Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

I think the real problem in this world is that some of humanity has lost sight of the fact that they and also the rest of us are HUMAN. They seem to have categorised the rest of the world population as NOT HUMAN and therefore expendable, what could be done to change this I don't know but taking human lives seems not to matter and all of human kindness, love and compassion is missing in their souls. It's an incomprehensible idealism for most of us where we are taught that to love one another is the right way to live and most of us bide by that.

GreyQueen

Slightly off-track with the main tenor of today's postings, but just a heads-up to all of us with stored items; the vermin are moving indoors at this time of year.

Rat and mouse call-outs are going gangbusters, starting last week, in my area. Was the same last year; the vermin are coming inside to get away from the weather. So, please keep an eye on your storage areas both indoors and out, to make sure you haven't acquired any little visitors.

Rats seem to be particularly fond of dog biscuits, for some reason.:eek:

[Deleted User]

S'OK GQ dogs are rather partial to rats so it's only a different way of reclaiming their bikkits when they catch one!!!

GreyQueen

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

S'OK GQ dogs are rather partial to rats so it's only a different way of reclaiming their bikkits when they catch one!!!

Sort of like a two-bird roast, innit? Rat eats dog biscuits, dog eats rat. You'll need a smallish dog, tho, the rats are sometimes inside the kitchen cabinets - eeek! Have been talking to some householders today who've been having shockingly close indoor encounters of the larger-caliber verminous nature.

Keep a good watch on the undersink cupboards, lovely peeps, the area where the pipes go through the wall is a common point of ingress for mice and sometimes even for rats. They chew on the darndest things to, like a mouse in Nan's undersink cupboard which was eating sachets of the flower food that you get with bouquets. If you want to stop up holes so they can't chew through the filler, pack the area with wire wool, they hate trying to chew through that.

Rats can move in very quickly and do a lot of damage in even as short a time as a week, so do keep an eye on your storage areas, particularly if you have a cat or dog suddenly show a lot of interest in an area or you hear scrabblings around inside walls/ in the loft/ between the ceiling and the upper floors.

I could see a reasonable post-SHTF living for a ratcatcher with a few terriers.

[Deleted User]

Back to the future GQ there always used to be rat catchers didn't there?

happydays89

We have mouse traps in the shed,we haven't caught anything for at least a week which is unusual,we had put chocolate in the traps.So we put a couple of dog biscuits on the floor and they have been taken,we have just put some peanut butter in the traps,so will see if they like that.

GreyQueen

happydays89 wrote: »

We have mouse traps in the shed,we haven't caught anything for at least a week which is unusual,we had put chocolate in the traps.So we put a couple of dog biscuits on the floor and they have been taken,we have just put some peanut butter in the traps,so will see if they like that.

I've been talking to residents who've been finding dog biscuits moved from elsewhere in their household and cached, and the critters moving them have been rats, not mice.

Pest controllers bait for rats but can tell by how the bait is taken whether they've got mice or rats, I don't personally know what to look for but I will find out if/ when I'm next on the phone with a pest controller.

I suspect somewhere in the interwebs will tell you how to tell.

I've known rats to ruin a left sofa in a garage for less than a week, and to have nested in camping equipment such as stored tents, utterly destroying them in the process. Mice indoors have eaten beds, bedding, designer handbags, clothes, shoes, you name it, they seem to chew on and widdle over it. I've also known mice in a pantry to eat curry powder, cooking chocolate and through extremely heavy duty plastic containers.

Glass and metal are the only real ways to defeat vermin. If you need to store large bags of petfood, a galv dustbin is a pretty economical way of doing it, and old filing cabinets, as long as they sit flat on the floor, are supposed to be mouse-proof. HTH.

happydays89

We haven't noticed any rat droppings so think we only have mice,we had a rat problem about 5 years ago,but managed to get rid of them.


We have a filing cabinet in the shed and keep chewable things in it,it does seem to be mouse proof.
We managed to find small metal bins in ikea and we keep bird food,dog food in them.

GreyQueen

happydays89 wrote: »

We haven't noticed any rat droppings so think we only have mice,we had a rat problem about 5 years ago,but managed to get rid of them.

:T It's excellent that you're actively-managing your shed for vermin, a lot of people are reactive, not proactive, and so much damage can be caused before they are even aware that they have a problem.

You know what rats say? Apart from Do pass the dog biscuits, Roland? They say you're never more than six feet from a human.

maryb

last time we had mice, I noticed that they adored anything in silver foil. Stock cubes, drinks sachets etc.

A good old fashioned mousetrap dealt with them quickly and as painlessly as possible