Scratching and squeaking in Attic

katiek102010

We have scratching, squeaking and what sounds like scampering from the attic in our rented house.

We don’t have access to the attic but there is a hole in the ceiling around pipe work in the hot tank.

We have put down a number of traps with a variety of baits but we are catching nothing

We have pre baited rat and mouse. Ones baited ourselves with either Nutella or sausage meat.

There is no evidence of them being downstairs although that could be due to the dog.

Landlord has given us a sonic thing but we are reluctant to use it with the dog as it aggravates him and Online reviews say it doesn’t work.

We are thinking of getting poison and shoving it up through the hole in hot cupboard, but we have heard stories of either

A ) them dying in the attic and the smell becoming unbearable

dying outside and dog getting dead rodent and dying from poison himself

Any ideas welcome as the sound of them at night is driving us insane and we are getting no sleep whatsoever

Dublinandy2

Its Christmas, let the children down .

I guess the question is who does have access. You should be sealing all air vents off to discourage them from going in there and then aftr that if still there your only option is traps that kill or don't kill and then getting rid of what you get in the traps.

Someone, somehow must have access, what if repair work is needed?

Hoboo

katiek102010 wrote: »

We have scratching, squeaking and what sounds like scampering from the attic in our rented house.

We don’t have access to the attic but there is a hole in the ceiling around pipe work in the hot tank.

We have put down a number of traps with a variety of baits but we are catching nothing

We have pre baited rat and mouse. Ones baited ourselves with either Nutella or sausage meat.

There is no evidence of them being downstairs although that could be due to the dog.

Landlord has given us a sonic thing but we are reluctant to use it with the dog as it aggravates him and Online reviews say it doesn’t work.

We are thinking of getting poison and shoving it up through the hole in hot cupboard, but we have heard stories of either

A ) them dying in the attic and the smell becoming unbearable

dying outside and dog getting dead rodent and dying from poison himself

Any ideas welcome as the sound of them at night is driving us insane and we are getting no sleep whatsoever

Humane trap with peanut butter, you'll catch one a night every night. Let them out a bit away from the house. Poison as you said only has two outcomes, not an option with the dog. Traps for me are messy, found the humane traps easy to use. Just check them twice or more a day so the mouse doesn't get stressed.

But access to the attic is key. Someone has access.

katiek102010

Where the hatch was that was going into the attic has been sealed up and plastered over when the house was done up.

There is nothing up there as it’s a bungalow except insulation. As it’s a rented property it was probably done deliberately to prevent tenants using it for storage.

To gain access we would need to recut an access point in the ceiling and I don’t think landlord will give consent for that

Hoboo

katiek102010 wrote: »

Where the hatch was that was going into the attic has been sealed up and plastered over when the house was done up.

There is nothing up there as it’s a bungalow except insulation. As it’s a rented property it was probably done deliberately to prevent tenants using it for storage.

To gain access we would need to recut an access point in the ceiling and I don’t think landlord will give consent for that

He has an infestation. I think he needs to take it a bit more seriously. It's not going away and they multiply at a ridiculous rate. You could be dealing with hundreds, in which case you can forget traps.

listermint

katiek102010 wrote: »

Where the hatch was that was going into the attic has been sealed up and plastered over when the house was done up.

There is nothing up there as it’s a bungalow except insulation. As it’s a rented property it was probably done deliberately to prevent tenants using it for storage.

To gain access we would need to recut an access point in the ceiling and I don’t think landlord will give consent for that

You don't deal up attic spaces ever. Its your only access to water tanks and obviously the roof space for leaks and tiles not to mention inspection of the rafters etc.

Are you sure the attic access isn't located anywhere else.

katiek102010

listermint wrote: »

You don't deal up attic spaces ever. Its your only access to water tanks and obviously the roof space for leaks and tiles not to mention inspection of the rafters etc.

Are you sure the attic access isn't located anywhere else.

We are certain. We have checked everywhere and landlord has confirmed.

There is nothing in the attic no tanks or pipework as per landlord. I think and have got the impression that they are planning an extension in the next few years and apex roof is being removed and replaced with a flat roof covering extension and main house

harr

katiek102010 wrote: »

We are certain. We have checked everywhere and landlord has confirmed.

There is nothing in the attic no tanks or pipework as per landlord. I think and have got the impression that they are planning an extension in the next few years and apex roof is being removed and replaced with a flat roof covering extension and main house

Well if you have have a hole in hot press for pipe work as per your opening post then yes you do have pipe work in the attic and probably a cold water tank.
It sounds odd anyone would close and seal up an attic space completely.
Anyway no other solution but to open it and deal with the rats/mice because if left as is you will eventually have rodents coming down into the house and it can escalate quickly especially if we get a spell of very cold weather.
I would be pushing the landlord to do something about it

katiek102010

harr wrote: »

Well if you have have a hole in hot press for pipe work as per your opening post then yes you do have pipe work in the attic and probably a cold water tank.
It sounds odd anyone would close and seal up an attic space completely.
Anyway no other solution but to open it and deal with the rats/mice because if left as is you will eventually have rodents coming down into the house and it can escalate quickly especially if we get a spell of very cold weather.
I would be pushing the landlord to do something about it

The pipe by the hole actually goes out through the tiles on the roof and it has a silver cap. It is a vent from the oil burner I think.

The hole is very small and husband reckons we would struggle to get poison up there.

I’m getting really annoyed over it as soon have been up since 4 due to the racket made by them.

I’ll have to get on to them ASAP and ask them to get rentokill or someone in to deal with it

harr

katiek102010 wrote: »

The pipe by the hole actually goes out through the tiles on the roof and it has a silver cap. It is a vent from the oil burner I think.

The hole is very small and husband reckons we would struggle to get poison up there.

I’m getting really annoyed over it as soon have been up since 4 due to the racket made by them.

I’ll have to get on to them ASAP and ask them to get rentokill or someone in to deal with it

Keep in mind as well that even one small mouse can make a big amount of noise in a quiet house at night especially if they find a way into the wall space. It can be very annoying and definitely disturb your sleep. We used to have a big problem with a few rats in out attic. We got them with traps and some new neighbors had 3 cats and haven’t had an issue with rats or mice since the cats moved in next door.

my3cents

OP, do you have fitted wardrobes? If so check in the top units of these to see if there is a hidden hatch through to the roof space. I have found thats a common way to hide a roof hatch.

cletus

I'd be reluctant to put poison up there if you have no way of removing carcasses afterwards. You might find the smell worse than the noise

my3cents

cletus wrote: »

I'd be reluctant to put poison up there if you have no way of removing carcasses afterwards. You might find the smell worse than the noise

While you can get a smell its a bit of an urban myth that every rat/mouse carcass stinks to high heaven as it rots down.

A dead rat in a damp shed will rot and really stink, a dead rat in a dry well ventilated roof space may not smell at all as it dries out even if it smells a bit the ventilation will keep the smell up in the roof.

I have come across some real stinkers but they have always been in damp environments like sheds, drains or cellars, its just not the same and a different type of decay you get in a well ventilated area.

bobbyss

Have similar problem but under floorboards. Have sourced one entrance and am placing blue block bait.
Does anyone know what happens when this is taken away? Does one rat eat it all or is it brought back to the nest and shared around? So far about 8 blocks have been taken. How many rats would this have affected?

my3cents

bobbyss wrote: »

Have similar problem but under floorboards. Have sourced one entrance and am placing blue block bait.
Does anyone know what happens when this is taken away? Does one rat eat it all or is it brought back to the nest and shared around? So far about 8 blocks have been taken. How many rats would this have affected?

Thats what you don't want. No point one rat hording all the bait and possibly leaving it were another animal could eat it.

A couple of feeds (one according to much of the advertising) is all it needs.

Ideally the bait should be in a bait box where other animals like cats, dogs and birds can't get at it. The bait should also be secured. A lot of blocks now have holes in the middle and they thread onto a captive wire in the bait box. You can nail the blocks down if you like but try and keep them away from non target species.

I used to chuck bait in the roof space and the bloody rats would spend a few days rolling them all around and collecting them up. Scrabble scrabble as the rolled them around then a bonk as they pushed them up over a beam and they dropped on the ceiling. They are expensive (€15ish) but the bait boxes make sense.

Dirtdrifter

Why not just use the seed in the box ,storm do one

katiek102010

No we don’t

katiek102010

We have found the culprit(s) nesting blackbirds. They are getting in and out at the chimney base. Landlord is getting someone out to check the roof