Getting rid of rats/mice (merged threads)

gooner63_2

Could be a Coypu............they are known for making nests from tissues !

Stephaniemxx

:mad:We have a very "wierdly clean cos i havent seen n e droppings" rat living in what could be our upper cavity wall or loft. My partner saw it in our living room early one morning and it ran in between the cavity wall, were incidentally there is a huge hole were my parter did some diy. I could hear the blither scuttling round in our loft before christmas and my partner said i was hearing things but now hes done dodgy diy it seems to have entered our kitchen and living room. Now it hasnt been on the work tops just the floor and from what i can see it hasnt been in any cupboards.
But to be honest its piddling me off. I have a three year old and i dont want some diseased rodent running around my house.
Were very clean people so i have no understanding of why it would be in our house.
We have put traps down, "the brake the neck old style trap" and it seems to have boycotted it. The traps keep going off but no rat dies and it eats the sodding peanut butter. Were trying poion cos to be honest i dont care about the smell at least i know itl be dead.
Damn council asked for £48 off us to get rid of one rat.... but it looks as if this rat is out smarting our traps, i have no faith in the poison but Rob keeps telling me it will work.
Any ideas, hints or tips would be greatly apprieciated...:j

red_devil

i saw something running around in the room screamed and ran out. I havent been back in the room since but i need too. Seemed like a mouse. I am not good with things like this?
What do I need to do? Is the landlord responsible for helping no idea?

I keep jumping thinking i am now going to see mice everywhere? Does this mean i am going to have a problem?
Thanks.

Vibrant

Nip down Wilkinsons and buy a couple of traps, put a bit of chocolate, or peanut butter on them, place near a wall. Should catch any little critters pretty quickly.

If you cant bear to do it, ask a neighbour.
I wouldn't bother with humane traps, as you then have a live mouse to dispose of.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Are you sure it wasn't a rat?

red_devil

i am not sure but think mouse?

Vibrant

I doubt it was a rat, mice can enter a house through little gaps, rats are a bit too big for that. Not counting their tails, mice are about 2-3 inches long, rats are 9-10 inches long.

red_devil

should the landlord help?

bryanb

Post 2 is your best bet, it's post 545 now, somebody moved the goalposts

giantmutantbroccoli

It's certainly worthwhile asking your landlord about it. A friend of mine had a rodent problem and the landlords sorted it out, but their flat was managed by an agency so it might be different for you.
Firstly, take a deep breath and go back into the room. I guarantee you the mouse will not be there - he's just been traumatised by someone screaming at him Even if he is, the last thing he's going to want to do is go anywhere near you!
Unfortunatly the bad news is that if you've seen one, there's probably several more, so you're better off getting rid of them asap.
If the landlord can't/won't deal with it you can put traps down yourself. Use the traditional 'snappy' ones rather than anything like glue-traps, it's much more humane. You can use humane 'no-kill' traps, but then you have to find somewhere to dump the mice, where they won't find their way back into your (or anyone else's!) house. You can use pretty much any strong-smelling food as bait, chocolate is especially good, but so is wet dog food or cat food. If you're squeamish, get someone else to dispose of the traps afterwards.

You can also use poison, as longas you don't have any small children or pets who might get to it. Traps are better for indoors, I think, because you know where the dead mouse is going to be - it's in the trap! If you use poison, they might eat it and then go off and die somewhere inaccessible, like under a floorboard or something

Or you can hire an exterminator and get someone else to deal with the problem.
Either way, whhile it's being sorted make sure that any food that's stored in cardboard boxes or plastic bags is moved into tins or tough plastic storage containers to keep rodents out of it, and be doubly certain to wash everything in the kitchen before you use it, even if it's just come out of a drawer.

It doesn't really matter if it's a rat or a mouse tbh, so long as the traps you get are big enough. If you're curious (I'm thinking probably not ) look for the tail. If the tail is naked it's a rat, if it's fuzzy it's a mouse.
[EDIT]
vibrant

I doubt it was a rat, mice can enter a house through little gaps, rats are a bit too big for that. Not counting their tails, mice are about 2-3 inches long, rats are 9-10 inches long.

A young rat can be only a bit bigger than a mouse and, unfortunatly, they are capable of flattening their bodies to fit through very small gaps indeed. I have 3 as pets (not wild ones obviously!) and they are capable of fitting through a 1/2 inch gap. Probably they could get through a smaller space if they really wanted to.