Immediate Success -- Night Rats Theory -- LED Lighting

[Moke]

How often do you meet with immediate success when you launch a plan? Last night went off as smooth as butter.

I've actually been studying on Rats, and a plan came to mind.
My local Rats seem to be night creatures, and, i want to reduce/eliminate them. But my budget does not allow for such things as $1k self adjusting night vision scopes.
So, I spent what my budget allowed,.... a whole $20. And I plan on using my other gear that I have at hand.

To this end,...
I've been studying on Rats over the course of time. I've read that the Rats are color-blind to Red-Green spectral bands.
So, I ordered an LED garden light that has 4 color bands, including a Red band. It arrived yesterday.

This is the light. It arrived yesterday, late afternoon.
It is a 120vac lamp that operates with a transformer at the plug end of its power cable (120vAC->6vDC transformer).
It has four colors, Red, Gold, Green, White, and one mode that flashes between all colors for xmas lighting decorations.
Its remote control is about the size of a credit card; slightly larger and thicker, but only slightly.

Late yesterday afternoon, I dragged it out to my Whack-A-Mole Shooting Gallery, where rodents commonly go missing, and gave it a temporary new home (until I can actually give it a permanent home). I pumped up my Crosman Backpacker 2289 .22 and had a seat behind my blind.

The results,.... they were immediate. I did not go out until it was too dark for me to have shot without some form of lighting, like 8:30pm+.
I do apologize for some crappy pics, as I am not a photographer,....

This is my blind view w/ camera flash on to show the house and some depth,... The red glow is the LED. That red glow is enough to give a bright enough backdrop that I can see my crosshairs.

My first night time rat. For this area, it is a large one.

In total, in under a half hours effort, I saw three rats, and managed to get one of them. I cleanly missed a second one, and, just watched the third. There will be more tonight.

this is the Amazon link, should anyone want to try this out.

Amazon.com

 

[Ranchibi]

Nice set up! I also use a red LED 15 watt flood light in my back yard and use in tandem a red LED flashlight on my Prod to snipe rats like you nice shot and pics!

 

[stewie]

Brilliant!!!

 

[Moke]

@stewie
thanks.
Mine is a collaboration of thoughts and theories, from here at AGN, and other internet readings, that I extended into my space; as @Ranchibi stated with his similar use rig.
And, as stated, I'm shocked at how well it immediately worked.

 

[BlackICE]

Great setup at low cost. Very practical. You don't need the latest and greatest toy to have an effective setup. However the toys can add some fun.

 

[Moke]

Great setup at low cost. Very practical. You don't need the latest and greatest toy to have an effective setup. However the toys can add some fun.

Oh,... no doubt. I lust after that stuff. And given my background, I've been there in different interests, like, $5500 matched microphone pairs. I have a scary addictive personality for the nice toys. But, retirement is what it is, and high dollar toys are not so common anymore.

getting excited here,... its late afternoon, and, soon come sundown.

 

[delooper]

That's a nice solution. I can't use it as it would freak out my neighbours. I do all my pesting in total darkness.

 

[BlackICE]

Oh,... no doubt. I lust after that stuff. And given my background, I've been there in different interests, like, $5500 matched microphone pairs. I have a scary addictive personality for the nice toys. But, retirement is what it is, and high dollar toys are not so common anymore.

getting excited here,... its late afternoon, and, soon come sundown.

Thermo looks interesting, but unless it 640+ or better I wouldn't be happy. The 640+ sensors just cost too much for me to go for it. If they were $500 sure. I tried a cheap <200 sensor, worthless!

 

[L.Leon]

Red and green lights do work… But they alert “humans” to “your” presence…. So you need to be discreet and prudent. That said, hundreds of rats fell to my red light combo…

 

[Moke]

So, you don't always get the trophy images.
So, how about a tale from last night?

Last night, I went out at 8:30pm. I had turned the light on a last light of day, just to be ready.
I went out, and, the rodents were already present, but skittish. So, I sat down, and started scoping around the edges.
The rats, skittish, would mostly look over the backstop peripheral wall, and I could easily make out their heads, ears face. They would then just barely breach the perimeter, and just as quickly turn back over themselves to a hasty retreat. This all happened to fast for a shot, but lots of activity.

Then, one finally made a dash for the seed. It then stopped a mere 6" onto the base boards, which is just sightly deeper than others tried. It went slightly further, then stopped, and immediately went into the hand up, and against the wall command by the Cops. It literally stood on its rear legs, spread out against the wall of the backstop, and stayed there.
Too tempting,..... Pop.
I put it slightly high above the front shoulders, but into the vitals. It flopped around and wriggled way back into the thick shrubs, where there are also rattlesnakes. I don't go rooting around the shrub line here after dark.

Last night: One Rat
Up against the wall mo'er fo'er, POW!

 

[Moke]

I made a change to the light distribution yesterday afternoon.
In keeping with my Any expense is too much theory, I went rummaging through the scrap pile again, and came up with a 3' piece of 1" PVC pipe. It took the 1" pipe in order to fit the push-in-ground stake that the light is attached to.
I zip'tied that pipe to the cat fence (that keeps the feeding birds safe from my cat). That elevational change was huge in getting the light to distribute more evenly.
I also added an awning to give the rodents a feeling of security from owls and night birds that we have (we have a pair of owls here now for years; assuming a mated pair). It is a piece of fence board scrap mounted at about a 45º slope, like a roof.

New lamp mount to the left, on the cat fence.

The new awning, above baseboard center:

------------------------ Up against the wall, at the 'hump" in the branch ^

 

[beerthief]

How often do you meet with immediate success when you launch a plan? Last night went off as smooth as butter.

I've actually been studying on Rats, and a plan came to mind.
My local Rats seem to be night creatures, and, i want to reduce/eliminate them. But my budget does not allow for such things as $1k self adjusting night vision scopes.
So, I spent what my budget allowed,.... a whole $20. And I plan on using my other gear that I have at hand.

To this end,...
I've been studying on Rats over the course of time. I've read that the Rats are color-blind to Red-Green spectral bands.
So, I ordered an LED garden light that has 4 color bands, including a Red band. It arrived yesterday.

This is the light. It arrived yesterday, late afternoon.
It is a 120vac lamp that operates with a transformer at the plug end of its power cable (120vAC->6vDC transformer).
It has four colors, Red, Gold, Green, White, and one mode that flashes between all colors for xmas lighting decorations.
Its remote control is about the size of a credit card; slightly larger and thicker, but only slightly.

Late yesterday afternoon, I dragged it out to my Whack-A-Mole Shooting Gallery, where rodents commonly go missing, and gave it a temporary new home (until I can actually give it a permanent home). I pumped up my Crosman Backpacker 2289 .22 and had a seat behind my blind.

The results,.... they were immediate. I did not go out until it was too dark for me to have shot without some form of lighting, like 8:30pm+.
I do apologize for some crappy pics, as I am not a photographer,....

This is my blind view w/ camera flash on to show the house and some depth,... The red glow is the LED. That red glow is enough to give a bright enough backdrop that I can see my crosshairs.
View attachment 482088

My first night time rat. For this area, it is a large one.
View attachment 482092
View attachment 482093
View attachment 482094


View attachment 482095View attachment 482096View attachment 482097

In total, in under a half hours effort, I saw three rats, and managed to get one of them. I cleanly missed a second one, and, just watched the third. There will be more tonight.

this is the Amazon link, should anyone want to try this out.

Amazon.com

i like that you use a 2289 and did not go out (as i am sure some suggested ) and buy an FX @ 30 FPE . Simply wonderful !

 

[Moke]

lets not forget my $35 , 10y.o., Winchester Air Rifles scope

 

[Moke]

Oh, forgot to add, about the Crosman 2289
I like the lower velocity. My neighbors house is probably 250' away. It is not in direct line behind my backstop but I'm far more comfortable having it there. My neighbors, are all PB shooters, gathering weekly for trap and skeet at the local shooting club range. Two of them are also reloader/loaders of hand gun ammo. And, they have all used my pellet trap at this same Gallery in zeroing their own pellet rifles. They are all well satisfied with my safety arrangements.
But, with that all said,.... I am far more comfortable with a lower velocity rifle than something that will knock over my backstop, before it takes aim for my neighbors property.

I've been thinking about converting the 2289 from .22 to .177, and getting a Notos for my short .22
I also have a Beeman Chief .22 - a moderate velocity PCP. But its a bit loud for after dark plinking.

And, another and,..... I don't think that I'd want to use anything that explodes the rodent, leaving pellet size perfectly round holes where heads used to be, or lungs. Too messy for me.

 

[Caliber 22]

I still have a .177 Gecado mod.27 (Diana) from childhood. That produce about 7 - 8 fpe, about the same as your Crosman. I took many doves with it. So, that Crosman has plenty of power for rats but like you say, it is safe to use as it will not carry energy to far. When you do convert it to .177 it will actually be better for short distance ratting than the .22 at the same power level, faster, a flatter trajectory and a smaller hole to punch with the same power.

What distance are you shooting at?

 

[Moke]

@Caliber 22

This shot is at a fairly short distance. It is roughly 35' from blind to target.
I bought the Crosman 2289 to replace a worn out Crosman 2100 multi-pump .177 rifle. I took out a lot of Ground Squirrels at this exact location over the years with it. And, as they retreated (read: trying to gain distance between me and them), I bought the Beeman Chief .22 to chase them out of town, as the shots were getting longer.

 

[Moke]

We had a friggin' rodent party here last night, pretty much all night.
In speaking to my wife, I decided to just let them party last night, and get used to the light. So, I never pumped the Crosman up. I did play around with my uncocked Beeman, as its UTG scope has a lit reticle. I tried to see if having that reticle lighting made much of a difference in this dark scenario. So, mentally, I was slaying them all night last night.
Strangely, the red light setting on the scope showed up better on the red background than the green lighting did.

That reticle lighting is intended for day light usage, for sure. It turns on at full level 10 (hearkens back to old school audio amplifiers maximum rock-on level of loudness ). By the time you get it brought back to a more forgiving light level, you're blinded by the initial setting.
At any rate, I had two rats at a time feeding on the base boards of the backstop where I pile the seed. There were rats on the dirt floor vacuuming up seed, and, a mouse, too.

 

[Berserkeley Mike]

We had a friggin' rodent party here last night, pretty much all night.
In speaking to my wife, I decided to just let them party last night, and get used to the light. So, I never pumped the Crosman up. I did play around with my uncocked Beeman, as its UTG scope has a lit reticle. I tried to see if having that reticle lighting made much of a difference in this dark scenario. So, mentally, I was slaying them all night last night.
Strangely, the red light setting on the scope showed up better on the red background than the green lighting did.

That reticle lighting is intended for day light usage, for sure. It turns on at full level 10 (hearkens back to old school audio amplifiers maximum rock-on level of loudness ). By the time you get it brought back to a more forgiving light level, you're blinded by the initial setting.
At any rate, I had two rats at a time feeding on the base boards of the backstop where I pile the seed. There were rats on the dirt floor vacuuming up seed, and, a mouse, too.

I save old car key-fob batteries (2025, 2032) for use in the illuminated reticle scope (a cheap centerpoint). When they get below ~2.9v they power the reticle dimly enough to be useful at night.
And a real rock-on amplifier goes to 11!

 

[Moke]

Ahh, yess,.... 11
How could I forget?
My ears both ring with tinnitus brought on by 11, at home. There are multiple tones in each ear,... yea. And they scream far louder than ambient background noise.
And then i became a live music archival recordist, and the fun of professional PA systems pinning your clothes to your body (I was a Grateful Dead fan live audio recordist). When my ears became too painful for PA supported music, I jumped into acoustic classical/chamber music recording, as the sound pressure levels were so much easier on my damaged ears.

 

[Moke]

I nailed another Rat tonight. But, I didn't just dead-drop it, and it got around behind the backstop.
Well, given my history of rattlesnakes here (17 in twelve years), I won't go chasing hit/dying Rats around the bushes at night, especially not around the backside of the backstop (have caught and released two large ones there over time).
So, I grabbed the large MagLite flashlight, and trash picker-upper tongs, and went to look around for the Rat, in safe regions, where I can see with the flashlight, and what do I find?
yep,.... another Rattler, and this one was after dark.
So, I tried with the same tongs, and, it managed to twist away, and got back into the shrubs just wide of the house.

So,... another Rat, and another Rattler (though it still is out there, and caution will be necessary).

regarding the lighting,....
It seems that my lowest output level is the best. The rats are less skittish at that level of amplitude.