Problem with a rat / mouse?

privilegue

Hi guys,

we have seen a mouse / rat running through our living room for the past 2 weeks now, i have seen her for the first time tonight running right behind my PCs desk, which after i moved it I couldn't see nor find the rodent.

My wife did not see it move either which leads me to believe she must have disappeared into the sidepanels where the heater goes into the floor. Now it was dark so I am not entirely sure what it was mouse / rat? I think rat because it was too big to fit in the palm of my hand.

We had these usual traps down for the past 2 weeks and all that ever happened was the little fecker took the food without setting off the trap(s) at all. The wife also heard some walking / scratching noise from the ceiling in the living room which I think is where they live.

Any advice on what works and how to catch it / them would be good. I certainly dont wish to have the rotten stench in the house so poisons for now are a no go. These repellers dont work at all, we tried those last time and the two mice were dancing around the thing.

Any advice is appreciated guys, thanks.

dodderangler

If its a rat or a mouse it ain't alone
If its a single rat it's prob a mother meaning she's gettin food and movin it to her babies or so she has the milk for them
Ferret is your only man here

privilegue

dodderangler wrote: »

If its a rat or a mouse it ain't alone
If its a single rat it's prob a mother meaning she's gettin food and movin it to her babies or so she has the milk for them
Ferret is your only man here

What do you mean? As in seriously buying a ferret? Thanks for the info tho.

dodderangler

privilegue wrote: »

dodderangler wrote: »

If its a rat or a mouse it ain't alone
If its a single rat it's prob a mother meaning she's gettin food and movin it to her babies or so she has the milk for them
Ferret is your only man here

What do you mean? As in seriously buying a ferret? Thanks for the info tho.

No not buy one but if you know someone with one then you'd be sorted and not a pet ferret
A huntin ferret will do it

kylith

Get yourself a decent snap trap, make sure it's suitable for rats, and set it on a hair-trigger; i.e. you should be afraid to breathe on it in case it sets it off. There are a couple of reasons why they get the bait without setting off the trap
- Bait insufficiently secured. I use fresh buttered toast and tie it on with a metal twist tie. This means that the rat has to put weight on it to try get the bait, and will set off the trap. Hot toast has the same effect on rodents as on us; they love it.
- Trap incorrectly set. This means that the loop is too far up the pin and, again, the trap won't go off. Practise putting the loop right on the edge of the pin, so it's almost about to fall off by itself, and as soon as ratty puts a foot on it they're dead.

You need to be careful, yet fearless, with the traps. They're strong enough to break your finger. Put it in by the wall, rodents like to stay at the sides of rooms, somewhere you've seen the rat run before. If you have pets or children you can put it inside a box with a couple of holes in the side, make sure there's enough space for the trap to operate correctly.

A good terrier is just the business for sorting out rats. Even if they don't catch it they would indicate where the rat is getting in and out, and possibly even where they're hiding. I wouldn't use poison; it's unnecessarily cruel, kills indiscriminately if other animals get into it, and if the rat goes off and dies in your wall the smell will be unholy.

Sigma Force

Use superglue under a piece of chocolate so that the food can't be taken off, sello tape can work for mice..as in sticking the food down with it but super glueing the food down works better with rats. A standard wooden trap done this way is usually the most humane. Once the rat(s) are gone then block up the area with wire wool it's sharp and they generally don't like to chew on it.

farreJ

We've a field at the back of our house so we get mice every year caught our first one of the season just yesterday.

Few tips:

Use something really sticky as bait. Mars bars or other caramel-y foods work well - they have to wrestle with it a bit to get it off, making it more likely they'll set the trap off.

I know you said smell is a no-no but mothballs are meant to repel them. They do stink up your house a bit though.

Any holes, gaps in floor etc that you think they could be getting in - stuff it with steel wool. The little b******s can chew through just about anything but steel wool is supposed to stop them in their tracks. Stuff even the smallest holes, you'd be amazed the spaces they can squeeze into.

Lastly, try putting poison down outside. Might get them before they get into your house.

Good luck!

Split

Burnt nutella or peanut butter on your trap . Little mouse/rat cannot resist , place traps in by the walls and watch for signs of 'rat runs' . I would bait 2 or 3 traps and position in the room