There's a rat in my kitchen - what do I do?

Sir Arthur Daley

JJayoo wrote: »

Keep the rat as a pet.

Do blood tests on it first to check its free from leptospirosis.

JJayoo

Get the rat very drunk by leaving out some baileys.

Sir Arthur Daley

shamrock55 wrote: »

Lol, what size rat are we talking about hear,our fella had a big enough one ripped to shreds and left him outside our backdoor the other morning, just what you want first thing in the morning when going out to feed him, turns out he didnt need feeding:D

I have seen rats as big as your average size cat.

catallus

The thing about rats is they like to lick people before they bite them.

So if you do happen to be lying in bed and you feel a small wet tongue licking your toe (in the dark) you know what to expect.

ardle1

How do you know he's a rat!! for all you know he may just have been in the Garda barracks getting a passport form signed.....:cool:

BorneTobyWilde

Put jam on your toes before you go to bed, it keeps rats away.

SimonQuinlank

Bait wooden snap traps with peanut butter/chocolate spread and leave them alongside skirtingboards overnight.Try and fill in any gaps around pipes,cracked vents,under doors etc coming into the house to stop more coming in too.

Sir Arthur Daley

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Put jam on your toes before you go to bed, it keeps rats away.

Any brand works better than others?

ScummyMan

WikiHow wrote: »

I have seen rats as big as your average size cat.

:eek: GTFO

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Man.UnitedLad wrote: »

:eek: GTFO

I saw one in a park in New York one night, and I swear to god he'd put a jack Russell to shame. He was so big when he ran his back was humping. That said, have never seen one that size in Ireland thanks be to Jesus.

roboshatner

call the ghostbusters

dodderangler

WikiHow wrote: »

I have seen rats as big as your average size cat.

Then you've never seen the size of a nutria! Bigger than a cat and a hell of a lot more aggressive. Dogs have been torn apart by these bastards.

dodderangler

LexieOnRale wrote: »

I saw one in a park in New York one night, and I swear to god he'd put a jack Russell to shame. He was so big when he ran his back was humping. That said, have never seen one that size in Ireland thanks be to Jesus.

Muskrat prob.bigger than brown rat. Dunno if nutria have got New York yet.

Sir Arthur Daley

dodderangler wrote: »

Then you've never seen the size of a nutria! Bigger than a cat and a hell of a lot more aggressive. Dogs have been torn apart by these bastards.

Wouldnt be here in this country are they?

Ficheall

Well, I've thrown out all the food that was in the kitchen.
I reckon it got in somewhere behind the sink or presses in the corner, but ****ed if I'm going in for a closer look.

I presume it's a bad idea to assume that this was just a once-off. Do I just throw down a few traps and remain vigilant, or what would the wise folk of AH recommend?

Should I ask the letting agency to do something about it?

yeahimhere

LexieOnRale wrote: »

I saw one in a park in New York one night, and I swear to god he'd put a jack Russell to shame. He was so big when he ran his back was humping. That said, have never seen one that size in Ireland thanks be to Jesus.

Are you sure it wasn't Skinner heading back to the Turtle lair?

dodderangler

WikiHow wrote: »

Wouldnt be here in this country are they?

Christ no thank fcuk. Bad enough the mink are destroying local wildlife but a nutria would destroy the flora of this country and they breed like well....rats basically so we'd be overrun in matter of years

Sir Arthur Daley

Ficheall wrote: »

Well, I've thrown out all the food that was in the kitchen.
I reckon it got in somewhere behind the sink or presses in the corner, but ****ed if I'm going in for a closer look.

I presume it's a bad idea to assume that this was just a once-off. Do I just throw down a few traps and remain vigilant, or what would the wise folk of AH recommend?

Should I ask the letting agency to do something about it?

Sort out the root of the problem, the rubbish next door.

dodderangler

Ficheall wrote: »

Well, I've thrown out all the food that was in the kitchen.
I reckon it got in somewhere behind the sink or presses in the corner, but ****ed if I'm going in for a closer look.

I presume it's a bad idea to assume that this was just a once-off. Do I just throw down a few traps and remain vigilant, or what would the wise folk of AH recommend?

Should I ask the letting agency to do something about it?

With the weather being as bad and smell of food I reckon him and possibly few more are also in the house or at least around it. ( sorry to tell ya)
Smell of a ferret would quickly deter them.

Sir Arthur Daley

Would ferrets eat rats?

catallus

Traps and a cat and then when that fails get one of those electronic sound frequency gizmos that emit a noise that keeps them away.

yeahimhere

http://markmaynard.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/nutria.jpg

I just googled nutria... Yeah they're massive and the teeth!

JJayoo

Ficheall wrote: »

Well, I've thrown out all the food that was in the kitchen.

You threw out all his food? Now you got a hungry rat on your hands.

Spook_ie

WikiHow wrote: »

They say we are all only ever 3 feet from a rat.

What if you're divorced?

Sir Arthur Daley

electronic sound frequency gizmos that emit a noise that keeps them away.

Waste of time, its only music to their ears.

Dermighty

yeahimhere wrote: »

Are you sure it wasn't Skinner heading back to the Turtle lair?

No, skinner was busy on the phone to mulder. Luckily splinter was there.

Call Me Jimmy

What type of rat is it?

Sir Arthur Daley

Spook_ie wrote: »

What if you're divorced?

Still the same

catallus

The type that licks you before it bites ya, apparently!

dodderangler

WikiHow wrote: »

Would ferrets eat rats?

I've never let mine eat them but yes they.ve caught them.
Some have put up serious battle against ferret but there's only ever one winner. Ferret goes straight for the skull and sinks it teeth into the brain and well that's game over

catallus

JJayoo wrote: »

You threw out all his food? Now you got a hungry ANGRY rat on your hands.

:eek:

Spook_ie

dodderangler wrote: »

Then you've never seen the size of a nutria! Bigger than a cat and a hell of a lot more aggressive. Dogs have been torn apart by these bastards.

They're herbivores!

dodderangler

JJayoo wrote: »

You threw out all his food? Now you got a hungry rat on your hands.

Sleep with steel toe boots on so. Rats love toes

shamrock55

Can anyone tell me how a cat kills a rat, is it by biteing or scratching or both

Sir Arthur Daley

dodderangler wrote: »

I've never let mine eat them but yes they.ve caught them.
Some have put up serious battle against ferret but there's only ever one winner. Ferret goes straight for the skull and sinks it teeth into the brain and well that's game over

I could do with a ferret have a bit of a rat problem too, cats are no good, will a ferret eat/kill a cat?

Dublin Red Devil

Rat Poison

Sir Arthur Daley

shamrock55 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me how a cat kills a rat, is it by biteing or scratching or both

9mm. 1 shot bang bang.

dodderangler

Spook_ie wrote: »

They're herbivores!

Where did I say it eat the dogs???
Lads hunt nutrias with dogs and the dogs have to wear Kevlar vests but even then nutria can still tear a dog apart. Huge teeth and claws to match

Highflyer13

There was one in my house over the Christmas. Fecker was eating crust off the bread and chewing his way through the presses!!!! :O He was going from the attic to the kitchen somehow and avoiding numerous traps and poisons. We could all hear him above our bedrooms and he sounded big as a cat. Little bro whos a fearless fecker lost the plot one night and charged into the attic after him but couldn't get near him. Uncle called over the other day with some kind of plugin device that
emits sonar noises that humans can't hear and scares off pests. Seems to be doing the trick so far.

Daqster

Lucky you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCAoBjfaEbE

Dublin Red Devil

Putting a cat in there is just cruelty to the rat. Cats are evil little bastards. They don't just kill a rat. They torture them, Toss them around, play with them as they die slow.

dodderangler

shamrock55 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me how a cat kills a rat, is it by biteing or scratching or both

Same as lions and tigers kill they're prey.
Bite to the act of neck to break spinal cord cord or else to the throat

dodderangler

WikiHow wrote: »

I could do with a ferret have a bit of a rat problem too, cats are no good, will a ferret eat/kill a cat?

No cat would kill a ferret but difference is a cat won't attack anything that it'd risk injury against
Eg. A big male rat has teeth and claws and can do damage to cats face possibly biting the cat ending in infection or bad scratch could lose a cat his eye.
Whereas a ferret doesn't give a toss and will not back down. They're too quick to lose against a rat and only has one thing on its mind......food

Sir Arthur Daley

dodderangler wrote: »

No cat would kill a ferret but difference is a cat won't attack anything that it'd risk injury against
Eg. A big male rat has teeth and claws and can do damage to cats face possibly biting the cat ending in infection or bad scratch could lose a cat his eye.
Whereas a ferret doesn't give a toss and will not back down. They're too quick to lose against a rat and only has one thing on its mind......food

Can one leave a ferret out loose around a farm and let it kill away and feed it if necessary?

dodderangler

WikiHow wrote: »

Can one leave a ferret out loose around a farm and let it kill away and feed it if necessary?

Good god no. A wild ferret is just as bad as a mink. It'd kill everything in sight and in this weather freeze t dead but also because ferrets are tame enough it'd easily be killed by fox or buzzard or a pi55ed off farmer when he discovers all his chickens are dead

Sir Arthur Daley

dodderangler wrote: »

Good god no. A wild ferret is just as bad as a mink. It'd kill everything in sight and in this weather freeze t dead but also because ferrets are tame enough it'd easily be killed by fox or buzzard or a pi55ed off farmer when he discovers all his chickens are dead

I have hens so that be no good, so would you leave the ferret out for a little while to do a kill and bring him into the house again? i hear they are good pets.

dodderangler

WikiHow wrote: »

I have hens so that be no good, so would you leave the ferret out for a little while to do a kill and bring him into the house again? i hear they are good pets.

We'll see I hunt with them. ( not anymore I gave mine to my mate as work stopped me hunting during the week)
First find where the rats are. Holes in ground or trails leading to nest area. Put locator on ferret and he'll sniff out the trail and find the rats. They'll run from him unless it's a female with nest of young. She'll stand and fight

Sir Arthur Daley

But the ferret will persevere and kill the mother rat and kill all the young rats then?

Ficheall

"Last but not least do put down the lid of the toilet bowl after use, as rats are occasionally known to emerge from the sewer pipe through the toilet water bowl, especially at ground level."

Great.

I should go to bed... but.... bleh.......

dodderangler

WikiHow wrote: »

But the ferret will persevere and kill the mother rat and kill all the young rats then?

Yeah pretty much though mother rat guarding her young is one hell of a challenge but if ferret takes her on he will kill her ant the young and then you'll have to wait or dig the ferret out. they like to nap after a meal which is why I bring shovel when ferreting in case I've to dig ferret out of a hole