There's a rat in me kitchen what am I gonna do?

[andrewc]

The parents kitchen, not mine.  This has been ongoing for a couple of weeks.   They first found something had gotten into a kitchen unit & had a good nibble.   Then something chewed through an air brick & got into the built in cupboard.    Yesterday I went around the kitchen looking for possible entry points.  The waste pipe for the washing machine goes through an external wall & the pipe had a good gap around it.  I stuffed it up with wire wool as a temporary patch.  This morning they've found the wool chewed / pushed out of the way, masonry rubble on the floor . 


There are lots of droppings & a definite smell in the loft, so I think they are getting in via the roof & then going down though the cavity walls.  The loft is a nightmare.  2 layers of insulation, with sheets of chipboard (old wardrobe panels) across the joists & carpet on top of that.  Parents report skittering noises above their bedroom at night, so suspect they are under the floor panels.    It's full of 50 years worth of crap, which I'm slowly trying to sort out & junk for them. 


The traps we've put down (baited with peanut butter & other stuff) have been untouched. 


I'll be getting some stuff to seal the gap later today https://www.homebase.co.uk/rentokil-mouse-rat-gap-sealant_p352964  and the air bricks are going to be replaced / reinforced with steel grills.  They are going to ask a neighbour who's a roofer the check the roof where the pitched tiles meet a flat extension & see if there are any gaps there.


They are paranoid about having strangers in the house, so persuading them to get professional help is difficult,  they are reluctant to put poison down in case the damn things eat it & then die in the walls 



What else can I do ?   Other people on the estate have also reported problems.

[Wowbagger]

Has anyone contacted Environmental Health? I would imagine it's the sort of organisation that is ripe for government cuts but surely the local authority is still able to Send a Man Round.

[T42]

We had a mouse invasion about 20 years ago and found that the only thing that worked was poison blocks. When a mouse dies somewhere inaccessible, though, it doesn't stink for long.

[tiermat]

We had a mouse invasion about 20 years ago and found that the only thing that worked was poison blocks. When a mouse dies somewhere inaccessible, though, it doesn't stink for long.

As I discovered, when working at Oldham Council, rats stink more and for longer (to be precise the problem there was a half rat one, caused by foxes).

Good luck with eradication, Andrew.

[Canardly]

Much to my surprise Liverpool (if that is the LA)  provides a free service to householders. I would get them in Andrew, if you can persuade your parents and they seem to offer a quick service.

[Aunt Maud]

Get a couple of BFO metal rattraps with serrated edges and bait them with grapes or banana laid in their run.

I killed 10 in a day at our place in Somerset that way and poncing about with catch and release is not the way to deal with them. They do a lot of damage, so in my book it's all out warfare when they visit.

[tiermat]

As they are, quite literally, vermin then you are not allowed to release if you catch. At least that is my understanding.

[Brucey]

almost any kind of sheet metal will stop them.  They do indeed stink to high heaven if they die in an inaccessible spot.

You could have brown rats or black rats; it  might be useful to know which. Lots of useful information here;

https://www.pest-control-products.net/769/rats/what-is-the-best-rat-bait/

Rats can smell where they have been before and will therefore try and chew through new barriers. They can also smell where there is food.  I think it is potentially important to understand how air circulates in a house; if air exits (carrying food smells with it) anywhere there are rats, they will try and chew their way in.  Thus in well heated rooms, air is drawn in though airbricks that are set low and carries smells upwards in the house. However in unheated rooms cold (smelly) air can exit via airbricks low down.    Warm (smelly) air tends to exist via the wall cavity and the airbricks higher up.    If you can address these issues you may help prevent a recurrence.

Any climbing plants on the outside of a building are like a staircase for vermin.  Any traces of food outdoors will also attract them, so things like dog food, cat food, bird food, even crumbs spilt from carrying rubbish to the bins will attract vermin. 

In the short run keeping any foodstuffs in metal containers will at least keep them from getting fed (and will increase the chances that they will take bait from traps). They can chew their way through any plastic kitchen container.

Maybe you can borrow a cat?

cheers

[andrewc]

They have a cat, she’s over 20 years old & just sleeps all the time.
Mum is already under orders to stop feeding the birds. There is some type of climbing plant on one of the rear walls so that will have to go.


Knowsley council will come out for £24. I’m not sure if that’s just to give them a leaflet & the address of a local firm, I’ll have to find out.

[Wowbagger]

Black rats are very rare in teh UK. Will certainly be brown rats (rattus norvegicus) - the Norwegian Rat.

[confused daily mail reader]
Comin' over 'ere, displacin' our indigenous black rats... hang on a tick. Black, did you say?
[/confused daily mail reader]

Aggressive rats are quite a challenge for most cats, I would say. I'm sure I have related elsewhere on these hallowed pages the sad experience of our dog, who had his nose bisected by a rat one day.

[Jurek]

Black rats are very rare in teh UK. Will certainly be brown rats (rattus norvegicus) - the Norwegian Rat.

[confused daily mail reader]
Comin' over 'ere, displacin' our indigenous black rats... hang on a tick. Black, did you say?
[/confused daily mail reader]

Aggressive rats are quite a challenge for most cats, I would say. I'm sure I have related elsewhere on these hallowed pages the sad experience of our dog, who had his nose bisected by a rat one day.

I'm a bit surprised to read that.
When the Pied Piper of Lewisham Council called, I remarked on his bravery at putting his hand down a drain to leave poison there.
He replied to say that with rats, it isn't an issue - if it was squirrels, that would be wholly different as the risk of being attacked is much higher.
My own experience of squirrels confirms this.
Maybe one has to be human-sized before a rat is fazed.

G'luck Andrew.

[Kim]

My own experience of squirrels confirms this.

 

Maybe one has to be human-sized before a rat is fazed.

Maybe they're as crap at risk-assessment as sheep are?

[Jurek]

Maybe one has to be human-sized before a rat is fazed.

Maybe they're as crap at risk-assessment as sheep are?

I thought that rats were supposed to be intelligent - Albeit maybe not in a Likelihood / Severity kind of way.

[Gattopardo]

Cats need to be a bit wild to learn how to kill rats.  That BBC program showed that.

[Jurek]

Cats need to be a bit wild to learn how to kill rats.  That BBC program showed that.

That makes complete sense.
Part-Time's world is one of heated linoleum where the CH pipes pass under the kitchen floor, interspersed with frolics thanks to my laser pointer.
Fun for all.
I don't think she'd know what to do if confronted by Rattus Norvegicus.

[hellymedic]

Rats are known to be good at assessing risks; it's part of their survival strategy. They sample new foods and wait a day observing for ill-effects before tucking in.

Our semi-feral cats have proven their skillz with pigeons mice and rats.

[Cudzoziemiec]

AIUI one of the reasons rats are a problem to us is that they share some of our habits, in food and breeding for instance.

[Brucey]

rats are sufficiently devious that they will let/encourage a weaker rat to take a new foodstuff and only when that rat doesn't die will they tuck in themselves. 

I should have said 'maybe you can borrow a proper cat?'

cheers

[andrewc]

https://twitter.com/parveenkaswan/status/1104263284864122885?s=21


Like this?

[Brucey]

yeah that'll do.

I am reminded of the Hüsker Dü song 'how to skin a cat'.  John Peel occasionally used to play it...

cheers

[redshift]

rats are sufficiently devious that they will let/encourage a weaker rat to take a new foodstuff and only when that rat doesn't die will they tuck in themselves. 

I should have said 'maybe you can borrow a proper cat?'

cheers

Charlie, despite being the softest cat I've ever known when it came to humans, was also the best ratter.  I only know this because he didn't eat them, just parked them near the back door ready for disposal.  I would definitely say it depends on the cat!

[SteveC]

Maine coons, of which we used to have two, were (apparently) specifically bred as ratters. One reason they are so large.
As far as we know, they only ever managed to catch one between them. They tended not to eat their prey (again, as far as we know) unlike their ex-feral brother who was quite happy going out for a take-away if he didn't like what was on offer in the house.
Mind you, we may not have many rats round here. I've never seen one on our wildlife cam for instance.

[Kim]

Even a rubbish^[1] cat seems to work as a meece deterrent, as presumably they avoid places that smell of cat.  Rats don't seem to care.

Mysterious lack of either around here, especially given the council's attitude to refuse workers and the BloodyStudents' attitude to tidying up.


_{[1] Semi-competent cats are the worst, as they'll bring home live meece and lose them.}

[Canardly]

Rats are becoming a serious problem in major cities.

[hellymedic]

Certainly are in that London!