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There's a rat in my kitchen - what do I do?

Ficheall

So... there appears to be a rat in my kitchen.

I'm renting a terraced house. One of the adjoining houses has a couple of dogs, a back yard full of dog**** and bags of rubbish. There was a lot of activity in the house next door this morning, whether the tenants decided to do a spring clean or whether they've gone and the landlord has embarked upon the unenviable quest of cleaning up after them. I suspect they disturbed the rat and that that's why it's ended up in my house - though I'm not long back after Christmas, so I suppose it's possible that they were here before.

The house is oddly built - the kitchen is more like an almost detached pantry stuck on the back as an afterthought. It doesn't appear to be terribly well finished behind the presses and the cooker etc. from what I can tell, and I presume it's shoddily connected to the kitchen of the house next door. The door from the kitchen to the rest of the house is closed at all times, so hopefully they won't be able to get in any further.

The previous tenant informed me that they had rats during the summer and that they had the exterminator in. I had assumed it was due to a combination of the heat and the mess next door, though I suppose this is not necessarily the case.

TL;DR - there's a rat in my kitchen.

What should I do?

I have no qualms about the rat(s) dying, though I don't want their rotting corpses to stink up the place.

I saved a spider from the bath this evening - I feel karma has let me down here.

I'm going to just bin all the food I have in the kitchen now (not much in it anyway - a perk of living alone) so that there's nothing to draw them back. It can't be the warmth they're coming for - it's a whopping ten degrees in here now and the kitchen's even colder. Suppose I should hoover the floor for crumbs too.... sigh...

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Dublin Red Devil

Putting a cat in there is just cruelty to the rat. Cats are evil little bastards. They don't just kill a rat. They torture them, Toss them around, play with them as they die slow.

dodderangler

shamrock55 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me how a cat kills a rat, is it by biteing or scratching or both

Same as lions and tigers kill they're prey.
Bite to the act of neck to break spinal cord cord or else to the throat

dodderangler

WikiHow wrote: »

I could do with a ferret have a bit of a rat problem too, cats are no good, will a ferret eat/kill a cat?

No cat would kill a ferret but difference is a cat won't attack anything that it'd risk injury against
Eg. A big male rat has teeth and claws and can do damage to cats face possibly biting the cat ending in infection or bad scratch could lose a cat his eye.
Whereas a ferret doesn't give a toss and will not back down. They're too quick to lose against a rat and only has one thing on its mind......food

Sir Arthur Daley

dodderangler wrote: »

No cat would kill a ferret but difference is a cat won't attack anything that it'd risk injury against
Eg. A big male rat has teeth and claws and can do damage to cats face possibly biting the cat ending in infection or bad scratch could lose a cat his eye.
Whereas a ferret doesn't give a toss and will not back down. They're too quick to lose against a rat and only has one thing on its mind......food

Can one leave a ferret out loose around a farm and let it kill away and feed it if necessary?

dodderangler

WikiHow wrote: »

Can one leave a ferret out loose around a farm and let it kill away and feed it if necessary?

Good god no. A wild ferret is just as bad as a mink. It'd kill everything in sight and in this weather freeze t dead but also because ferrets are tame enough it'd easily be killed by fox or buzzard or a pi55ed off farmer when he discovers all his chickens are dead

Sir Arthur Daley

dodderangler wrote: »

Good god no. A wild ferret is just as bad as a mink. It'd kill everything in sight and in this weather freeze t dead but also because ferrets are tame enough it'd easily be killed by fox or buzzard or a pi55ed off farmer when he discovers all his chickens are dead

I have hens so that be no good, so would you leave the ferret out for a little while to do a kill and bring him into the house again? i hear they are good pets.

dodderangler

WikiHow wrote: »

I have hens so that be no good, so would you leave the ferret out for a little while to do a kill and bring him into the house again? i hear they are good pets.

We'll see I hunt with them. ( not anymore I gave mine to my mate as work stopped me hunting during the week)
First find where the rats are. Holes in ground or trails leading to nest area. Put locator on ferret and he'll sniff out the trail and find the rats. They'll run from him unless it's a female with nest of young. She'll stand and fight

Sir Arthur Daley

But the ferret will persevere and kill the mother rat and kill all the young rats then?

Ficheall

"Last but not least do put down the lid of the toilet bowl after use, as rats are occasionally known to emerge from the sewer pipe through the toilet water bowl, especially at ground level."

Great.

I should go to bed... but.... bleh.......

dodderangler

WikiHow wrote: »

But the ferret will persevere and kill the mother rat and kill all the young rats then?

Yeah pretty much though mother rat guarding her young is one hell of a challenge but if ferret takes her on he will kill her ant the young and then you'll have to wait or dig the ferret out. they like to nap after a meal which is why I bring shovel when ferreting in case I've to dig ferret out of a hole

catallus

Well I'm hitting the bed now. Nightnight, sleep tight

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Ficheall wrote: »

"Last but not least do put down the lid of the toilet bowl after use, as rats are occasionally known to emerge from the sewer pipe through the toilet water bowl, especially at ground level."

Great.

I should go to bed... but.... bleh.......

Is this serious? Never the less, I'm getting up to put the lid down good grief this isn't helping my insomnia

Sir Arthur Daley

Ficheall wrote: »

"Last but not least do put down the lid of the toilet bowl after use, as rats are occasionally known to emerge from the sewer pipe through the toilet water bowl, especially at ground level."

Great.

I should go to bed... but.... bleh.......

If a rat wants to get in chewing a toilet seat will be no problem what so ever, plastic seat 4 minutes, timber seat 17 mins to chew through.

Highflyer13

There was one in my house over the Christmas. Fecker was eating crust off the bread and chewing his way through the presses!!!! :O He was going from the attic to the kitchen somehow and avoiding numerous traps and poisons. We could all hear him above our bedrooms and he sounded big as a cat. Little bro whos a fearless fecker lost the plot one night and charged into the attic after him but couldn't get near him. Uncle called over the other day with some kind of plugin device that
emits sonar noises that humans can't hear and scares off pests. Seems to be doing the trick so far.

[-0-]

Hurley to the head, DJ Carey style.

seanacai

Jez dont go with the rat poison, theres no telling where the dirty fecker would end up. go with the old fashion rat trap and be sure to tie it onto something securely so that he doesnt take off with the trap. Or.... you could always get a cat, or even a bag of used cat litter?

PS keep away from the easy set plastic traps, they not as effective.

CiaranP

I know there are two trains of thought on the sonar/sonic gadgets, but I got one for a friend that had mice and it definitely worked, and is meant to work for rats too.

It's the dual type that emits a Sonic signal AND a pulse that goes through the electric circuit in the house. It was about €40, a bit of a gamble, but worked for me!

Sir Arthur Daley

or even a bag of used cat litter?

What would this do?

WilyCoyote

Op, if this is the worst thing that ever happens to you - you've got many rivers to cross. Don't say to me tell me is it true 'cause I might tell you that they breed quickly in captivity and he may be just the one in ten. However, if it happens again you'll probably say that you'll remember it until my dying day. Flood the cellar and head for higher ground. There you can drink some red red wine because things ain't like they used to be.
Jesus, I think it's time for the cot!
But first Astro and UB40: Rat In Mi Kitchen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=353ah1Vkbyg

dodderangler

WikiHow wrote: »

What would this do?

Same thing ferret sh1t would do.
Will deter a rat if it knows a big predator is I'm the area and won't risk becoming prey so will back off

seanacai

WikiHow wrote: »

What would this do?

the scent of the cat is on the litter. had a few rat holes in my back garden two years ago, they were in frequent use by rats, i put used cat litter into the burrows and they must have moved on as i havent seen a rat or a rat burrow on the lawn since

Sir Arthur Daley

How does a rat know whos excrement it belongs to though?

seanacai

WikiHow wrote: »

How does a rat know whos excrement it belongs to though?

Dont know for sure to be honest, I suppose instinct. It defo works a treat though

Sir Arthur Daley

And they love sewers then

dodderangler

WikiHow wrote: »

How does a rat know whos excrement it belongs to though?

Animals can tell what other animals are prey and what's predator.
Kinda like dogs pi5sing on walls marking territory.
A Pomeranian ain't gonna pi55 on a pit bulls wall cuz it knows by the smell it's a bigger larger animal.

dodderangler

WikiHow wrote: »

And they love sewers then

Plenty of food in a sewer for a rat.

Sir Arthur Daley

Wouldnt you think they would invent a scent in liquid form that would be like ferret pi55, that would be the ultimate deterrent, spray it where one thinks rats are coming into the house?

seanacai

WikiHow wrote: »

Wouldnt you think they would invent a scent in liquid form that would be like ferret pi55, that would be the ultimate deterrent, spray it where one thinks rats are coming into the house?

That would be one for dragons den!!!:rolleyes:

Sir Arthur Daley

It could be the new lynx deodorant maybe too?

Paulie Gualtieri

Move out , rat wee wee is lethal , and you can use the line "I'm out of this rat infested sh|thole" to your landlord.