We did have mice (no rats) when we first got here, mainly due to the home being empty for so long. Cute tiny little gray or black rascals. They aren't so cute when you open the pantry or chicken house and they jump out at you. They were in the walls, mostly, when we first moved in and began remodeling. At night it was hard to sleep from the chewing and scratching we would hear behind our heads. We tried every trap there was from a basic snap trap to fancy electronic sonic things. Nothing work... except one thing... CATS. (I think one came in tonight picking her teeth with a claw moments ago..) They are the best and take their jobs seriously. We no longer have any in the house (we did rip out the walls when remodeling... scary stuff … they were packed with mice nest and old bodies...of mice). Out in the barn we do keep all the animal food in plastic trash cans with snap lids with no problems there either. I have never seen one in the bird houses or barn. We had a bull snake living under the pump house, so I figured he was fat and happy eating mice.
Prairie dogs... we had them for a short time. We found putting opened BAZOOKA bubble gum at their doors did the trick. They can't digest it and die. Well, that was the suggestion someone gave us and appears to have worked.
Rabbits... the dog helps that. When we first got here it was a freaking Disney movie with rabbits dancing and singing all around. Once we got a dog their midnight soirees became a thing of the past. We have only a few out in the pasture that isn't being used right now.
Hope that helps.
