johnhenstock83 Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 evening gents, neighbour dropped by the other day, saying he saw a rat in his house (bedrooms). I said I haven’t seen anything and that we never had this issue, which is true. checked the loft today and yes, about 4-5 droppings in a corner, they were not there before. first time owners, I’m panicking a bit. house is clean and we don’t leave food around. alao structurally sound, no gaps or broken drains, to my knowledge (main drains are brand new, plastic). rat probably travels from one house to another through the roof, soffits etc. we have loft insulation, it’s all boarded up (tongue/grove, screws, not easy to remove) and I’m afraid I’ll end up with an infestation. am I overreacting or is this really a huge problem? how to manage? thanks all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 Contact a pest control company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 Or failing that Put a trap in there baited with peanut butter Make sure you tie a string to the trap and anchor it down Poison isn’t an option if THEY are in your loft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roundtuit Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 Deffo a rat? Any chance it could be a squirrel (which are pretty much rats, but with better PR)? They're not unusual in lofts, but might get a bit lairy if they get nipped in a snap trap. Personally, I'd set a live catch trap baited with peanut butter and see what happens. Maybe a photo of the droppings would help confirm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnhenstock83 Posted July 18, 2023 Author Share Posted July 18, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 27 minutes ago, johnhenstock83 said: Rat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 (edited) They can climb up inside rainwater down pipes, along gutters and in through quite small holes in roofs (for example where pantiles meet fasia boards). Set up some rat traps in the loft where there was poo. Consider fitting leaf guards to down pipes? Edit: I forgot to mention a council rat man once told me they leave scent trails for family members to follow so after you catch one set the traps up again in same area. Edited July 19, 2023 by Temp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jimbo Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 What a pain. I feel for you. A rat catching friend of mine told me. You have to find the source of where they are getting in. If you don't either poison, or traps will need to be repeated again, and again every couple of months. You are going to need to either have a good explore around, or a good pest controler to try and find the source. What you don't want is a pest controller who just baits of traps. You need to find that entry point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blooda Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 Definitely need to find the route in. We had one [rat] trapped in our detached garage for a week, we believe it had got in via an unused waste pipe, and once we blocked it off it could not get out. Also needs to be combined effort with the neighbours, you don't want them poisoning the rat for it to die in your loft. I can recommend these:- Pest-Stop Plastic & Metal Battery-Powered Rat Killer - Screwfix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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