Rats! a tail of woe, probably pointless

[Ray]

Talking to people in the local shop today and was surprised to hear that more than a few have had problems with rats over recent weeks. The local vicar has recently had a pest control company out to eradicate the problem at the vicarage. The pest control person informed him that this probably occurred as a result of a major water pipe burst about a mile away as the crow flies (or the rat runs). See:

burst occurred 3 months ago and I first noticed the problem about six weeks ago, so the timing could be correct. The site of the original burst is still closed and a temporary road has been created over adjacent fields Have spoken with the council who 'are not aware of any widespread problem and do not offer a free pest control service' but they are kindly sending me a list of approved pest control companies in the area. I'm fairly sure that I am now rid of the creatures at least for the time being.

My house has lost 2/3rds of its electrical circuits. The remaining 1/3rd is fortunately much more modern, an entirely separate system with its own cu and goes upwards rather than underfloor. The place is a mess of extension leads at present to keep essentials running.

Fortunately a lifelong friend and qualified (up to date) electrician is coming to start rewiring next Monday. This will give me the weekend to clear 25 years worth of accumulated clutter from the loft, 2 bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom and conservatory/utility area.

What joy !!

On a brighter note, the old place is long overdue for a rewire anyway and a good opportunity to update the place a bit

Rats!

[Mary Fisher]

...

It's cathartic! Look on it as an opportunity. Once the stuff's gone it's gone, no more despairing about it.

I promise, it happened to me!

Indeed.

Everything has a purpose :-)

Mary

[Phil L]

This is where you are mistaken, they burrowed under an 18 inch deep by 2 ft concrete footing into my greenhouse (and before anyone remarks about the overkill WRT footings, they were already there, we just demolished a shed and built a GH on top) So I dug down to the bottom of the concrete and inserted (with a large hammer) roofing slates stood on their end to make the total; burrowing depth about 2ft, they got in the following night.

The council 'ratman' came and put down 3kgs of poison blocks down (around

75) in both our greenhouses this spring, they were all gone within 4 hours.

It's almost a certainty

Rats ar harder to eradicate than many people think...for starters, they become resistant to poisons quite easily, they are far too clever to walk into a trap (you may get one, but after that you may as well throw the trap in the bin) and they won't go into somewhere unless there's a way out other than where they came in - that is to say, if they dig under your floor, the first thing they will do is dig another tunnel out in another location, then another, then another. You need to find out where they are coming in, and I do mean *IN*, if you look aroun the banks of the stream, or along a hedge or some other overgrown area within say 10 yards of your property, you will see their 'entrance', this needs to be blocked *pronto*, it's usually best to shove a hosepipe down it and leave it running for 20 minutes or so, this will make the interior like mud, and I have found that mud keeps them out, theyu cannot dig in it and also any pups or adults down there stand a good chance of being drowned, when the hose is running, take a long stick and keep ramming it down the hole, this will help cave in the sides and also wash away their smells, which obviously act as a beacon for other rats to take up residence....you may find that there are half a dozen holes, they will all be interlinked and they all need the same treatment.

[John Rumm]

You could simply abandon the wiring under the floor and do all the new wiring under the first floor ceiling, with drops down the walls in chases to the downstairs sockets. Much the same as most modern places with concrete ground floors are wired.