Rodents in attic - Rentokil

Snow Garden

Stigura wrote: »

Focus on the realities: Check the batteries in ye fire / smoke alarms. Then, if ye have electrical wiring up there? Buy a couple more and put Them in that attic.


How long before I'm forced to tell " Andy's Story " to you people :rolleyes:

I don't follow - how would smoke alarms help?

Please tell Andy's story!

Effects

Yeah, I wan to hear Andy's story as well.

I had mice chew a whole load of cables in an attic of mine.
I presume the smoke alarm in the attic is in case the damaged wiring causes a fire in the attic.

Snow Garden

Effects wrote: »

Yeah, I wan to hear Andy's story as well.

I had mice chew a whole load of cables in an attic of mine.
I presume the smoke alarm in the attic is in case the damaged wiring causes a fire in the attic.

Yeah I thought might be a possibility. I wonder do they eat cables for fun or only when there is no other food source.

Stigura

Effects wrote: »

I presume the smoke alarm in the attic is in case the damaged wiring causes a fire in the attic.

And here we have the winner of tonights star prize! Precisely! The danger of rodents in the roof space isn't that they'll drop down on ye sleeping form and ear ye face. It's the wires up there.

They start a fire up there? Ye'd want to know about it pdq. Why wait till ye laying beneath a raging inferno and the one outside ye bedroom door finally figures something's not right.

Andy's story? LMAO! It's a bit long. Ye'd need to be sitting comfortably. I have it written out, somewhere.

Stigura

Snow Garden wrote: »

I wonder do they eat cables for fun or only when there is no other food source.

They do it through inherent need. Their name's a clue. Rodent? I'm given to believe it derives from the Latin, " Rodo ", meaning " I Gnaw ". That's what I read, as a boy, anyway.

It's their teeth, see? Front teeth never stop growing. So, it's a constant thing to keep using them and so keeping them worn down so they'll fit in the mouth. Life or death, at the end of the day. Trouble is, how that can translate when they've up there with your wires

Johnny Storm

My sympathies to the OP and to anyone else that is having this problem
I had the little bastards in my roof. It was literally freaking me out. I can hardly bring myself to even type this out, that's how bad it was. I'm not kidding you.
Plus one on the trail cam to identify whats up there
Also plus one on be very careful with the poison, as noted if one dies somewhere you cant get at, the smell is awful and then you may get the swarm of flies.
Also, apparently they may not be feeding on anything up in your attic, it may just be a safe warm place that they like.
At first I was in denial, eventually I learnt way more about rats than I ever wanted to know ......
Anyway the solution for me was:
I put a rat flap (https://ratflap.com/) in the sewer, that reduced the rats but did not get rid of them
I then called in call in a local guy, he did an excellent survey and put non-poison bait in various places so he could see where the rats were.
He identified that rats were also in the surface water drain. He put a second rat flap in there. That was two years ago and not one single rat since then. (fingers crossed)
I think I had 2 or 3 visits from yer man (about €80 each) plus the cost of two rat flaps (about 150 each afaicr). That was the best money I ever spent.

Stigura

Johnny Storm wrote: »

I then called in call in a local guy ~ excellent.

Now we're talking! And, please, be sure to big that guy up to all and sundry, Johnny. We rely on doing a damn good job, then having people tell others

Reputation is Everything.

dogmatix

I’ve had a roof rat problem for a number of years, but finally got rid of the roof rats last February 2019 and have been free of them since (fingers crossed). There are currently a trio of large rats in my back garden who are proving to be very risk-averse to my traps but I suspect they are the larger brown rats so my roof should be safe (I hope).

I’d be thinking of getting an air rifle for the garden triplets, if I could afford one! And i’ve heard that if you can attract a fox into your property you’ll be rat free fairly quickly.

At the time I did hire a pest control company but they proved pretty ineffectual, they could not even identify the access points for the little sob’s. As others have suggested above, a good local based professional would probably be a better idea.

Here is what I did to get rid of them – it might help others.

Step 1 – identify the enemy.
Roof rats are smaller and like to climb. If you have a lot of noise in the attic it is most likely these guys. The larger brown rats prefer ground floor accommodation but have been known to climb.

Step 2 – identify where they are getting in.
Find out how they are getting in – do a detailed and careful survey all around your house, especially at ground level. Don’t ignore a very small hole because you think they can’t possibly be getting in that way. For any small holes you find, fill them with loose soil or sand. This is not to block the holes, it is just to find out if the hole is in use – if the rats are using them they will dig it out fairly quickly.

Also check for loose tiles or panels above ground level. Check for gaps or breaks in the brickwork of walls. Check the guttering and pipes. You could try filling guttering and pipes with paper or other loose material to see if it is disturbed later (this might not work during wet weather of course).

Step 3 – get them out.
When you have identified the access point or points, put down down lots of baited traps – the more the merrier. I used the modern snap traps – the ones with the serrated edges. The old fashioned bar traps are not foolproof (I actually witnessed a badly injured rat trying to wriggle out from under a snap-bar trap). If you are to use these type of traps outdoors near the identified access points, I’d place them under a box or similar or only place them between sunset and sunrise so as to prevent curious birds getting killed.

Avoid poison bait inside the house – last January I started noticing bluebottles and flies inside the house and guessed one of the little sob’s must have died somewhere in the walls. When you are sure they are gone you can move onto step 4 – but there is no point in blocking up access points until they are gone as you will get rats dying inside the house or panicking and damaging the interior in their quest to get out. A couple of quiet nights and it should be safe to assume they have cleared out, so move onto to the next step. But only a few nights, as I have found after 1 week or so the next wave of rats will try to move in.

Step 4 – block the holes.
Block the holes with cement mixed with steel wool/fine copper wire etc. Rats hate biting through fine metal wire and will avoid. When blocking the holes spread the cement well beyond the hole or they will simply tunnel under it.

Step 5 – maintain a constant vigil all year round.
Inspect the exterior of your property every few days for signs of disturbance.

Demosthenese

Seems its more difficult to get a local handyman with the required skill. Having rang multiple people today most of which recommended.... They listen to my issue and basically push me on! I'm not paying someone to lay traps which I already have done.

I'm getting the "it's very hard to decipher where they get in"!

One thing they are all recommending is the cctv route to see if I've a drain issue. This is my initial concern as I can't find any exterior access point. So am going to get cctv done and then if nothing found maybe a rat flap (150 euro to get fitted) but seems a good model.

Unlike the post above we never hear anything at night. Especially since I've caught 2 of them. But I'm not convinced there were just 2.....

If anyone has a local hero in lucan/leixlip area that will do a survey. Find entrance points. Block it up. Clear out attic. Investigate drains.... Kill rats.... By all means message or post. Thanks.

Xwebstar

Stigura wrote: »

They do it through inherent need. Their name's a clue. Rodent? I'm given to believe it derives from the Latin, " Rodo ", meaning " I Gnaw ". That's what I read, as a boy, anyway.

It's their teeth, see? Front teeth never stop growing. So, it's a constant thing to keep using them and so keeping them worn down so they'll fit in the mouth. Life or death, at the end of the day. Trouble is, how that can translate when they've up there with your wires

That would be the first thought as an electrician ,damage to wiring and of course water leaks too. I don't recall any fires.

They would be responsible for breakdown of industrial equipment too.

A regular spot to find them is inside distribution boards(fuseboxes ) where they get electrocuted and the back of cookers ditto electrocuted

Stigura

British Fire Service are on record as saying they attribute 75% of " Fires of unknown cause " to rodent activity.

I'm neither a Spark or a Fire Fighter. Just one of those snippets I've picked up through my trade

Stigura

Demosthenese wrote: »

Seems its more difficult to get a local handyman with the required skill.

Sorry. It's no good. This has been bugging me, all day

That'll be because a Handyman is a decent DIYer. I had a Handyman install my shower tray and glass. But, when it came to the Electric Shower?! Sod That! I wanted the best qualified Electrician in Leitrim! Electricity, Water, My Body ....? :eek: Not leaving That to some bloke a bit more skilled in DIY than I am.

When I constantly harp on about a 'Local one man band', I simply mean an independent outfit. Someone not being pressured to sell ye more and more, at ridiculous prices by his multi million, international household name, parent company.

Some of the best lads I've known were Ex Big Boys. Joined up. Took the heat. Got the training. Kicked boxes, miserably for a few years. But, learned the ropes. Then, got the hell out of Dodge and set up on their own.

No Window Cleaners, these boys. Extremely well trained and experienced Tradesmen. They haven't just watched a thing on you chube :rolleyes:

Xwebstar

Moisture and cold may cause nuisance alarms in the attic with smokes fitted

The risk of fire will be greatly reduced when the new rules come in and all domestic circuits are RCD protected, the main risk would be the lighting circuit in T&E atm

Stigura

Lighting circuit? Ye mean the wires that run along the joists and go through the ceilings? If so, that's a bitch! Because that's the ones, I found, they tend to go for most

ALL my wiring is in wall / ceiling mounted conduit. With a tin over thatch roof? I honestly don't think I could even live here, if I still had live wires up there. Seriously.

Is there not something that can be done about all this? Like, my Spark assured me that, the way he'd set my shower up, there's no way I could get lit up in there. Surely what ever he did there could be done for all the wires in a house

Stigura

Here ye go! As the thread's title mentions Rento?

Back in the day, one of the lads, in england, grabbed This shot! I've left it full sized, so ye can get a good look at it?

He said he went in and left his card at reception! We were in Tears!!!

Deagol

Stigura wrote: »

Here ye go! As the thread's title mentions Rento?

Back in the day, one of the lads, in england, grabbed This shot! I've left it full sized, so ye can get a good look at it?

He said he went in and left his card at reception! We were in Tears!!!

You're on about the mole hills i take it?

Stigura

Yeah!!! So wrong, on so many levels!

worded

Very effective home made rat posion that won’t harm other animals afterwards

https://m.wikihow.com/Make-Rat-Poison

worded

You can catch and release rats. Has to be 100 metres from the capture site

Here is a device

Stigura

worded wrote: »

Here is a device

I shouldn't be laughing. But, on a 'hunting' site, years ago, someone slung up a photo of a live rat which had been launched into the air. Was funny AF! Little legs all splayed out and an expression of utter " WTF?! " about it!

Oh dear; I'm enjoying my Jameson ration now. Don't get me started! LOL!

liquoriceall

Hi all so here I am back again with my original problem. So I believed at all times I had rats in my attic but nobody else believed it until yesterday as finally after months I have a dead one.
So I have poison down months and this is the first one I have found, I also have traps down and have caught none. I was using peanut butter but as of last night I changed to meat so hopefully that will solve that.
The question is how are they getting in? I've had a builder in with no joy. I personally feel it's through the sewers so I am wondering is it worth getting a survey done and a rat flap fitted? I had a broken sewer under the patio last year and I am associating all of this with that but people keep telling me it can't be?

granturismo

liquoriceall wrote: »

...
So I have poison down months and this is the first one I have found, I also have traps down and have caught none. I was using peanut butter but as of last night I changed to meat so hopefully that will solve that.
T...

Can I suggest if you have a water tank in the attic - you check it for dead rodents. The poison causes dehydration before they die, you dont want dead rodents in your shower water.

liquoriceall

granturismo wrote:

Can I suggest if you have a water tank in the attic - you check it for dead rodents. The poison causes dehydration before they die, you dont want dead rodents in your shower water.

Or tooth brushing water.......
It's horrendous

vicwatson

liquoriceall wrote: »

Hi all so here I am back again with my original problem. So I believed at all times I had rats in my attic but nobody else believed it until yesterday as finally after months I have a dead one.
So I have poison down months and this is the first one I have found, I also have traps down and have caught none. I was using peanut butter but as of last night I changed to meat so hopefully that will solve that.
The question is how are they getting in? I've had a builder in with no joy. I personally feel it's through the sewers so I am wondering is it worth getting a survey done and a rat flap fitted? I had a broken sewer under the patio last year and I am associating all of this with that but people keep telling me it can't be?

Do you have decking or a covered area over/around Water outflow pipes?

liquoriceall

vicwatson wrote:

Do you have decking or a covered area over/around Water outflow pipes?

No but my pipe from the ensuite comes under a bedroom, down the back wall and under the patio before linking with the rest of the sewer