Rats!

Invincible_summer

Is there any way - save getting a dog or a big, vicious cat - to repel rats from my house without resorting to putting out poison?

The area where we've found droppings is slightly messy, but my parents and I cleaned it up to see if that would work. It didn't. We put mothballs out - someone told us that keeps rats away. It doesn't.

We've purchased some poison, but are pretty reluctant to actually use it. I'm glad my compassion for critters has rubbed off on my parents, but so far in my research it seems that there's not much we can do... unless some of you have a brilliant idea!

Thanks in advance.

vinlyn

As a Buddhist you must learn to live with and share with your furry friends.

fivebells

I would try to film the area, figure out where the rats are getting in, and plug the holes. Not that I have ever dealt with this problem, and there may be multiple reasons why that won't work in your case.

I'm staying with some friends at the moment who tell me they keep a weight on a toilet seat because they found rats were entering the house via the sewage system. I have diligently replaced the weight each time I've used it, but have seen no evidence of rats so far. But I believe them because when I lived in Nigeria, we had huge crabs crawling out of the toilet bowl at times!

vinlyn

Wow, @fivebells!. When I lived in Bangkok I had visions of snakes coming up out of our toilet. While not common, it was not unheard of.

how

A UV light will show up their travel routes. It illuminates their pee which they dribble as they walk. Plug up all access holes with steel wool injected with silicone sealer. Finding their access routes requires a meticulous inspection of the inside & outside of your exterior walls.
Secure hardware cloth over holes that you can't cover ( Dryer outlets & cheater plumbing vents & soil stacks)

Electronic rodent repellers will make it uncomfortable for them to go into a 12 & 12 foot area. Place one of these in the kitchen to deny them easy access to food & water but also start storing your edible foods in rat proof containers.

Like dealing with burglars, it's not about making your place impenetrable, just more difficult to utilize than the local alternatives. (the neighbours places).

Oh and thanks Fivebells for making my last place of family respite, just a little less comfortable.

fivebells

No worries.

how

Tell me your not going to eat that now?

But seriously.. Why would salt water crabs make their way through fresh water piping when they usually won't enter fresh water lakes.?

Invincible_summer

I just realized that I should clarify - they are not *inside* the house... yet. The rats are still on the outside. But they have encroached onto our deck for the first time in 20+ years. We just want to keep them away from the house.

I know it seems like such a minor thing, but I thought I'd ask for any advice anyway.

fivebells

@how, I have no clue. I was eight years old at the time, too young to be wondering such things. I'll ask my Dad next time we talk, he may remember.

The answer is probably that the piping was a stinking mess. Almost every other piece of infrastructure in Nigeria was.

fivebells

@Invincible_Summer, if they're not currently infesting your house, you could try feeding them birth-control drugs. Product page. Again, I know nothing about this, but it would be an interesting experiment.

how

@Invincible_summer
Rat & mice are everywhere. If you are seeing them where you have not before, usually these are new rodents that have been displaced from elsewhere and don't yet know how to move around your property unseen. (Example) If a home gets demolished in your neighbourhood, local flooding occurs or even if a neighbour gets a ratter.
Usually it all will settle down in a month unless Your careless about garbage or composting.

@Fivebells
Quite the education for a eight year old is this was a typical story of your life there.

Invincible_summer

@how - good to know about the displaced rodents. There is indeed quite a bit of construction going on in these parts. I'll treat them as temporary residents then!

karasti

Eliminate any food sources. Bird seed, dog/cat food kept outside, compost, sometimes food dropping from a BBQ grill, in addition to plugging any entrances to places they use. You could try live trapping them and releasing them a long ways from your neighborhood. You could also try finding a wildlife rehabber to ask them, as they often know tips and tricks to luring them safely. Basically you have to make the area uninhabitable for them. You might also want to try some of the urine B Gone stuff that is scented urine crystals or spray (you can get them at any farm and garden shop/greenhouse) that is meant to spray to keep deer and rabbits and other things away. Ask the place if they recommend anything in particular for rats.

Linc

I've dealt with a really bad neighborhood-wide rat problem and I have only one answer: big, nasty, break-your-finger-off rat traps and some beef jerky.

I agree poison is a poor option. That said, trying to get rid of them without killing them once they've moved in means trapping them in a cage and then driving them... where? Pretty sure it's illegal to release rats in most places.

And make sure you have metal trashcans they can't chew thru.

vinlyn

I live-trapped an outbreak of mice a few years ago...until one got loose in my living room and I couldn't catch him. Rats...hmmmmmm...I worry more about them.

riverflow

[orwell] DO IT TO JULIA!!!! [/orwell]

karasti

There are some decent ideas here (I'm not a PETA fan-girl by any means, just decent information about mice and rats)
http://www.peta.org/issues/wildlife/house-mice.aspx

seeker242

Invincible_summer said:

Is there any way - save getting a dog or a big, vicious cat - to repel rats from my house without resorting to putting out poison?

The area where we've found droppings is slightly messy, but my parents and I cleaned it up to see if that would work. It didn't. We put mothballs out - someone told us that keeps rats away. It doesn't.

We've purchased some poison, but are pretty reluctant to actually use it. I'm glad my compassion for critters has rubbed off on my parents, but so far in my research it seems that there's not much we can do... unless some of you have a brilliant idea!

Thanks in advance.

Please don't use poison. That stuff is so cruel. Rat poison takes from 4 days up to a week to actually kill the animal. Through that 4 days their insides are literally turning into mush and their blood vessels burst and leaks into their muscle and joints, after the 4 day period of bleeding internally and their organs turning into mush they struggle for their last breath out of their impacting and decaying lugs. Poison is very, very cruel to the animal.

This is the humane way to do it as opposed to poison or snap traps. Snap traps are cruel too.



These traps work great with peanut butter as the bait. Rats freaking love peanut butter! I get rats coming into my attic sometimes, I use these traps exclusively and they work really good. Whenever I get one up there, it usually only take one night to catch it. Then, I take the trap down to the wooded area, about a mile away or so and let them go in the woods. Live catch, rather than kill is so much better!

riverflow

@seeker242 - I love your post! And I love your solution!

A few years ago here at the hospital where I work, we had a mouse problem and they laid out these awful sticky traps (sort of like "flypaper" for rodents). One of the techs thought it was so "cool" that we had caught one in the breakroom and he wanted to show me (why, I have no idea, I think it was supposed to be some sort of "male bonding type thing" ha)-- and I really wish he hadn't, because the poor thing was squealing and was probably scared.

I ended up getting two pair of latex gloves, doubling them up on my hands, took the poor wee mouse outside and very slowly and carefully removed him from the trap-- I was so afraid I would hurt him, but I did eventually get him out of the trap. Then he promptly ran back in to the hospital! haha but I just couldn't bear the thought of that mouse being frightened and likely in pain.

But that it wasn't any better than poison.

seeker242

Glue traps are cruel too!

vinlyn

seeker242 said:

Glue traps are cruel too!

Nothing is perfect, but I used glue traps for the mice, then wore gloves to apply vegetable oil to them to free them, and released them into the woods.

seeker242

vinlyn said:

seeker242 said:

Glue traps are cruel too!

Nothing is perfect, but I used glue traps for the mice, then wore gloves to apply vegetable oil to them to free them, and released them into the woods.

I would say that is much better than just letting them die in the trap like most people do!

karasti

Make sure wherever you release them, they have access to water, and if it is a colony of rats, it's best (if it all possible) to try to catch them, and release them, together. Rats especially are social animals and being removed from the colony/family can be traumatic to them. Not lecturing, but any means! Just sharing things I've learned recently after getting involved with some training for short term rehab care for various critters. I applaud anyone and everyone who does whatever they can to catch and release a pesty-type critter when it's at all possible.

Invincible_summer

We've considered the live trap, but there is no one that sells them in the appropriate size in our vicinity - for some reason, there are ones sized for skunks, but not rats...

Thanks for all the suggestions. We're pretty much trying everything other than poison first.

seeker242

There are plenty of internet shops that sell them. Probably cheaper than buying them locally too.

NomaDBuddha

Poison won't really work on those rats. They're smart enough to avoid it, and they're resistant.
What will work is a rat trap, made out of a small piece of carton, on which you pour some non-toxic glue ( there is a special glue for this kind of thing), and on top of the glue layer, you put some food, to attract the rats. They will smell the food and while stepping on the glue, they won't be able to move.
I'm not sure how well will it work on rats, but it worked perfectly on mice.

karasti

@Invincible_summer you don't have to buy the traps. Most often times rehab facilities keep them for people to use/borrow and return. It's not always easy, unfortunately, to find rehabbers but usually they have to be licensed by a state or local government department, so if you can find out who that is in your area, they will have a list for you. In our state, it is the Dept of Natural Resources that does the permits for rehabbers. Also, the DNR sometimes can help provide traps people can borrow as well.

footiam

Invincible_summer said:

Is there any way - save getting a dog or a big, vicious cat - to repel rats from my house without resorting to putting out poison?

The area where we've found droppings is slightly messy, but my parents and I cleaned it up to see if that would work. It didn't. We put mothballs out - someone told us that keeps rats away. It doesn't.

We've purchased some poison, but are pretty reluctant to actually use it. I'm glad my compassion for critters has rubbed off on my parents, but so far in my research it seems that there's not much we can do... unless some of you have a brilliant idea!

Thanks in advance.

Personally, I never think so much about this problem even if there are rats around the house. I remember my sister-in-law always reminded that the doors be closed so that the rats or any unwanted creatures do not come in but of course, they do. In my parents' old house, there are lots of rats and they made a lot of noise at night as they ran pitter-patter here and there and I think I got used to them and did not give them much thought. Maybe, if you are not into killing them, you'd have to share your house with them.Or else, get a trap- trap them alive and them move them to your neighbour's garden! They will survive there! (Just joking)