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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Help me get rid of a rat!!

31 replies

Smarshian · 28/12/2021 07:05

We have just come home to find that a rat (we think!) has been in the kitchen cupboards and eating the cat food.
We have cleared out the cupboards and pulled off the skirting boards but think it is hiding in the void between the back of the cupboard/dishwasher and the wall.
Evidence of droppings and food trail. Any idea how to get rid? We can’t get to that void without ripping out the kitchen!

OP posts:
totallytotalled · 28/12/2021 07:07

You can get humane traps from screw fix
Although it'd be worth blocking off their entry point one it's caught.

Alternatively look on your council website for pest control services.

yoyo1234 · 28/12/2021 07:09

What are you going to do if you manage to get it out though? It may just run back.

yoyo1234 · 28/12/2021 07:10

Certainly look at blocking entry points etc.

Original poster
Smarshian · 28/12/2021 07:11

I’m hoping we would be able to shoo it out the door if we got it out! No idea how it has got in. We live in a new build and there aren’t any holes I can see.

OP posts:
Unescorted · 28/12/2021 07:16

We have tried humane traps, snap traps, peppermint spray, blocking all the entry points, removing anything it can nest in...... I can still hear the fucker. Apparently you have to be really patient because they are wary of new things and the smell of humans. I am not that patient.

Iwant2move · 28/12/2021 07:19

Snap trap loaded with chocolate. You can buy black plastic ones from Tool Station where you won’t need to touch the body. Forget shooing it out. They are fast and jump.
I’d also get a pest controller in to find the entry points. There may be breaks in your drains even in a new house.

DogsandCatsB4u · 28/12/2021 07:22

Need to clean the scent he/she left with white vinegar. Drop some peppermint oil balls around the area of where he/she may have went hopefully will draw ratty out to explore elsewhere and you can catch him/her

DogsandCatsB4u · 28/12/2021 07:24

I don’t agree with snap traps so cruel. I have had several mice brought in via my cat and managed to grab by the tail and throw out.
Why do people neeed to be so cruel all the time, it’s just a rat/mouse they won’t eat you

LaDoIceVita · 28/12/2021 07:29

Why do you think it's a rat rather than mice? Either way, shooing it out won't work - it will come back.

If it's a rat I'd get someone in to deal with it. You don't want to deal with an angry rat that's been trapped but not killed. If it's mice, get humane traps and bait them with peanut butter and chocolate (they love Thorntons Grin). Take them at least five miles away to release them. I agree that's cruel (before anyone turns up and starts) but so was destroying £100 of my knitting wool!

Babynames2 · 28/12/2021 07:33

Just call pest control. My local council doesn’t charge for rats, or you could see if your home insurance covers it, some does under standard cover. We had a mouse recently and paid £150x haven’t seen or heard one since.

MiloAndEddie · 28/12/2021 07:34

Rats spread disease so I’d be wanting that fucker gone.
You can take the plinth/kick board off so you can see under the units. Bait a snap trap and put it under there. Alternatively I’d be calling proper pest control.

GrendelsGrandma · 28/12/2021 07:36

@DogsandCatsB4u

I don’t agree with snap traps so cruel. I have had several mice brought in via my cat and managed to grab by the tail and throw out. Why do people neeed to be so cruel all the time, it’s just a rat/mouse they won’t eat you
They can carry salmonella, typhoid, Weil's disease. They can also chew through electric cables and set your house on fire. Not to mention good old fashioned food poisoning. They smear grease on everything and wee constantly, plus droppings.

Humane traps just release them to either take up residence in someone else's house or else die a slow death in unfamiliar territory. Is throwing a mauled mouse out by the tail really that humane? They probably just die a slow death of injury plus shock plus impact of being thrown somewhere.

You need to kill them before they breed, it's more humane to kill one than wait and have to kill 20 and their babies.

In your case I'd get a pro out. You probably need expert advice on points of entry and poison bate somewhere around the wall. Snap traps too.

GrendelsGrandma · 28/12/2021 07:37

@DogsandCatsB4u

Need to clean the scent he/she left with white vinegar. Drop some peppermint oil balls around the area of where he/she may have went hopefully will draw ratty out to explore elsewhere and you can catch him/her
You can't just catch a rat. They don't come out to play and if they did, you'd risk a bite by trying to catch them. I suspect the mice you've caught we're already half dead.
MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 28/12/2021 07:40

@MiloAndEddie

Rats spread disease so I’d be wanting that fucker gone. You can take the plinth/kick board off so you can see under the units. Bait a snap trap and put it under there. Alternatively I’d be calling proper pest control.
This
badspella · 28/12/2021 09:05

Please consider calling pest control. Rats are a problem in the area where I live at the moment. It could be something to do with the relatively mild winter, or the wet weather and their nests being flooded. I have lived in properties where there have been rat infestation, and it is awful. The problem with traps and poison (and I am aware that no-one has suggested these methods) is that other animals can be vulnerable to these. Pest control can use the most appropriate method for your environment.

GrendelsGrandma · 28/12/2021 09:09

You can tell whether it's rat or mouse by dropping size. Mouse poo is like hundreds and thousands. Rat poo is more like sultana size.

iloverunningslow · 28/12/2021 09:11

@GrendelsGrandma yes you can! Unfortunately my husband is a pro, the cat thinks it's funny to bring in live ones.
I wouldn't try and I wouldn't recommend it to someone who doesn't know exactly what they're getting into, there is a risk of being bitten (he wears gardening gloves) and has to be prepared to kill it instantly.

GrendelsGrandma · 28/12/2021 09:12

@badspella

Please consider calling pest control. Rats are a problem in the area where I live at the moment. It could be something to do with the relatively mild winter, or the wet weather and their nests being flooded. I have lived in properties where there have been rat infestation, and it is awful. The problem with traps and poison (and I am aware that no-one has suggested these methods) is that other animals can be vulnerable to these. Pest control can use the most appropriate method for your environment.
@badspella you can put both traps and poison in a bait box with a small hole that keeps them away from kids, cats and dogs etc. Or there are electric traps that are child safe and kill the rat instantly.

Commercial rat control uses stronger/different poison than you buy in shops, they actually become immune to the most readily available stuff.

It's better to kill the rat than poison it and have it die slowly in your wall.

Rats need a source of water, is there a cat bowl or can it get outside to access it?

GrendelsGrandma · 28/12/2021 09:14

[quote iloverunningslow]@GrendelsGrandma yes you can! Unfortunately my husband is a pro, the cat thinks it's funny to bring in live ones.
I wouldn't try and I wouldn't recommend it to someone who doesn't know exactly what they're getting into, there is a risk of being bitten (he wears gardening gloves) and has to be prepared to kill it instantly. [/quote]
@iloverunningslow interesting! Doesn't sound like an amateur thing to do, I presume they wriggle and try to bite!

CrotchetyQuaver · 28/12/2021 09:14

If it is a rat, then call in the professionals.

They're nasty fuckers, can be vicious and you and any pets don't want a rat bite.

They're also very difficult to catch unless slowing down because they've been poisoned. OTC rat poison is hopeless by the way.

Will be more and more as chicken keeping attracts the bloody things.

Crazykatie · 28/12/2021 09:31

We just use rat poison in a bait box to keep it safe from pets, the bait disappears and we don’t see a rat so I guess it works. Rats give me the creeps and I have no concern for their welfare, be careful feeding birds, surplus bird food will attract rats.

Dimples13 · 28/12/2021 09:32

We found a rat in our bedroom behind our chest of drawers we think it came down our chimney that we thought we had blocked. It ran back up and we thought we were ok. We were not it must have found a void and we could hear it scratching around in the living room void I was petrified it was massive.
We bought a humane trap but they are very clever and avoided the box, they then ate through a bag or rice and I decided to buy a snap trap place in the bag a caught it, honestly it was huge!
Over the next 3 weeks we caught another two (the last one looked pregnant) since then have heard nothing. A horrible experience, good luck.

Ginormarse · 28/12/2021 09:37

Pest control services are only really interested in killing the rats. They will lay bait traps and possibly awful sticky boards. Although you do need to kill the rat that is in your house. Poison will mean if they eat it they die somewhere under the floor and stink the entire house out so baited traps are better. You also need to work out how the rat got in. My experience is they get in from underneath the house eg the drains and then gain access to the underfloor space if you have floorboards. If you have cavity walls they climb them and then get into the loft where they will make a nice nest and have babies. They are very clever and lay scent trails so will keep coming back even if there is no food or water for them. Our cat was no deterrent. Where there is one rat there are always more, sorry! We ended up paying £££ to different pest control companies that never solved the problem for us until we found a company based in London but who travelled up to the Midlands and did a full drain survey and eventually worked out where the rats were getting in.

Hibye23289 · 28/12/2021 09:39

Ive just had mice,thought it was a rat but the pest control guy said as I havent seen droppings it wont be a rat as they dont leave them! I dont know where they poop then!

PurpleNebula84 · 28/12/2021 09:43

I'll send you my dog round - he's a great mouse and rat catcher - I found out purely by accident when he found a mouse my cat had brought in still alive and one day we were out on a walk and he dug a rat out before I realised what he was doing and killed it in seconds.
Other than that - ring your local council tomorrow - most will sort out rats free of charge or a nominal fee.