I believe rats are very intelligent. Haven't seen any live ones round here but the cat has had some young ones and eaten every bit. Would you like to borrow her?

We get a lot of field rats come into the garden when the harvesting is done. Often find nests made of leaves and straw brought in from the field. Our cats do keep them mostly at bay though. Because of them we do not put rat poison down.
Did find a perfectly round rat sized hole chewed in the floor of the Wood shed, through 2 inches of concrete!

I used to have a pet rat (named Monty) he was very fond of making a nest by pulling his bedding straw into one of the pieces of pipe in his cage. The bait box might seem like a nice secure place to build a nest to a wild critter.
I had to refer to him as a Norwegian hamster as the women I worked with at the time were very squeamish about the idea of a rat - of course, I'm not keen on the wild variety.

rats are very intelligent like all opertunists and make the best pets for children as they are so friendly,self aware . all opertunists have to be intelligent to survive like crows,humans and ofcourse rats so they can adapt easier to new foods and conditions .

cats are the only remedy!

Or a Jack Russell terrier!

I wonder what the reality is about rats in the wild. They've had bad press in the past regarding disease but are is that really a problem in the western world? Yes, there is Weil's disease but even Rentokil only acknowledge 4 deaths in almost 20 years - so not quite Plague!
Pet rats are great - they're as clean a their owners! And so smart. Big enough to be seen but not so big that they take up loads of houseroom and active during the day (unlike hamsters). Think of them as super smart guineapigs with tails.

me too urbanite . they do however cause damage and don't care wear they pee or leave there droppings which isn't nice or healthy how ever as pets they are just what you say . there brilliant pets and very loving . the only real difference between a wild rat and a pet one is the tame part and colour witch is just selective breeding . the best remedy is always a dog over a cat any time or don't leave the opertunists opertunities as I do . ive never had problems with them and really admire them . they are ofcourse Ferrell like rabbits,all pheasants, munkjack and even wallabies that live in Scotland so its not even there fault there here .

its intelligent not normal sd

We live in the country too, the farmers tend to use long drainpipes along rat runs with the poison pushed right to the middle, it stopspets and birds getting at it.
the troublewith poison is that animals eating the poisoned rodents can be poisoned too......

I once put poisoned grain down a mouse hole against my house wall and the very next morning found it all nicely piled up on the paving slab! mouse said 'no thanks'! I couldn't believe it, but after that I am not surprised by your clever Ratties!

i keep them away from the house by using poison in the bin bunker which is dog proof.....but when i find rodent holes in the chicken run i pour a little jeys fluid down the hole..it seems to put them off. maybe mine are not as clever as yours Karen..lol

Having just written a blog on my mouse problem, I'll admit to rats as we live in the wilds too. I have found this with mice and rats, with open bait (where no animals can get to it) and also in bait stations. I think it's because there is more food than they can eat/carry away so they cover it to store it for later. That's what the mice seem to do in my sheds! Put some bait down and it get covered with whatever is handy.
Love the idea from Sandra about the Jeyes fluid and the rat holes, I'm definitely going to try that with the holes that appear in the chicken run. They burrow through from the ditch/field drain on the outside of our land. Another question, how do they know that burrowing through at least four feet of bank will bring them up in the chicken run?