Rodent in the attic

Heard some strange scratching noises above my bedroom ceiling the other day. Have found some rodent droppings up there, so it seems I have an unwelcome visitor in my attic space.

I was assuming it was a mouse, so got a couple of traps from B&Q which are pre-baited and set them up there this evening.

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However, after doing some googling, I'm now worried its probably a rat.

So, will these do the trick you think?

If it is a rat, I understand these are clever little blighters. If they don't take to the existing bait, how long should I leave it before trying something differant (I understand peanut butter is supposed to be effective)?

Rodent catching is not exactly my forte

Best Wishes

Simon T

Reply to
Simon T
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A rat will laugh at those. Get rat traps - similar, just bigger and stronger. Peanut butter is good, but be aware that, unlike mice, rats will take a good few days to approach something new,

Avoid doing what my mate did and try to shoot them (squirrels actually) with an air rifle. He broke a lot of slates.

Poison works, but the stuff you can readily buy isn't that great. Get a pro in if you can afford to, sort it, and move on.

Cheers

Reply to
Clive Arthur

Post pictures of the droppings (with something to give scale). Mouse droppings are small rice-like pellets, rat droppings are much fatter.

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

Beware of the rat dying somewhere inaccessible in the loft - eg under floorboards. They smell abominable. We had one die of natural causes and it was then I discovered that the previous owners of the house had *glued* the floorboards to the joists as well as screwing them down. It's not really feasible to cut a hole in every chipboard sheet in order to pull out the loft insulation to see if the rat is in there, whereas unscrewing them one by one would be tedious but non-destructive.

Fortunately I found the rat fairly quickly under one of the boards near the eaves, and *just* within arm's reach so I could pull the well-rotted corpse out (hand in a plastic bag). It took another week before the lingering smell of decomposition had gone, from any fluids that had oozed out onto the plasterboard.

Reply to
NY

So, should have bought this instead then?

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Best Wishes Simon T

Reply to
Simon T

Rat and mouse droppings are a different size, Google should give you the dimensions. I use the "large tea bag" type poison from farm shops in inaccessible spaces (or in proper bait boxes where other livestock might find it).

Reply to
newshound

It's not powerful enough for rats. A rat trap is much bigger.

I understand that the trick with rats is to bait the trap, but not set it, for several days. Rats will not take the bait until they are satisfied there is no problem with it. Once the bait starts being taken, then after a few days the trap can be set. But the larger trap used for rats can also be triggered by mice. Also, be aware that a rat trap is quite powerful enough to break finger bones.

Reply to
Jeff Layman

Rodent traps that can catch them live unharmed are easy to improvise. Youtube will illustrate. Drop the rat off somewhere far away. If you use poisons etc you're liable to be left with a disgusting smell for a good while.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

jam, chocolate, peanut butter, not cheese.

Reply to
tabbypurr

Yes, but be aware that whilst a mouse trap will give you a very nasty nip if you make a mistake with a rat trap it can break your fingers. You need to feed the rat for a while before actually setting it. Rats are smart so you only get at most a couple of goes before they understand that an armed rat trap is to bve avoided.

Farm grade rodent bait is the most effective solution although it can be a bit of a nuisance if they crawl away to die somewhere inaccessible and then decompose. OK in outbuildings though. At this time of year there is a good chance they will dessicate before they start to smell really bad.

I favour nutella as bait on traps and so do the local rodents YMMV

Reply to
Martin Brown

On 21:19 13 Nov 2018, Simon T wrote in news:psff5d$qfg$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

Another possibility is a squirrel, which is what we once had in our attic.

Reply to
Pamela

If poisoning rats, split a banana hollow it out a bit and put the poison pellets in it, they love it.

Reply to
FMurtz

Much more effective than cheese!

Reply to
S Viemeister

Or, go to the many 'pro' forums run by 'pros' who will gladly give you advice. I looked for links and found these.

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...Ray.

Reply to
RayL12

Cheese is probably the least effective bait.

After catching the rodent(s) continue to bait the traps. There may be very young rats still around after the parents have been eliminated and these could start looking for easily available food a few days afterwards. The very young seem to be more easily caught in the traps.

Reply to
alan_m

Years ago, I dumped my heacy camera bag inside the dining room after a n expedition and dint use it again for several months.

In that time I noticed a really Bad Smell. I couldnt work out where it was comeing from but after about 2 minths it faded.

A month or so later I was going to Take Pictures again (remember how expenbsive film was) and grabbed the bag...to find a dead mouse - pretty big ;un too - underneath.

The cat used to play with them, and the bank voles too, and one must have hidden there and died..

The smell goes eventually. 6-10 weeks

Rat droppings are ovoid, about 0.5-1cm long.

Mouse droppings are as someone else said, like large rice grains.

Its amazing how big mice get and how much noise they make.

Ive had many a mouse in the house but never a rat. THEY live in the garden

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

One of those wildlife camera traps set up in the loft can be useful not just to see what the rodent is but give an idea of the route it is taking so any trap can be placed near the run and any entry/exit point can be dealt with. Unless there is a food source in the loft itself they must be leaving to feed somewhere.

A litter picker is a useful tool to retrieve one that has died in some place awkward,that?s the pincers type not a spiky stick which could be messy.

GH

Reply to
Marland

Minor update.

Judging by the droppings, I'd say its probably a rat. Someone mentioned the possibility of a squirrel, however given that 2 out of 3 times I thought I heard something during the last week or so, was during the night, I think its most likely to be a rat as they tend to be nocturnal.

There's nothing to eat up there and didn't hear anything last night, so wondering if the rat may have moved on? The traps haven't been touched, but then I understand rats tend to be wary of "new" traps for a few days.

As an aside, I know people suggest checking the drains for activity of rats as they can crawl up the soil pipe and pop out of vent at the top and get in through the eaves. Well I checked the manhole in my back yard this morning and found the drains blocked (Anglian water are coming to sort them out later).

Not sure if thats purely coincidental? First time I thought I heard something was last week, fairly sure my drains would be overflowing if they'd been blocked since then (and hence why the rats were coming out)?

Anyway, going out to buy some proper rat traps later and some nutella and leave them in place.

Reply to
Simon T

That is not much help. 1. where is their food coming from. If you can find this then stop it being available they will probably move on. 2. poison the ones you still have. One needs tort to find the nest, as poisoning is good, but you do not want the smell of them decomposing, a very good bit of bio warfare for humans that smell. 3. Make sure they are not bats. If they are you may need to call in an expert to see if they are a protected species.

If its squirrels, good luck they are probably the craftiest most persistent bar stewareds out there, they look so cuddly but can be a real menace as the simply chew their way in. Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

I think it sounds connected.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

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