We have a home in suburban Auckland and we have a visitor between the ceiling and floor above. Any good ways to get rid of it without poisoning it and having it die then stink in the cavity? How about those electronic things? Do they work and will they keep the buggers at bay? thanks
owen106,
May 10, 10:27pm
Rat trap with peanut butter smeared on.
racheal77,
May 10, 10:30pm
We tried traps, the electronic thing and bait in our shed for rats. Traps - we got one, the electronic thing worked for a while then they came back in numbers so resorted to bait and that has wiped them out. The traps work well in the house for mice, caught 4 last weekend.
pnp,
May 11, 8:03pm
We had a "friend" in the same place - ie: between floors in our house. The poison actually dehydrates them & they leave to go looking for water so they don't actually die or create a stink in the cavity. Use the blue solid blocks as opposed to poison mixed with grains. The little bugger basically used the grain version as a food source & waited for us to top up his dish! haha
icfig,
May 11, 8:55pm
I agree ^^^ with pnp
lythande1,
May 11, 9:21pm
No they do not work, think carefully and explain the science behind them. You either trap it or poison it. Believe me, there is no such thing as one rat - and the smell of a dead rat - which will go eventually, is far better than the damage a family of them will do to your house. Husband did some work recently for rat infested guy. He didn't believe it either until the first leak happened. 4 weeks later, a carpenter. electrician, exterminator and my husband and they seemed to have repaired the pipes, wires, roof and walls. It went on and on.
vivac,
May 12, 5:12pm
Excellent. My only worry about leaving out poison is attracting more rats to the hous before they die.
harrislucinda,
May 12, 5:33pm
I just use those bait bags seen 6 running along rafters in a unused play hut they have taken the bags so hope that's the end of them
nilaveli,
May 12, 6:31pm
This is a myth "1) MYTH: Rodents will go outside to die after consuming rodenticides (rat poison).
FACT: No known rodenticide will cause rats or mice to leave a structure after consuming it. Anti-coagulants such as the bromadiolone found in Contrac Blox will generally cause death within four to ten days of consumption, but there is no guarantee as to where the rodents will die. Because of this delayed effect, rodents will often die in their nests or burrows, or other unknown locations that may be hidden in a property." http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/myths-about-rodents-a-400.html
veejay13,
May 12, 6:49pm
I agree with pnp - been there, done that. Only it wasn't our house but our shop where there were all sorts of goodies for the rat families. We got rid of the lot without one whiff of a bad smell.
sally63,
May 12, 7:26pm
Ugh. I just read the info and so a trap is the best option then I presume? At least then you can monitor it and removed dead rats/mice as required
nilaveli,
May 12, 7:40pm
You could try trapping rodents are neophobic (afraid of new things) leave the trap unset for a week or so with food on it so they get used to it then set it you will have more success when you do set it, I have baited hundreds of commercial and domestic properties about 80% of them don't have a problem with smell from dead rodents, you will get in the ceiling and see them dead tucked up in their nest in the insulation etc. but the smell isn't making it into the house/shop/restaurant where you will have a problem is if you have a heavy infestation with lots of rodents dying in the nest or if one dies in the wall.
pestri,
May 12, 9:21pm
Rot. utter bunkum.
racheal77,
May 12, 10:41pm
We used nearly a full tub of poison in our shed, several days later it smelled like dead animals for about a week. I found one dead on the floor and my partner found one walking around in circles dazed and confused and whacked on the head. So yes some did die where the poison was set.
racheal77,
May 12, 10:42pm
As I said earlier the traps work mint for the mice, but we only got one with the rat traps. Most of the time they just set them off and took the bait.
5425,
May 12, 11:36pm
This worked for me but I think it is cruel. I bought some Cockroach traps. They have a sticky pad which is the best I have ever seen. Place a piece of cheese on it and staple down or use weights to stop rats/mice from moving it. Once one is caught , others try to help and also get stuck. Then remove safely and toss in the rubbish bin before any smell. You get 4 but I only needed 3 to rid all.
whitehead.,
May 13, 12:23am
i have always wired the blue baits to some thing heavy so the cant remove it . i had a man get under my house and full all the nest that they had dug under the drive with stones and fuller . that fixed them .
mrfxit,
May 13, 12:40am
Another false belief is that you only catch the mice around your place. Rubbish, seen plenty of proof that once your local resident nest is gone, you will get all the other near by nests as well. THIS ^^ is why you need to KEEP laying fresh baits for a few months.
Never ever had any smells from dead mice etc & even if you did, isn't a small price to pay for a day or 2 & have another year or 2 free of rodents
maclad,
May 13, 12:49am
Always secure your baits as if you do not then the rodents actually remove them and store for the future. If baits are secure then they will consume them and hopefully. ?
maclad,
May 13, 12:50am
I also believe, right or wrong, that as these baits tend to dehydrate the critter, that there is far less chance of a rotting smell.
sandymrph,
May 13, 2:35am
Yup, poison is best :) ,effort wise, unless you want to go down "a completely natural" way of getting rid of rodents, most of those, entail a lot of rigmarole and lifestyle changes :) If poisoning : ALWAYS secure the baits. Also, always make sure all water sources under your control, ARE, in fact, secure, and under your control. Rats needs are like us. Water/food/shelter. They need a food source. control that food source and eliminate it as food for a rodent and then you're a third of the way there. they also need water. same attack: don't let them have any easy access to any supply of water (hardest one to do -naturally - LOL :) ), and the only thing you can do about not "sheltering" them is to make your abode "rodent proof" (took me about 30 years ,alot of thought, & alot of concrete to do :) ) If you want to make your land completely rodent proof (which I have managed to do - though it's only really a temporary thing - you need to keep control of the 3 things above - don't give them food, don't give them shelter, don't give them water, AND keep Predators ! (ps. as a heads up - the best predator of a rat, or a mouse, is a starving rat :) ) Basically , I guess, what I'm trying to say is - look after your shit - don't feed them, if it's not you feeding them, make your place so unattractive to them/or harder for them, that they just won't bother. nilaveli, previous poster, is alittle bit wrong with their post - generally it's only rats that are "neophobic" and really only then when "new" things appear on their "runs" - outside of their runs they're very curious too - mice however are extremely inquisitive, you can trap them quite easily - without even using bait. Curiousity kills the cat :) (and mouse, and ,sometimes, the Rat :) ).
sandymrph,
May 13, 2:40am
Oh ! . and the Stote & Ferret :)
twain1,
May 13, 2:29pm
Have just had a rat eat the bate I nailed up and the stench was pretty ripe for a week. There was lots of water all around but it definitely died where the bait was. But better to have the smell for a bit than their damage
herc18,
May 13, 3:02pm
Get a cat and put it in the area where you heard the noise, I never have any rodent problems which are not dealt with swiftly by my cat.
billyfieldman,
May 13, 4:42pm
Do cats really keep rats away? I used to have a few cats coming onto my property but the past year or so have only seen one regular visitor.
What's the best way to attract cats?
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