Help! RATS!!

[Mizz Tulips]

I am defeated at this point.

 

[RWise]

Dont give up, you can win this battle, though it will not be easy. The rats/mice here will hardly touch peanut butter, though it did vanish after a few weeks. Good luck!!

 

[Howard E]

Tulips:

Had a chance to sit down with a professional pest exterminator (Px John) last night. One with a lot of experience dealing with rats. Described your general situation and here is what he suggested.

Your are correct in that rats poisoned inside your home WILL stink up the place. Stench of death heavy about 4 to 7 days after poison blocks put out. So while poison works and works well, there is that. So poison is only used outside and traps used inside.

On blocking all entry points.....use steel wool. Just shove a wad into any holes you find. They won't gnaw through that. They may, however, open new holes. (My advice, not his.......If you can get your hands on it, the old CCA pressure treated lumber may also work to block holes. Not the new stuff like MCA. The old CCA stuff. Little to no risk to you, but they may not like the taste of it so won't chew through it. To cover any holes, just nail it up or screw it to the wall like it is baseboard......you can always remove it later if you want). Goal here is to rat proof the place

All interior places rats can hide like any boxes of books, clothes, etc. that are near where they hang out have to come up off the floor. Bare floor all around. No place to hide. Those same wall edges, corners, etc. where any rat traffic is are where the traps go if you continue to use them.

So at that point, you hope to have eliminated any way in or out (including toilet lids left down or toilets blocked off completely. A large paving stone left on top?). So all traffic in and out stopped, and no place left to hide.

Next......all access to food sources inside have to go. Not easy, but you will figure this out over time. Bulk pet food / chicken feed, etc. must be stored in metal containers like metal trash cans. Not plastic, metal. So no food left inside to entice them to keep trying.

At the same time, you need to find out where they live outside. Around the old septic tank is a good place to start. Also under and around any compost bins, any piles of debris, old cars, stacks of lumber, pallets, or even bushes and landscaping, including those around the walls of your house. Look for holes, runs, signs of tunnels, etc. Probably will not be more than 50 to 100 feet from the house. Look everywhere until you find them. BTW if you have chickens near the house. also look there. Especially there.

What happens next is where the tide turns in your favor. Once you find them, you start feeding them there. Same stuff they were eating inside gets moved there, which re-directs them away from your house to as far away from the house as you can get them to go. That then becomes their new food source. Once they are working on that heavy, then, and only then, replace ALL food out there with poison bait blocks in secure bait stations. That way when they die, and they will, they die in their tunnels way out there and no stink in your house. Px John said in some situations, he had as many of 5 or 6 bait stations set up side by side. He had a few more tricks he knew of (things others used....not him), but those are lot legal so I'll keep those to myself.

The legal baits he uses are Contrac Blox by Bell Labs. Maybe legal in MO but not CA?

 

[Howard E]

Then there is this.........

 

[Mizz Tulips]

Dont give up, you can win this battle, though it will not be easy. The rats/mice here will hardly touch peanut butter, though it did vanish after a few weeks. Good luck!!

Thank you for encouragement.

 

[Mizz Tulips]

Tulips:

Had a chance to sit down with a professional pest exterminator (Px John) last night. One with a lot of experience dealing with rats. Described your general situation and here is what he suggested.

Your are correct in that rats poisoned inside your home WILL stink up the place. Stench of death heavy about 4 to 7 days after poison blocks put out. So while poison works and works well, there is that. So poison is only used outside and traps used inside.

On blocking all entry points.....use steel wool. Just shove a wad into any holes you find. They won't gnaw through that. They may, however, open new holes. (My advice, not his.......If you can get your hands on it, the old CCA pressure treated lumber may also work to block holes. Not the new stuff like MCA. The old CCA stuff. Little to no risk to you, but they may not like the taste of it so won't chew through it. To cover any holes, just nail it up or screw it to the wall like it is baseboard......you can always remove it later if you want). Goal here is to rat proof the place

All interior places rats can hide like any boxes of books, clothes, etc. that are near where they hang out have to come up off the floor. Bare floor all around. No place to hide. Those same wall edges, corners, etc. where any rat traffic is are where the traps go if you continue to use them.

So at that point, you hope to have eliminated any way in or out (including toilet lids left down or toilets blocked off completely. A large paving stone left on top?). So all traffic in and out stopped, and no place left to hide.

Next......all access to food sources inside have to go. Not easy, but you will figure this out over time. Bulk pet food / chicken feed, etc. must be stored in metal containers like metal trash cans. Not plastic, metal. So no food left inside to entice them to keep trying.

At the same time, you need to find out where they live outside. Around the old septic tank is a good place to start. Also under and around any compost bins, any piles of debris, old cars, stacks of lumber, pallets, or even bushes and landscaping, including those around the walls of your house. Look for holes, runs, signs of tunnels, etc. Probably will not be more than 50 to 100 feet from the house. Look everywhere until you find them. BTW if you have chickens near the house. also look there. Especially there.

What happens next is where the tide turns in your favor. Once you find them, you start feeding them there. Same stuff they were eating inside gets moved there, which re-directs them away from your house to as far away from the house as you can get them to go. That then becomes their new food source. Once they are working on that heavy, then, and only then, replace ALL food out there with poison bait blocks in secure bait stations. That way when they die, and they will, they die in their tunnels way out there and no stink in your house. Px John said in some situations, he had as many of 5 or 6 bait stations set up side by side. He had a few more tricks he knew of (things others used....not him), but those are lot legal so I'll keep those to myself.

The legal baits he uses are Contrac Blox by Bell Labs. Maybe legal in MO but not CA?

Howard,
Thank you so much for all the information. It's very kind of you to take so much time to be so thorough in explaining everything. It will be a long haul. My house is lathe and plaster and cracking around the foundation. Also, If I hammer anything into walls without a stud behind the spot it just crumbles. Do rats chew through plaster even though it is used to "plug them up? " So, boards would be hard to nail on, outside too...uneven out there. Smearing cement would be ok...I did some on my roof after the rain (spanish tiles).
Steel wool is doable inside.
Btw, old septic system is underground...not accessible.

Some plaster dropped off the ceiling to expose lathe with the rains. Maybe they came through the attic and dropped down...? That needs to get repaired.

I will do as you and your friend suggest...empty and seal the house and use traps inside...I have a bazillion now.

Does a cat ever eat that outside poison you recommended? That's a problem I need to consider. Besides my cat friend, and cat pets of neighbors, there are so many wild creatures that roam around here and live in the sewers. I just need to remove all temptation to enter my house, and then distract rats with food offerings away from the house I guess. I can't poison all the creatures in this area though, even if I was uncaring.

Overwhelmed again. The amount of work is mind wiping. I can only do it little by little, and clutter is a problem you identified. Meanwhile I can only hope they won't multiply.

So let me know if your friend thinks cats won't eat poison.
Thank you again for your tremendous help.
Striving for badass mean, Dorene

 

[Deryk]

Good luck, I am sorry you are experiencing this. If I was nearby I would come help where I could.

One thing I didn't see as an idea is an alternative to the spinning peanut butter handle over water bucket trap. I tried that with limited success. For this other option you fill a large bucket or trashcan about half full of water. Make access ways so the rats/mice can climb up and take a peak inside the bucket. Now dump some seeds in the top that float nicely until you cover the entire surface so it looks like a bucket of seeds and no visual signs of water. The rodents are supposed to jump right in and drown. Again, I haven't tried it myself. I got 3 barn cats and they are brutal.

http://mistkits.com/Blog/2013/an-ea...id-of-chipmunks-mice-voles-and-other-rodents/

 

[Howard E]

On the septic system, assuming you are on a public system, it may be possible they are living in the public sewer system and found a way into your home that way. You know you saw one dive through the toilet. It went somewhere. I doubt it could get past toilet lids if they are left down......assuming you have a seat and lid. Some only have the seat....no lid. If that is yours, find a way to block off the opening.

I fear a lathe and plaster wall is likely a good place for them to be living. They could chew through that with no effort and if there is insulation there too in the exterior walls, it would be a great place for them to live. Watch the old army video on rat proofing and you will see what is meant. Actually, everything about that old army video on rat proofing may be a big help to you. T

Lathe and plaster is simply lathes.......here......they were 1 1/2" wide x 1/4" thin strips of wood....about 4 feet in length and nailed horizontally to upright framing studs. The narrow space between them was then filled with plaster, as was a shallow layer over the lathes. It is what was used to make smooth interior walls prior to drywall. If such walls are cracked or otherwise riddled with holes, etc. it is not the end of the world to rip all that off the wall to expose the interior cavities. It gets repaired with drywall.

As for them eating plaster, what you have was set long ago. It won't hurt them a bit.

If baits are placed in bait stations, such that nothing can get in but rats.....and the baits are pinned into place so rats can't drag them out and scatter them around, there is little danger to anything but rats and mice getting to the baits. Cats won't and other pets won't And despite what a lot of folks fear and claim, with most baits, there is little secondary danger to other animals who might find a dead rat. Most are going to die in the tunnels anyway.

 

[RodNTN]

I am so sorry about all of this! I hope you get rid of these varmints fast

 

[Mizz Tulips]

Good luck, I am sorry you are experiencing this. If I was nearby I would come help where I could.

One thing I didn't see as an idea is an alternative to the spinning peanut butter handle over water bucket trap. I tried that with limited success. For this other option you fill a large bucket or trashcan about half full of water. Make access ways so the rats/mice can climb up and take a peak inside the bucket. Now dump some seeds in the top that float nicely until you cover the entire surface so it looks like a bucket of seeds and no visual signs of water. The rodents are supposed to jump right in and drown. Again, I haven't tried it myself. I got 3 barn cats and they are brutal.

http://mistkits.com/Blog/2013/an-ea...id-of-chipmunks-mice-voles-and-other-rodents/

That's really funny!! Worth a try!
Similarly, I had a Dachshund as a kid, who thought he would cut across a corner on perpendicular boat docks cuz the corner had so much gunk floating in it, it looked solid!
KER-Plunk!! Ha ha. He popped up with frantic dog-paddling and very big frightened eyes!
Thank you for the thought of offering to help

Good luck, I am sorry you are experiencing this. If I was nearby I would come help where I could.

One thing I didn't see as an idea is an alternative to the spinning peanut butter handle over water bucket trap. I tried that with limited success. For this other option you fill a large bucket or trashcan about half full of water. Make access ways so the rats/mice can climb up and take a peak inside the bucket. Now dump some seeds in the top that float nicely until you cover the entire surface so it looks like a bucket of seeds and no visual signs of water. The rodents are supposed to jump right in and drown. Again, I haven't tried it myself. I got 3 barn cats and they are brutal.

http://mistkits.com/Blog/2013/an-ea...id-of-chipmunks-mice-voles-and-other-rodents/

On the septic system, assuming you are on a public system, it may be possible they are living in the public sewer system and found a way into your home that way. You know you saw one dive through the toilet. It went somewhere. I doubt it could get past toilet lids if they are left down......assuming you have a seat and lid. Some only have the seat....no lid. If that is yours, find a way to block off the opening.

I fear a lathe and plaster wall is likely a good place for them to be living. They could chew through that with no effort and if there is insulation there too in the exterior walls, it would be a great place for them to live. Watch the old army video on rat proofing and you will see what is meant. Actually, everything about that old army video on rat proofing may be a big help to you. T

Lathe and plaster is simply lathes.......here......they were 1 1/2" wide x 1/4" thin strips of wood....about 4 feet in length and nailed horizontally to upright framing studs. The narrow space between them was then filled with plaster, as was a shallow layer over the lathes. It is what was used to make smooth interior walls prior to drywall. If such walls are cracked or otherwise riddled with holes, etc. it is not the end of the world to rip all that off the wall to expose the interior cavities. It gets repaired with drywall.

As for them eating plaster, what you have was set long ago. It won't hurt them a bit.

If baits are placed in bait stations, such that nothing can get in but rats.....and the baits are pinned into place so rats can't drag them out and scatter them around, there is little danger to anything but rats and mice getting to the baits. Cats won't and other pets won't And despite what a lot of folks fear and claim, with most baits, there is little secondary danger to other animals who might find a dead rat. Most are going to die in the tunnels anyway.

On the septic system, assuming you are on a public system, it may be possible they are living in the public sewer system and found a way into your home that way. You know you saw one dive through the toilet. It went somewhere. I doubt it could get past toilet lids if they are left down......assuming you have a seat and lid. Some only have the seat....no lid. If that is yours, find a way to block off the opening.

I fear a lathe and plaster wall is likely a good place for them to be living. They could chew through that with no effort and if there is insulation there too in the exterior walls, it would be a great place for them to live. Watch the old army video on rat proofing and you will see what is meant. Actually, everything about that old army video on rat proofing may be a big help to you. T

Lathe and plaster is simply lathes.......here......they were 1 1/2" wide x 1/4" thin strips of wood....about 4 feet in length and nailed horizontally to upright framing studs. The narrow space between them was then filled with plaster, as was a shallow layer over the lathes. It is what was used to make smooth interior walls prior to drywall. If such walls are cracked or otherwise riddled with holes, etc. it is not the end of the world to rip all that off the wall to expose the interior cavities. It gets repaired with drywall.

As for them eating plaster, what you have was set long ago. It won't hurt them a bit.

If baits are placed in bait stations, such that nothing can get in but rats.....and the baits are pinned into place so rats can't drag them out and scatter them around, there is little danger to anything but rats and mice getting to the baits. Cats won't and other pets won't And despite what a lot of folks fear and claim, with most baits, there is little secondary danger to other animals who might find a dead rat. Most are going to die in the tunnels anyway.

On the septic system, assuming you are on a public system, it may be possible they are living in the public sewer system and found a way into your home that way. You know you saw one dive through the toilet. It went somewhere. I doubt it could get past toilet lids if they are left down......assuming you have a seat and lid. Some only have the seat....no lid. If that is yours, find a way to block off the opening.

I fear a lathe and plaster wall is likely a good place for them to be living. They could chew through that with no effort and if there is insulation there too in the exterior walls, it would be a great place for them to live. Watch the old army video on rat proofing and you will see what is meant. Actually, everything about that old army video on rat proofing may be a big help to you. T

Lathe and plaster is simply lathes.......here......they were 1 1/2" wide x 1/4" thin strips of wood....about 4 feet in length and nailed horizontally to upright framing studs. The narrow space between them was then filled with plaster, as was a shallow layer over the lathes. It is what was used to make smooth interior walls prior to drywall. If such walls are cracked or otherwise riddled with holes, etc. it is not the end of the world to rip all that off the wall to expose the interior cavities. It gets repaired with drywall.

As for them eating plaster, what you have was set long ago. It won't hurt them a bit.

If baits are placed in bait stations, such that nothing can get in but rats.....and the baits are pinned into place so rats can't drag them out and scatter them around, there is little danger to anything but rats and mice getting to the baits. Cats won't and other pets won't And despite what a lot of folks fear and claim, with most baits, there is little secondary danger to other animals who might find a dead rat. Most are going to die in the tunnels anyway.

Greeting fr Rattyville, California;
I think your sewer system entryway for the invasion is most probable, or at least one main route. In the past I heard from locals that rats live in the street drain pipes and the racoon families, that pop up out of the sidewalk gutter drainage openings, eat them. SOMEbody is also gnawing out centers if fallen oranges around here too. And I have seen Mr Giant Racoon, and then his Mrs. C calmly traversing my lawn late at night around 11pm as I arrived home. Ugh!
But those two waterways, sewer and street gutters are not connected, right, because the gutters say "Flows to the Bay."

Anyway, I had watched the ARMY video on rat proofing building, and that's when I realized this whole thing with my house is much bigger than I can manage. For all I know they've been living in the walls all cozy as you said, and are finally coming through to be my roommates, the cheeky buggers.
Where's my gun? Oh right, I returned it.

As for the plaster, the entire little house is textured plaster with rounded area joining walls to ceiling, except kitchen, so drywall wouldn't work. It's ok, I've gotten decent, well ok, acceptably capable at patching plaster...but it's a plaster master's dying art...though I do know there are still those ppl who do this professionally. They charge at least $200./hr. My shabby-chic technique will do....when the Rat war is over, or....when I have managed to substantially "thin the herd" as you put it. O.m.g 5 yrs?

How'd you like the seed-surface
water bucket idea. Great huh, but maybe not deep enough for Fat Boy and friends. Maybe trash can is next.

Oh, and there's now a nice big river rock on the toilet seat cover! THANKS!