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Rybow

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 18, 2009
Messages
782
Location
Edmonton, Alberta
There is a frickin Rat in my house. My girlfirend told me a week ago that she saw something. A shadow whip across the floor in our living room, but she wasn't sure if it was just her eyes playing tricks on her. Then last night, I got home from work at about 1:00AM, and sat down for some relaxing TV watching before bed. The blur whipped out from under the TV and disappeared into another corner of the room. It was fast, dark, and big! Well, bigger than your average mouse. Could be some kids lost guinea pig. A few minutes later, I heard it gnawing away on something in the hall, so I grabbed a broom and went on the hunt. Nothing. Sneaky little so and so.

My girlfriend has charged me with getting rid of this beast. However, I am not allowed to kill it. What?! I am supposed to route it out, catch it in a towel, and put it outside. Really? Uh, no. I don't think so. No rabies for this guy. Anyway, what's the best way to get a rat outta your house? Not much experience with those on my end. Snap traps? Bait traps? Poison? I was thinking about borrowing my neighbours cat. Gotta get this sucker before he multiplies.
 
cat not big enough for a RAT ? , isn't there usually more where there's one ?
cage & bait , look for the way they're getting in the house
 
I don't believe in sharing my living space with rodents.  If your girlfriend doesn't want him killed, what does she propose to do with him? keep him in a cage like a pet? If you catch and release he may just come back for another snack. (Tell her to google the "black death" if she thinks rats are cute.)

I would suggest using old school wire snap traps, but get the big rat-sized ones, and perhaps set more than one. This can be problematic if you have small pets or rug rats. I have seen rats killed when they didn't actually get caught in the trap, but it hits them a glancing blow hard enough to do internal damage, and they just crawl away to die. They will just laugh at the smaller mouse sized traps.

Rodents tend to run along parallel to walls so set the traps near the outside walls.

I would advise against using rat poison (indoors), while it is relatively quick and effective (they internally bleed to death), they will usually just crawl up into somewhere difficult to get them out of, and stink really bad until you finally dig them out.

=======
You also need to rodent proof your home... rats/mice can get in from the outside through openings for plumbing pipes. it doesn't take much of an opening for them to get in. They can chew threw almost anything (to get out), but generally aren't that highly motivated to get in, unless they are hungry and smell food. You will probably see where they got in, when you start checking. Metal makes a better barrier than wood, but anything is better than nothing.

JR

PS: If you want real fun, try to catch/chase a squirrel out of your house...

 
Thankfully rats aren't common here. They keep to the downtown core mostly, so I do believe that there is only one. Plus, usually there is more evidence such as droppings, fur, ripped up stuff, missing food, and so on. Well, with mice anyway. After a little deductive reasoning, I think I know where he is living as well. I have convinced my girlfriend that the rat must be killed old school. Going to pick up some traps today. This guy is going down.

Thanks for all the advice John. Good point about the poison. Don't want that smell of dead rat permeating my house. I've lived here for 2 years, and this is the first time a mouse or rat has been in here. I did have a squirrel come into my kitchen once through an open window. He saw me while I was trying to get some pictures of him, ran for the window, fell into the recycling bin sending bottles flying up, and then scrambled up and out the window. Makes me wish I had a video camera.

I'll do some searching for a point of entry. This house is old, very old, and has many different areas that he could have come in. I am only here for another month, but I'd prefer not to have rats jumping out of my boxes while I'm packing.

And yes, my girlfriend does think it's cute, and seems to think that it may be someone's pet that they let go. Girls. Geez.
 
rats? that's nothing try removing a skunk that gets caught under the house....When I was a kid had a skunk get caught under the house. More over made it's way into as hvac ductwork that was running  under the house. Got stuck in there and couldn't find a way out. started to spray in panic and eventually died.  Well I suspect that's how it all went down as it happened when me and my family was on holiday visiting relatives.  When we returned found the smell and then found a dead skunk. When removing the Skunk only half came out on the first pull. It was if a gas bomb had gone off. took over 6 weeks of constant airing out to get the smell down to a tolerable and many mopre weeks before we either got used to it or the smell was gone.

Rats are predictable and there are plenty of eco-friendly traps that will not kill the rat but capture the beast. However whatever you choose to do, handle the animal with care wearing gloves  and maybe even a mask like for painting just as precaution.
 
JohnRoberts said:
Tell her to google the "black death" if she thinks rats are cute.

Hahaha! reminds me of Fawlty Towers:

Manuel: I say to man in shop "Is rat." He say "No, no, no. Is a special kind of hamster. Is filigree Siberian hamster." Only one in shop. He make special price: only five pound.

Basil: Have you ever heard of the bubonic plague, Manuel? It was very popular here at one time. A lot of pedigree hamsters came over on ships from Siberia.
 
Think of how history could have been changed by even a few of the the hundreds of thousands killed by the plague, and wars, and even the (spanish) flu...  Of course some may have been bad guys too...

But many were lost to pandemics over the centuries, that could have made contributions for the better.

JR
 
Pucho, I can't even imagine that smell. Nasty! Never had to deal with a dead skunk in the house before. Porcupine under the porch, not dead, but not a dead skunk.

No activity last night, so I think I scared it out of the house when I opened the front door and started running around like a crazy person with a broom in hand. Found what it was eating. Cat food of all things. We kept a little bag for the neighbours cat that comes to visit every once in awhile. Moved all the other food sources to more secure locations as well, so even if it dodges the traps, it won't have anything to eat. Still have a sore finger from setting the traps last night.

There are probably many great people who were lost to plagues, wars, and many others who should have been lost. I meet and hear about people everyday that make me wonder how they survive even in our modern civilization. People like the guy in Pucho's tech support story. How do they get by? I don't know.
 
We get subwoofers in at work occasionally that have been in storage - often rat shit and dog/cat food are found in them....nasty!  (we just refuse them when we see it)

Nasty critters, you can rent catch and release traps at many places if you don't wanna hire an exterminator...  Release it out in the wild somewhere to help some animal further up the foodchain out.


 
I have porcupine. Don't run away, just waddle on. Perhaps the only animal which will turn its back on you.

I would say you won't catch Black Death from a BC rat; but this year in Oregon there was a woman and a cat found with bubonic.

Last time I had rat, I'd been feeding the dog in the yard. Now dogs eat indoors on mat (so they find the crumbs), food in metal can, no rat.


> history could have been changed by even a few of the the hundreds of thousands killed by the plague

History WAS changed, significantly, by the Plague.

Before the plague in Europe, labor was cheap and land-holders had power. After half of the population died, much land was available, but laborers didn't have to work cheap. Material wealth per person rose very significantly (brother dies, you get his ox). Feudalism declined, middle-class appeared, respect for authority declined, Protestantism, Democracy.
 
Hi,


  at my old studio, which was in the basement, I had a nasty surprise. I had been working all night, and in the morning, sat down on the toilet to do my business. There was a sudden splash, and a massive, and I mean massive rat shot up and out of the toilet between my legs, brushing against the family jewels as it went. It then ran round the tiny bathroom as I attacked it with a mop that was handy. How I didnt get bitten, I just dont know. It was covered in excrement, not surprisingly, and the stench was abhorrent. After a minute or so, it jumped back into the pan ad disappeared. There was evidently no non-return valve on the system, or it was jammed open.

  we used to occasionally get them in the basement where I lived, and their arrival en masse used to herald the impending flood that would ensue. - We got flooded out twice with 6 feet of sewage. It was a bit like the pied piper of Hamlyn . .


  loathesome creatures - hope I never have to deel with one again.


  ANdyP
 
strangeandbouncy said:
at my old studio, which was in the basement, I had a nasty surprise.

Andy, I feel very bad for you but I am laughing very hard at the picture of some poor soul with his trousers down chasing a rat covered in merd inside a tiny room.  Not to speak of protecting his vital assets at the same time :) 
Sorry...  :(
 
Dealt with them before.  Try using a few strategically placed cage traps.  This will avoid dead rat in the wall.  There are also heavy duty sticky glue traps to augment the cages.

In the meantime take extra care to find and clean up any food stuffs that may be on the floor, behind the bed etc.  Make sure containers with pastas, grains or flour are tightly sealed (big plastic tubs are handy for putting jars of stuff into). Try and move indoor trashcans outdoors temporarily.  Also Keep piles of clothes, boxes or other hiding place off the floor if possible. 

The behavior sounds like he(she's) very hungry.  The braveness tends to follow hunger level.  I've had one pop out of a trashcan at an old rehearsal space - see me - flatten and hiss menacingly.  Somebody's pet whatever probably won't do that - just run.

One strategy might be to keep the lights on at night in as many rooms as possible except for the one with the bait & traps. 

Best of Luck!


> history could have been changed by even a few of the the hundreds of thousands killed by the plague

History WAS changed, significantly, by the Plague.

Before the plague in Europe, labor was cheap and land-holders had power. After half of the population died, much land was available, but laborers didn't have to work cheap. Material wealth per person rose very significantly (brother dies, you get his ox). Feudalism declined, middle-class appeared, respect for authority declined, Protestantism, Democracy.


  I like the point of view. 
 
ive had the same problem but with mice, i got a ultrasonic repellant and stuck it in the place floor cavity and had good results.

as for big rats i saw one almost half a meter once in durban, it was under a car it wasnt scared and just stared me out with an old cigarrete butt in its mouth... ;D
 
I have used rat glue, horribly sticky shit, spread some on a piece of cardboard and they get stuck in it, doesnt kill them, at least initially, if you leave them in it for a while, they squirm around in the glue and it gets everywhere, in its nose, ears, mouth, then they die a slow and painful death. At least you can show your girlfriend that it is alive, then just throw the whole lot into a garbage bag and into your bin, obviously without her seeing it, just tell her you lovingly wiped the glue from its toes and set it merrily on its way.
 

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