Ratting with the third rear light (center brake lamp) from a more modern car; it is an LED tail lamp. He seems to be successful with it.
I like these alternate uses like this table lamp!

I mentioned Sunflower seeds.
My wife is a Birder, a bird enthusiast/watcher. We've always had some form of bird as a pet, including our nearing 35 y.o. Cockatiel. According to the bird people, Sunflower seeds are highly addictive, and should not have that large a portion in a bird seed mix.
The local Rats,.... they vacuum the seeds up, and leave the rest of the seed mix. All of the Sunflower seeds are gone, each morning. So, I've gone 100% on Sunflower seeds as bait.

 

[Hal4son]

@Moke "These images are more reflective of what I'm trying for;... just to highlight a certain level that I call the Rail. The tape pieces are cut with angled points, a bit like arrow pointers, and are pointed downward. Anything lower than the tape, and downward to about an inch and a half is the Rail."

Can you post a daylight pic that illustrates this? Great info all over in this thread...Thanks.

 

[Moke]

@Hal4son

In the original post in this thread, post #1, you can see a really good view of what I call the Rail.
The Rail, in this OP, has a dead plinked Rat stuck behind a wire grid. That wire grid was used in an attempt to keep our Coyotes away from a bait that I was trying at that time (mid-July),... real Bacon bits. I had intended to have the Rats to be able to get behind the grid, and get to the bacon, but keep the Coyotes away from it. That Rat was a really fat one, and was able to fit behind the grid.

Where the dead Rat is imaged is what I call the Rail. It is the top of my backstop baseboards, which are a pair of 4x4 pressure-treated landscape timbers. The whole backstop is scraps and remnants, please bear with,....

The top of those baseboards, I call the Rail. It is probably 3" (2.5"+) of unobstructed pathway from their hiding area, and they have to enter the front side of the backstop, which is where numerous rodents have perished over the years (hundreds of rodents).

Dead rat, on the Rail:

And, this is a rat-size target that I made from a rolled up gym sock, and blue tape. It is true to Rat size, and it fits exactly on the Rail.
Over the Rail are a couple fence boards that make the backstop a bit taller at 18". Where the fence boards came together is a seam, I placed another fence board over them to close the seam between fence boards, to create a double thickness backstop (the rear side has extra layers as well).
construction briefly explained,.... [/ done]

The blue tape Rat target fits directly under the second fence board layer. That slightly higher extra fence board layer is where I placed the reflective tape, with the arrow points at the lowest level of the second layer board.
These is also a 'roof" board over the bait. We have Owls here, and, I gave them a cover to come out under, and make them selves more comfortable. That "roof" is the lighter colored, oxidized board. The reflective tape is attached to the red brown board behind it.

The Rat-Mouse-Thing target was very useful to me in figuring out the weird LED light shadows that made the rodents appear larger.
And it captures pellets, and keeps the backstop from loudly popping during early-on night time ranging.

To the question of daylight pics,.... forthcoming.
I found this question last night after dark. So, I'll head out when the sun comes up, and will take a daylight pic.

 

[Moke]

To the question of daylight pics,.... forthcoming.
I found this question last night after dark. So, I'll head out when the sun comes up, and will take a daylight pic.

@Hal4son

Some pics, from this morning.

The Rodents did not show up last night (as evidenced by the leftover sunflower seeds).

 

[Hal4son]

So the reflective tape is a quick reference/affirmation on where to be looking?

 

[Ranchibi]

COSMOING 400 Yards Gun Flashlight Red/Green/White LED Tactical Rail Mounted with Quick Release, Fits Glock Taurus Ruger Springfield H&K S&W https://a.co/d/5bU5Ybn

Moke, along/in tandem with our red LED flood light I also mount this red LED flashlight to my Prod to help with shadows and flattening of images, helps immensely. And, the rats are usually not spooked by another red LED, if they bolt, they will come back and acclimate quickly. This flashlight is tiny, like 3".

 

[Bandito]

Ranchibi, that sounds good. Will have to think about it. Be Well, Bandito.

 

[Moke]

I have a small laser pointer that I've been kicking around trying on the Rats. Its not a functional shooting item, as it is a press and hold switch; let go, it goes dark. But I could use it on Rats that I see, in handheld mode, and see if they get jittery.

 

[Moke]

So the reflective tape is a quick reference/affirmation on where to be looking?

Yes,... with explanations.
I went from legally blind this year, to being able to see again, due to cataracts. And, this artificial lighting thing presents challenges. Of those, as mentioned is flat light, and odd shadowing due to lighting angles. I'm still trying to get used to my new bionic eyes.

Another reason, is that it helps me determine where the seed is at when I'm looking from inside of the house, and spying on the Rats.
The master bedroom is right in the middle of all of the Ratting fun; one widow looks across the right->left shot, and the other window looks over the Impact Zone. So, when I get up at night (pee breaks), I'll look out onto the Red Light District (Impact Zone), and see if there are any Rat-Mouse-Things wanting to play. And since the Sunflower seeds are nearly black, having a marker to indicate its location really helps when looking from inside the house.

 

[Moke]

I have a small laser pointer that I've been kicking around trying on the Rats. Its not a functional shooting item, as it is a press and hold switch; let go, it goes dark. But I could use it on Rats that I see, in handheld mode, and see if they get jittery.

Well, I tried this out, hand held, just to see what happened with it. It is way more than present. Amazingly bright on target. And then,.....
And then, I hit one of the reflectors, and the laser beam turned back towards myself. Amazingly bright? There is nothing like shining a red laser in your new bionic eyes to set off lots of alarms in your head. danger will robinson, danger.