Oh gawd, I think we have rats!

[sheeplikessleep]

So I was getting the DSs bikes out of the shed yesterday and find an upturned box of grass seed on the floor, grass seed everywhere and droppings everywhere. They're about 1 - 2 cms in length and black.

We did catch about 3 or 4 mice end of last year, as we found droppings in the garage (external) and put some traps down.

But the droppings in the shed all look a bit bigger and there's loads of them.

I do also hear a tapping / knocking noise during the day, but I thought that was birds picking off the moss off the roof.

We live in a village, so fairly rural, but I feel quite grim.

There's no sign whatsoever in the house, but the thought of rats makes me shudder. Has anyone else had them - did you get rid of them yourself of get out Rentokil? Any thoughts / experiences?

Thanks

Try doing a search on here, there is a recent thread about rats with advice.

Here it is: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/1699536-We-have-rats

Get in touch with your council
Ours sends out a very nice pest control man for free, if you think they are in the house

Minimalist - thank you, I'll read that thread.

Svrider - I will ring the council up. There's no sign of them in the house, but from a quick google, we need to get rid of them before they do! Eww, I feel a bit grim from this!

I've phoned up the council, it's £35 which includes inspection and 3 follow up visits after putting the poison down.
She said if the droppings are bigger than a grain of rice, it's rats (mice droppings are size of grain of rice).
They're coming out Monday morning.
Yuk yuk yuk!

That sounds like good value!

That's what I thought Minimalist too. I've no idea what Rentokil would charge, but will be a lot more I bet.
I can't get hold of DH to check he's happy with this, but given it freaked him out when we had a couple of dead mice last year, I am going to make an executive decision and book them in Monday.
The person I spoke to suggested leaving all of the grass seeds and droppings on the floor, to maximise chances of catching them next week.

Oh, goodness, yes, do what you've been advised to do.