Among household rat repellents, Storm is something of a bestseller. Indeed, the manufacturer and distributors of the drug have done a good job, making it very convenient for the average rodent fighter: the product is sold both in small, economical packages that almost any buyer can afford, and in large buckets that are convenient for purchase by enterprises or pest control services. Such a varied packaging of Storm allows you to buy and use as much of it for rats as is required in each specific case.
In operation, Storm is a fairly effective poison for rats, easy to use, but requiring strict adherence to safety measures. It is produced by the English company BASF and sold in Russia and Ukraine through a network of regional dealers.
On a note
It should be borne in mind that under the name “Storm” the same rat poison can be sold in packaging of the most varied shapes and designs. Sometimes it even specifically creates the impression that the drug belongs to some well-known brand (for example, the “Clean House” brand).
Be that as it may, in the vast majority of cases the packages contain rat poison produced by BASF, packaged in small portions.
So, the imported drug against rats Storm can be bought in different packaging options:
- One briquette of 4 grams per package. Its price is about 15 rubles;
- 4 briquettes with a total weight of 16 grams. The price is about 50 rubles per package;
- Packages with pellets (cylindrical granules) with a total weight of 50, 100, 200 and 1000 grams;
- And finally, 10 kg buckets with four- and sixteen-gram briquettes, as well as pellets (buckets are the original packaging of the manufacturer). The cost of one bucket of poison exceeds 10,000 rubles. Such a wholesale batch is more economical than individual briquettes, but it will be too large for domestic use. It is rational to buy a Storm bucket only for use at a large retail or industrial facility.
Interestingly, Storm pellets have special jagged edges that encourage rats to chew on them. Therefore, even if a completely well-fed rodent finds poison, it will instinctively gnaw on the edges of the bait and receive its dose of poison.
Review
“We tried a lot of rat repellents at the station; there was always a lot of them in the boiler room. Everything works! At least, no matter what poison we scatter, after that we regularly find a couple of dead comrades a day. We tried Storm, Nutcracker, Rat Death No. 1. They are all very inexpensive and easy to use, you don’t even need to read the instructions: just lay out these tablets for yourself and then just go and collect the dead meat...”
Pavel, Tolyatti
Another reason for the popularity of Storm: many sellers assure buyers that this poison has a mummifying effect and prevents the decomposition of the corpses of poisoned rodents. Of course, the buyers themselves want the product to not only destroy pests, but also eliminate the possibility of an unpleasant smell of decomposition in the room (for example, when a poisoned rat dies under the floor or behind the netting of a house).
And often this poison is chosen among others precisely with the hope of its mummifying effect. Whether Storm really has such qualities, as well as how to use it correctly to get rid of rats safely and without undesirable consequences - we will talk about all these and some other interesting nuances in more detail later...
Composition of Storm, its active component and effect on rats
The composition of the drug Storm includes the following components:
- A food base that attracts rats and ensures that they eat the poison;
- The active ingredient is flocumafen, a poison with an anticoagulant effect;
- A special bitterness that rats and mice do not care about, but because of which neither pets nor children can eat significant amounts of this product;
- A dye that provides the characteristic color of the bait and makes it easy to distinguish it from food products;
- Wax, which provides the shape of the briquettes (wax is not included in the pellets).
The main component of Storm (actually, the active substance) is flocumafen, an effective poison for mice and rats. Penetrating from the intestines into the rodent's liver, it blocks the production of proteins responsible for blood clotting.
When poison accumulates in the body, this action leads to multiple internal bleeding, from which the rat dies 3-7 days after the first use of the bait. How quickly the rat dies also depends on the amount of the drug it eats daily.
In general, to die, one rat needs to eat only about 1.3 grams of the Storm drug, and 0.3 grams is enough for a mouse. Theoretically, even one four-gram briquette of the product is enough to kill several rodents. However, it is always necessary to lay out a larger number of pieces of poison in an apartment, since pests may not find one briquette, or one rodent will immediately eat it.
In particular, the manufacturer reports that four briquettes of the product will be enough to kill rats over an area of 50 square meters. m. This statement is very ambiguous: if there are a lot of rats in such an area, then four briquettes may not be enough.
On a note
Today, flocumafen is considered one of the most effective rodenticidal poisons. Due to its ability to accumulate in the body, a lethal dose can be reached after several uses of the drug. Due to this, Storm is superior in reliability to many other rat poisons based on blood anticoagulants.
The concentration of the active substance in Storm is 0.005%. Due to this, the drug acts rather slowly, which, however, not only does not reduce its final effectiveness, but even increases it. The fact is that at such a low concentration, rats do not feel either the taste or smell of the poison in the bait. Moreover, after the first use of poison, they do not feel any signs of poisoning, do not worry, and boldly seek and eat the drug again and again. For the same reason, already poisoned rats do not give any danger signals to their relatives, and they, in turn, also actively eat briquettes when detected.
It’s also useful to read: 8 effective DIY rat traps
As a food bait, the product contains a grain base with meat flavorings - what attracts rats most strongly. And due to the fact that the poison is blue, it cannot be confused with accidentally dropped bread or other ordinary food products.
Does the drug have a mummifying effect?
Apart from the advertising claims of resourceful distributors of the drug, there is no reason to believe that Storm mummifies the corpses of poisoned rodents and prevents their decomposition. The official description of the product from the manufacturer does not say anything about such an action. And most importantly, among the components that make up the poison, there are no substances that would provide a mummifying effect.
In general, today there is no known technology that has been proven in practice, which would ensure the mummification of the corpse of a poisoned animal using the components of the poison itself. Purely hypothetically, such an effect can be obtained if special antibiotics are used in the drug, but this would significantly increase the cost of the product.
Meanwhile, the composition of Storm does not indicate the presence of any antibiotics or other mummifying components.
All this clearly indicates that Storm does not have a mummifying effect . This remedy is simply a good, effective rat poison, which should be used taking into account the fact that a rat or mouse can die in the room, after which it will begin to decompose, causing a cadaverous smell, and the carcass will have to be found and thrown away. Which, by the way, is sometimes very problematic, and sometimes completely impossible...
Review
“The devil dared us to poison the mice in the office with Storm. I don’t want to say anything, the product is reliable, the mice all died, and even the tablets remained. But it doesn’t have the promised mummifying effect. And, as luck would have it, everyone started smelling behind the drywall right in the workroom. It was a nightmare, we thought we would have to move to another office. The stench was so bad that I actually had to go to work from my phone in the buffet. It ended with a team of installers cutting out a sheet of drywall, sweeping away about ten of these corpses of varying degrees of freshness, then installing a new sheet and plastering it. And still, it took another two weeks to ventilate the room. I’m not even talking about how much we paid these installers...”
Irina, Kyiv
Main characteristics of the drug
Research conducted by laboratories in CIS member countries has shown that “Storm” is well eaten by pests. One of the forms of release of the drug is a wax briquette, which has an attractive odor.
The effectiveness of rodenticide and the specificity of its action - the slowness of the development of poisoning - make it possible to avoid bait fear in rodents. The lethal dose of the drug is a small part of the pest’s daily diet. Pulse etching as a method of exterminating rodents is a consequence of the effect of a one-time use of the poison and the attractiveness of its smell.
The drug “Storm”, used to kill various types of easily and difficult to remove rodents, is recommended for use in such premises as:
- granaries;
- other storage facilities;
- feed shops on livestock farms;
- structures with soil protection - greenhouses, greenhouses;
- industrial, public and residential utility facilities;
- cellars and other outbuildings.
The drug shows no less effectiveness in field conditions - when protecting gardens and vegetable gardens.
Instructions for use of Storm against rats
Using Storm when fighting rodents is quite simple. First, you should identify those places in the room that rats or mice visit most often.
It can be:
- Bedside tables and drawers for storing food;
- Sinks;
- Garbage bins;
- Spaces behind and under kitchen furniture;
- Crevices and openings through which animals get into the apartment;
- Paths constantly used by animals.
Each home may have its own unique places that rodents are especially partial to. When searching for them, you should focus, among other things, on the abundance of crumbs and food debris, excrement, and wool.
Then one briquette is laid out in all such places - this will be quite enough to attract pests.
All distributed briquettes are checked daily. If one is completely eaten, a new one is put in its place. This is repeated until the rodents stop eating the bait - almost certainly this will only happen when all the rats die.
The instructions for use of Storm recommend that all dead animals be found and immediately removed outside the premises. And rightly so - given the lack of mummification effect, the remains of rats that are not thrown away will decompose and stink.
Moreover, according to the rules, it is forbidden to throw rat corpses and poison residues into garbage containers. All this needs to be buried in the ground to a depth of about half a meter, after having been sprinkled with bleach, outside the city and away from water bodies. It is clear that it is unlikely that any rat fighter will bother themselves so much, but, nevertheless, both dead animals and the remains of the poison should, at a minimum, be packed in a thick plastic bag before throwing away.
Safety precautions when using the product
It is important to remember that Storm is toxic to all pets and humans. Dogs are especially sensitive to it; cats and birds are slightly more resistant. The poison must be used so that neither pets nor children find it. Even the presence of a bitter component is not an absolute guarantee that no one will eat the bait.
It is also useful to read: How to poison rats and mice to quickly get rid of their presence in the house
The optimal way to safely use the drug is to place briquettes (pellets) in special bait boxes that neither cats, dogs nor children can get into. Such boxes can be made from ordinary cardboard boxes, in the walls of which holes for rats are cut at floor level. Rodents, attracted by the aroma of the bait, can get into the box, but a cat or dog will not get into it. You can buy such boxes, but their cost will be more than the cost of the poison itself.
If you do not use boxes, then Storm should be laid out where no one except rats can get to it: behind furniture, under the refrigerator, in cracks and holes from which rodents get out.
If the poison has to be placed in open places, children and four-legged pets must be removed from the room while it is being used.
It is strictly forbidden to use Storm in open spaces. In dachas and gardens, various animals (including birds) can eat the product. The poison can only be used indoors.
When laying out Storm briquettes and pellets, wear rubber gloves, avoiding contact of the drug with the skin and getting particles into the respiratory tract and digestive tract.
Poisoned rats should be removed from the premises as quickly as possible so that they are not found by a cat or dog. If your pet eats a dead or dying rodent, it may become poisoned.
Tornado
The Russian ultrasonic device Tornado is available in several variations. Tornado 200 operates in an area whose territory does not exceed 200 meters. Tornado 300 is used in buildings up to 300 meters. There are also devices with a range of 400 and 800 meters. Designing a device like this helps you purchase exactly the device you need to remove rats from your territory.
The Tornado device is distinguished by its compact size and special design, which allows it to be mounted on vertical walls. This device has several main advantages, and therefore its popularity is only increasing.
Ultrasonic device Tornado
- The Tornado device is safe for humans and pets. That is, the ultrasound emitted by the device is not perceived by them and therefore cannot have a negative effect.
- The device changes the frequency automatically and due to this, rodents do not have time to get used to the vibrations of sound waves.
- Rodents do not die; they simply leave your territory. Due to this, the smell of a decomposing corpse does not form in the living room.
When using Tornado, you must remember that ultrasonic waves are reflected from solid obstacles and absorbed by soft materials. Therefore, when installing the device indoors, it is necessary to take into account how the waves will propagate. It may be necessary to use multiple devices to effectively remove rats. The ultrasound device is left on continuously for three weeks to a month.
If you find a rat in your home, you must immediately take measures to destroy and expel it. It’s good if it’s just one random guest, you can get rid of it with the help of traps and sticky traps. But if the number of rats reaches 10 or more, then you need to use poison or call special services to deratize the building.
What to do if you are poisoned by Storm?
Signs of Storm poisoning include nausea, headache, malaise, abdominal pain, and sometimes bleeding gums or nosebleeds. This is mainly true in case of accidental ingestion of the product. Getting the poison on the skin or even in the eyes does not lead to similar effects.
The first thing to do in case of poisoning is to call a doctor, drink a large amount of salt water and induce vomiting. Then you should take activated charcoal and a laxative.
If the product gets into your eyes, rinse them with warm water. Irritated skin in areas of accidental contact with poison is washed with warm water and soap.
Substances that compensate for the effect of Storm are vitamins K and K1. Sometimes they are not entirely correctly called antidotes of anticoagulants. As a rule, accidentally poisoned dogs and cats, or people with severe poisoning, are administered intravenously Vikasol or Phytomenadione - pharmaceutical preparations of vitamins K1 and K, respectively. Such procedures should be carried out by a doctor; only in critical cases of very acute poisoning can the vitamin be administered to the dog directly on the street.
Review
“Today I saw this picture: a dead rat was lying in the middle of the sidewalk, all crumpled, as if crushed. Obviously poisoned. The horse passes by because he is trained. And a girl with a husky follows us, the dog rushes, grabs this rat and starts chewing. The girl screams, pulls this disgusting thing out of the dog’s mouth, and the dog tries to run away. In the end, the rat was sent to the container, but the girl was lucky that she made it in time. And so in Moscow, every day more than 10 dogs die from rat poisons, and anyone can buy the poison and scatter it near the house, it costs a penny and is sold on every corner. So be careful!”
Alena, Moscow
Impact effectiveness
The “Storm” poison, which is approved for free sale against rats, mice and other rodents with an attractive odor, contains flocumafen (a rodenticide - a coumarin derivative) as the main active ingredient.
The main impact of the drug is taken by the liver, which, under the influence of flocumafen, stops the regeneration of vitamin K1 and the activation of proteins involved in the process of blood clotting. Suppression of these life cycles leads to a sharp decrease in blood clotting factors and, as a consequence, death within three to ten days from extensive bleeding. This effect is called anticoagulant.
The drug against mice and other rodents “Storm” has a number of properties that positively distinguish it from other products:
- the duration of the destructive effect due to the good eatability of the poison and the resistance of wax briquettes to mold and soaking;
- lack of development of fear of bait in rodents as a consequence of the use of a new mechanism of action of the drug;
- the efficiency of "Storm" due to the low dose of application;
- simplicity and ease of use: packaging in the form of wax briquettes is a good way to adjust the dose of the drug and use without additional dilutions;
- safety of use (the product produced in the form of briquettes cannot crumble or be blown by the wind, which minimizes the risk of it being eaten by pets);
- attractiveness of the smell to pests.
Analogues that can replace Storm when fighting rats
The Storm product is well represented on sale; you can buy it in most cities in Russia and Ukraine, and you can also order the required quantity in online stores. In cases where Storm is not on sale, instead of it you can use, for example, the rat repellent Goliath or Stratige - analogues (although it is usually much more difficult to buy them than Storm itself). In general, Storm is cheaper than its analogues, even those produced in Russia.
If necessary, instead of Storm, poisons based on other anticoagulants can be used to exterminate rats. They are about as effective, yet very affordable and used in a similar way. Among such remedies are Rat Death, Ratindane, Mortorat, Varat, Nutcracker and others.
Review
“This Storm is a good remedy. The small package helped us, I think there were four pieces in it. These two pieces were placed behind the refrigerator, one under the sink, near the trash can, and one was left in reserve. Two days later, the poison near the bucket disappeared. I put some more there. And that’s it, no one touched the product anymore, and we didn’t even see the mouse. Apparently she was poisoned. Now I was looking for this same Storm for my parents’ dacha, but I couldn’t find where to buy it, the store had run out of it...”
Anna, Lipetsk
If you have personal experience using the drug Storm to control rats or mice, be sure to share it by leaving a review at the bottom of this page (in the comments field).
