Getting rid of rats/mice (merged threads)

maninthestreet

Bats?? They eat moths and small flying insects, not Thornton chocolates!!

adouglasmhor

If it does turn out to be bats you are not allowed to do anything - they are protected by law. Be careful

ormus

the most likely suspect by far is mice. esp in the loft.
rare to get rats up so high. and bats rarely use normal type houses in urban areas.

adouglasmhor

Bats will eat anything fatty but won't normaly eat through boxes and bags to get to it.

jollyanna

We've had mice in our loft and they were getting up there by climbing the water pipes from the ground floor. They ate a model railway layout (not the metal but the scenery of papier mache). They also stopped off in the airing cupboard on the first floor and that is where we trapped them.
If poss. see if you can stop up gaps around where any pipes come in to make it difficult for them. Good luck !

stef240377

Hubby on his mission to empty the loft has found that the felting around the stench pipe has been ripped in the past week as it was ok last week when he was furtling around for the spare duvets fo runexpected guests of the human variety. The two cats have been thrown into the loft, older one of the two has decided he doesnt like it up there and we are disturbing his kip, the kitten thinks he has developed a new playground.

pelirocco

mrcow wrote: »

It's most likely to be rats or mice. The problem is that they tend to urinate over everything. So it's all going to need to come out to either be thrown or cleaned.

I dont think putting the cats up there is a bad idea at all.

have you ever tried putting a cat in the loft:rotfl: we thought it was a good idea once , still have the scars

adouglasmhor

stef240377 wrote: »

Hubby on his mission to empty the loft has found that the felting around the stench pipe has been ripped in the past week as it was ok last week when he was furtling around for the spare duvets fo runexpected guests of the human variety. The two cats have been thrown into the loft, older one of the two has decided he doesnt like it up there and we are disturbing his kip, the kitten thinks he has developed a new playground.

Does sound more like mice - get onto the housing association about them again.

Jue_xx

Have you heard any scuttling or scratching noises during the night? We did, and it's amazing how loud it sounds in the middle of the night. It was around this time last year that we discovered a couple of mice in our loft - they are looking for somewhere warm, now that it's getting colder outside.

Traps are cheap to buy and work really well. We have found that half a square of chocolate is the best bait (you have already discovered that they are partial to Thorntons, but ours preferred Cadburys) If it is mice, set a trap today and check it in the morning, and you will have a definate answer. They are really easy to catch with traps.

MrYorke

most likely mice. They can actually live on cardboard soaked in grease/fat if need be.

Go down the shops and get some humane traps. Then once caught set them free next to a small park or something.

As for an entry point. I wouldn't bother trying to find one as they can crawl through a hole as small as 10mm!