Rats. Should visitors be told?

[APlaceOfGreaterSafety]

I’ve namechanged for this one.

I need some perspective on who is being unreasonable here, and I’m too close to this to see it clearly.

So.

Person A currently has a problem with rats in their house.
They’ve got in, they’re living in the walls, A and her DH have seen the rats on several occasions when they’ve got up in the night. This has been going on for a few weeks. Traps have been set, rats are ignoring them so far, and A is getting another rat catcher in next week.

Person A and Person B often meet up at each other’s houses, and have refreshments while there. Tea / coffee, biscuits, cakes, etc.

Person B has visited A’s house and had refreshments several times while the rats have been there. A did not mention anything about the rats to B until the end of today’s visit.

B is upset that A did not mention the rats before B’s visit, or at least before A offered B food and drink. B has a rat phobia, but B had not told A about this until today.

A thinks B is overreacting, and that there wasn’t any need to say anything as having rats in a house is nothing to be ashamed of, and also they’re dealing with the problem.

YABU = A is unreasonable, A should be telling visitors about the rats;

YANBU = B is unreasonable to expect A to have mentioned the rats.

It would not occur to me to specifically tell anyone prior to a visit unless rats were so bad they were running across the floors in the daytime whilst we were in the room.

On the other hand I might well have mentioned it in passing, I know I did when we did have a rat issue - these things shouldn't be something to be ashamed of, in my case I'm mid terrace, and the source of the issue was next door (overcrowded home, food all over the place, bad building work providing access)...

I did all I could - traps, poison, removing all food sources (all our food was in metal tins or the fridge/freezer) though we only saw one once in the actual house when we took apart some boxing in I suspected might provide a route to food (it did, but not for long however one got stuck 'out'. Dog dealt with that swiftly). It was just them running across our loft and in the wall adjoining next door that alerted us to the issue.

Unfortunately as long as next door provided a veritable ratty hotel, short of dismantling the house there wasn't anything more we could do! She didn't for ages as she was under the impression the infestation was my fault - until the housing association told her fairly firmly that this was not the case and she needed to do as she was told or lose the tenancy... then it was resolved!

As long as normal hygiene practices are applied - store food in rat proof containers, wipe down surfaces before use, swill mugs with scalding water before use (stored upside down anyway) I don't see that the risk of infection is higher than say...a walk in the park and eat a butty sat on a bench by the river...

Person with phobia should make phobia known before visiting homes I think.

YABU

of course visitors should be informed

i have a rat phobia all my friends are aware as with most people with phobias I have a bizarre need to tell people (and bore them) about my phobia because the thought is never far from my mind

Thanks for the accuracy! But my
point still stands. Rats are a pretty common part of the landscape - they scavenge from humans.

I’d want to know if there was rats in someone’s house. It probably wouldn’t stop me going over but I’d like to be prepared in case I saw one. Our friends have got rats at the moment and I never ever go in their bathroom as that’s the worst infested room apparently. At least they’ve told us 🤷‍♀️

Oh gosh it was only supposed to be a joke. Of course I know how dangerous wells disease can be. We actually had wild rats invade our old home and they weren't welcomed my JRT took care of some of the problem and pest control the rest.

Didn't mean to cause a sense of humor failure.

A is being U

I'd warn B if she were staying overnight, but not if she just popped in for coffee.

I agree with this. And I have a very bad allergy to rats to the point where I'd be wheezing and needing my blue asthma inhaler, and rubbing my eyes and sneezing within half an hour of being in the house. (So I suppose I wouldn't need telling, my body would tell me anyway!) But I would assume person A would be taking the necessary hygiene measures vis-a-vis anything that comes into contact with food and drink, so I don't see why she would need to bring it up with everyone who steps through her door for a brief while.

I had pet rats. Loved them. Few of my friends had some too.

Still would not invite anyone in with wild rat infestation

My friend had a rat in his house. Cooked a burger and left it on the side. Went back to eat it a bit later and it was gone! Put some poison down and ratty was no more.

I need to be honest, I’m rather disgusted that any one with a rat infestation would invite anyone over and not tell them

Oh dear god no-one with a rat infestation should be entertaining guests

Person with phobia should make phobia known before visiting homes I think.
I think that's a bit daft, tbh. A rat isn't something most people expect to be confronted with when having a cuppa in someone else's home.
In fact, great offence would be taken if you were to randomly announce it as you entered, as most homes do not have rats