Rodents in attic - Rentokil

Peppermint oil, put in attic, they'll run a mile.

Is peppermint oil actually any good?

LMFAO! Brilliant!

:eek: Liquoriceall, I'm sorry. Limerick is a bit far, from Leitrim. Even if ye were to come and get me ~ I don't drive. Sorry.

I hate trying to do pest control on line though. Seriously. This whole; " It sounds like a herd of elephants in the roof space! " stuff.

How many people have Had and Heard a herd of bloody elephants in their roof space?! In my whole career, I've never found an elephant in a roof space! How then can I judge an on line report by that?

African or Asian elephants? They'd probably need different ways of handling. Though, while I'd but out, I'm sure the internet massive would know how. " Peanutella will get elephants in the roof space every time! I read it on face book! "

See where I'm coming from?

Focus on identifying the subject. Calm, more experienced, middle aged man will be better than a teen with an air rifle.

Loaned Trail Cam FTW! Beats even a mars bar! :P

Tell me how wrote: »

What do you think they should do Stigura?

All this talk of Mars Bars and Peanut butter. Best of both worlds ...try a snickers:pac:

liquoriceall wrote: »

Thanks sigura yes probably a little far. If you know of anyone more local to me that would be great too

I'm afraid I don't, sadly. But, word of mouth is how to find the right person.

My business cards used to bear the motto: " Because even nice people get pests ". Keep that in mind. There's no silly shame in getting a problem creature turn up. So, don't be afraid to mention it to others.

That's when someone may confide; " We had a problem like that! Ye know George ....? " I'm, frankly, yet to hear Anyone say, " And Rentokil sorted it out, very reasonably too! " :eek:

Boredstiff666 wrote: »

I learnt from 'boys of old' how to trick those rats.

I'm a 'boy of old' who learned from my boys of old. One of mine was in his seventies, in the seventies. He'd been at it his entire life. (Weee! It's never before struck me that his name was Ted! )

Found myself locked into a vast area of waste land, one night. Got bored ~ as ye do, in an era long before mobile phones and the internet! So, going on what Ted had taught me, I wandered about till I'd found an old TV, and a rotten boot.

When they came to let me out, in the morning, they couldn't comprehend the rabbit I had, hanging on the back of the door! I had to laugh! (Nearly choked on my mars bar, actually! :P)

Site foreman was a lovely guy and, so enamoured of my rabbit, the next night I got him one too!

Peppermint will drive them out, trust me. Get a spray bottle, add the peppermint oil and some water, shake, and spray it all over.

Demosthenese wrote: »

Considering it seems to be recommended NOT to go the Rentokil route Need some advice ...

Stick it out myself ... or go more professional route?

This. But, word of mouth about a decent, local, 'one man band' sort of outfit should be ye holy grail. And ~ I can't possibly emphasise too strongly ~ Tell People ye have the bloody things!

You've got rats. I've got rats. They've got rats. People Get rats! Schit happens! :P It's far more to do with ye location and structural matters than it is ye being " Dirty ". So, mention it to ye social circle. How else is anyone going to know to mention They had it, and so and so turned out to be a star?

In the interim, my advice to you is to forget all the internet stuff about " Peanut Bitter ". " Nutella " and " Blocking their holes up. " (I'd imagine Nutella might do that )

Focus on the realities: Check the batteries in ye fire / smoke alarms. Then, if ye have electrical wiring up there? Buy a couple more and put Them in that attic.


How long before I'm forced to tell " Andy's Story " to you people :rolleyes:

Effects wrote: »

I presume the smoke alarm in the attic is in case the damaged wiring causes a fire in the attic.

And here we have the winner of tonights star prize! Precisely! The danger of rodents in the roof space isn't that they'll drop down on ye sleeping form and ear ye face. It's the wires up there.

They start a fire up there? Ye'd want to know about it pdq. Why wait till ye laying beneath a raging inferno and the one outside ye bedroom door finally figures something's not right.

Andy's story? LMAO! It's a bit long. Ye'd need to be sitting comfortably. I have it written out, somewhere.

My sympathies to the OP and to anyone else that is having this problem
I had the little bastards in my roof. It was literally freaking me out. I can hardly bring myself to even type this out, that's how bad it was. I'm not kidding you.
Plus one on the trail cam to identify whats up there
Also plus one on be very careful with the poison, as noted if one dies somewhere you cant get at, the smell is awful and then you may get the swarm of flies.
Also, apparently they may not be feeding on anything up in your attic, it may just be a safe warm place that they like.
At first I was in denial, eventually I learnt way more about rats than I ever wanted to know ......
Anyway the solution for me was:
I put a rat flap (https://ratflap.com/) in the sewer, that reduced the rats but did not get rid of them
I then called in call in a local guy, he did an excellent survey and put non-poison bait in various places so he could see where the rats were.
He identified that rats were also in the surface water drain. He put a second rat flap in there. That was two years ago and not one single rat since then. (fingers crossed)
I think I had 2 or 3 visits from yer man (about €80 each) plus the cost of two rat flaps (about 150 each afaicr). That was the best money I ever spent.

I’ve had a roof rat problem for a number of years, but finally got rid of the roof rats last February 2019 and have been free of them since (fingers crossed). There are currently a trio of large rats in my back garden who are proving to be very risk-averse to my traps but I suspect they are the larger brown rats so my roof should be safe (I hope).

I’d be thinking of getting an air rifle for the garden triplets, if I could afford one! And i’ve heard that if you can attract a fox into your property you’ll be rat free fairly quickly.

At the time I did hire a pest control company but they proved pretty ineffectual, they could not even identify the access points for the little sob’s. As others have suggested above, a good local based professional would probably be a better idea.

Here is what I did to get rid of them – it might help others.

Step 1 – identify the enemy.
Roof rats are smaller and like to climb. If you have a lot of noise in the attic it is most likely these guys. The larger brown rats prefer ground floor accommodation but have been known to climb.

Step 2 – identify where they are getting in.
Find out how they are getting in – do a detailed and careful survey all around your house, especially at ground level. Don’t ignore a very small hole because you think they can’t possibly be getting in that way. For any small holes you find, fill them with loose soil or sand. This is not to block the holes, it is just to find out if the hole is in use – if the rats are using them they will dig it out fairly quickly.

Also check for loose tiles or panels above ground level. Check for gaps or breaks in the brickwork of walls. Check the guttering and pipes. You could try filling guttering and pipes with paper or other loose material to see if it is disturbed later (this might not work during wet weather of course).

Step 3 – get them out.
When you have identified the access point or points, put down down lots of baited traps – the more the merrier. I used the modern snap traps – the ones with the serrated edges. The old fashioned bar traps are not foolproof (I actually witnessed a badly injured rat trying to wriggle out from under a snap-bar trap). If you are to use these type of traps outdoors near the identified access points, I’d place them under a box or similar or only place them between sunset and sunrise so as to prevent curious birds getting killed.

Avoid poison bait inside the house – last January I started noticing bluebottles and flies inside the house and guessed one of the little sob’s must have died somewhere in the walls. When you are sure they are gone you can move onto step 4 – but there is no point in blocking up access points until they are gone as you will get rats dying inside the house or panicking and damaging the interior in their quest to get out. A couple of quiet nights and it should be safe to assume they have cleared out, so move onto to the next step. But only a few nights, as I have found after 1 week or so the next wave of rats will try to move in.

Step 4 – block the holes.
Block the holes with cement mixed with steel wool/fine copper wire etc. Rats hate biting through fine metal wire and will avoid. When blocking the holes spread the cement well beyond the hole or they will simply tunnel under it.

Step 5 – maintain a constant vigil all year round.
Inspect the exterior of your property every few days for signs of disturbance.