Help - pretty sure we have rats!

[BarryTheKestrel]

A few houses in our street have been empty for a while, we've recently heard scurrying in the ceilings and the walls and my neighbour a few doors down (past the unoccupied houses) tells me he's caught 3 rats in traps in his attic recently.

We don't have easy access into the ceilings or walls and haven't found any sign of rats or other rodents in any room in the house, we've also checked outside and there are no gaps for them to get in on our property.

I'm pretty convinced they are running between the houses as the sounds never last for long. We've put some poison under the bathroom floor as we had the side of the bath off the other day for other maintenance however it hasn't made a difference.

I want to call pest control, as our council will come out for rats for a charge of £60, however DH is concerned that a) they will have to make holes in walls, pull up carpets etc and wont put it right and we can't afford that extra expense and b) that it won't work because the other houses in the row won't be doing the same, meaning they'll just keep coming back.

What should we do? What would you do? Help?!?!

Burn the house down. It’s the only way.

I kid. You have my sympathies, we had them in our garden once and that was horrendous enough. We got a rat catcher bloke out. He laid down poison and they ate it and died. Job done.

I have no advice because we too have rats our bathroom is downstairs and they are in the airing cupboard! I've heard them in the walls and loft too. Pest control have put poison down but our landlord isn't in a hurry to sort out how there getting in it's a friggin nightmare!

When you say there’s no gap - have another look. We had them in our garage, turned out they had nibbled a weeny hole in the rubber seal at the bottom of the garage door. We couldn’t see it until we drew the door up and inspected it.

The rodent control man identified this immediately. He could see evidence of their ‘run’ that we handnt spotted.

Are you connected to the empty houses? If so can you contact the owners or if there is a state of repair concern the council may bill them if the rats are getting in through their properties.

Call pest control. He/she will see holes where you can't; they know their rats! We had dead rats in a ceiling space - the smell was horrific. Colin the pest man knew instantly what the issue was; the builders hadn't capped off a redundant drain when we had an extension built, and the rats were using it as a highway to dance in a roof space and party in the walls. He put poison down, so no holes or lifted carpets. Good luck!

I'm pretty sure we've got no gaps. We've been round the front and the back (terraced) multiple times and there is nothing visible.

The empty houses are 2 and 3 doors down respectively, both are for sale but the owners moved on in the summer, both abroad. We've contacted the estate agents and advised them of the issue because we have no contact details, but they obviously aren't interested in doing anything. The neighbour that trapped the rats is 5 doors down. Therefore they are clearly running through somehow.

We don't have any attic space as it was converted into our bedroom many years ago. We never hear them that high up either. They appear to be in the downstairs walls, i can hear them when I'm sat on the sofa, and in the ceilings above the childrens bedrooms on the 1st floor.

We have no way of getting into the ceilings without ripping up carpets and floorboards and no way of getting into the walls to do it ourselves.

Has anyone had pest control in their house in a similar situation? How do they do it without destroying the house?

I wouldn't use poison, they go off and die in your house somewhere and absolutely stink. 🤢🤢🤢

You need to act quickly, OP. Get Pest Control in - your husband doesn't have any better ideas, does he?

I'm going to give pest control a call today and see what they suggest. Given that if they are in the empty houses I'm not sure how we're ever going to get rid of the issue until they are sold and someone is living there. They must be getting food from somewhere as they aren't entering any rooms of my house, there are no droppings, no smudge marks, no chewing, no anything so they aren't getting food from here.

Urgh.

Try the plug ins to deter rodents. Might stop theM climbing your walls.

I don't think the plug ins would work anything like as well as poison.

Hi OP @BarryTheKestrel

Did you get any resolution to this? My b/f had no help with the council. Really fucking unhelpful. It's getting him down hearing them all the time but they seem to come and go.
He has an extension kitchen/bathroom and rats have free reign up in the small attic space. There is rat poo everywhere under the insulation which I've offered to help him clean up 🤢
BUT I'm not sure of the best way for him to get rid. A previous poster suggested wire wool but I'm wondering if he needs a professional. He's quite poor atm so no idea of cost.. He reckons this is why previous owners sold up which is absolutely shocking that the survey didn't pick it up tbh...

We had rats in the loft above our extension. They kept going in there, getting trapped and dying. It absolutely stank.

We called a company called Pestology. They put a one-way valve in our drains and blocked off any entry points. Sorted the problem, but wasn't cheap.

I've had similar and the pest control guys were brilliant, worked out where they were getting in and once the little bastards were dead, helped block the access. Definitely get them out, if they say they'll need to knock holes on the wall, you don't have to agree!

I've not had rats but used to regularly have mice and that can sound pretty loud at night. Are you sure it's rats and not mice. Rats would sound like a herd of elephants in the silence at night.
I imagine rats like the bait so they will seek it out rather than you having to knock into walls.

Definitely rats. I recognise the size.

Will look into pestology IPity thanks

Size of the poo sorry !

Surely the council must take an interest in a environmental health issue such as rats in empty houses?
I’d try telling them and see what they say. They may contact the estate agent.
However I know councils are all skint so perhaps nothing will happen. Sigh.