Garage - Rats

Emmia

chilswelluk said:

Emmia said:

night vision goggles to identify the entry point are pointless, if the entry point is your front or rear door... 

You just need a correctly framed / fitted doors.  I don't have any gaps around my doors that a rat could get through. If I did I would be rectifying the problem.

I have no gaps in my doors too... The gap arises when you open them, for example to nip out into back garden.

BlueonBlue

Depends on if its a flat,house, garage, loft, rubbish bin area ,garden etc 
Rats will travel long distances from the rat nest at night.....where mice will nest very close to the food source kitchen etc .

They scent mark all along the path or trail at night through/under floor boards and use ones whiskers etc 
Then they can follow the trail again night after night via a great sense of smell

Rats have teeth like Hippos teeth in other words as tough as steel so chewing through a tiny floorboard gap to widen it such as solid floor boards is nothing .

Bleach mix sprayed into any gaps holes then all the gaps holes blocked with rolled up newspapers using a blunt knife then re soaked with more bleach mix ..... buys time before doing a better job with wire mesh or otherwise.
It also is cheap quick an easy temp fix even at 3am because if a rat has your flat house on its nightly food hunt you wont be sleeping as they chew gnaw the way in (make noise) to get to food .
This will or can play on your mind and stop you sleeping properly.
These areas can be under kitchen bathroom floorboards including under the bath but can also be any gaps holes anywhere to the inside food source.

So the bleach odor may be a issue but its better than dirty mice or a diseased  rat in your kitchen .
You will find bleach only costs .40p-£1.00 a 750ml bottle and goes along (diy) way to messing up the mice and rats sense of smell ...which is a good instant easy start found under your sink in many instances costing little to nothing  .

In my case Bleach/newspaper was a permanent fix it worked as the rat ate through the 1/2-5/8th inch floorboards/wall gap from below also they can chew through plaster board between rooms
I also believe they will run up properties waste/soil pipes in multiple level flats hence getting under floorboards baths etc 

Also note outside bushes and shrubs provide dirt beds for digging underground rats nests especially near any rubbish bins
Supermarkets in london ie Asda Sainsburys  removed these surrounding bushes from around the carparks as the scattered rubbish was the food source with the surrounding bushes providing nests in the shrubs/bushes dirt .

WYSPECIAL

I keep chickens so rats are always a  a problem especially in winter.
Make sure no food is available except in traps.
Make sure no nesting material like old newspapers are stored in the garage.
Use Fenn traps, try different baits.
Check the traps regularly. Decomposing rat smells very unpleasant.

chilswelluk

BlueonBlue said:

You will find bleach only costs .40p-£1.00 a 750ml bottle and goes along (diy) way to messing up the mice and rats sense of smell ...which is a good instant easy start found under your sink in many instances costing little to nothing  .

I also read that soaking rags in ammonia and placing those in the problem area can be effective.

Rosa_Damascena

Pathway to elimination according to The Mirror: https://apple.news/AX2JjZpkXQySfbhb1H_10SQ

BlueonBlue

chilswelluk said:

BlueonBlue said:

You will find bleach only costs .40p-£1.00 a 750ml bottle and goes along (diy) way to messing up the mice and rats sense of smell ...which is a good instant easy start found under your sink in many instances costing little to nothing  .

I also read that soaking rags in ammonia and placing those in the problem area can be effective.

I imagine ammonia would work very well but if living in a smaller flat it might be worse than bleach to tolerate  .
Should be ok under the bath or floorboards .

Here is a couple of links for further reading and the seriousness of rodent control
https://www.ecoguardpestmanagement.com/pest-resources/rat-repellent#:~:text=Ammonia: Ammonia is effective as,to help%2

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/rise-of-the-rodent/

chrisw

I don't think you can get rid of them, just don't attract them and keep them out of your property. I've seen them come up from the surface water grid in our road and follow the hedge line into the back gardens. I would guess that if you get rid of them there will be plenty more following behind.

Throat

As others have mentioned - clear out garage, remove ALL potential food sources including paper and cardboard, do not have a composter outside, make sure your neighbours are aware of the problem because they tunnel under the fence into other gardens.   We ended up filling any holes and putting mesh across our borders and under trees.  Bait boxes work with chocolate and peanut butter - 1 pair of rats can produce hundreds if not controlled.   If your neighbours have decking or wooden hut on base get them to check there isn't another nest beneath which your rats are offspring of.

Phossy

 I have ultrasound emitters in the garage now - not had a problem since I had those. I also had an issue outside - removed the food source (bird feeders!) and sprayed the area in peppermint oil (they really hate peppermint). I even planted some. When I found their tunnels/ nest, I poured peppermint oil down there too - left a few days and then filled the holes.