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    The War On Rodents

    A couple of years ago, I found a dead rat in our swimming pool (Yes, I have a swimming pool! Be quiet at the back!). I cleaned out the corpse and threw it away. I didn't think much of it until, a couple of months later I cleared another dead rat out of the pool.

    At this point, I was beginning to, er, smell a rat. Even so, there wasn't much to do other than know there are rats in the neighbourhood.

    Well, then some locals trimmed their palm trees, and we discovered that rats live in palm trees around here, and when the trees get their dead fronds tidied up, the rats need to go and find a new home.

    Given that our house is basically made out of holes and cardboard and hasn't been updated by the owners in the last 3 decades, several rats decided that the crawly roofspace in our house would make a lovely home, and moved in. The access seems to be through the garage.

    This bothered me more, particularly once they started crapping all through the garage and chewing on things in there, like bike tyres and golf bags.

    Thus the conflict began. I didn't want to go full chemical warfare on them, having been told that the odours of rotting rat in the dead space of warm houses in California are less than delightful, so I started trapping them. I think I killed 8 or 10 in total. They learned, they stopped using the floor in the garage and just scuttled into the roof.

    I had thought that we were in a period of uneasy peace. The rats in the roof above my office made lots of noise, probably chewing through the electrical cables. They're distracting when I'm trying to focus on work, but they seem to be harmless.

    And, as this is a rental that I'm planning on moving out of soon, and given that I've told the landlord more than once that the rats are a problem and they've done nothing, I really don't care about the long term damage to the building...

    This was the state of affairs until about a week ago, when for the first time I saw a couple of pieces of rodent shit inside the house. I hoped it was a one-off pass through. But going away for a couple of days last week seems to have started rodent party time.

    I came home to discover that a mouse (not a rat) had drowned in the toilet, and there was mouse shit all over the house - in the shower, on the sofa, on the draining board, on my desk.

    And once they're inside the house, that means it's time for full on warfare. I don't mind the rats in the roof, but the mice in the kitchen is another matter entirely. I set a rat trap in the kitchen, but a mouse just ate all the bait. So I downgraded to a couple of mouse traps and nabbed one yesterday.

    But there are more out there. More mouse crap appeared overnight. There's now mouse poison in three spots around the house and I don't care if that means the place stinks for a while of mouse carcass. There are mouse traps set. I am preparing for some grizzly dead-mouse sights.

    But does anyone have any advice? The mice seem to be taking the piss at the moment, and I am very, very bothered by it.

    #2
    The War On Rodents

    San Bernardhinault wrote: A couple of years ago, I found a dead rat in our swimming pool (Yes, I have a swimming pool! Be quiet at the back!). I cleaned out the corpse and threw it away. I didn't think much of it until, a couple of months later I cleared another dead rat out of the pool.

    At this point, I was beginning to, er, smell a rat. Even so, there wasn't much to do other than know there are rats in the neighbourhood.

    Well, then some locals trimmed their palm trees, and we discovered that rats live in palm trees around here, and when the trees get their dead fronds tidied up, the rats need to go and find a new home.

    Given that our house is basically made out of holes and cardboard and hasn't been updated by the owners in the last 3 decades, several rats decided that the crawly roofspace in our house would make a lovely home, and moved in. The access seems to be through the garage.

    This bothered me more, particularly once they started crapping all through the garage and chewing on things in there, like bike tyres and golf bags.

    Thus the conflict began. I didn't want to go full chemical warfare on them, having been told that the odours of rotting rat in the dead space of warm houses in California are less than delightful, so I started trapping them. I think I killed 8 or 10 in total. They learned, they stopped using the floor in the garage and just scuttled into the roof.

    I had thought that we were in a period of uneasy peace. The rats in the roof above my office made lots of noise, probably chewing through the electrical cables. They're distracting when I'm trying to focus on work, but they seem to be harmless.

    And, as this is a rental that I'm planning on moving out of soon, and given that I've told the landlord more than once that the rats are a problem and they've done nothing, I really don't care about the long term damage to the building...

    This was the state of affairs until about a week ago, when for the first time I saw a couple of pieces of rodent shit inside the house. I hoped it was a one-off pass through. But going away for a couple of days last week seems to have started rodent party time.

    I came home to discover that a mouse (not a rat) had drowned in the toilet, and there was mouse shit all over the house - in the shower, on the sofa, on the draining board, on my desk.

    And once they're inside the house, that means it's time for full on warfare. I don't mind the rats in the roof, but the mice in the kitchen is another matter entirely. I set a rat trap in the kitchen, but a mouse just ate all the bait. So I downgraded to a couple of mouse traps and nabbed one yesterday.

    But there are more out there. More mouse crap appeared overnight. There's now mouse poison in three spots around the house and I don't care if that means the place stinks for a while of mouse carcass. There are mouse traps set. I am preparing for some grizzly dead-mouse sights.

    But does anyone have any advice? The mice seem to be taking the piss at the moment, and I am very, very bothered by it.
    Seek. Professional. Help.

    No. I mean this, it's really the only way you'll resolve this satisfactorily.

    Comment


      #3
      The War On Rodents

      I think we'd all be equally bothered by your situation. Maybe more so in my case.

      But yeah, what GP said.

      Comment


        #4
        The War On Rodents

        Wanna borrow my cat?

        Comment


          #5
          The War On Rodents

          I like the idea of using cats. A sort of overwhelming force against the small mouse-terrorists. But that involves getting a cat, and one that's actually a good mouser rather than one that toys with mice and then gives them half-alive to me. And also involves looking after the cat for several years.

          Comment


            #6
            The War On Rodents

            It's always been my understanding that if you have mice, you don't have rats, and vice versa, as rats eat mice. So you should get rid of the mice by letting the rats in.

            Anyway, read this article if you want to absolutely convince yourself that your home is overrun with vermin:

            http://www.midland-environmental.co.uk/pest-control-midlands/index.php/pests/rats-mice/

            Comment


              #7
              The War On Rodents

              My last place had them, and more worrying than the rodents themselves was the drift into paranoia.

              There's a long list of everyday kitchen debris that can be re-imagined as droppings. I never drank coffee in peace again.

              Comment


                #8
                The War On Rodents

                My former flatmate's brother was a pest-controller. He told me that milk chocolate is the best bait to put in traps.

                As was suggested upthread, you ought to get a specialist in, if only to stop yourself from going bankrupt: I had mice in two of my previous flats and I got to a point where I was spending all my money on traps, milk chocolate and cleaning equipment

                Comment


                  #9
                  The War On Rodents

                  Just move house, tbh.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    The War On Rodents

                    San Bernardhinault wrote: I like the idea of using cats. A sort of overwhelming force against the small mouse-terrorists. But that involves getting a cat, and one that's actually a good mouser rather than one that toys with mice and then gives them half-alive to me. And also involves looking after the cat for several years.
                    There is also the possibility of a cat getting it all wrong, and bringing more mice in, using this brilliant strategy:-
                    i) catch and bring home alive
                    ii) release to toy with
                    iii) be unable to recapture after it runs under the washing machine
                    iv) get bored and curl up on the sofa

                    Bloody idiot moggy.

                    As for SB's scenario, can you get the American equivalent of Environmental Health out to serve an enforcement notice on your landlord so that he has to pay for professionals to get rid of them?

                    Comment


                      #11
                      The War On Rodents

                      This book is a great read and kind of tells you to move as soon as you can.



                      The good news about having mice in the house is that it means there aren't rats in the house from what I understand.

                      Cats won't win against rats, as a rather grizzly story in that book tells.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        The War On Rodents

                        Morning Update from the front lines:

                        No new mouse crap inside the house in the last 20 hours or so. Perhaps the combination of chemical weapons and mediaeval trapping has dealt the mice a blow.

                        But I woke up this morning to find another huge rat drowned in the swimming pool. It was so big I was almost wondering if it was a young raccoon or something.

                        As an aside, Dogbeak's suggestion is one that I am in the process of implementing, but buying a house is a slow process.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          The War On Rodents

                          A full-time lifeguard would solve the issue of rats drowning in your pool.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            The War On Rodents

                            caja-dglh wrote: This book is a great read and kind of tells you to move as soon as you can.

                            Cats won't win against rats, as a rather grizzly story in that book tells.
                            Maybe not in Manhattan, but in more rural settings or out in the burbs, a cat could hold its own.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              The War On Rodents

                              You want dogs for rats. And a few rough/brave fellows to scare them out.

                              https://youtu.be/etKfmx_n6ho

                              There are lots of rat-killing videos on YouTube, which are curiously engrossing.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                The War On Rodents

                                Afternoon Update:

                                I just went into the garage to find a mouse nabbed in a rat trap in there. That is rodent number 4 down in the last 4 days.

                                Whoever thought the rats in my roof and garage were fighting off the mouse infestation was wrong, though. Nature seems to be inept at fighting nature.

                                Perhaps I need to get a few rattlesnakes in the garage to kill off the rats.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  The War On Rodents

                                  Cat's aren't the solution. Since I got my bastard from the sanctuary 5 years ago (to be fair, I've had 10 cats in my life and this is the first BASTARD), I've kept a count of his and my activities:

                                  301 dead mice found and ejected. 92 found or trapped alive and ejected. Ok, per week that's roughly 1.2 found and 0.4 ejected. But it makes you think.

                                  Every hole and gap in my house has been blocked through experience - I'm pretty sure if they are in here, I've found them.

                                  I've slapped "the bastard" round the face with the corpses, but he's as thick as pigshit. He still thinks he's bringing the Master trophies.

                                  Believe me. Peanut butter is the stuff to catch 'em.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    The War On Rodents

                                    We had rats in our last house. In fact we had two types, Norwegian rats in the basement, and roof rats in the roof. One group was obviously sub-letting to the other but we never worked out the exact relationship. Thing is we didn't notice for eight years. They were extremely quiet tenants. When we finally called Dan the Rat Man (seriously), he said it was because rats will almost never hunt where they live. That might be why your mice aren't worried. Anyway, don't fuck about, get an exterminator.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      The War On Rodents

                                      And you don't want a mouse quietly dying in some corner in your house and rot away undetected.

                                      Last year our cat carried a mouse into the house, evidently with a view of tormenting the poor thing. As he put down the injured mouse to commence with going all Ramsey on it, the rodent ran off. The cat couldn't find it.

                                      Some time later we noticed the smell of dead rodent. So we turned the two affected rooms upside down. We moved furniture, looked in drawers. I even looked in every shoe to see if there was a dead mouse in it. Nothing. And the smell got worse, much worse. Nauseatingly bad.

                                      That went on for a couple of weeks, when one day my wife noticed a maggot emerging from beneath my bedside table. It seems we had forgotten to check beneath that piece of furniture.

                                      Just writing about it evokes the smell, sight and feeling of wanting to vomit at the sight which greeted us when we lifted the beside table. And the thought that for a couple of weeks, I slept next to a rotting rodent corpse!

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        The War On Rodents

                                        I keep chickens and at least once a year find myself doing battle with a rat that has decided to take up residence under the hen house (there must be a pretty nice nest under there vacated by previous occupants), from where it can tunnel into the run to help itself to any uneaten food. I find that a few creosote-soaked rags to block up the entrance holes and some poisoned bait does the trick. Not much point trying to prevent mice getting in as they have such flexible skeletons they can squeeze through the tiniest of gaps. I sometimes put down traps in the shed where I keep the chicken feed and on one occasion (and I swear this is true) I was startled to find a solitary leg in the trap. Whether it had been severed by the bar or gnawed off to secure freedom I couldn't tell and I wasn't about to subject it to forensic examination. Two weeks later I caught a three-legged mouse.

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