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Rats in the Attic
Posted on 9/24/19 at 1:53 pm
Posted on 9/24/19 at 1:53 pm
Got roof rats in the attic. 2 snap traps already set and permanently closing off the suspected point of ingress tomorrow. Any way to get rid of these frickers without a million traps, bait, and waiting around for weeks? If not, what is the best bait?
Not keen on the poison idea since they will just die and stink the house up for weeks in the sweltering attic heat.
They were so noisy and industrious this morning that I nearly loaded up my ruger with rat shot in an attempt to John Wick their asses.
TIA.
ETA: why can I get a damn snake in the house when I actually need one?
Not keen on the poison idea since they will just die and stink the house up for weeks in the sweltering attic heat.
They were so noisy and industrious this morning that I nearly loaded up my ruger with rat shot in an attempt to John Wick their asses.
TIA.
ETA: why can I get a damn snake in the house when I actually need one?
This post was edited on 9/24/19 at 1:54 pm
6
Posted on 9/24/19 at 1:58 pm to Tigerlaff
Get an attic cat? LOL.
Snap traps or glue traps, or the old school water filled bucket/beer can rat catcher: LINK if you just feel like you need to channel your frustrations into a crafty project. The bucket traps work, but you need to be hard hearted enough to leave 'em long enough to drown or be OK with smacking 'em to kill.
Snap traps or glue traps, or the old school water filled bucket/beer can rat catcher: LINK if you just feel like you need to channel your frustrations into a crafty project. The bucket traps work, but you need to be hard hearted enough to leave 'em long enough to drown or be OK with smacking 'em to kill.
Posted on 9/24/19 at 2:05 pm to hungryone
Bucket trap looks awesome and no ethical issues with that (fuk dem), but it looks like rats can escape a 5 gallon bucket. They recommend a 55 gal drum for rats, which isn't gonna work here.
Posted on 9/24/19 at 2:05 pm to Tigerlaff
I've got a very smart rat that has somehow got into my home. I heard and saw it in my pantry eating food. Got a slap trap, baited it with cheese and peanut butter. Within an hour the damn thing tripped the trap twice but it did not catch it. Now it's back again. I just ordered the Victor electric trap. Let's see if I can get this bastard.
LINK
LINK
Posted on 9/24/19 at 2:05 pm to Tigerlaff
quote:
They were so noisy and industrious this morning that I nearly loaded up my ruger with rat shot in an attempt to John Wick their asses.
our finished basement has a drop ceiling and above that are numerous holes that open into the crawl space...and we live in the damn woods so we'll never be completely mouse free.
nothing quite so unsettling as hearing those frickers scurrying around at 3am and bumping into the flourescent light housings RIGHT ABOVE YOU when you fell asleep watching a movie.
we'll go months without any then here they come. nothing we can really do about it except move.
eta having said that the cat does a damn good job. he makes a little pile of decapitated mice outside on the driveway for me to check out in the morning when i'm leaving for work.
he's so proud but even with a cat we can never be completely mouse free it seems.
This post was edited on 9/24/19 at 2:08 pm
Posted on 9/24/19 at 2:54 pm to CAD703X
quote:
eta having said that the cat does a damn good job. he makes a little pile of decapitated mice outside on the driveway for me to check out in the morning when i'm leaving for work.
I am envious of this. We've got a 6 month old cat, but she's basically a stuffed animal lap cat and recently got her head stuck in one of the dining room table chairs. Not exactly the caliber of feline that I feel confident about sending into the nooks and crannies of a large, old attic with lots of crawl spaces. Maybe I can enlist the neighbor's cat, who is a battle scarred outdoor-living veteran.
Posted on 9/24/19 at 3:01 pm to Tigerlaff
I had a bunch in my camp for a while, but none of my baits seemed to work. Finally I found using a morsel of dog food or a piece of a dog treat reeled them in. Use a little peanut butter to keep it stuck to the trap.
Posted on 9/24/19 at 3:02 pm to indytiger
quote:
I had a bunch in my camp for a while, but none of my baits seemed to work. Finally I found using a morsel of dog food or a piece of a dog treat reeled them in. Use a little peanut butter to keep it stuck to the trap.
Thank you, this is good info.
Posted on 9/24/19 at 3:03 pm to indytiger
quote:funny you say that. Have a fresh bag of puppy chow in the pantry and the rat ate thru the bag to get to it.
Finally I found using a morsel of dog food or a piece of a dog treat reeled them in. Use a little peanut butter to keep it stuck to the trap.
Posted on 9/24/19 at 3:06 pm to indytiger
quote:
Finally I found using a morsel of dog food or a piece of a dog treat reeled them in.
This. Figure out what they are eating OP and use peanut butter and that. If you use bird seed, put some bird seed on the trap.
Roof rats are herbivores so nuts and fruit are best. Cheese is for norway rats mostly.
Get a live trap or two for outside of your house OP. Put it against the walls or somewhere you think they are entering/ feeding.
You can get the plastic snap traps on amazon for like 12 for $15, I prefer those as they are easier to unset without getting yourself.
If they are in your attic find their tunnels or runs. They like to keep their whiskers along a wall, so place the traps against a wall where they run down a wall into the trap. Put out twice as many traps as you think you'll need.
Posted on 9/24/19 at 4:19 pm to Tigerlaff
quote:
We've got a 6 month old cat, but she's basically a stuffed animal lap cat and recently got her head stuck in one of the dining room table chairs.
Our cat would probably just watch the rat then flip over and go back to sleep.
Posted on 9/24/19 at 4:32 pm to Tigerlaff
This is the poison I use. LINK
In 20 years of owning rental property, I have never had a rat die inside and stink up anything. Rats go outside looking for water when the poison starts working and die outside. I bought a duplex 6 or 7 years ago that was infested. Tossed this stuff in the attic and under the house and within a month they were gone.....no stinking either.
In 20 years of owning rental property, I have never had a rat die inside and stink up anything. Rats go outside looking for water when the poison starts working and die outside. I bought a duplex 6 or 7 years ago that was infested. Tossed this stuff in the attic and under the house and within a month they were gone.....no stinking either.
Posted on 9/24/19 at 4:34 pm to Tigerlaff
quote:
I am envious of this. We've got a 6 month old cat, but she's basically a stuffed animal lap cat and recently got her head stuck in one of the dining room table chairs.
i actually lol'd at this and got the head turning of all the prairie dogs in the office here.
Posted on 9/24/19 at 4:38 pm to CAD703X
true story. i always find something new in the pool strainer if you've ever followed my threads on here but the other morning little CAD and dad went to check the strainer (little CADs absolute favorite part of the day) and found 2 black mice in the strainer barely alive because a pool toy had blocked the water flow so they were hanging around the edges.
of course it turned into a damn fiasco because now i had to 'save' the mice instead of dumping the dead mice in the trash like usual.
the SO loves the damn things so we ended up drying them with shop towels and making them a warm little home in an old ice cooler complete with newspapers and lots of cheese and a little ramikin of water.
my reward was when i went to move something around one of the dman things bit me. it didn't break the skin or i would have been off to the vet with a dead mouse to get checked for rabies but at that point it was time for the mice to go to their new home 1/2 mile down the road at the creek.
of course it turned into a damn fiasco because now i had to 'save' the mice instead of dumping the dead mice in the trash like usual.
the SO loves the damn things so we ended up drying them with shop towels and making them a warm little home in an old ice cooler complete with newspapers and lots of cheese and a little ramikin of water.
my reward was when i went to move something around one of the dman things bit me. it didn't break the skin or i would have been off to the vet with a dead mouse to get checked for rabies but at that point it was time for the mice to go to their new home 1/2 mile down the road at the creek.
Posted on 9/24/19 at 7:53 pm to CAD703X
I went for an early AM swim at my community pool and found a big rat, nearly dead, just barely keeping his nose above water. I flipped him out with the pool skimmer net, chucking him over the fence. Well, that faking bastard hit the ground and took off like a shot. He was conserving his energy, apparently.
Re: cats, even the dumb lazy overfed ones with no hunting instinct can be a rodent deterrent. It seems that cat urine smell will cause rodents to avoid a place. So maybe get a dirty letterbox and put it in the attic?
Re: cats, even the dumb lazy overfed ones with no hunting instinct can be a rodent deterrent. It seems that cat urine smell will cause rodents to avoid a place. So maybe get a dirty letterbox and put it in the attic?
Posted on 9/24/19 at 8:14 pm to Tigerlaff
I use live traps for mice. Not sure how well for bigger rats. No smell of dead things.
Further, the bonus is that you can drop the little fellah off at the President of the HOA's yard.
Further, the bonus is that you can drop the little fellah off at the President of the HOA's yard.
Posted on 9/25/19 at 10:32 am to Zappas Stache
quote:
Rats go outside looking for water when the poison starts working and die outside.
Fact.
Posted on 9/25/19 at 1:02 pm to The Sicilian
Check out Shawn Woods Mousetrap Monday videos on YouTube.Very entertaining,I have tried some of the drowning traps and had good success.
I think cats are highly over-rated as mouse deterrents.My grandfather always had barn cats and he still had mice,no rats though.He would raise hell if he caught us feeding them birds we shot are small bream we caught.Said he wanted them hungry.
I think cats are highly over-rated as mouse deterrents.My grandfather always had barn cats and he still had mice,no rats though.He would raise hell if he caught us feeding them birds we shot are small bream we caught.Said he wanted them hungry.
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