We got them to, we in a californian bungalow, heard them last night again on the ceiling and in the wall. Bugger if I know how they in the wall when these old places seldom have dwangs in the internal walls just studs.
Mate of mine had rats and just kept feeding them snail bait and got rid of them in time.
Not sure how going to get them out of the wall besides wrecking the wall ? Not 100% sure of entry and exist points, think maybe bathroom from underneath the house.
valleygirl16,
May 27, 10:13am
Bait under the house (nailed down so they dont take it and store it) and they'll nibble on it before getting into the house
mggd,
May 27, 10:27am
They can jump 1.5 mtrs, cut back growth around the house is a good start, then place traps around the outside of the house.
cleggyboy,
May 27, 10:53am
I had a problem with a family of them getting into my ceiling and into the back of my heat pump totally demolishing the polystyrene in the back. It turned out a tree at the corner of my home had a branch dangling into the spouting and that is where they climbed up along the spouting and under the iron roof. So tree was cut hard back, heaps of poison was laid which they needed water to finish them off, some how they got back out to die as there was no sign of any carcasses in the roof cavity.
trade4us2,
May 27, 11:21am
Unfortunately roofers and builders and plumbers seem to have no idea how to build a house that doesn't allow free range to rats and mice and cockroaches. Or maybe they just don't care.
dcm30,
May 27, 4:36pm
Ive never had rats before, house I am in now is a 1930 villa, guess they like my new insulation. I have a hole in a cupboard and have set a trap there. Just hope they don't chew on any wiring! Cant afford that. We had none when my daughters 2 Persians were living here but my old 12 year old only interested in laying down by heatpump lol.
solarboy,
May 27, 7:43pm
Re poison, I never use it after losing a cat to secondary poisoning some years ago. Seems it's not uncommon for a cat to find a poisoned rat staggering around, eat it, and end up dying in agony from the poison. We took ours to the vet but he couldn't save him and we took him up on his suggestion to euthanase him rather than suffer any more. I only use traps now - peanut butter works well.
cantabman1,
May 28, 9:16am
Oh shit thanks for than as I have just replenished my bait traps in the roof and flooring; also caught a monster with a trap set up their. Heard them up in the roof last night with at least one who had consumed a lot of bait and was doing the Cha Cha for over an hour, I will check it all again tomorrow. [ NO LEAKS SO FAR]
cantabman1,
May 28, 9:21am
A good idea, except for us, we have dogs that could get to the bait. I have thought about putting it in tubing on a fence, but our dogs are very clever and may get to it.
apollo11,
May 28, 11:08am
Got one through the neck the other day with a pitchfork- hiding out in the compost bin. He'd obviously been eating our scraps for a long time because he was huge, maybe a kilo in weight. Have now wrapped the compost bin in chicken wire!
mggd,
May 28, 11:12am
All my traps are housed in a box, about the size of a shoe box with a small hole in one side for the rat to gain access, the roof swivels on a nail so I can remove customers and re-bait. Sorry I presumed you would have realized.
mike0210,
May 28, 3:07pm
Rats in the ceiling and walls here as well. I've caught four with traps,and then none for several weeks so put some poison bait in the ceiling(all water pipes are under the house,the pipes going up the walls will have to cross their fingers.). Have cut back all vegetation and blocked every entry point I can see. After all that,they're still there. I'm in Dunedin,has anyone used and had success with a pest control company here? Any recommendations or advice gladly accepted.
maclad,
May 28, 3:27pm
It seems there is a bigger problem with rats this year than normal. Have heard it described as a plague, several times, and now is the time of year they are looking for warm winter accommodation. Can only suggest persistence with baiting. nail it down as rats do take and store it. Also, to protect pets it can be secured and placed in cut off pieces of plastic down pipes about 18" long.
porka1,
May 28, 3:35pm
Crush bait blocks and they will eat it readily.Had it a few times that blocks were ignored.
porka1,
May 28, 3:37pm
Thread some wire across the downpipe and thread blocks onto wire to secure blocks
hound31,
May 28, 4:33pm
Have also answered in General. McPhee Holdings in the Yellow Pages, Dave's very good. Even gave me a card for the vet in case my dogs ate a corpse. I checked the grounds and garden religiously though and didn't find any. I had the beggars swinging from the rafters and playing seven aside above the bedroom ceiling a few winters ago. As others have said cut back trees, they can jump a good metre apparently.
mike0210,
May 28, 4:37pm
Great,thanks again.
skin1235,
May 28, 4:45pm
its been a mild year, food has been in abundance, they have managed another two birthing cycles, yep the numbers are up
basterds gave me a hell of a fright - reached up into the rafters to bring a ladder down and a couple had built a nest on an old coat slung over that ladder a wee while ago - just under the laserlight panel, lovely and warm - about 6 or 7 cute wee bald kits fell down around my head while mum and dad launched off to avoid me
new bait in the bait stations already
hilt_dwane,
May 28, 6:47pm
Who remembers the woman a couple if years ago, who wrote a daily saga for ages here on the MB about her rat catching activities? She had an awful problem with them but her story made very entertaining reading - she was a born writer
strathview,
May 28, 9:51pm
How long ago was that?
lm446,
May 28, 10:03pm
Roof rabbit
hilt_dwane,
May 28, 10:05pm
Probably be 2-3 years. She was so funny. Those rats had personalities. From memory she had an open farm type shed where the rats holed up. No matter what ploy she used, the rats outwitted her. I believe she finally won though but can't remember how it came about - they were bold and almost terrorising her but she wasn't going to be beaten. Every night or two she would add to the story and all members who followed it were enthusiastically looking forward to the next episode. Surely this is familiar to some?
hound31,
May 28, 10:06pm
My best tale (oops bad pun lol), was when I had trouble with my cellar flooding. This was just before I got proper help with the rats and the cellar. There I was, under the house doggedly bucketing out water that was about up to my knees when I happened to glance around and saw a dirty big rat behind me floating upside down. He wasn't doing synchronised swimming, he was dead, but I can tell you that the rate of bucketing went up markedly and I kept one eye on him at all times till I finished. If he'd tapped me on the shoulder you would have heard the scream up the top of the North Island! Nor more rats for a few years, and I have a pump in the cellar now.
strathview,
May 28, 10:06pm
No rats this year but plenty of Mopsy, Topsy, Peter and Cottontail. When they all left home to go flatting they thought living under the deck by the heat pump was just bliss. Little thump thumps whenever I opened the door to go out let me know they thought I was the intruder. Ok I'm a soft touch I managed to catch them and walked them down the road to a more rabbit friendly patch.
hound31,
May 28, 10:07pm
I wished I'd read it, sounds very entertaining.
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