Rats!

[Dee]

I've been battling rats in my rental for over 12 months now and I'm desperate!

I've lost count of how many ratman visits. Tenants had to move out at a cost of 2k to me plus lost rent and now environmental health are involved and I'm beginning to feel quite persecuted by them. 

No rat activity at the moment but I fear they will be back once it starts to get colder.

How fo I get rid of the little ffffkrs?

[ProDave]

Don't pay a rat man.  Buy rat poison and put it out yourself again and again until they are gone.

[JohnMo]

This what you need, 

https://amzn.eu/d/21zDWZQ

 

 

[Iceverge]

They must be eating something or have found a comfortable living arrangement with you. 

 

 

Can you narrow anything down? 

[ToughButterCup]

Hello @Dee. Here's what I have written about them

They are worthy opponents. Intelligent, calculating but sometimes stupid. 

[nod]

Cut there source of food off 

They very quickly become amused to the rat blocks I’ve found mixing cereal with cement powder will do the trick and kill off any nests 

 

[saveasteading]

13 minutes ago, nod said:

mixing cereal with cement powder

Hard pore corn.

[Nickfromwales]

I had the little bastards under my shed. I drilled a small hole and piped the exhaust from my generator into it and gassed the bastards.......or so I thought.

 

2 days later the hole had grown by 30mm....ffs.

[Gus Potter]

From my pheasant rearing days a Fenn trap is a satisfying solution. No nonsense, but you must protect it to stop other wildlife from detriment. 

 

[ToughButterCup]

New York city has taken to blocking up holes and popping  dry ice in a couple of other holes. The resulting CO2 starves them of oxygen. There are many YT videos about the various rattling methods. 

 

Rats are really interesting animals. They provide me with late summer evening and autumnal sport . 

[Dee]

6 hours ago, nod said:

Cut there source of food off 

They very quickly become amused to the rat blocks I’ve found mixing cereal with cement powder will do the trick and kill off any nests 

 

Immidiate neighbour has one chicken and I found a pile of chicken feed I'm the loft but the effin' Env health woman is insisting the chicken isn't the problem! She really has it in for me! 

[Dee]

To date: all futile but.....

• I have lost count of the number of pest control companies and visits.
• Ivy removed on the East wall
• A one way valve fitted in the immediate sewer closest to the toilet.
• Put bait box to the East gully/chicken boundary 
• Drain covers on all drains
• Placed downpipe balloon guards.
• Stapled fine gauge mesh to Base of rear fence
• Blocked burrow under same fence
• Blocked every and any hole that could be an access point with mesh and cement.
• Replaced broken tiles at eaves 
• Severely pruned back the cherry tree in back yard
• Cleaned and hoovered the attic twice. Removed all old carpet/junk from the attic
• Deep cleaned the bathroom twice.
• bath removed, holes blocked. New poo pipe installed, 5 carcasses removed.
• Survey and report from Rentokil
• Instructed yet another pest control company. 

[Temp]

In a previous house they were climbing up inside rainwater down pipes into the gutters then into the loft via the eaves. Fixing metal leaf guards to the top of all the down pipes fixed the problem.

 

Rat man told us they mark trails so if you kill one in the house another soon follows his trail to find the same way in..

[Nickfromwales]

3 hours ago, Dee said:

Immidiate neighbour has one chicken and I found a pile of chicken feed I'm the loft but the effin' Env health woman is insisting the chicken isn't the problem! She really has it in for me! 

Make a complaint. 

[Marko]

Have a watch of Pest Interceptors on YouTube. He knows his stuff. Apparently, most of them sewer flaps are rubbish. You need the right one to be effective. Unless there's an obvious hole somewhere, they are coming from the sewers (typically). It might not even be your property. It could be the neighbours, and they are making the way into yours as well. A thorough drain survey is the best place to start. 

[elite]

Chicken keeper here, if you have chickens, rats will try and move in. If your neighbour will cooperate get them to minimise the amount of food available - treadle feeders are good, but take a bit of training for the chickens

 

Locate the runs they the rats are using and place bait boxes across them, make sure you wear gloves when handling to avoid making them smell of humans. I've found the grain bait much more attractive to the rats than blocks, but of course make sure non-target species can't get access. Keep bait topped up for at least a week after they stop taking it. Rats are naturally cautious so it may take some time for them to trust a new food source or strange new objects in their run.

 

If you can find someone with a good ratting dog, they will have the time of their life

[SteamyTea]

The pest control man came around last week for his usual checks (we sub the work out as insurance prefers it that way).

He asked if we had a new floor fitted.

No, I just spent a week on my hands and knees scrubbing it.

No rats or mice though.

Do have a magpie that will hop into the building. Bastard stole half my sandwich once. The only time I have stopped to eat a sandwich.

[Dee]

7 hours ago, Marko said:

Have a watch of Pest Interceptors on YouTube. He knows his stuff. Apparently, most of them sewer flaps are rubbish. You need the right one to be effective. Unless there's an obvious hole somewhere, they are coming from the sewers (typically). It might not even be your property. It could be the neighbours, and they are making the way into yours as well. A thorough drain survey is the best place to start. 

Only one way in from the sewer and if they came in that way they would pop up in the loo!

[Dee]

10 hours ago, Temp said:

In a previous house they were climbing up inside rainwater down pipes into the gutters then into the loft via the eaves. Fixing metal leaf guards to the top of all the down pipes fixed the problem.

 

Rat man told us they mark trails so if you kill one in the house another soon follows his trail to find the same way in..

Yep, got those on the downpipes 

[Tosh]

Our new neighbours decided to put ducks in their garden. Within 3 months here the rats came. Chewed through the timber floors of our sheds and destroyed our belongings. Tried to politely reason with our neighbours and put poison down for 2 years but still they came. They just find different ways to break in. Explained that it was the food that was attracting them. In the end I just lost my patience and had a row with them. Coupled with the rat man telling them the same they eventually removed the ducks and food source. Although the council in our area did'nt offer pest control they did say they would do a visit and talk to the neighbour and ultimately we could file a nuisance complaint though it never came to that in the end. The chicken food IS the reason you have rats. Stop the food and they'll stop using your gaff as a hotel.

[ToughButterCup]

21 hours ago, Tosh said:

.... The chicken food IS the reason you have rats. Stop the food and they'll stop using your gaff as a hotel.

 

Worse, chicken food sometimes contains Vitamin K; the antidote to rat poison. 

 

I find insomnia, windless evenings, a good thermal sight , and a German PCP air rifle makes the problem more interesting than annoying.

 

Blocking most of the holes up and putting dry ice (from our lads food business) in all but one hole almost guarantees a stream of conveniently placed targets. 

 

We've stopped poisoning them because weakened rats are easy targets for our tomcats. They tended to vomit the remains by our bedside or on my (not her) pillow.

 

Getting my own back as it were