How high can a chicken jump?

[little chickadee]

We thought we heard scampering across the ceiling a couple of weeks ago and hoped that we hadn't, then the other day I was having a bath and heard something moving in the wall at the foot of the bath (really creepy thing to happen) We put some mouse traps out and, yesterday we caught something, but it wasn't a mouse, it was a smallish rat. Eeeeugggh.

 

I have since heard them in the wall at the head of my bed. OH has put more traps out and we're going to call the council, I'm just really freaked out about the thought of using poison as we have cats. I'm not worried about them eating the poison, but the rats who are dying after eating the poison.

 

Anyone had any experience of rats in the house? Luckily, they aren't in our living space at the moment but obviously we want this not to happen.

 

UPDATE :- Our council don't have a pest control division any more.

another trap was set off last night but nothing caught (In a cupboard in daughters room which has an open floor board.) I guess we ask the neighbours who to call in. I really don' t like the sound of the smell of rotting rats.

Edited January 3, 2008 by Guest

[Snowy]

EEuugh! That gives me the creeps, I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing there were critters in the walls (sorry that is no help whatsoever, just want to sympathise )

[Charlottechicken]

 

Oh dear!

 

Do you have cavity walls then?

 

I don't think the cats will get at the poison in the bait boxes.

[Guest]

how have they got into the walls? Do you have quite an old house?

[Tessa the Duchess]

I think you have to get this sorted really quickly. A friend of mine who lives in Wales had rats in her roofspace. The ratcatcher person said the problem with rats is that a) they breed really quickly and b) their pee is really corrosive and can rot wooden joists etc., Get on to the council tomorrow. Good luck and I hope you get rid of them very soon.

 

Tessa.

[Charlottechicken]

a) they breed really quickly and b) their pee is really corrosive and can rot wooden joists etc.

 

And they can chew through ANYTHING.

[ali-s]

We had a mouse (well I hope it was just a mouse) in the bedroom wall a month or so ago. It would keep us awake at night with it's scratching and knawing at the lath and plaster

 

I bought a JML pest shield which plugs into an electical socket and emits a sonic wave around the house that rodents cannot stand, thus scaring them away. It worked from day one and we haven't heard anything in the walls in our bedroom or any other rooms in the house.

[little chickadee]

 

Oh dear!

 

Do you have cavity walls then?

 

I don't think the cats will get at the poison in the bait boxes.

 

I'm not worried about the cats getting the poison, but eating the poisoned rats. Hoping the traps will catch some more tomorrow and OH will call the council. we've got a gap between our internal walls upstairs. I'm guessing they've got into the roof and then down the walls. EEEEeeeeuuugggh

[Rona]

My neighbours have a squirrel in their loft. It is gnawing big chunks in their roof they've set a trap so hope they catch it soon before it hops across to ours.

[jomaxsmith]

I think rats in the house are a priority so the council should send someone out asap.

 

Good luck, sounds horrible!

 

Jo

[Charlottechicken]

Then I think you can get rat traps where the rat is trapped inside a box, so cannot contaminate pets. I have seen these type of traps on the telly but not had experience of rats in my home, only in the garden, so have never had to use a trap.

 

Good luck.

[Guest]

i'd call the professionals asap, good luck.

[rachel19]

We knew someone who had rats in their walls - it was horrid apparently, they put poison in there but that only meant that they could hear the rats dying a horrible death at night rather than just scrabbling around.....they moved in the end

[Egluntyne]

Ring the council tomorrow!

 

How horrible for you.

 

They are bad enough when they try to tunnel under the Eglu.

[The Dogmother]

Yuk!!

 

We sometimes have mice - but only when the cats bring them in and them get bored of playing with them. We don't have cavity walls - the house is too old, but we once had one in a plaster and lath wall upstairs - I just set some bait boxes and that dealt with it.

[Guest]

My neighbours have a squirrel in their loft. It is gnawing big chunks in their roof they've set a trap so hope they catch it soon before it hops across to ours.

 

Tell them not to mess about with traps, call Rentokil. Just over a year ago Mum was plagued with squirrels living in her loft and tried EVERYTHING to get rid of them. She was very reluctant to have them killed as she loves animals. Eventually she saw sense and called Rentokil and they were gone within a week. She did see one sitting on the fence one day looking droopy and realised it was all working.

 

She said next time she wouldn't hesitate. They can do a LOT of damage and are just vermin - they've already driven out our native red squirrels

 

(OK I get a feeling of Deja Vu - I posted this tale on another thread yesterday!)

[Egluntyne]

My neighbour had squirrels in his loft a few years back.. The did massive damage...by eating through the rafters.

 

The roof became structurally unsafe and cost thousands to put right.

 

Don't hang around if you've got vermin of any sort in your property.

[Guest]

Poor you! We had rats in our old house and I was really freaked out. They scampered up the walls and in the loft. Really, really horrible.

 

I got worried when things were knocked over in the kitchen. They came down from the loft with the boiler pipes and got into my kitchen. They also nested underneath the floor next to a heating pipe and chewed their way up through the floor boards in a perfect circle around the radiator pipe. They ate the marzipan off my Christmas cake and left sticky grey fur all over it. They were also sick ! HaHa!

 

We called a pest man who laid bait. We were then subjected to at least 3 months of 'rotting rat' smell which was (and is) really really gross. My nose is very quick to pick up this smell now.

 

Get rid of them quickly!!

[Couperman]

Are you sure they are in the cavity walls? that would take som serious scratching to get your attention wouldn't it?

 

We often get terrorised by Starlings in the rafters and it sounds very loud on the ceiling, when they scrat about nest building as would rats or squirrels

 

I know its a bit early for birds nesting but you never know with the crazy season we are having.

 

Kev.

[Lesley]

We had rats in the eaves storage areas last year, and mice as well. The rodents were just behind wooden doors to the bedrooms

 

All the covers for the air bricks on our new build house were plastic and they'd chewed holes in them and they also found access where the gas pipes came into the house.

 

We've changed the air brick covers to metal and have filled any obvious holes with expanding foam. We bought the plug in deterrents as well and haven't heard any activity this year.

[Rhapsody]

I'll lend you our tomcat - he deposited a rat the size of a chinchilla in one of our bedrooms as a trophy. God knows how he got it up the stairs.

Seriously I hope you get it sorted. Rats are destructive but despite their rep only carry the same diseases as other rodent pests, and fewer than most wild birds, they dont come up from the sewers dripping with Black Death but in from outside.

Chin up babe x

[Guest]

The rat man told us the rats walk straight up the walls and that is definitely what we could hear. I don't know about cavity walls, the house was built in about 1900.

 

We have baby birds in the eaves outside my bedroom window, starlings probably

[Guest]

Jeez I can't believe the council don't do it any more.

 

When I lived in Basildon we had the council out 3 times when the cats brought in fleas.

 

You can buy rat poison - there is some in my shed from the previous owners. I think poison is the way to go - or you could call a pest control company to deal with it.

[chocchick]

How horrible!

I would try an electric deterrent that you plug in and/or pest control if the council don't do it

[Richard]

How horrible!

I would try an electric deterrent that you plug in and/or pest control if the council don't do it

 

You can get big traps that trap the live rat - I had one but never dared use it because I couldn't work out how I was going to get the rat out of it later! however what I am very impressed with are the electric jobs that electricute the rat but are safe for other pets. You can buy them on line - but I like the idea of Rentokil; I think thats what I would do.