We tried bait stations for rats one year in the freeway landscape. We ran out of bait when we were near the yard one day, so we took our 1/2 hr lunch, restocked our bait, and returned to finish filling the stations we had just partially filled. They had been emptied in the 45 min. we were gone! After that we decided to carry a big stick with us. Fortunately, the Great State caved to either the environmentalists or the cost effectiveness, and we gave up baiting. I always worried about "seconary kill" if the raptors, foxes, or Coyotes ate the poisened varmints.