I figure this could go under "environment"...

Has anyone out there heard of this being available in the US?

Chinese develop contraceptive for rats over SARS scare | Asian Economic News | Find Articles at BNET

I found a poisoned rat in my backyard this morning, and I'm concerned that my dog might find the next one before I do.

I don't know where he was living, but I'm looking at no-kill ways of dealing with the possibility that there are rats in/near our yard. But I haven't been able to find any info on this outside of the China reference from 4 years ago.

(I don't doubt that I'll get ridiculed for wanting to solve the problem in a humane way. To me, that just says more about those who would ridicule me than it does about my choice on how to tackle the problem, IMHO.)

Outside of calling pest control in your area, who have big rat traps, I don't know of a sure-fire way to control the rat population.

I was caring for a neighbor's koi last month. Even though my neighbor has a protective fence over the pond, still a rat got into the pond and ate one of the fish.

You won't from me, that's for sure. I firmly believe in using no-kill traps in regards to rodent problems. One, cause it isn't the rodent's fault that we've created homes in their enviroments...Secondly, if you have small children, elderly, or pets in your home? Using poison isn't a safe alternative. Last, I don't know about anyone else...But the only way I perfer seeing dead critters is at the grocery store, being cooked, or on a plate. Getting up in the morning, the last way I want to start my day is seeing the carcass of a dead critter that was only trying to survive because we took up space in their enviroment.

I have an email in to one of the local wildlife control organizations asking them for information - I'd be willing to trap and relocate, but would want to get some information on how to do that and where to go, rather than turn "my problem" into "someone else's problem"...

I really liked the contraceptive idea, because it would control the population without killing or disrupting it - it would eventually die out through attrition.

can't get teh image of someone putting a condom on a rat.... oh hai let me help you with that mr. rat

talk about a dirty job....

sorry too funny

on another note I have not had any success using a "have a heart" trap to get the squirrels (furry tailed rats) out of my attic

For your dog's sake, though, I do hope you find the rats first before your dog gets to it. Otherwise, if those rats carry diseases, I hope that your dog does not get infected.

We have a possum problem in the neighborhood now. Before then, we had skunks in the neighborhood. One of my other neighbors' dog attacked a possum when it came into my neighbors' backyard. I could hear the dog growling.

You think that's funny? Should try any form of animal husbandry...Especially in regards to dogs that are bred with short legs...You literally have to not only put the female in a 'box', but 'guide' the male into mounting the female...

You'd THINK they'd just do it on their own, cause it's 'natural'...The instinct may be natural but the physical logistics are 'hard' for short legged canines...No pun intended.

My bigger worry is secondary poisoning - her finding a poison carcass and eating it. From my knowledge and experience, healthy rats are smart enough to stay away from dogs. They'd rather run than fight, and with her age they definitely have that option, provided she even cared enough to pursue in the first place. Our dog ignores squirrels, even when they sit on the rails of our deck.

I don't know that I've seen possums or skunks in our area (roadrunners and red tailed hawks, yes...). For the most part, everyone in the neighborhood keeps their trash well-secured so there's not a lot of "easy pickings" for the bigger scavengers.

My house has two large trash bins in the backyard - one for general trash and the other for recycling. A dumpster truck comes by, picks up the bin, and empties the contents into the dumpster. The lid of the bins are too heavy to be lifted by any animal in the neighborhood.

Funny.squirrels can be a pain. I started feeding the ones around here away from the house. It has seemed to help from them coming into the attic.