Rat!
September 2, 2011 3:08 AM Subscribe
Advice needed on trapping a rat.
We have a rat coming (or living) in the house, between the floorboards. Sometimes it visits the kitchen cabinets (we've moved all food except the tins away now), but mainly hangs out under them.
We've set three traps of this type, under the cabinets and where we have access to the floor joist area. Baited one with peanut butter, one with nutella and one with stawberry jam.
Unfortunately the rat seems very shy of the traps and we've had no luck. Any ideas? Don't really want to use poison for humanitarian grounds (although the rat poison websites like to claim that internal haemorrhaging is a great way to go), and also the rotting carcass thing.
We have a rat coming (or living) in the house, between the floorboards. Sometimes it visits the kitchen cabinets (we've moved all food except the tins away now), but mainly hangs out under them.
We've set three traps of this type, under the cabinets and where we have access to the floor joist area. Baited one with peanut butter, one with nutella and one with stawberry jam.
Unfortunately the rat seems very shy of the traps and we've had no luck. Any ideas? Don't really want to use poison for humanitarian grounds (although the rat poison websites like to claim that internal haemorrhaging is a great way to go), and also the rotting carcass thing.
Also, for this to work you have to fill in every gap you can see. It's not enough just to do the kitchen, for example, because they'll just pop up somewhere else and get to your kitchen that way. Open cabinet doors, particularly where plumbing is located (holes that accommodate pipes are rodent-friendly entry routes).
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:19 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:19 AM on September 2, 2011
Don't used B&Q stuff. Get some Neosorexa Gold and a bait station. Place Neosorexa in bait station. Rats like the taste and will eat it and then go away somewhere else to die. (It makes them thirsty, so they will look for a stream or pond.) I live in the country near a farm and a wood so get lots of rats. It always work.
posted by TheRaven at 3:57 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by TheRaven at 3:57 AM on September 2, 2011
Nthing the steel wool expanding foam route. I lived through a mouse plague when no amount of poison would have made any difference and the only thing that kept the mice out of the cupboards was sealing every crack with foam and steel wool. Remember if a rats little head and skull can fit through the hole the rest of them can follow.
You can get rat repellent sprays I don't know how well they work and I've heard that peppermint essential oil can help (if nothing else is smells nice).
Your worries about the smells are founded. The only time I've had rats in the house we did not have the room to get up and place traps so I threw packets of baits up in the ceiling. Even though the packet said they would go away and die the suckers died up there and stunk out the whole house, the smell coming through the vent in the bathroom was so bad I could not even open the door into their for 2 weeks or so and had to shower elsewhere. I still gag just thinking about it.
Oh and clean up all crumbs you can think of during the mouse plague we found mice in the toaster crumb tray, in the cracks between the oven and counter and inside the oven. Clean up any where there might be the slightest crumb or grease anywhere in the house not just the kitchen. Also watch out for pet food left out. Good luck.
posted by wwax at 4:13 AM on September 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
You can get rat repellent sprays I don't know how well they work and I've heard that peppermint essential oil can help (if nothing else is smells nice).
Your worries about the smells are founded. The only time I've had rats in the house we did not have the room to get up and place traps so I threw packets of baits up in the ceiling. Even though the packet said they would go away and die the suckers died up there and stunk out the whole house, the smell coming through the vent in the bathroom was so bad I could not even open the door into their for 2 weeks or so and had to shower elsewhere. I still gag just thinking about it.
Oh and clean up all crumbs you can think of during the mouse plague we found mice in the toaster crumb tray, in the cracks between the oven and counter and inside the oven. Clean up any where there might be the slightest crumb or grease anywhere in the house not just the kitchen. Also watch out for pet food left out. Good luck.
posted by wwax at 4:13 AM on September 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
First, mice are different than rats - in many ways. So, what works for mice might not work for the big guys.
I couldn't get your link to work to see the trap you have, but I would try different bait, and be patient - rats are smart, it will know something is up and won't go near the trap for the first while. Also, re: bait - since you want to put something in there and leave it for a while, you'll need to put in something that won't go funky. Rats don't want the same bait mice do - go for some good stuff. Cooked pasta (just plain, but cooked). Cheerios are a big hit, rats LOVE cheerios. Dog or cat kibble works. Chocolate cookies, maybe some Ritz-type crackers. Veggies are great, if they can last long enough - peas or carrots are a good choice. Depending on the temperature of where the trap is, try to put something in it that won't rot for a week or so. It might take that long for the rat to explore the trap. (If it's cool enough, put in yogurt and/or a hard boiled egg. BIG HIT.)
Also, make sure you remove ANY food source, from anywhere else around the house. Do you have a compost bin or any other place he is getting food from, and then bringing it in?
Oh, and one more thing: in a spot where you know he is going, lay down an old rag or small towel. If he comes to visit, then he might pee on the towel to mark his spot. Then, put that towel in the trap. Rats are actually VERY clean, and will want to pee in the same spot all the time. You might just lure him in that way.
Lastly, thank you for not just killing the poor dude.
posted by wennj at 5:29 AM on September 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I couldn't get your link to work to see the trap you have, but I would try different bait, and be patient - rats are smart, it will know something is up and won't go near the trap for the first while. Also, re: bait - since you want to put something in there and leave it for a while, you'll need to put in something that won't go funky. Rats don't want the same bait mice do - go for some good stuff. Cooked pasta (just plain, but cooked). Cheerios are a big hit, rats LOVE cheerios. Dog or cat kibble works. Chocolate cookies, maybe some Ritz-type crackers. Veggies are great, if they can last long enough - peas or carrots are a good choice. Depending on the temperature of where the trap is, try to put something in it that won't rot for a week or so. It might take that long for the rat to explore the trap. (If it's cool enough, put in yogurt and/or a hard boiled egg. BIG HIT.)
Also, make sure you remove ANY food source, from anywhere else around the house. Do you have a compost bin or any other place he is getting food from, and then bringing it in?
Oh, and one more thing: in a spot where you know he is going, lay down an old rag or small towel. If he comes to visit, then he might pee on the towel to mark his spot. Then, put that towel in the trap. Rats are actually VERY clean, and will want to pee in the same spot all the time. You might just lure him in that way.
Lastly, thank you for not just killing the poor dude.
posted by wennj at 5:29 AM on September 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Rats are smart. Most snap traps don't work on them. A crucial thing to do though, is to leave the trap, baited but not set, for a few days. Yes, it sucks that you are feeding the bugger, but then it associates the trap with food, not with danger. Once the food has disappeared a few times, set the trap. Make sure that the food is hard to remove, so that it really has to fuss to get it off.
But then, yeah, go though and seal EVERYTHING. It is the only real solution.
posted by rockindata at 6:56 AM on September 2, 2011
But then, yeah, go though and seal EVERYTHING. It is the only real solution.
posted by rockindata at 6:56 AM on September 2, 2011
Not of immediate help, but I found Robert Sullivan's book on rats astonishingly readable and very informative, both about Rats and New York's history with them.
He does mention the steel wool trick, apparently it's also added to concrete in some cases (rats can chew through concrete alone).
Also they are creatures of habit, even walking the same paths night after night. They like to have an escape route and even to be touching a wall as they walk, so maybe place the traps with that in mind?
The tl;dr is that rats can only be managed in urban areas, not beaten, but they CAN be managed.
posted by Wretch729 at 7:18 AM on September 2, 2011
He does mention the steel wool trick, apparently it's also added to concrete in some cases (rats can chew through concrete alone).
Also they are creatures of habit, even walking the same paths night after night. They like to have an escape route and even to be touching a wall as they walk, so maybe place the traps with that in mind?
The tl;dr is that rats can only be managed in urban areas, not beaten, but they CAN be managed.
posted by Wretch729 at 7:18 AM on September 2, 2011
Wretch729, I seem to remember that Sullivan says that rats are excessively wary of new things; they also tend to travel along walls. So whatever trap you end up with, do as rockindata suggests but leave it next to the wall along whatever path you suspect that they travel.
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:24 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:24 AM on September 2, 2011
The snap traps didn't work for us on the Houston bayou rats that were living under, in, and over my house. They could probably chew a piece of bubblegum off of the traps without setting them off. We were kept awake by DJ Ratty Rat Party 3000 in our attic every. night. For about a month. Having pillow fights in our batt insulation. Subleasing the place to their friends in the traveling flea circus. Sharpening their teeth on my electric wiring. Even waking up the baby, etc.
So I figured out where they were walking--they re-use the same trails inside your house, look for the turds--and put out sticky traps. You'll catch them every time. You see them on there looking up at you and you can say smugly YOU ARE NOT SO SMART OH HAHA YOU ARE SO TRAPPED. Then you take them out back and kill them even more humanely than the snap traps usually do (I've seen them caught by nothing more than the tip of their snout--poor bastard).
DON'T use poison because you won't know where they'll crawl to die miserable their poisoned deaths (I've seen them so starved for water that they die in a sink of dishwater or dog bowl). With sticky traps, you catch them and then humanely smash their skull with a brick (worst--can you accurately throw a brick?) or chop their head off with a spade (best--put it on their neck and just step on the shovel, you can even look away while you're doing it, but not so hard that you cut into or "fold" the trap because then you have to peel the trap and bloody rat off of your shovel, which is also why you don't "stomp" their head with a bootheel) or shoot them in the head with a primer-fired "silent" .22 round (my personal favorite--humane and no mess).
Yours,
Jemmy
posted by resurrexit at 7:54 AM on September 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
So I figured out where they were walking--they re-use the same trails inside your house, look for the turds--and put out sticky traps. You'll catch them every time. You see them on there looking up at you and you can say smugly YOU ARE NOT SO SMART OH HAHA YOU ARE SO TRAPPED. Then you take them out back and kill them even more humanely than the snap traps usually do (I've seen them caught by nothing more than the tip of their snout--poor bastard).
DON'T use poison because you won't know where they'll crawl to die miserable their poisoned deaths (I've seen them so starved for water that they die in a sink of dishwater or dog bowl). With sticky traps, you catch them and then humanely smash their skull with a brick (worst--can you accurately throw a brick?) or chop their head off with a spade (best--put it on their neck and just step on the shovel, you can even look away while you're doing it, but not so hard that you cut into or "fold" the trap because then you have to peel the trap and bloody rat off of your shovel, which is also why you don't "stomp" their head with a bootheel) or shoot them in the head with a primer-fired "silent" .22 round (my personal favorite--humane and no mess).
Yours,
Jemmy
posted by resurrexit at 7:54 AM on September 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
This is the trap you need. It's expensive but it works. Kills the rat instantly and you don't really even have to look at the body when you empty the trap. Failing that, I vote for snap traps. Also, mice and rats like to travel along walls. Put your traps so the trap is perpendicular to the wall, with the trigger/bait part against the wall and they'll run right over the trigger and set them off.
posted by mygothlaundry at 8:07 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by mygothlaundry at 8:07 AM on September 2, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks for the replies, just a few points:
The trap in the link that some of you are having trouble opening, is a plastic snap trap (sorry wennj, I am trying to kill the poor dude). We have been putting the traps along (facing) walls but he just won't go near it.
The steel wool + filler advice is useful, but at this stage will just result in ratty being confined to the floor space and spending his days gnawing through cabling and structural timbers.
posted by Kiwi at 8:39 AM on September 2, 2011
The trap in the link that some of you are having trouble opening, is a plastic snap trap (sorry wennj, I am trying to kill the poor dude). We have been putting the traps along (facing) walls but he just won't go near it.
The steel wool + filler advice is useful, but at this stage will just result in ratty being confined to the floor space and spending his days gnawing through cabling and structural timbers.
posted by Kiwi at 8:39 AM on September 2, 2011
Try baiting with dog kibble. Take a piece of kibble, wet it so it's flexible, and wedge it onto the trigger. When it dries, it will be hard and stuck on the trigger. Rats really like dog kibble. I had way better luck with that than peanut butter.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:07 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:07 AM on September 2, 2011
One more reminder on the dead-critter-in-the-house stench: coffee in a skillet. OMG do not try to mask with scented sprays/candles/outlet thingies, you end up with, say, apple pie + death.
posted by trinity8-director at 10:37 AM on September 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by trinity8-director at 10:37 AM on September 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
I lived in an apartment above a restaurant and mice ran rampant despite traps and keeping things clean. The other two places I lived at the time were mice-free after using steel wool. I used steel wool and spray foam when we moved into our home last year, and no rodents have showed up since.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:15 AM on September 2, 2011