Big massive fuck off rat - please keep me sane

[BrianGlue]

(name changed because I imagine my husband is searching every corner of the internet for advice)

Heard scurrying Christmas Eve - pest control over, poison out. Came back Boxing Day to no noise at night and breathed a sigh of relief.

But turns out this little (huge) bastard is a trickster. Every night since it’s been out and about at night. It was spotted yesterday behind the oven. Last night it chewed through skirting and a bit of door.

This evening it had the audacity to bound up the kitchen steps when I went to get wine. It’s HUGE.

Seriously, what do we do now? Just put my baby to bed and currently sat outside his door ready to spear it if it dares to come close.

Questions:

1. why isn’t the dog putting him off coming in the house?
2. is it likely it’s poisoned if it’s acting weirdly like coming out when the lights are on?
3. should we get traps too?

I want to leave but I also am terrified of how much it could destroy if it’s not poisoned. This is fucking awful.

We couldn’t even identify the entry point and neither could pest control, it was becoming a threat to the health of the whole family but it was the only thing that worked (put them everywhere for a few nights)

Well you’ll all be pleased to hear the rat king’s reign is over. Came down to him in a trap this morning. Champagne all round!!!

Yeah lights don't bother them and eventually neither will you. They're brazen little bastards, rats. We had a massive rat problem in the shop where I used to work and they started running around in the day after a while. From about 4 or 5 in the afternoon you'd hear the replenishment team shouting Move! At them because they were trying to put stock out and the rats were getting in the way.

Rats are neophobic so it might take a while for them to approach a new object, such as a trap, in a location they might be used to.

Definitely avoid glue traps, can't even believe people still suggest such shit.

I had humane traps and was taking them about a mile away to a more suitable location than my house, told pest control and he said they'd walk back 😆Apparently you need to take them much further afield! I DID have to resort to poison in the end sadly because they were chewing plaster and as it's not my home (housing association) they basically get final say about how to deal with it.

I now have cats and haven't had a problem since getting them.

Brave? It's just a rat.

I wonder how many men would post on a forum about a scary rat. Why do some women get so silly over rats, spiders etc?

Also poison is cruel.

Poison is cruel, yes. And horribly dangerous for anything else in the area (rats move food around). But every method available is cruel, with the exception of good snap traps (one minute the rat is blissfully chewing on peanut butter, the next moment oblivion) or dogs which tend to kill them very fast.
We are a bit blasé due to our location. If i had small children and one in the house, I might actually have trued to ship the kids out until it was caught due to the nasty nasty infections they can carry. OP - might be worth checking your dogs lepto vaccination is up to date too :)

We had a rat problem a few years ago, it was solved by a combination of things mentioned by others but finding and blocking off any routes of entry from outside was the best thing we did.

We got expanding foam and blocked off a few random gaps and holes (rats and mice can squeeze through the smallest of spaces) - was a bit of trial and error.

It’s not about a ‘scary rat’ - it’s the fact there’s a huge disease carrying rat in my kitchen when I have a family! Almost certain both us of posted and searched lots of forums to find out best ways to get rid - I think most people, regardless of sex, wouldn’t be happy to share their space with a rat!

Anyway, I’m making up for my disservice to feminism by spending my Sunday morning in b+q buying expanding foam and wood filler. Smashing the patriarchy one step at a time.

What a relief.
Had rat or rats in my loft last year. And every night felt like a bush tucker trial. Absolutely terrifying and the poison seemed to take ages to work.

Haha this sums it up perfectly! Glad I’m not alone in the rat issue - makes me feel much better!

Rats are neophobic which means they are afraid of new stuff. Anything you put down will have to be there for a good few days before they go near it. They do love chocolate though so a big strong kill trap baited with chocolate spread will get him

People complain about outdoor cats but we would be absolutely over ridden with vermin without them, they are fantastic pest controllers and also the quickest and safest, no chemicals, traps, etc.

Only if cornered, and they are leaping for the light behind a human

Years ago now an ex SIL had a rat behind her sofa so the neighbour came to see to it.
Moved the sofa out, rat cornered, and it leapt right up and past the guys shoulder

Am I the only person who wants to see a photo? Is the rat OK? What are you going to do with him?

If you have a garden shed make sure you check in there for signs of nesting. The buggers chewed through our shed and were using an old tarpaulin as nesting material. Also get rid of bird food if you have it. It just encourages them to head for your house. Glad to hear you've found one but stay vigilant. Good luck.

You would be surprised how many men are terrified of rats. I have pet ones and so many people are horrified when they find out and I've been told I'm very brave for handling them.

I don't really understand the pet rat hate, especially from hamster owners of all people but wild rats do carry a lot or diseases so I wouldn't be keen on having one in my house.

Spiders though...nope nope nope.

Until you've had one keeping you up all night with the scurrying under the floorboards and found evidence of them in the kitchen you will not understand how upsetting it is. The wild ones are disgusting creatures!!

Borrow a neighbours cat for a night and leave the cat to sleep in the room where the most rat activity is 👍

Yikes!!! 🐀

We have issues every year with weird mice with short tails, not house mice and only ever in the bathroom (traps everywhere and no sign of them anywhere else) anyway the traps usually sort them out but this year I can only hear them under the floor boards, have had to put poison through the gaps, think it’s working

So would I.

Husband was first one down this morning and didn’t take a pic! It was the first thing I asked too.

I used to live in Altrincham, greater Manchester and always had rats running around the basement ceiling and kitchen walls. The pest guy cheerfully told me the sewers there are ancient and full of rats so you never get rid of them. I got one of those sonic noise things and plugged it in and after that they pretty much vanished.

when I was leaving my house I did find a big decomposing rat behind a kitchen kick board. I never smelt it though so puzzled by that as my sense of smell is great.

the cats did catch them sometimes but I used to let them go. Rats are everywhere. You get used to them.

My childhood cat (tabby, male, DF found or picked him up in cardboard box outside restaurant) was a great ratter. Rats used to come into our garden or he brought them there from the nearby dump. Add in overgrown churchyard (no graves). He was only bitten once and had to go to the vets. Other cats I’ve had since I don’t think they’d touch rats but have probably seen them.

Get ferret/jack Russell/farm cat. Then block where they come in.

So pleased you’re sorted @BrianGlue