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rats

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  • 26-11-2014 5:39pm
    #1
    kayevajo
    Registered Users Posts: 241 ✭✭


    We have a rat or rats in our back garden. We haven't seen them. But we heard scatching noises in the kitchen for about 20 mins last week, haven't heard it since. Called rentokill , he suggested a bate box. Left down and they have gone through a bag in a week.

    Does anyone know if there is someone local other than rentokill I could contact or even someone with a ferrit for hire!

    Many thanks


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    #2
    spankmemunkey
    Registered Users Posts: 2,055 ✭✭✭spankmemunkey


    kayevajo wrote: »
    We have a rat or rats in our back garden. We haven't seen them. But we heard scatching noises in the kitchen for about 20 mins last week, haven't heard it since. Called rentokill , he suggested a bate box. Left down and they have gone through a bag in a week.

    Does anyone know if there is someone local other than rentokill I could contact or even someone with a ferrit for hire!

    Many thanks

    wud ye not put down a rat trap no? look on the internet what it says about rats and breeding, when you kill one rat the group replaces that one by ten apparantly, so keep up the baiting and traps as long as you can. Had similar problem not so long ago.


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    #3
    kayevajo
    Registered Users Posts: 241 ✭✭kayevajo


    spankmemunkey wrote: »
    kayevajo wrote: »
    We have a rat or rats in our back garden. We haven't seen them. But we heard scatching noises in the kitchen for about 20 mins last week, haven't heard it since. Called rentokill , he suggested a bate box. Left down and they have gone through a bag in a week.

    Does anyone know if there is someone local other than rentokill I could contact or even someone with a ferrit for hire!

    Many thanks

    wud ye not put down a rat trap no? look on the internet what it says about rats and breeding, when you kill one rat the group replaces that one by ten apparantly, so keep up the baiting and traps as long as you can. Had similar problem not so long ago.

    Unfortunately i have a A HUGE fear of them, even putting the bate down is a big deal for me.
    Did it take you long yo fix the problem


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    #4
    spankmemunkey
    Registered Users Posts: 2,055 ✭✭✭spankmemunkey


    well i havent seen them for ages to be honest, and a neighbour has cats so that sorted it, I have heard of people breaking up glass to small piece and putting it in food for them, but i have never done that myself, seems a tad extreme. you can also get those little cages they run in and get trapped but you wouldn't be able for that going by your last comments


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    #5
    KevIRL
    Registered Users Posts: 39,546 ✭✭✭✭KevIRL


    You have a rat in the kitchen? What are you gonna do?


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    #6
    Squidvicious
    Registered Users Posts: 479 ✭✭Squidvicious


    Poison will certainly work if you stick with it. One question that I would ask is whether there's anything nearby that is bringing them near you? I don't know where you are, but if there's a lot of undergrowth near you, this could be providing cover for them. Generally speaking, rats don't like bare, clear ground.

    You could try the ultra-sound repellents also. I've never used it, but I've heard that they work. I think you can get them in Morris's

    One suggestion. I appreciate that You want to get rid of one undesirable form of wildlife, but do think about the other forms of wildlife too. Try to make sure that only rats can get the poison and not birds. Put the poison under cover, e.g. old pipes and not out in the open. Poisons do a lot of harm to the environment. I appreciate that you need to get rid of the rats and poison is a necessary evil but not at the expense of innocent birdies!


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    #7
    kayevajo
    Registered Users Posts: 241 ✭✭kayevajo


    I was advised to put the bate box near the bottom of the decking where he felt they may be coming in and out of. So its on the ground with a block on top of it. Could birds get in at that I wonder?

    There is a house at the back of me that is vacant and the grass is very high and hasn't Been cut in a good while.


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    #8
    kryogen
    Closed Accounts Posts: 25,953 ✭✭✭✭kryogen


    Where are you based if you don't mind me asking? And are you sure its rats and not mice?

    Traps, lots of traps and poison if you want, but traps, good ones, hyper sensitive neck breaking traps.

    Also, do you know anyone with a ferret or two?


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    #9
    kayevajo
    Registered Users Posts: 241 ✭✭kayevajo


    I'm in ferrybank

    Tbh I don't know if it is rats. I'm only assuming that it is! I put ferret dropping down on monday but they have taken most of the bate since then


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    #10
    johndoe99
    Registered Users Posts: 1,880 ✭✭✭johndoe99


    Had a Rat problem last month in my coal shed, he was eating all the dry dog feed. I removed all the feed and put down a rat trap with some meat as bait. He was dead the next morning.

    Poison is all well and good, but if you have a huge fear of rats, it would be better to know that they are dead, cause they may eat the poison and die elsewhere and you'll be left wondering if there dead or not.


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    #11
    Squidvicious
    Registered Users Posts: 479 ✭✭Squidvicious


    kayevajo wrote: »
    I was advised to put the bate box near the bottom of the decking where he felt they may be coming in and out of. So its on the ground with a block on top of it. Could birds get in at that I wonder?

    There is a house at the back of me that is vacant and the grass is very high and hasn't Been cut in a good while.

    If it's in a box, I'd say it's unlikely that birds with get in.

    There's probably not much you can do about next door, but it doesn't sound like you're in a place which would attract rats - the biggest point of attraction for rats is food of some kind. My guess(though I'm not an expert) is that your problem won't last too long once your poison works - as I say, the main issue would be whether something is attracting them to a particular place and hopefully, you don't have that problem. AFAIK, rodents will sometimes try to enter houses for shelter at the start of winter, but the poison should see off this intruder.


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    #12
    rozeboosje
    Closed Accounts Posts: 857 ✭✭✭rozeboosje


    9a34783000ec0b2905a2ed38ac32684ceca95ba067c66b7dfae7042bd2372f3a.jpg


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    #13
    wmpdd3
    Registered Users Posts: 9,624 ✭✭✭wmpdd3


    I'm in ferry bank and I've never seen one, I have always had a cat.

    I have friends 200m away and they have had them in their garden shed, eating padding on furniture etc.

    I'm terrified of them, I grew up in the country and saw farmers with infestations of them.


    My 2 year old loves being in the garden and I'd freak if there were rats out there.

    The house next door is also vacant, I'd be worried about overgrown grass too.

    If can borrow a cat that lives close by, the cat should be able to return to their house with out running away.


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    #14
    Digital Society
    Registered Users Posts: 972 ✭✭✭Digital Society


    wmpdd3 wrote: »
    I'm in ferry bank and I've never seen one, I have always had a cat.

    I have friends 200m away and they have had them in their garden shed, eating padding on furniture etc.

    I'm terrified of them, I grew up in the country and saw farmers with infestations of them.


    My 2 year old loves being in the garden and I'd freak if there were rats out there.

    The house next door is also vacant, I'd be worried about overgrown grass too.

    If can borrow a cat that lives close by, the cat should be able to return to their house with out running away.

    Just dont let the child eat out the back and dont leave anything whatsoever edible or scented out there that they will smell a mile away.

    For anyone else a rat will kill a cat no problem if cornered. Would have to be a big ugly Tomcat to get them. Couple of Jack Russel or similar type dogs are better. Tear them up in seconds.

    Ferrybank has a lot of rats because of the water levels and that monstrosity of a building down by the quay. Literally millions in there breeding and feeding off the river.


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    #15
    rozeboosje
    Closed Accounts Posts: 857 ✭✭✭rozeboosje


    Digital Society wrote: »
    For anyone else a rat will kill a cat no problem if cornered.

    My cat is a pretty petite female, but it has deposited dead rats for us to admire on a number of occasions. Big barstewards and all. But, admittedly, she isn't a pampered house cat. She's streetwise.


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    #16
    CardBordWindow
    Registered Users Posts: 3,196 ✭✭✭CardBordWindow


    OP, are you using poison blocks in the bait stations?
    Are they tied down, or can the rats take them out?
    Are you replacing them once they are gone?


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    #17
    kayevajo
    Registered Users Posts: 241 ✭✭kayevajo


    CardBordWindow wrote: »
    OP, are you using poison blocks in the bait stations?
    Are they tied down, or can the rats take them out?
    Are you replacing them once they are gone?


    Poison pellets I got in woodies I replaced the ones taken not much movement from the bait box this morning.

    The box is under a concrete brick.


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    #18
    CardBordWindow
    Registered Users Posts: 3,196 ✭✭✭CardBordWindow


    kayevajo wrote: »
    Poison pellets I got in woodies I replaced the ones taken not much movement from the bait box this morning.

    The box is under a concrete brick.
    Rats have a habit of taking food away and storing it. If you replace the poison right after it is taken, the odds are it'll just be the same rat bringing the poison away before the first piece takes effect. You're only wasting poison in this case. (I once found a dead rat, beside 1 and a half pieces of poison) Only replace the poison every 10-14 days.

    If you can, drill a hole in the pellet and tie it in place. That way, the rats have to eat it.


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    #19
    kayevajo
    Registered Users Posts: 241 ✭✭kayevajo


    the bait has remained pretty much untouched the last couple of days

    so i dont know if there is anything still there or he has gone?


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    #20
    flossy1
    Registered Users Posts: 67 ✭✭flossy1


    go to local Co-OP and get a box of STORM ,tie in down with wire or they will bring it away


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    #21
    Fugs!!
    Registered Users Posts: 190 ✭✭Fugs!!


    We had a few problems with rats and mice ourselves. Don't call rentokil they're useless. We had a rat in our attic and my wife was terrified and stayed in my mother's for a week.

    I did lots of research and found some simple steps to keep them away.

    1. Block up any holes you see leading into your house. Ie. Under doors, cracks in plaster, openings around drains etc.

    2. Bait. I place poison in short (18" long) pieces of wavin pipe on the outskirts of my garden. Form August tthrough to January do this once a month. Make it so only a rat or mouse can fit into the pipe. I fix the poison to the inside of the pipe using tech7 as this forces them to eat it and not store it.

    3. Traps. Good snap traps are good with peanut butter as bait.

    4. Make sure there is no way they can get onto your roof. There is lots of ways in on a rooftop. Block your downpipes with steel wire mesh.

    5. If you get a cat(we did) or two you should not need to worry. Female cats are better than Tom cats.


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    #22
    rozeboosje
    Closed Accounts Posts: 857 ✭✭✭rozeboosje


    Fugs!! wrote: »
    Female cats are better than Tom cats.

    AND you'll be able to contribute to the Internet's never ending supply of LOLcats


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    #23
    wmpdd3
    Registered Users Posts: 9,624 ✭✭✭wmpdd3


    Oh, god I have no hope of a night's sleep.

    I dont get the feeding off the river part or how they are getting food from the flour mills?


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    #24
    Spins
    Registered Users Posts: 400 ✭✭Spins


    We had a rat in the house last weekend.
    Presumed it was mice and set a few mousetraps Friday night but Saturday morning two of the traps had gone off and no sign of any dead mice. There was a big banana beside one of the traps with a big chunk out of it. Then I knew it was a rat. No mouse could have dragged this banana up to where it was.
    Went to Homebase, got two big rat traps, basically bigger, stronger mouse traps. They were Rentokil branded. Baited them with peanut butter. Put them in the same places just before lunchtime Saturday, then headed in to Winterval for a few hours and when we got home for tea, there was the bugger, in the same trap where the banana had been deposited. Put down three trays of poison, again Rentokil branded, along the base of walls in the garage and outside the back and side of the house. Reset the traps again. haven't heard a peep since, granted it's only Tuesday but fingers crossed.
    When in Homebase, the rat and mouse trap area looked like it had been ransacked and both days I had been in there, Friday to get the mousetraps and Saturday to get rat traps, there were a few people looking at the various traps and poisons etc. I reckon the recent cold spell is driving them indoors.
    Good luck catching the buggers.


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