Fucking rats in the kitchen

[GovernmentFundedSteak]

As the title says really. We've had the same issue in the past, hence I had things in to try and help.
Realised when I got home that there was a rat in the kitchen. Opened the back door and made a lot of noise, then left the door open for a while so it could get out. Couldn't hear it anymore, so shut the door, found a hole where it must have come in. Tipped peppermint pellets into the gap and stuffed it with wire wool. Went and did some other stuff and then went back to the kitchen. The bloody thing has pulled the wire wool out and is back in the kitchen.
Ugggh. I don't know what to do. Landlord refuses to do anything about it, can't afford to move.
Does anyone have any tried and tested methods? Or do I need to call in pest control? Is that expensive? I am unbelievably skint right now.

Poison? Or get a cat?

Snap traps.

Expanding foam with chicken wire stapled over the hole, poison and snap traps.

Yes, I might have to go for poison (not allowed a cat). If it's kept in a bait box so other animals can't get it, is it safe? I wouldn't want another animal to eat the dead ratty and also die.
I actually love rats, just not in my kitchen!

My top tip is that you need to find where they are coming from. There are rats everywhere underground and they prefer to stay down there. Don’t just get a pest control person in because most will just put poison down but not solve the problem. Ours were coming from a neighbour who had a dodgy extension which hadn’t had the drains properly capped off. As soon as that was sorted, they were gone.

Are snap traps gory? I've used expanding foam before, not sure if I've got any left but will have to get some more.

Drains, compost heaps are their favourite habitat. They demolished a house behind us a couple of years ago. Jakers the neighbours were all laying traps with poison and peanut butter.

We had exactly the same years ago and an uncapped drain - sadly the guy that sorted it capped it off and we ended up with a rat scurrying round all night in the walls stuck in the system and then silence and a day later a kitchen full of blue flies- all rather revolting !!

They are a quick kill if you get the rat ones but you have to be strong of stomach and wrists when emptying them....

You can get buckets that look a bit like a bin with flip lid with a ramp running up to the lid. The bin is filled with water and the lid is kind of inverted so you can place something to eat on it. When the rat steps on the lid, it flips downwards (like an oubliette or trapdoor) and the rat is trapped in the bucket. I think they are about 25 gbp. Haven't tried it but have heard great things.

I think the rat comes out of the bait box after eating? Then dies elsewhere?

See my "rat oubliette" above. He drowns trapped in the bucket. Apparently it's as peaceful a death as possible.

From experience: snap traps baited with chocolate or peanut butter. If you know where it’s getting in, block the hole - ram in as much scrunched up wire netting (chicken wire) as you can and fill the rest of the hole (if it’s in a wall) with strong cement.
If you use poison you run the risk of pets/wildlife eating the dead or dying rats and also being poisoned. Plus if the die in the wall/under the floor the stench is unbelievable.

Councils used to provide free rodent control- its worth phoning them for advice.

Not only wire wool, but you need to plaster every gap - as well as the poison and traps

Im country and we have rats again from getting hens again, - they come hand in hand . So we have lengths of small ml piping with poison ( so dogs . cats, hogs etc ) cant get to it

We have stuffed all gaps with wire wool and then plastered - ours were making it into the house via the central heating pipe from the garage - they were getting in to the hot press on the top floor

It hurts me to kill any animal, I go save the mice and shrews the cat brings in. But at the end of the day - human or rat and human wins - with me

Yes, that's my concern. If it comes out and is eaten by a cat or something. Maybe I'm over thinking. I've heard of the oubliette things, but had forgotten! I'll investigate.
Thanks everyone. Looks like I'm spending tomorrow giving the kitchen a very deep clean and looking for gaps!

Sorry op. It sounds frustrating.

Remember that rat wee carries all kinds of nasties so you need to bleach your worktops before using them every time.

Put everything in tins (they can chew through tuppawear)

And all of the above. It won't be one rat.

Depends how you feel about getting rid but personally I could not let an animal die in agony with poison. I didn’t have any problems when I had a semi feral rescue cat (non feral not so good at hunting). And I saved a life in adding her to my family.

Okay, I realise you want to deal with this urgently

But if you report it to environmental health or whatever the appropriate department is in your council, they will lean on the landlord

It's outrageous that he won't do something about it. He should pay for pest control as a first thing. And then like maintenance follow-up treatment.

Do you know anyone with a terrier? A Patterdale will kill a rat v quickly, cleanly and humanely by breaking its neck

Can you go to a DIY shop to get and mix your own concrete and then pour it down the hole?

We had this, it was a drain problem. Expensive but it did stop.

Strangely as per my post below , ours got killed trapped in the wall and we had no smell at all , but we did have humongous amounts of blue flies appear for 2 or 3 days -

Ask UB40 what they did.

Board up the hole!

Sorry to jump on this post but have an outside rat problem (destroyed our cars), thinking two adopt two live-outside feral cats to deal with it, drastic but it’s a long term problem in our area. It’s two extra mouths to feed but a small tax for service of rodent killing. Just not sure whether to do it or not!!