Getting rid of a rat in our shed

Giraffe76

Hi all,

We have a rat in our shed and we want to change the shed this summer but not sure which is the best way to gwt the rat out beforehand so was wondering if anyone could suggest anything so the rat still lives but doesn't live in our shed?

Kind regards mark

EssexExile

Open the door?

Ayr_Rage

It's likely there's a whole family of them, they aren't solitary creatures.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81899580#Comment_81899580

And that's before their wider family discover there is an accommodation upgrade on the cards 🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀

Emmia

Don't be squeamish, hire a pest controller and get them dealt with, properly.

bjorn_toby_wilde

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81899685#Comment_81899685

Exactly right.

OP - Rats are unpleasant disease carrying creatures. They’re not something to be sentimental about. If you want to do it more cost effectively then buy some poison blocks and put them in a proper bait box (to prevent other creatures accessing).

Screwfix or Toolstation sell the stuff. Handle the blocks with disposable gloves.

WIAWSNB

A fireproof bowl with some smouldering stuff in it - cloth, wood, anything. Smoke 'em out. Make it an unpalatable place for them to be?

vacheron

Start by serving it a Section 21.

Dustyevsky

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81899580#Comment_81899580

Depends if they've been around long. When we detected rats living near (not in) our chicken shed, our wildlife camera established we were dealing with two.

We went down the DIY bait box route as outlined above. We knew not to move it, once placed, and to use nitrile gloves, so the rats would get used to it and not smell us. It took about a month to kill the rats. I found one dead and the camera showed no action after that date.

At the same time as we were dealing with two rats, a friend was also trying to eliminate a single specimen in a different environment, namely an upmarket new estate. She used a bait box with a spring trap inside, but had no luck until the rat had become used to the box by its entry point; again, about a month.

NorfolkCanary

Python, Adder, Boa?

On a serious note, pest controller, but whether that works depends on the surroundings. Neighbour's (or yourself) leaving food or scraps easily accessible nearby?

Are there open holes in the shed to access?

mta999

I would have thought that all the noise and disruption of changing the shed would cause the rat(s) to leave anyway