To think there's a rat somewhere in our house?

[alfie22]

Someone please tell me I'm being utterly fucking U! Because I'm freaking out and I'm terrified of rats.

Back story - DP is a nightmare for Leaving carrier bags of rubbish on the kitchen floor.

Last week I was downstairs online at night and heard a bag rustling in the kitchen. Thought nothing of it but it carried on, really sounded as though somebody was rifling through it.

Shouted DP to investigate but couldn't find the reason for this noise.

Fast forward to tonight I've just done downstairs to get a bottle for DS and the binbag is opened (it wasn't before we went up to bed).

AIBU to think we must have a rat!? I can't think of anything else that could be causing this.

I'm terrified of them and my DP is being useless because he doesn't like them either!

Argh

Your description of rustling bags brings back terrible memories! We got a rat last year. We didn't realize until a day or two later, until I heard a rustling of the carrier bag in the bin. It fell in the bin and couldn't get out so DH threw the entire thing out! We were pretty sure it must have come in through the back door as DH had a bad habit of not shutting the door properly at when smoking in the garden. But I wanted it investigating anyway, contacted the council who asked for a small fee and put poison down in various places. Luckily there were no more. The man was very helpful though, he made us aware of all the little holes that needed filling, checked the neighbours' gardens and identified problems. He also said not to allow ANY food debris down the sink plughole as that is feeding the rats underground.

I really think the rat problem is worse now than it was years ago. They seem to be everywhere, my DM lives next door to a Chinese takeaway. Really nice people, really clean takeaway (5 stars) but DM has spotted rats running along the adjoining wall.

Having had a lot of both mice and rats in a scruffy old shared flat I lived in years ago, I’d say it’s probably more likely mice. In my experience if you’ve got rats, you know about it.. They’re big and they’re loud - gnawing on stuff, scratching, generally being pretty heavy-footed. If all you’ve heard is rustling it’s probably just mice.

We had a rat a couple of years ago. At night we could hear it in the attic, it sounded like it was 10 pin bowling as there was lots of rolling noises. It ate through the hose for my washing machine and dishwasher so they both flooded the kitchen when they were turned on. I left a packet of crisps on the kitchen worktop and in the morning the empty packet was lying shredded on the floor.
We got pest control in who put poison down in the attic but couldn’t put it anywhere else as we have a dog.
I went on a mission to get rid as it was all consuming thinking about it, particularly when my dog used to stare up at the ceiling when the bowling party started.
I bought an electronic rat killer off amazon. It’s a metal tunnel you put food at the end of and when the rat triggers it, it kills it with an electric shock.
A few weeks later I checked and saw a long pink tail sticking out the end of the trap.
The pest control thinks it came from our neighbours decking.
It turns out the bowling noise was the rat rolling Christmas baubles about in the loft, it also ate through my Christmas wreath.
You need to remove all food sources for it, put open packets of stuff in Tupperware.
You have my sympathies, it’s horrible.

Can't even afford pest control

Would I not have heard the mice by now? I've been at home all day and seen and heard nothing. DP moved the bags of rubbish and also blocked off a hole we had next to the washing machine

When we had a very very bad infestation we only heard/saw them when we were totally overrun. They’re really shy. It was my housemate’s fault for leaving 4kg of oats and 8kg of chocolate in the spare room. They’d eaten every single scrap of it bar a few shredded wrappers before we even realised we had any..

Mice I mean, not rats. I knew immediately when we had our first rat because it woke me up going ballistic and knocking stuff over in my bedroom at 3am.

@GidgetGirl so I'm sat here in my front room and it could be here somewhere

I don’t know why I read this post!

I remember when I first moved into my place, it was a mouse paradise, I tried everything, in the end after a couple years of a losing battle I just got a cat.. the only time I see them now is when the cat catches them and brings it to me all proud

Thankfully that’s only once every couple years!

The lady downstairs got rats, she had a battle with the landlord but in the end they sealed up all holes, sorted the pipe work etc as environmental health wrote to them etc. I can get my head around mice but rats, I’d be in bits even with my cat around.

@hoxtonbabe terrified of mice and rats! Think I need to get A cat

I think you probably have got a rat. Or rats.

But I think it quite awful to be even contemplating pest control, poison, cats etc.

The rats are there because your DH is lazy and dirty.
You leave food waste lying around, you’ll get rats.
Don’t leave food waste you’ll never be bothered by them! Simples.

If people keep stealing your bins then you need to formulate some sort of solution I think.
It’s not really on to keep food waste in the garden/house.
It’s just asking for a rat problem.

CCTV?
Fence and gate with climb proof paint or something maybe?

More likely mice I would think. I mean how would a rat get into your house? Mice can get in everywhere. Much harder for rats unless there's a big hole in your floor somewhere.

We get mice sometimes, you don't here them when they aren't about as they are under the floors but they'll make a racket when they come out (usually in the evening from 8ish onwards) but occasionally they'll show up as early as late afternoon.

We were pretty sure we only had one rat so we weren't really too bothered about it. We got a humane trap in case we were able to catch it and blocked up a hole we found that it might have used to get in. After a little while it seemed to just disappear of its own accord.

My bil had a German shepherd dog and a cat. He was sat in his living room one evening (cat and dog as well ) and a mouse ran past them all ! Neither animals were that fussed !

You never just have one rat or one mouse!
You need to get the bin situation sorted ASAP. Chain it up.
Mice can get anywhere. Cupboards counter tops. I left some butter out once and woke up came into the kitchen and the mouse was just staring at me nibbling at the butter
I put everything in sealed containers now. Never leave rubbish out.

It's more likely mice. We live rurally and get little field mice.

I'd no idea until one evening watching the tv and a baby one casually strolled across the living room floor. 😱

I now keep bated traps discreetly placed. There is no way to block the entrance areas up as it is an old house.

Just buy some traps from amazon. Go for the mice ones first, not the poison ones, the snappy ones, as the rat traps would decaptitate mice.

I use peanut butter to bait them. A friend uses jelly tots.

We had a rat.

Originally thought mice as something had managed to eat half a banana sat on windowsill near a small hole.

Realised it was a rat when it took a climb up our 3 storey soilpipe and popped out of the loo!

Heard it at 5am crashing around ensuite, dh had a look and slammed door shut. The crashing continued while we lay in bed trembling.

Had to pay a fee for a council guy to come and get rid which he did by drowning it as it decided to have an afternoon dip by then.

He put down poison but it was eventually caught, after sealing holes in walls and repairing downpipes, using in an old fashioned trap.

But we are now vigilant about food mess and store as much as we can in jars etc if the packaging is open.

OMG it came up your toilet. That’s freaky!!

Spraypaint your bin in the most horrendous colours you can find. orange, green, hot pink. with your house number all over it. stickers just get taken off

Rats , like mice will get in anywhere . My son witnessed a rat trying to move a bin bag that had been left on the kitchen floor one night , and a few years later I am not sure who was more surprised , me or the small rat when I opened up the cupboard under the sink

We have been fighting a constant war on mice since we moved in 30 years ago ( Fields being built on , huge s paces under floor boards )
The good news is , apparently if you have rats you wont have mice !
We havent had any further signs of rats and only have the rare sighting of mice , when I will lay traps

If you do have rodents but haven't seen them it'smore likely a rat than a mouse, mice don't care about being seen, rats will not come out whilst you are about. My sister had rats in her loft as she's in a terrace and her neighbours weren't helping to try and get rid of them. The guy that came round from pest control said that rats tend to stick to the same sort of time, and you hear them but will probably never see them. Block off any holes, even the tiniest of holes as they don't have skeletons more like cartilidge so they are so flexible they can squeeze through the tiniest of gaps. Your DH has to stop leaving food about or if you do have them you will never get rid. Good luck.

We had a rat in our downstairs toilet - I heard the sound of splashing water one evening and saw it pop up its head above the toilet seat. Immediately slammed the lid shut and piled a few books on top. I think it must have disappeared back through the toilet water into the drain because I didn't hear any more sounds after that. The next morning I bunged a load of bleach in the toilet water in case it wanted to try to come back throught the water. It gave me breathing space until I got a plumber to fit a one-way valve to the toilet waste pipe. I've googled it - rats do find their way into houses through toilets!

Oh god. That is my nightmare 🙈 how much is a one way valve??

I was going to suggest a cat but that might just raid your rubbish too.

@Toodeloo Cost was just a few pounds. e.g. www.amazon.co.uk/McAlpine-ARB-1-Cross-Flow-Rodent-Barrier/dp/B009NEBTHW/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_60_img_2?psc=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&refRID=5TT2GB3XM89V4Q24618E

Plus 15 minutes of a plumber's time to remove the toilet, insert the device into the pipe and then put the toilet back in.

We had a mouse in the side porch. Entirely my fault, I'd jet washed the decking and seemingly it had ran to the nearest safe place - the hose to the dryer.
I was quite chilled for the first few days, humane traps and the like. After a week I was a lot jumpier. In the end the entire porch looked like a scene from Tom and Jerry there were that many traps.

Ultimately it must have escaped again when the door was open as it was never seen again. We have a terrier who went on high alert at the time so when he became totally disinterested we knew mouse had gone.

I still get a bit paranoid though.