Rats in the loft

Choppit69

About six weeks ago I discovered fresh looking rat droppings in my loft, so I put down a couple of snap traps, and also installed an IR camera so I could see what I was dealing with. Within a couple of days I'd caught one, but the camera showed that there were at least two others. I put down an extra four traps (now six), baited with peanut butter and review the camera daily which every day shows at least one rat sniffing around the traps, but never taking the bait. A couple of weeks ago I also added rodent attractant spray (caramel scented), but still haven't had any more successes.

With regard to how the rats got into the loft in the first place, and how they're feeding, this really annoys me... I spoke to the tenants next door a few weeks back to inform them, and ask if they'd seen or heard anything, and was shocked (and frankly a little disgusted) to be told that yes, they'd been aware for months, that the rats were getting in through their (rented) property, were in their lounge, bedrooms, and feeding in their kitchen. They'd spoken to their landlord a few weeks prior and he hadn't taken action, but they themselves also hadn't taken any action to deal with the rats inside the house. I suspect that once the rats are able to gain entry to the loft via next door, they then travel along the soffits into our property.

I'll be attempting to contact the landlord directly, and pushing him to take responsibility, but in the meantime I have a number of questions..

1) Should I contact professional pest control, or is it worth contacting the council?
2) Anything I can do to increase trapping success, given that I don't have control of the primary food source?
3) I'm considering pushing wire mesh through the soffits to try to prevent access. Has anyone done this, or similar (I'm not sure how easy it will be to do this)?
4) Once this is resolved, and entry points are plugged, should I rip out the loft insulation and replace, disinfect it, or just leave it? (I'll likely want to lift it to check for wiring damage anyway)

fenwick458

1) yes definitely contact pest control and get quotes. ultimately you may end up paying for it but it's going to benefit you. you can try to claim against the landlord next door but I wouldn't bank on it. to me it would give you a good starting point. Ie, you go round to next door and say "I've found rats in my loft, I've had a professional round and they tell me they are getting in from your house, so please do something about it"
2)this should be covered by talking to pest control professionals
3)that's a good idea. anything you can do to stop the getting from where they are now onto your property is going to help.
i'd also not stop there, go into the loft and fill in any gaps in the bricks/blocks with mortar. a rat can get though a hole the size of a magic marker, and mouse can get through a hole the size of a pencil
4)loft insulation, i'd just leave it personally, but if you do have to go moving the insulation around within the next year after the infestation has been resolved, or have other people (tradesmen) in to do the same thing, then make sure you take precautions or let others know about it

Robinhood

I would suggest that your first action should be contacting the landlord. This is to allow him the opportunity to resolve the issue himself and to cover yourself from not advising him of an issue that could cause damage to his property. You can discuss with him whether to contact any other parties. Really, the issue should be for them to resolve and cover the cost, so if you engage with another party you may not be able to recover any associated cost.

I’d also suggest being careful of doing anything yourself, like the wire mesh etc., in case the landlord later claims you’ve caused any damage to the property. Try and get agreement in writing (email) to cover anything you will do.

J_B

fenwick458 said:

 a rat can get though a hole the size of a magic marker

Goodness me - that's a name from the past , but .... how big is that?

[Deleted User]

@J_B 15cm x 4cm possibly !
Although they're vertebrate they're built to squeeze and flatten themselves and can get into the smallest of spaces.

Choppit69

Update: We involved local council pest control, who refused to enter the loft because the floor is not boarded. They put down poison within reach of the hatch, and visited 3 times (at 2 week intervals). The poison was never touched, but the rats have not been seen on camera since. Engaging the council was largely a waste of time I feel, because if I had wanted to use poison, I would have, but I didn't want to deal with smell of decaying rats. Soon I'll pull out the insulation along the party wall, and look to fill any, and all gaps I find. Hopefully that'll be the end of it. 

Eldi_Dos

You say having the council operative round  was not useful to you but they probably laid bait in other locations as well as your loft. As you have not seen evidence of them returning it more than likely worked.


If you are going to carry out work in loft it makes sense to get a protective barrier cream for hands and lower arms,good quality disposable gloves and overalls (forensic suit style are ideal) and masks for protection of airways.

Read up on Weils disease and it's symptoms and seek medical help if you show any of them. Staff who worked in locations where there is danger from this were issued with card to keep in their wallet to show to health professionals if need be.

connors07

Had something similar in the loft space and while its "only a loft space" its horrible. To start I put my own bait and poison down and then when it was the weekend I made plenty of noise before going up fully suited in overalls, gloves, mask and ripped out the insulation; the idea of making it less comfortable for them. Filled gaps with wire mesh, I didn't have a camera down but I got this tracker dust to see where they were going and trying to find entry points. I seem to kill them off for 6-18 months and then more find a way in (I do have a neighbour that doesn't have the cleanest of habits with a very inviting garden). Pest control experts will rarely do any more than what you can do. One thing they can do is send a camera down a drain for you if that is a potential entry point but most they'll do is just go up and put traps/poison down. 

Best DIY trap I had by the way was a bucket, few inches of water, pieces of wood upto the bucket, two holes drilled/screwdrivered into the bucket, a spinning wheel with peanut butter in the middle. They can't resist it and fall in.