rats

[muser31]

so its one thing after the other at the minute. first since the high winds during the week i have had no tv signal at all, which i haven't sorted out yet. then, last night i hear rats in the roofspace and and around the wall space in my bedroom . FREAK OUT. and i heard something last week like scratching so i suspect theyve been here awhile now. i have just bought mousetraps and dad is coming up this afternoon to help me. if dad wasn't here i think id have to call the council in as i just don't think i could deal with dead animals!! i think he was talking about putting poison down. anyone else had this to deal with before?

I'm not a fan of poison if you have children around. I use traps for mice. If you are really squeamish and can afford it, you can just sling the whole trap plus animal out.

Don't worry, its horrible but you get used to deal with it. Its the cold weather that brings them inside.

and i heard the poison causes a slow and painful death too :( i dont want to use the poison. i just hope the mouse traps work. yes i will just get rid of the trap and everything oh yuck the thought of it is so gruesome.... but like you say its something i just have to get used to, once ive done it once im sure it won't be so bad next time. need to get over the fear!!

I've got one (or more) in my compost bin at the moment. I really need to get round to blocking up the holes and setting the trap out.

I think they saw off the mice that had made their home in there .

oh no Meglet. i hope you get it sorted somehow. when i looked up how to get rid of rats and mice they say the easiest way is to block up all the holes around the house they can get into - secure the drains, make sure the loft has no holes round it they can get into etc. well tbh i have absolutely no clue howto go about any of this stuff, its overwhelming to me, i don't have a notion about building work. this is one of those times i COULD do with a man about the house! (though granted many men don't have a clue either)

You can get that expanding foam or silicon stuff from DIY places to fill up holes. But they will chew. And they squeeze through tiny gaps.

You can get traps that are rat sized

foil puts them off chewing so fill hole then cover with foil or fix foil in the hole with the foam.

thanks for tips! have to first find out where the holes are!

We have one at the moment, so horrible. It has eaten poison though, just hope it goes outside to die, as the smell is so awful otherwise.

......still haven't been out there to sort out the compost bin. It happened a few years ago, once I'd blocked up all the holes and turned the compost over the rats all buggered off.

I'm off work over Xmas so I'll have time to fiddle about in the garden which is resembling a jungle.

Get a cat. Brilliant company and rodent control in one, plus I don't sleep alone.

I'd love a cat but sadly DS is allergic to heavy cat exposure .

id love a cat but i am so scared of the possible vets bills im so skint!

well i haven't heard anything a few nights. trap didn't work but poison did, and im still feeling awful about it! x