Rat stuck in Kitchen - help

[SickOfRats]

A bit of background - We have had a rat problem on and off for the past year since lockdown began. We've spent to the tune of 1k on pest control, a drain survey and traps/deterrents. We just haven't been able to get to the bottom of where they are coming in from but now reckon that it may be the kitchen extension roof due to identifying a few holes under some raised tiles. They have only ever been in the kitchen.

We decided it's best to get the whole reroof done. DH contacted over a dozen roofers in the past couple of days and only two answered(!), one said he is booked up until October and the other gave us a quote which was ridiculously high and therefore unaffordable for us. As a temporary measure DH and his friend climbed up onto the roof yesterday and secured chicken wire mesh over the holes. It seems to have worked... except now we have a trapped rat in the kitchen and it's currently sat on the washing machine. Luckily I don't need to go back in there for anything tonight but fucking hell, it's so brazen. I loudly banged on the living room/kitchen door (it has a panel window so have been watching it from that and behind the safety of the closed door), and despite the loud noise it didn't jump, run or even move. The little fucker just stared back unstartled.

DH has set a couple of snap traps (smeared with peanut butter), and there are some sticky boards behind the kickboards (rather pointless as they have never worked for us), but what else can we do? Any ideas welcome.

And please, no cries of the 'traps are so inhumane' - these fuckers have made our lives a misery for the past year. They've given my child anxiety, given me sleepless nights, and we have had to put up with this all lockdown whilst trapped inside the house. I've been unwell on and off past few months with unexplained cramps and vomiting. I can't help wondering if it's because of the rodents. I disinfect all surfaces etc every morning but it's impossible to know where they may have wandered about. I'm very clean, no food ever left out, no trash inside overnight, and no crumbs on the floor/on surfaces. Why tf do they keep coming back? And more urgently, how do I get this one out of my kitchen??

The pest company we use provide a 3 month guarantee so find one that offers that & keep asking the professionals to return. Put an SOS for terrier on your local Facebook page. 🤞

Bloody autocorrects ... you know what I mean
Purchased - perched

it's dead

Great news.

Now just to remove your kitchen, burn it and get a new one ;)

God, OP this is my fucking nightmare. They terrify me, I'm genuinely phobic. You're so brave!

Is getting a joiner in to remove the kitchen cupboards in feasible? October is a way away and if you could get access to the cavity wall you could at least see their point of entry.

I think the alarm system sounds great. Sounds awful if the fucker is so brazen I would send your DH in with a hammer and see him out.

I googled and found this OP

forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/rat-catching-terriers.228311/

Good luck with getting rid of the rats, they are a menace.

Some of these rat stories are horrendous!

My local council really is useless. I've questioned them about sewer baiting and why it has reduced (which according to my second PC company is the reason for the huge number), they refused to accept responsibility and told me its the county council's job. I've petitioned about the holes in the tarmac, they filled one and the umpteen others left as they are. Ive complained about a couple of people in my street who throw food out to feed the 'birds' (I'm talking rice, bread and fuck knows what else), and council told me unless they receive a number of complaints they cannot do anything. Nobody else is willing to for fear of creating an ill feeling amongst all the neighbours. It's a losing battle.

Thank you @EarringandLipstick My DM is also concerned about my health and has linked it to the rodent problem. I've no way to prove it though so that the council can take it seriously.

I know a lot of experts say rats only come if there's food available but it honestly isn't always the case. With us the rat was coming in for a wander or for warmth, PC also comfirmed rats do this.

You poor thing. Now you've caught it you need to address the wider issue. Complain loudly and repeatedly to your local ward councillors and your MP. Sometimes it's the only way to get things done. Good luck.

So pleased it's dead.

These stories are terrifying. Those of you that have had rodent issues - do you all live in older properties? I've always lived in newer ones and never had an issue. We are wanting to move house and I'm wondering if I should stick to looking at newer ones to avoid rat invasion!

Maybe post notes through all neighbours door and report seeing rats in various gardens - that might wake up them to protest against those leaving food out for the birds! (Put dead rat in bird feeding offenders garden, that might change their mind)

You could try joining your local FB group and asking if anyone else has a problem in the area and tag local councillors to question why the council aren't doing enough to control the problem.

@BarberQueue

There's a whole host of reasons and some is just luck. Older properties tend to have more access holes, but new builds can to. Some of it is location (eg. Living next door to big bird feeders). For example I live in a terrace house which is new build so it can access my loft space etc via neighbours house entry routes. I also have a little stream, and nearby woodland, and a bit of a scrub area at the end of terrace. That sort of thing means we will always have rats coming in the garden because there is good habitat for them near by so its just about stopping them getting in the house rather than eradicating them

Things like decking, living next to people with lots of sheds, slightly wild gardens also increase rat likelyhoods

I'm glad this rat is dead. (though the story 🤮)

I really hope you get a more permanent solution. It sounds awful. With the council being so rubbish, I would honestly get another extermination company and get them in persistently with traps & monitoring until they are gone. This will entail several weeks of monitoring.

There is never just one rat, unfortunately.

Also, you are right about food. It's not just that. The company we used put it down to 'opportunism'. They come in because they can.

Finally, I'm so impressed with your stoicism & humour. I definitely would be hysterical in a corner of someone else's house at this stage.

@SickOfRats

Some of these rat stories are horrendous!

My local council really is useless. I've questioned them about sewer baiting and why it has reduced (which according to my second PC company is the reason for the huge number), they refused to accept responsibility and told me its the county council's job. I've petitioned about the holes in the tarmac, they filled one and the umpteen others left as they are. Ive complained about a couple of people in my street who throw food out to feed the 'birds' (I'm talking rice, bread and fuck knows what else), and council told me unless they receive a number of complaints they cannot do anything. Nobody else is willing to for fear of creating an ill feeling amongst all the neighbours. It's a losing battle.

Thank you @EarringandLipstick My DM is also concerned about my health and has linked it to the rodent problem. I've no way to prove it though so that the council can take it seriously.

I know a lot of experts say rats only come if there's food available but it honestly isn't always the case. With us the rat was coming in for a wander or for warmth, PC also comfirmed rats do this.

I’ve had rats set up in an empty greenhouse before so they do come in just for shelter. I think when the population reaches a certain size they become bolder and that’s when you see them during the day. Apparently the rats are so bad at one of the waste depots near me the council buildings are suffering structural damage due to all the tunnels. Apparently a resident feral cat population kept numbers down but an animal charity removed them and now the place is covered in rats, smallish bit of ground between it and a residential neighbourhood. I bet they suffer too.

If you can find a local poultry group on fb or the like there will likely be someone there who has ferrets/dogs used for pest control.

We have chickens and had a serious infestation issue a year or so ago, in the house, everywhere outside. We have outdoor cats but clearly the problem got too much for them to handle. Poison was our last resort and seemed to clear the house infestation (we also had one or more die in the walls which came with an adult stench and then later, flies ), but since sealing up all the holes and making a serious effort with chicken feed they’ve not been back. We’ve actually got mice nearby now which suggests the rats aren’t too close (we live rurally!). Good luck! There will be an end in sight.

Just a word of warning the snap traps can end up and bit gruesome so leave DH to deal

Just because there is lots of mention about poison in this thread by past posters...

Poison should be avoided. Other than the common issue of the rat then dying and decomposing behind cupboards, or in similar spaces in the house where you can smell the impact, get maggots etc but not source the body.....

Poison is very dangerous for multiple creatures. Its completely indiscriminate.Every year I see multiple pets and wildlife killed by it and local a+e also sees multiple children admitted.

Even if no other animals are able to access your bait (which is a common that neighbours pets etc eat it and even including children), rats that manage to escape before they die (and either die outside quickly, or are dying for a significant period outside) become poisonous themselves. They get caught or found and get eaten by cats, dogs, birds of prey, any thing that eats dead things eg general wildlife like birds,foxes and badgers.

There's multiple mumsnet posters who have lost pets due to neighbours putting out poison and ingesting the poison itself or poisoned animals. I see multiple unitentional wildlife deaths from it

If you live somewhere with local cats then please do not poison, and inform your neighbours so they can keep their pets in.

@SickOfRats I'm glad the particular rat in your kitchen is dead - your whole story sounds horrendous and you must be so stressed.
I would also recommend a sonic deterrent - used to live in the countryside and we had a sonic deterrent we bought on Amazon. We had mice rather than rats but once we plugged the device in they disappeared over a few days. Obviously if you have rodent pets you can't used one of these in the house. I realise these don't work for everyone but they're not that expensive and certainly may be worth a try. Also second what others have said re campaigning to your council. It does sound like you have a localised issue and only continuous complaining is likely to get their attention. Good Luck.

What area are you op I have 2 terriers:)

@BarberQueue

So pleased it's dead.

These stories are terrifying. Those of you that have had rodent issues - do you all live in older properties? I've always lived in newer ones and never had an issue. We are wanting to move house and I'm wondering if I should stick to looking at newer ones to avoid rat invasion!

1930s terrace cottage. I have had them in the garden in a new build though. More likely to find a way in in older properties though.

However the rat catcher basically said suburban areas like ours are crawling, not helped when the council reduced refuse collection so much, and that they are extremely bold. Will nip through the back door while you hang the washing out. Yuk. We now have fortnightly bin collections, fast food outlets all over the place, hardly any public bins, and fairly dense populations. Several big dogs next door in this house and so far, no sightings!

I know someone who had rats in the loft of a new build, so not exclusive to older properties.

They love shortbread.

You can borrow my dog if you're local, he will kill anything.

Thank goodness this one is no more! Now to stop his pals venturing in.

I had rats in my attic, in a 1920s terrace house - I convinced myself they were mice as we had had a few in the kitchen in the summer time - however my mum came to stay and her words - if that is mice they are all wearing tackety boots up there!

The local council were excellent and came to survey - he couldn't find an entry point at our house however inspected other gardens and found multiple "rat runs" a few houses either side of us. Aouses had quite overgrown gardens and ayou ucould clearly see wee paths . e

He said that unless the neighbours dealt with the problem they would continue to run under the houses and up the walls into our attic and it was only a matter of time before they made it into the actual house.

I felt like we were under seige! The two neighbours where he identified identified entry points at ground level and rat runs in the gardens - let him in - one house had kitchen cupboards gnawed, bins gnawed, greasy tracks where they ran - but apparently had "no idea" and denied it was an issue!

The other neighbour was horrified and worked with us . He deployed massive traps and put poison in both our attics . He said that rats are clever creatures of habit and if we could disrupt their run that may work for a while. Though if the other neighbour did not address it would be a continual cycle and they would be back and no doubt in our house eventually.

We caught about 12 in the two attics over a week - my god the thumping and squealing when each one was trapped was horrific. x
It worked certainly temporarily - I was totally creeped out by the thought of them, and I am not sure I could have remained in the house if they had actually gained entry to the main house.

We put the house up for sale soon after that episode!

Good show, op. Rest easy tonight

Its a pestcro..works up to 2500 sq ft. Put 3 in different locations. They cannot stand the noise.

Glad it’s gone. This thread brought back memories.

When my son was a small baby we had a flood while on holiday. All downstairs down to concrete and plaster and noisy dehumidifiers everywhere.

It was a beautiful summer so we imagined we’d just like live outside as much as possible. However our connected neighbour was a recluse and had been slyly breeding a metropolis of rats in her house. They were literally everywhere running through the roof rafters into our attic, swarming out of her broken window, all over my garden, coming into my kitchen. With a new baby I was actually hysterical. Environmental health were struggling to access her property. Social services unwilling to interfere in her “lifestyle choice.”

Not to worry I had a grown man in the house who was onto it. At 16 he’d had an air rifle and went ratting. Years later my nephew at around the same age had done the same with the gun. But for a decade it has been locked in my father-in-law’s cupboard.

What ensued was days of cleaning the gun, ordering bits to cleaning the gun, taking the gun apart moaning about nephew’s modifications, undoing the modifications, realigning everything, oiling the gun, more testing about with the fucking gun. No dead rats. Meanwhile I was plotting to put rat poison in the dinner and lay him out in the yard as bait.

Finally he got to the point of checking his sights were correctly aligned and the yard was plastered with A4 bits of paper with random fruit and veg pinned to them. Once he’d spent two days successfully splattering the contents of my fruit bowl and veg basket across the walls of our whitewashed (!) yard. (As an aside at some point I literally saw red. Blood! We finally had a kill. Nope. Raspberries and we had a random conversation about raspberries being to expensive to shoot.)

He took up camp in the bathroom occasionally firing a shot to check the gun was working. After a couple of days I came home via the back gate to see his ridiculousness sat on the loo seat gun pointing out of the window and all of the rats around the corner burying into a washing basket of clean clothes he’d been too distracted to bring in.

My God. How I didn’t divorce him then and then I’ll never know. It was however the catalyst for getting all of the people in. Rat catchers, terriers, builders to block up holes, village poacher who was a better shot.