Rat problem

ondarack

In the past week I have caught 3 rats in my attic. Since I've laid poison outside in pipes. I've also identified a possible entry point in a sewer manhole out the back of the house. No evidence of rats elsewhere in the house thank God. My question is should I seal this up now or wait for the activity to stop? If I seal now I might be blocking some in and I don't really want to do that. I had mice a year ago so that's why traps for all incommers were set in the attic. It was during the storm last week and I thought the roof was after coming off but it was actually a rat caught and putting up a struggle. also would a professional outfit be doing anymore then this,would it be worth getting them in? All advice welcome

Lumen

I would wait for a dry spell before blocking it up. My cat always brings things in during storms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t2VPBF6Kp4

ondarack

Also, if I have identified a tunnel in a manhole should I put poison in it? Or would they only consume it and die in the house? At my wits end because I've a toddler in the house.

jomalone14

OP, please just get the professionals in and let them deal with it, that's what they're there for.
Mice are one thing but rats are a completely different ball game.
It's not worth taking the risk especially with a toddler in the house.

I'd have moved out long ago :eek:

cichlid child

I would block it up straight away and reset the traps in case any are blocked in. If after two weeks you are still catching them it would mean they have another entry point and then i would call the experts.

ondarack

jomalone14 wrote: »

OP, please just get the professionals in and let them deal with it, that's what they're there for.
Mice are one thing but rats are a completely different ball game.
It's not worth taking the risk especially with a toddler in the house.

I'd have moved out long ago :eek:

I have contacted professionals but they only set traps on visits 1-3 and if they are not having success they put down poison. This is exactly what I'm doing

twignme

I just had rats in my walls and middle ceiling. I found the entry point and closed it off and laid traps. The traps were sprung, it didn’t catch the blighters, but because I had them corralled inside, they died. The smell was unbelievably awful and since then I have had the masses of bluebottles that made their way into one room of the house from the dead body. A different and hideous smell. It’s been almost three months now and it’s finally dissipating.
If there is anyway you can trap them rather than poison them so they get back into your house to die, I would recommend you do it that way.

scuby

Neighbours had a rat and a buddy came with a ferret, left him off where the rat activity was and about 2 mins after smelling the ferret the rat bolted out a vent like a rocket and never came back.

vicwatson

Op, how do you think the rats are getting to your attic via the sewer pipe? Sewer pipes don’t access the attic do they?

ondarack

vicwatson wrote: »

Op, how do you think the rats are getting to your attic via the sewer pipe? Sewer pipes don’t access the attic do they?

I lifted the manhole cover and found what looks like a little tunnel under the footpath, I'm only speculating but it looks the it could be an entry point. They could burrow under the footpath and into my cavity wall

vicwatson

ondarack wrote: »

I lifted the manhole cover and found what looks like a little tunnel under the footpath, I'm only speculating but it looks the it could be an entry point. They could burrow under the footpath and into my cavity wall

Say they did burrow under the footpath surrounding the house they still have to get through the block work on top of the foundations and then burrow up through a floating floor to get into the cavity, unless they burrowed under the footpath and found a gap where an outflow foul pipe wasn’t “sealed” around the block work, This would by pass the inside of the pipe and give direct access to the cavity I’d imagine?

ondarack

vicwatson wrote: »

Say they did burrow under the footpath surrounding the house they still have to get through the block work on top of the foundations and then burrow up through a floating floor to get into the cavity, unless they burrowed under the footpath and found a gap where an outflow foul pipe wasn’t “sealed” around the block work, This would by pass the inside of the pipe and give direct access to the cavity I’d imagine?

That's what I'm thinking, I moved into this house 2 years ago and a small bit of the footpath seems patched up where I'd Imagine the cables to the boiler are underneath so that could be an opening into the cavity

vicwatson

ondarack wrote: »

That's what I'm thinking, I moved into this house 2 years ago and a small bit of the footpath seems patched up where I'd Imagine the cables to the boiler are underneath so that could be an opening into the cavity

Or did you take the cover off the boiler to see if the entry point to the house was blocked up after fitting? This is direct access to the cavity. They could get around the sides of the boiler if not sealed off. No boiler sits flush with the house

ondarack

vicwatson wrote: »

Or did you take the cover off the boiler to see if the entry point to the house was blocked up after fitting? This is direct access to the cavity. They could get around the sides of the boiler if not sealed off. No boiler sits flush with the house

The boiler is actually in a small house a few meters from the house so it's not mounted on the wall so entry must be underground

smacl

ondarack wrote: »

Or would they only consume it and die in the house?

Neighbouring shop laid poison and a rat came to die somewhere in the dry lining of my office wall / floor or ceiling. Absolute nightmare, the stench was appalling and lasted for weeks followed by a plague of bluebottles. My advice is stick with the traps and/or get a cat. Also from experience, if you're using traps, attach them to something solid using picture wire or similar. Rather disconcerting when you put a rat trap down and it is gone the next day

An Ri rua

You're forgetting about your drainpipes. You can get steel anti-rat devices in UK. If you're in a semi-d or a terrace, then your neighbours' problems (drainpipes) are also yours.

Very very serious. Hygiene is the least of your worries. A house fire is much more alarming.

PS its unethical to leave rat poison out without using a bait station. Illegal in UK I think? Rat could go and die in a neighbours property.

Klinkhammer

Get a cat. I'm not joking. We moved into a house that was unoccupied for a long time and the neighbours told us there was a rat problem. Our cats came with us and our neighbours or us never saw one once after we moved in.

This was in a row of old cottages in Dublin City centre.

ardinn

not sure if mentioned yet but get some glitter or better still uv powder and put it at the possible entry points - when they step in it they will drag it around with them and you have your entry point!

c.p.w.g.w

Bought I house last year, we had some evidence of mice/rats - droppings, rustling noises.

Herself wanted cats, so we got a couple of kittens, no sign of any rodents since...But we are definitely cleaner than the previous occupants.

Don't leave poison outside without bait traps, the poison is dangerous for cats, dogs and apparently birds

ondarack

OK, so a bit of an update. I have still not caught to bastard, I have 100% identified the entry/exit point, I have packed the hole with sand and it dug out again. I have about 12 traps set in the attic and no joy up there. I also set 4 traps in the sewer for 2 days while we were not at home but the cute whore did a u turn and dug out under the footpath. I had to remove the traps from the sewer for obvious reasons. So my question is, is the rat exiting during the day and entering at night? I don't want to block him in but I would like to block him out. Or even better poison him on his way out and keep him out. I kinda think he is inside at night because I set the traps in the sewer early in the morning and there was no way in or out without setting 1 off hence why it burrowed out a different way. I also have poison fixed in pipes outside around the back and none of this was touched until the past week when 1 pipe seems to be eaten, I've added more to it yesterday evening.

ardinn

Hire this guy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7ZDZTv2ZU0

uberwolf

subscribed. fair bit of activity overhead in the attic in the last week.

Dealt with mice in the kitchen earlier in the winter without much excitement. Not as hopeful regarding this one, but the traps only went out yesterday afternoon

Shemale

If you cant get a cat get a terrier, they are machines for catching rats. My mother in laws neighbour used to bring her terrier down if there were rats in his property.

Did you try those plug in sonar things? We got them after mice were in the attic, no hassle since.

uberwolf

Shemale wrote: »

Did you try those plug in sonar things? We got them after mice were in the attic, no hassle since.

I understood that these only worked once the house was free of rodents, that it wouldn't get rid of them for you if they were already in residence?

my3cents

If you have rat activity I think you really need to put down bait stations and check them regularly even when you think there are no rats.

That way you'll be able to see if any bait has been eaten and how much which gives an idea of how many rats you have.

I have one large 20 block bait box out in a shed near our chicken run and I forgot to check it for a month when I did all 20 blocks had been eaten.

peneau

Might help.

http://ratflap.com/

Shemale

uberwolf wrote: »

I understood that these only worked once the house was free of rodents, that it wouldn't get rid of them for you if they were already in residence?

Sorry I don't know if that is the case, only heard of it after we had killed all the mice and have had no rodents since.

celica00

I personally hate using poison for various reasons, especially pets, wildlife and children who could come across a dead rat and get in contact with the poison.
I have 2 terrier-cros, lovely family pets, you would never think they go for rats, until one day one of them catched and killed one! he also once catched a mouse inside.
so if you have the possibility to "borrow" a terrier, do it. also helps big time in the morning and evenings or during night to leave them at it, thats the time when rats are active. obviously make sure the terrier cant run away or could get lost etc. but normally the smell of the dog/cats already keeps them away.
if you have a friend with a long haired dog (husky, retriever, german shepherd etc), ask them to brush the dog and keep the hair. u can put up the hair bundles as well close to the rat-entrance to keep them away!

Richard tea

Quick one for you all. I suspected I had a rat knocking about the place. I had it confirmed today when I seen it feed on wild seed i threw out for the birds. I set a basic wooden rat trap out the back. Within 1 hr the rat set off the trap but got away. Will the rat be wery of that trap Now? Poison is not really an option due to young kids and a pup.

I'm sure he fecker was living it up in my compost bin. I've since got rid of it and I'm sure the rat has taking up residents in the housing of my kero burner.

uberwolf

Richard tea wrote: »

Quick one for you all. I suspected I had a rat knocking about the place. I had it confirmed today when I seen it feed on wild seed i threw out for the birds. I set a basic wooden rat trap out the back. Within 1 hr the rat set off the trap but got away. Will the rat be wery of that trap Now? Poison is not really an option due to young kids and a pup.

I'm sure he fecker was living it up in my compost bin. I've since got rid of it and I'm sure the rat has taking up residents in the housing of my kero burner.

happily for me I have caught one mouse up there so far, so in the clear on the rat front. What has worked for in the past for mice is melting chocolate into the bait area. Makes them work at it and hence more likely to trigger the trap.

MIKEKC

my3cents wrote: »

If you have rat activity I think you really need to put down bait stations and check them regularly even when you think there are no rats.

That way you'll be able to see if any bait has been eaten and how much which gives an idea of how many rats you have.

I have one large 20 block bait box out in a shed near our chicken run and I forgot to check it for a month when I did all 20 blocks had been eaten.

Just because the blocks were gone doesn't mean they were eaten .most poisons take about 3days to kill.rats store the blocks in the meantime

my3cents

MIKEKC wrote: »

Just because the blocks were gone doesn't mean they were eaten .most poisons take about 3days to kill.rats store the blocks in the meantime

I do feel like being a bit sarcastic sometimes The rats can't take the blocks because the poison blocks have holes through them and are held in the bait stations on a length of wire.

The whole point of a bait station is to make the rats eat the poison where its put out so they can't take it away and leave it somewhere that another species can eat it.

ondarack

Richard tea wrote: »

Quick one for you all. I suspected I had a rat knocking about the place. I had it confirmed today when I seen it feed on wild seed i threw out for the birds. I set a basic wooden rat trap out the back. Within 1 hr the rat set off the trap but got away. Will the rat be wery of that trap Now? Poison is not really an option due to young kids and a pup.

I'm sure he fecker was living it up in my compost bin. I've since got rid of it and I'm sure the rat has taking up residents in the housing of my kero burner.

Yes, I had that issue, I put a trap they were familiar with in the sewer and they just did a uturn and burrowed out a different way, I couldn't believe they were that clever. My answer to that was using 4 different types of traps. And different types of bait. I used peanut butter and Nutella. Be careful with traps outside, make sure no child or other animal can get access to it. Rat poison in pipes along walls/fense might be more productive. Fix it into the pipes so they can't carry the whole block away. Alternatively just buy a few purpose made bait stations

I got a few of these from amazon, found them good value
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00XL382T4/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1520152868&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=rat+bait+box&dpPl=1&dpID=510GmGmbLBL&ref=plSrch

dan1895

peneau wrote: »

Might help.

http://ratflap.com/

+1 for the rat flap.
Had them coming into the house through the sewer and installed one of these and it worked over night. Kept traps and poison set to monitor the situation and noticed the poison being gnawed a few weeks later. Set more traps and caught a mouse, a sign the rats were truly gone. Sealed up a couple of small holes and put rodent mesh on a vent and no rodents since. Still monitor the poison and traps for peace of mind.

snoopy84

ondarack wrote:

OK, so a bit of an update. I have still not caught to bastard, I have 100% identified the entry/exit point, I have packed the hole with sand and it dug out again. I have about 12 traps set in the attic and no joy up there. I also set 4 traps in the sewer for 2 days while we were not at home but the cute whore did a u turn and dug out under the footpath. I had to remove the traps from the sewer for obvious reasons. So my question is, is the rat exiting during the day and entering at night? I don't want to block him in but I would like to block him out. Or even better poison him on his way out and keep him out. I kinda think he is inside at night because I set the traps in the sewer early in the morning and there was no way in or out without setting 1 off hence why it burrowed out a different way. I also have poison fixed in pipes outside around the back and none of this was touched until the past week when 1 pipe seems to be eaten, I've added more to it yesterday evening.

When packing up the hole mix broken glass in with it,

my3cents

Probably too late at this stage but it can be worth checking in the snow to see if there are any obvious rat runs.

I noticed this morning that there was no rat activity in our chicken run because the snow is still pristine around the old shed wall the rats often use as home.

MIKEKC

my3cents wrote: »

I do feel like being a bit sarcastic sometimes The rats can't take the blocks because the poison blocks have holes through them and are held in the bait stations on a length of wire.

The whole point of a bait station is to make the rats eat the poison where its put out so they can't take it away and leave it somewhere that another species can eat it.

Excellent idea the blocks that I got had no holes in them so just put down a few at a time