When it comes to using cage traps for rats, it’s wise to allow them to explore the cage and eat a lure before the trap is armed. Some traps have a way of allowing you to keep the cage door open without the trap firing, but you may have to use something like a zip tie to hold a cage open for 1 or 2 nights. To ensure that the cage receives plenty of traffic, don’t skimp on the lures, and use several at once to pique rats’ interest. Your Tom Cat lure, plus peanut butter, Nutella, etc. Rats love mayonnaise, so if you can find a small container for some that won’t get your cage dirty, I highly recommend using it. If there’s room in the cage, a small tin might work. Using a few stones to weigh down the tin would be wise to anchor it. Putting a small tin of fish or pet food inside the cage is another option, but cats and dogs will be attracted to the tins, obviously.
Rats are always looking for food(s) that they can cache in their nests, so a solid lure should be very appealing to them. Rats that don’t feel safe to enter a cage to eat a lure inside it, may take the risk to go inside it, if there’s a high-quality food that they can remove from it. An excellent option for a solid lure is walnuts, which are one of rats’ favoruite foods, so get some of them if you can.
If you can get any, crack a walnut in half, to disperse the scent of the walnuts and to make it easier for rats to sample them. Once the halves have been taken, place a whole walnut in the trap, because the desire to eat another one, plus the appeal of removing a walnut, should be irresistible. Other nuts will work, too, as will chocolate covered nuts, like almonds or peanut M&M’s. Ship/roof rats also like fruit. In a cage trap, grapes are an option to consider. When the trap is armed, put a small bunch in it, 3 or 4 connected by a stem, because it’s possible that a smart rat could remove grapes one-by-one.
Regarding the rat “highway” that you’ve discovered, that should be an excellent site for cages and snap traps. Placing your traps/cages facing both directions is a good way to trap 2 rats the same night.
In order to direct rats to your cages and traps, you should try to make what’s referred to as a “funnel”. This is where you modify their route(s) by using materials to aim rats towards your traps/cages. Position the traps/cages parallel to the wall(s) and use a plank of some wood/ply, or a similar rectangular object, to create another wall that extends beyond the traps/cage (1 metre/3 feet either side or more), ideally. Rats will be less likely to avoid your traps/cages this way, because they don’t want to take the risk of exposing themselves by going to the other side of the second wall (unless there’s a safe alternative a short distance away, like a fence, hedge row, etc. that’s also good cover.
It’s also very important to make sure that your cage(s) are steady, because rats prefer to walk on stable surfaces. When necessary, I’ll use a brick or rock to anchor my tunnels to make sure that rats, stoats, and weasels feel safer entering them.
The rat that died in your hands may have been poisoned by a neighbour performing pest control or it may have been injured by a trap and escaped, dying of its injuries later on. One of the reasons why I prefer the T-Rex/Tom Cat is that the teeth are very effective at preventing injured rats from escaping into the wild, where they may suffer an inhumane death. Also, bear in mind that wild rats typically have a short lifespan. If it was already on the verge of death, the stress of being handled by humans may have caused it to die faster. Even a dying rat might try to give you a bite, so be sure to wear a pair of strong leather gloves to limit the chances of an injury and to reduce the chances of contracting a disease. Tongs are an excellent way to handle dead rodents.
Good luck.
