Rats!

RocketSalad

Has anyone ever had any success getting rid of rats without using professionals? We had the rat man here and he is charging us £160 for the first three visits and then £50 for each subsequent visit. We opted not to have poison used because we have 2 dogs, our neighbopur has 5 dogs, most rats are poison resistant now, and those which do die can do so in any wall cavity and the pong is disgusting and can linger for 2 years. We have 7 snap traps in the house, 5 in the loft and two under the sink. 5 rats have been killed so far. We are not hearing any activity in the loft now, but I have seen a rat in the kitchen. The rat man comes twice a week to empty the traps. But this is costing a small fortune. And today an electrician is coming because the rats have nibbled the wires going to a fire alarm, causing it to go off every ten minutes. I also have booked a plumber for a leak in water pipes under the bathroom sink and this might be due to rat activity too - they love water apparently. I hate killing animals and every time I hear a trap go off I feel physically sick. We had an old shed demolished and they were most likely living in there so they then moved into the nearest building - the house! At first we thought we only had mice, because we saw a wood mouse. We put out live traps but did not catch anything. I was wondering if anyone has successfully got rid of rats with a do it yourself method? Also any hints and tips would be most appreciated. We have already put every food source in rat-proof containers and we leave nothing edible out. They seem to like to eat SOAP so we even shut that away. We have tried ultrasound repellers in every room but they don't work. This is my first time on this forum so please be gentle with me!!

PasturesNew

I used a professional first time - and worked out "even I" (who is hopeless and a right wuss) could do it myself using the bait/boxes... so I decided next time I'd buy a box and bait and DIY. I didn't have a 2nd coming as the source food source was demolished... but I'd buy a box and bait and do it myself because, as you say, all he does is puts more stuff in the box. Nothing clever about that is there.

When you say you hate killing them .... just imagine that for every one you live, you or somebody else will have to kill 24 that they reproduce in the next few months. So, you can kill 1 today, or 24 in 2-3 months. Do you want to kill more or fewer?

Ultimately, somebody has to kill them... and somebody will. Each one you kill will save 10,000 being born and killed in the future. So, in effect, your "kill 1" will save 9,999

JIL

Apparently they don't like catnip, spray this everywhere.

Find out how they are getting in and block up the holes with wire wool.

Vitamin e tablets are effective, available on Amazon.

Try electronic traps.

Primrose

We,ve had them nesting our compost heap and a nearby neighbour keeps pigeons which is another food source for them. Tried the DIY bait boxes from B&Q but one spring we were so over run with them in the garden that mother and her babies were running around out patio quite fearlessly so we had to call the professionals in.

I,m surprised you were charged so much. Our council contractors charged about £38 foe two boxes and two visits but it did the trick. Registered experts are allowed to use a much more poisonous bait than members of the public can buy apparently and with rodents becom8ng immune to some of the less potent baits yiu may have no alternative to call in a specialist. However I would check around for some cheaper options than you are paying.

It may be that you're having to pay more because traps are being used rather than bait because of the dogs.

Rats can spread awful diseases. I grow vegetables and didn,t want them peeing on my vegetable patch and possibly infecting crops so as they can breed somprolifically , paying for professional experts was the only option.

ancientofdays

There is a massive mice and rats thread in the In My Home section of this forum, that might have some more ideas for you.

Here, the local council doesn't charge if called out for rats but they do if you call them for mice. Might be worth checking.

Spendless

I haven't had rats but I had mice for several winters until I discovered where they were getting in and blocked it off.

You need to stop thinking of rats as animals. They are vermin and need dealing with.

Who has told you they can die and the smell linger for 2 years? Like I've said we had mice for several years. I live a few doors from a pest controller who sold me some poison and only the first dead mouse we had smelt. That was because it had crawled onto a ledge on the outside back of our fridge, next to the motor and died there. The heat was creating the smell from the dead mouse. Not one other ever smelled. I would ask for some clarification of this from the pest controller you're using - you're paying enough for the service.

Frith

I'm sure they wouldn't smell for 2 years - they're not that meaty!


We have them on our allotment but have read that many are resistant to over the counter poisons. We do still put out the blocks.


We have a range of different traps ranging from fen traps to the mouse trap style to humane traps (though less humane when used in conjunction with the water butt). At one point we had so many we managed to catch 2 in one go in a fen trap and 3 got trapped in the same humane trap! We've caught over 120 over 2 years. :-/

Frith

Oh yes - and they soon recognise what is a trap so we often get more if we put the traps out of sight for a few days. The only thing that really tempts them on the traps these days is left over lasagne base.

Oddjob

JIL wrote: »

Apparently they don't like catnip, spray this everywhere.

Find out how they are getting in and block up the holes with wire wool.

Vitamin e tablets are effective, available on Amazon.

Try electronic traps.

Vitamin E tablets? - never heard of this, how do they work?

bertiewhite

Yes, I had them coming into my workshop throughout the winter of 16/17 from the field next door where a smallholder keeps his sheep feed close to my fence so I started to put down bait/poison blocks.

At first the blocks were disappearing every other day but then they started to be taken within half an hour. Working on the assumption that they'd be taken back to the nest and might take a few days to work, I only put them out once a week and before long the blocks weren't being taken so I guessed it worked. The trouble was, I thought it was pointless trying to cure the symptom (rats) without addressing the root cause (food source) so I talked to the field owner who then stored his feed elsewhere.

Haven't seen a rat since.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Rat killing is what small terriers were originally bred for. Through word of mouth you might find some local old geezer with two (named Fighter and Biter) on string leads who'll sort them out.