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Post by sidestep on Jun 2, 2011 6:20:02 GMT -5
I've been desqualoring my Original Doom Room, the Utility Room, to get ready for the A/C people. My Utility Room was created out of the garage which has an unfinished attic/crawlspace. I've been shocked/amazed at what I've found. There has been a problem with ratties getting in during the rare cool fronts, but I already knew that. The amazing thing is what they have found to gnaw on: They stole my Ant Baits, carried them off & ate the baited centers out of them. They bit into a Bottle
of Insecticide Concentrate, a Tube of Caulk, Upholstery Glue, & Wood Glue. They bit into Closed Bags of Garden Soil, a Bag of Insecticide, a Box of Wooden Matches, & they bit the tops off Water Bottlesto get at the water within. They even gnawed Empty Plastic
Containers, a Sable Paint Brush, a Never Used Large Waterproof Tarp & a Never Used Paint Roller probably to make bedding. They carried off the hard, dessicated dirt from pots & scattered that to help make their bedding. I found an abandoned Rat's nest in the center of my Utility room.  As mentioned, they are not currently living there & I have continuously blocked/plugged any openings I have found they have created. And yes, I have used a mask while cleaning up any of their detritis. I'm still amazed at the things they have managed to gnaw on.  I also believe the rats will always be a problem to fend off as my neighbor puts out bread, corn, peanuts, peanut butter & bird seed for her multiple bird feeders & has no plans on changing. |
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Post by dayeanu on Jun 2, 2011 8:57:14 GMT -5
It's amazing isn't it. Maybe the poisons they ate killed them. I'd be inclined to heavily bait with rat poison at all times. The good news is that rats are easier to poison than mice. If you do put out poison, be sure to put out pans of water for them, too. Poison makes them thirsty, and if they can't find water otherwise, they will chew through your plumbing!
Good luck on desqualoring your doom room. Won't it be nice when it's finished, and even nicer to have A/C!
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Post by Celeste on Jun 2, 2011 9:04:21 GMT -5
What won't they eat? According to Warrior Kimmy, rats detest peppermint and won't touch the stuff. She considers it a natural non-toxic rat repellant.
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Post by sidestep on Jun 2, 2011 10:03:24 GMT -5
Dayeanu, I will never again bait as I once had the 'pleasure' of hunting down 'eau de putrefying rat' after it ate rat poison. TMI, but I had to follow the blowflies & spent 20 min. up on a ladder in my crawlspace in hottt temps. It had died behind the water heater & I had to use a long paddle to retrieve it. I have had much better success with snap traps & can easily find the bodies. One A/C company says there is a good strong deterrent spray exterminators use. That may be an option down the road. I'd actually love to line the former rat entry points with razor/concertina wire but alas that is only sold to correctional institutes.  Thanks Celeste & Cricket. |
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Post by puppybox on Jun 2, 2011 10:08:40 GMT -5
I second what cricket said, impressed with what sounds like full time job.
So proud of you for working on horrible Room of Doom!
Rats are amazing.
I bought one of those giant pre roasted beef bones for my dogs, I put it on top of the fridge in a plastic bag. The rats came to eat it, but tried to take it, inside the bag, away with them.
There is an open section of the wall beside the fridge where the janitor chopped it open to make the corner wide enough for the Fridge. The rats tried to take the whole thing in there, but the bone was too big to fit between the wooden boards, I found it hanging there. They must have co-operated to get it in there. plus, it weighed at least 5 pounds.
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Post by wynken on Jun 3, 2011 3:49:40 GMT -5
I sprinkled black pepper where I had a rat running about from dining table to kitchen bench. He left and drowned in a bin of water outside one very wet season.
I had a personal reaction to having the pepper sprinkled and needed to clean it up so its not a long term solution if they move in again. still an alternative to posion if you can tollerate it.
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Post by casper on Jun 3, 2011 18:03:54 GMT -5
25 years ago somebody told me that mice hate moth balls. So, I placed them at the place I knew they were entering from and sure enough mice really do hate moth balls. They rolled all of them out of their way and came in any way.  |
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Post by sidestep on May 8, 2012 7:51:29 GMT -5
I'm bumping this for an update. In the year since I posted this, I've found the darn ratties are somehow still finding their way into my utility room/garage even after I blocked the previous area thru which they had been gaining entry.  I have snap-trapped 5 in the past year--grr! Just yesterday while I was looking in the garage, one zipped past me. I guess I'll be setting another 2 traps out there, bringing my landmine-rat-trap total up to 6 strategically placed traps! I'm sure I'll find more ridiculous rat-bitten items once I return to sorting thru that area, but I'm still shocked & mad they have once again bitten thru my bags of garden soil. There's not even grass seed or anything in that! I'm also including this recent thread on rat eradication ideas for anyone wanting further information. takeonestepatatime.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=other&thread=17736&page=1 |
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Post by ramatama on May 8, 2012 9:05:59 GMT -5
reading this and am aghast! We have meandering cats and I think that keeps the mice away from the building, but am not sure about the rats. Have only seen them late at night near the underground station: some folks toss their half-eaten food onto the tracks. Pigeons tend to get at that most of the time. But I guess they don't fly at night. My neighbour said she saw a crow attack a rat and feed on it. So my question is, would having cats keep away rats? 
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Post by sidestep on May 8, 2012 9:21:55 GMT -5
My cats are indoor only, & I keep the door from the kitchen to the garage closed at all times, along with the large garage door. There are some neighborhood cats around, & I have on occasion seen they have caught a small one. I have also seen an osprey bird of prey get one too. My across the street neighbor has had them get in thru her screened in pool enclosure & they have gotten into her house! At dusk I have seen them running from the telephone/electrical lines to the palm trees. I'll link to the damage they had caused to my flexible A/C duct up in the crawlspace under the roof (replaced last year) & an area they apparently nested in my palm tree: takeonestepatatime.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=pics&thread=15157&page=1#220240 |
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Post by dayeanu on May 8, 2012 9:42:19 GMT -5
Cats might help, but (at least around here) the rats can get quite large. Some look to be the size of a small dog or cat. They can challenge a cat.
Frankly, I would not want my cat going after one of the large varieties. They could get serious bites or other injury in a confrontation, or they could get pathogens from biting the rat, leading to illness.
One reason I suggest poison is because you can kill more with poison than traps. IMO, where there's one that you see, there's probably 20 that you don't see. If you have more than the occasional odd visitation, there's probably a significant population. That's just my observation.
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Post by casper on May 8, 2012 9:54:43 GMT -5
The problem with using poison is that a cat, dog, bird or other creature may come across the sick or dead rodent and become poisoned from eating the poisoned rat. When I was a child living in Detroit my Granma sent me across the street to borrow something from the neighbor. Running down the driveway at me came this huge rat, foaming at the mouth like it had rabies. I ran screaming away & the rat ran after me! The neighbor said it had just been eating the poison he put out. Also, poisoned rodents tend to find a safe hiding place when they become sick and end up putrifying in the walls & other hard to reach spaces in the house.  |
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Post by sidestep on May 8, 2012 10:02:16 GMT -5
If it is more than an isolated rat I hear them rustling up in the rafters, so I feel confident that is not the case 'inside'. I wouldn't want my cats going anywhere near a rat either. The typical size I've caught measure-- 6" body, separate 7" long hairless tail--blech!
TMI, but it's also said that they only need an opening the size of a nickle to get their brain thru since their body can be compressed to get thru the openings. It's also said they keep gnawing 'cuz their teeth never stop growing.
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Post by limegreen on May 8, 2012 10:11:45 GMT -5
I don't know why they like garden soil, but I had mice chew their way into my bag of potting soil as well as their insane fondness for cardboard boxes and plastic carrier bags.
They are not particualrly fond of peppermint, but you need to renew it as the scent evaporates, and my mice didn't care for lavendar scented soap as they refused to nibble the box.
I'm wondering if I should find the stinkiest laundry soap in the store and put handfuls of the stuff down the mouse runs. it seems the cheaper the soap, the stinkier, so I wonder if I'm on to a good thing.
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Post by ramatama on May 8, 2012 10:22:27 GMT -5
Not sure if it is the same in USA/Canada, but I got essential oils at my apothecary for a lot less than at some stores that sell essential oils to add aroma to the room. Perhaps those of you plagued by rats/mice can sprinkle a few drops of peppermint oil around the place?  |
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