Getting rid of rats/mice (merged threads)

Fraise

HappyGo wrote: »

A further question, if I may?

Once we've got the little blighters dead... Sorry if this offends anyone. It's not pleasant. I am an animal lover. But rats carry disease and pose a risk to our health, so they have to go... Once they're dead, what products would people recommend for keeping them out?

Expanding foam good enough for the holes?

And as we think they're coming in through an air vent outside, would a steel mesh covering suffice? Something like this? http://www.mousemesh.co.uk/mouse_control_prevention_eradication-stainless_steel_rat_proof.asp

Thanks

You need to fill EVERY hole, however small, with a silicone sealant mastic. As its sets to a rubbery consistence rodents can't chew through it. For added protection you should add hard wire mesh the sealant, and some people also add quick drying concrete behind the sealant.

Also make sure all your doors are level and have no gaps, as rodents can squeeze through a gap the width of a pencil.

Good luck!

pineapple

I'm renovating an old rural cottage.
It was mouse city in the house a while back but I think I have sorted that for now.
But I've just found that one of the handles on my secateurs has been gnawed. They are stored in a rickety stone outhouse which butts onto the property. There are bits of orange plastic all over the floor. :eek:
I'm next door but one to some farm buildings and close to a river so it's no surprise there are vermin around. But is that damage more likely to be from a rat than a mouse? If so I'm tempted to call out the council pest control officer. Either that or buy a kick *ss rat trap.
I do worry about putting down poison as you never know where they are going to expire. But not so keen on setting traps and handling rat bodies either

Mojisola

pineapple wrote: »

But I've just found that one of the handles on my secateurs has been gnawed. They are stored in a rickety stone outhouse which butts onto the property. There are bits of orange plastic all over the floor. :eek:
I'm next door but one to some farm buildings and close to a river so it's no surprise there are vermin around. But is that damage more likely to be from a rat than a mouse?

Probably a rat but you can usually tell from the marks how big the teeth are and judge which it is.

pineapple

The cottage I'm renovating is a mouse paradise. A previous owner knocked off the plaster on a lounge wall which happens to be the party wall to next door's kitchen. The stonework is pointed up but there are holes/gaps everywhere - with access to the cavity party wall and beyond. I'm filling the more obvious holes with steel wool but may end up having to get a builder in.
The rickety wondows are scheduled for replacement but meanwhile would let a small hippo through. Ditto for the original cottage door. I want to hang on to it but can't see how I can make it rodent proof and draught proof.
The focus of the mouse problem was the understairs storage area where they seem to have taken up residence. It was OK till I started storing (non food) stuff in there... Now I am psyching myself up to go in and have a good root round. :eek:
There are no easy answers. I caught two mice in humane traps but probably didn't go far enough away from the house to release them. so they probably came back. The snap traps worked but I find them gruesome and in one case it didn't kill outright and I witnessed it's last few moments as it struggled in pain and terror. I really hated myself. But you can't mess around with vermin. I was very ill in Africa after rats invaded my house. Never again.
I'm now paranoid about leaving so much as a crumb out and the kitchen gets wiped down with peppermint oil before I go to bed.
Will be able to sort out some of the ingress issues as the cottage gets renovated. In the meantime I expect I will have a continuing problem with uninvited visitors.
Just ordered an electronic mouse/ratkiller. Seems to be the kindest and least gruesome method?

escapee

There is an old saying that 'if you have mice, you won't have rats' as rats are predators so mice will generally move to a safer environment if rats are present.

I don't know how true it is though! Personally I've never seen rats and mice in the same vicinity.

charles16

If you are not comfortable in trying mice trap, then you can surely ask the council and if it does not work, then call any pest control service of your city they will help you out from this inconvenience asap.

dizzybee

Can anyone offer advice please, i have a ongoing problem with rats in the loft has our local council don't offer pest control to residents, i have used the local rat catcher who manged to get rid of the problem but every 3 months there back,i just don't have the money to keep paying out,
any advice please on Diy solutions .

amayeta

When building work started on a near by development I saw a mice and the next day I went and purchased wire wool, grid wire plates and filler. I took off all the skirting in my house and painstakingly filled ever gap with wire wool and the filler. Bigger holes around the waste pipes into the kitchen, bathroom and consumer unit took a bit more work. A combination of all three but it was worth it. The cost to get someone in only to find the mice might return was not cost effect. Hope this helps.

escapee

dizzybee wrote: »

Can anyone offer advice please, i have a ongoing problem with rats in the loft has our local council don't offer pest control to residents, i have used the local rat catcher who manged to get rid of the problem but every 3 months there back,i just don't have the money to keep paying out,
any advice please on Diy solutions .

We had this problem for the last three winters dizzybee and I seriously sympathise with you.

You need to find how they're getting in, treating an infestation is only half the battle. Until you stop them entering your property it will be a never ending fight.

Look around the perimeter of your property and see if you can see any obvious entry points. Any holes only have to be the size of a 50p piece, if non are present then it is possible they're getting in through the sewerage system (as ours did).

You may need to call out a drainage inspection company to carry out a cctv survey of your drains. We did this with the local council (who actually didn't charge, even though it should have cost £70).

With us, it is quite fortunate they didn't charge because they assured me the drains were fine but I wasn't happy so carried out my own inspection to find that a drain adjacent to my downstairs toilet had dropped/cracked.

I ended up investing in a drain non-return valve and since then (touch wood) we've been rat free.

Hopefully, with luck you will find an obvious external point of entry and be able to remedy the problem before it gets long winded and expensive.

dizzybee

Thank you for your reply, i have been in a long standing battle with my local council waiting on them to replace the roof fascias and soffits, just wondering if this could be the problem.
I am also going to get a few quotes to get the drains looked at. apart from the damaged fascias i cant see any other problems.