a rat or two-ie

Paulegend

ok so background to the story

im renting a house in the city centre with my girlfriend. our house is between a tenant who keeps rabbits and another tennat who has a back yard that litterally could be the inspiration for jumanji. we live quiet close to the limerick walls which is supposedly a huge deal for limerick and was once a tourist icon for the city but after spending millions on restoring the wall to a usable standard they decided to close the area off to cut out anti social behaviour................. or give it a good place to spread. im not sure which was the objective. so because its all closed off the wall has been left go to crap along with the surroundings of the wall. a nice quiet estate that i was one of few children to grow up in has turned into a scum bag infested area where anti social filth have been relocated to.

so that's just a little brief on the area and the story. now to the problem i have

our dog is about 9 years old and is a Labrador. loveliest dog ever. very playful still at his age and no problem around strangers. he is the girlfriends dog and i think in the first year i knew him i think i heard him bark twice and that's because i wouldn't give him his ball:) anyway.................. last week he was barking in the middle of the night. i went out did the whole making sure everything was OK outside and around the house. made sure he had water and he was OK. he did it again a couple of times that night. on two more separate incidents he was in his shed barking. i went out and he just ran up to me wagging his tail so i assumed his ball or one of his toys was just behind something so i thought nothing of it.

the house needed a bit of work done such as the grass was really high and there where thick weeds so a proper strimmer was needed. also the shed, the timber decking and such where all rotting. there where holes in the edges and such i put it down to it not having been treated in awhile. we have only lived there a short time so no idea when the last time it was treated.

but to the point of the amazing story.

yesterday we returned from a weekend away(the dog stayed in a kennel) i opened the back door and seen what i first thought was a bird fly along the path at the end of the garden from one side to another. i quickly realized it was NOT a bird. i sent the dog out as come on he is suppose to protect me dam it:) but i followed with brush handle in hand. i went to the end of the garden turned in the direction i seen it go only to see a medium sized rat(not as huge as they can be but was bigger than a mouse) up on its hing legs with its front paws kind of up against its face and it was shivering with fear. it literally looked like a cartoon rat. now he was still a good couple meters from me but i still felt sorry for him. but because i hesitated he ran off behind the shed. i ran to the gap he went through and couldn't see him. the girlfriend came out to me not knowing what was going on i briefed her and then we seen the rat inside the shed running through tents and fencing and other debris that i had apparently turned into an obstacle course for the little guy. we went back to the door of the house to make sure it was closed just in case he got brave and made a dash. while standing on the decking close to the house we seen him run from our neighbors garden through a gap in the wall in under our decking. we made loads of noise but he wouldn't get out. so we went into the house. while in the house with the door locked and the dog being sitting with us wondering what we where doing we seen the rat run back out from under the decking and into the neighbors garden again. then my girlfriend said she seen him run from one side of the garden back to the other side but she said she thought he was bigger so it may have been a second bigger rat. we now think that they have burrowed some sort of a hole under the decking behind a bush we have no access to.



so i am withered. i hate rats. spiders insects i have no problem with but rats are disgusting and dangerous as they can spread disease and cause fires by nibbling wires and such. as well as eating the dogs food and keeping him up all night partying the rascals.

anyway as much as i thought that guy was cute i need him gone and quick. i heard the can reproduce in the hundreds in a single year and i don't know when they moved in so im concerned.

i hear that poison is bad as they just get thirsty and end up drowning in water tanks that people end up having showers from................. i don't really like the idea of having to pick them up from traps either but needs must i guess. also if we put down traps will the little ones come out and die too or will this just get rid of the hunters. i need them all gone parents kids and grand kids. the whole lot. also can the council help get rid of them considering it could be because of the decline of the area

any advice or answers would be very appreciated. thanks

endacl

We had an infestation here a couple of years ago. The only thing that worked was setting and re-setting traps. Caught seven in one night in the kitchen! :eek:

Sounds like you don't have them in the house. Consider yourself lucky. Sticky traps are very effective, but illegal and cruel. I agree with the cruel part, but at the time I'd have been happy to use them. Wits end scenario. There's not much point in 'rat-proofing' the shed, especially if its wooden. They'll nibble a new hole in a few minutes. Its trap, trap, and trap again I'm afraid.

Although, if it happened again I'd try this. Just to see if it works.

Or this for when you start to feel vengeful. And you will. Make little rat mats. Keep the dog away from this one...

Mr E

I don't have any suggestions, but I just wanted to say congrats on the thread title.

Paulegend

lol the second one just reminds me of this

yea i think before i eventually just fell into a sudden sleep i was about to start lookling for some sort of explosives online. we're going to try the traps anyway this evening im just hoping when we catch a few we dont think they are all gone until the young ones start coming out

by the way 7 in the kitchen:eek: i think id just burn the house out or move............. probably the latter

endacl

The seven in the kitchen was just on the first night.... Took about a month to get things completely clear!

Oh! When you're buying traps, don't bother with the sooperdooper fancypants ones you'll see for about a tenner in the likes of B&Q or Woodies. Tried a pair of them with no success. They remained entirely untouched, while all around them the ones that did the damage were the bog-standard cheapo wooden ones you can pick up for next to nothing from your local hardware shop.

Something like this...



If there's any plastic involved in the construction, ignore it. Wood and wire all the way. Crunchy peanut butter is the way to go for bait.

Paulegend

cheers mate hopefully thatll work. we where planning to get the expensive ones but i think ill convince herself to at least pick up a few of the standard ones aswell. thanks

seachto7

I used poison pellets once, and witnessed one of the mice croaking it in front of me. He came out into the middle of the kitchen, in slow motion, even came towards me, and just keeled over. It was cruel, so wouldn't use them again.

Insect Overlord

Guess what movie I was watching the other night!

Paulegend

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Guess what movie I was watching the other night!

I forgot all about that monologue. Have to say the vengeful creative side of me is going 90 right now lol.

Ok so we got the wooden rat traps from homebase. We got 4 but looks like we will be getting more tommorrow as we caught 3 already. 2 in one spot in the space of 5 mins and 1 by the shed where I seen the cute scarred guy. Wasnt so cute with a trap on his face;)

I also have to credit the little lady for bagging the rodents my job is spiders but het little hands are great with the traps lol

endacl

Paulegend wrote: »

I forgot all about that monologue. Have to say tje vengeful creative side of me is going 90 right now lol.

Ok so we got the wooden rat traps from homebase. We got 4 but looks like we will be getting more tommorroe as we caught 3 already. 2 in one spot in the space of 5 mins and 1 by the shed where I seen the cute scarred guy. Wasnt so cute with a trap on his face;)

I also have to credit the little lady for bagging the rodents mn y job is spiders but het littlr hands are great with the traps lol

Re-use! Cheap doesn't necessarily mean disposable!

Paulegend

endacl wrote: »

Re-use! Cheap doesn't necessarily mean disposable!

well pealing the rodents off the traps is one thing but id end up just having to clean vomit off the traps aswell.................. although that could work as bait i suppose:D

we left the last/4th trap down over night and came out this morning to a chocolate spread free snapped trap. the rain seemed heavy last night though so im thinking it might have just been drops from an over hang that set it off and eventually washed away the spread. or else the buggers just ate it. we're going to try again later. id love to think it was only three rats in the end but my gut and ocd for even numbers thinks there has to be more.

Raiser

Paul, to say that you are a legend is understating it.

- I very much enjoyed your epic novel on the ratastrophe, I believe Matt Damon and Amy Adams would be perfectly cast in the inevitable cinematic release & look forward to the explosions and car chases brought on by all the wire-nibbling.....

Stay strong dude - and remember only sleep when they too are sleeping.

CheltenhamJ

Yes title of thread should win award