Getting rid of rats/mice (merged threads)

maninthestreet

So Rentokil were unable to control the problem? Ultimately, as you own the property, you are responsible for dealing with the rat infestation.

ollyf

Afraid not, all they did was put down a dozen or so blocks of poison at a time and then leave. The poison would generally all be gone within a couple of hours.

adouglasmhor

Where are they coming from, what are they feeding on?
You can buy the blocks yourself for under £10 for 30, or a hundred for about £15 if you shop around. though I would invest in at least a couple of baiting stations < £10 ea. and wear disposable gloves when handling them (poundland ones are fine). Put them where you have seen rats or loop smears.

ollyf

I'm afraid we have no idea, We recently had seven trent water camera the sewer and they found a split which they fixed and that same day we had a rat climb out the fire place. Luckily that was eventually caught in a cage and Environmental Health said it was a baby and we shouldn't have any further problems as that's where they must of been coming from. After a week of having moved out from home we returned and for the first few days it was silent then it all started again with the scratching sounds and squeeking. As for buying more poison we are reluctant to keep doing this as Rentokill must of put down hundreds and nothing got any better.

maninthestreet

Rats normally don't take bait 'within a few hours' - they are wary of anything new on 'their patch', and may avoid it for a few weeks, especially it it has human scent on it. If you are currently taking no action to deal with this infestation, then you can't expect it to get any better.

ollyf

Well I can tell you the blocks of poison were certainly going, wether they were being eaten is another thing. We are trying to take action with the local council, environmental health and again seven trent water but are getting no answers or no help of how to find where they are getting into the cavitys. We have spent 100s if not into the 1000s mark now and trying to sort this and there comes a time when you have to consider is staying and throwing money away the right decision.

adouglasmhor

If the baits are not working you will need to get a professional in and make sure they use something a step up from the baits. Resistance to the common poisons is widespread and you have spent all that cash feeding up the blighters if they are resistant. When they baited before did you see rat corpses, or smell them rotting or see maggots? If not then nothing happened to them.

Have you also had all drains checked for redundant pipes and voids, they should be blocked with cement mixed with ground glass?

maninthestreet

Rats can squeeze through very small gaps - does your property have air bricks? It they are in the cavities they are probably in your loft as well. As far as I know, gas fires are not connected to the drains, so how the emergence of a rat from your gas fire could be related to a drain repair is not obvious.

ollyf

After the Rat came out of the fire we have since had the fire removed and bricked up and there was a hole in the base of the fire. There was signs of dats in the loft and we have had a builder out who has bricked up a small hole which was connected to the neighbours house. It does have air bricks but they have the grill over them and still intact. We have the council coming out again this morning. All they want to do is bait which we may be lucky enough to kill a few but unless the source of the entry is found I can't see it being a long germ fix.

maninthestreet

Apparently rats can also climb up the guttering down pipes, gaining access to the horizontal guttering and then into the loft from any air gaps large enough for them to squeeze through.