Something in my ceiling

I have a two story colonial house in upstate NY. Something is running around the first floor ceiling, occaisionally scratching. I have mouse

traps and poison all over the cellar. I had a pest control guy in 2 weeks ago. He put some poison in the attic. He told me, which I did, to cut the outside bushes back from the house. He said if that didn't do it, he wanted to cut a hole in the living room wall and put a trap in there.

I have looked around the base of the house and tried to plug any holes.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't want holes in my living room walls.

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Reply to
BobE
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If they are Norway rats, they will probably get in someway through the roof. I diligently cleared away all debris, dirt, and "stuff" from around my house when a couple of rats decided to move into my 50 year old house.

The exterminator found small holes in my gable vents and even smaller ones in the roof details that those buggers were using. Set up some snappers with peanut butter after putting sheetmetal over the holes and now no critters.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

Reply to
Hushup

Holes can be patched Bob. It's usually better to take the advice of the professionals than it is to try to circumvent them by getting free advice from a newsgroup. Advice as they say, is worth what you pay for it. Sure - any number of ideas can be thrown on the table, and maybe even some of them might work, but in general the more "brain power" that goes into this type of question, the more bizarre the suggestions, and the more of a waste of ether they become. I only say this because you've already gotten the advice from the pest control guy, it's not like you're completely unaware and looking for help.

Having said that, I guess the only question I might ask (and I'm guessing the pest control guy already asked this...), is do you have any way to gain access to the second floor joists? Maybe by pulling up floor boards upstairs, or even by cutting a section of floor out?

OK - another question - How old is the house? Older homes often have balloon partitions and critters can freely roam within the walls. Squirrels can come in through the sofitts and once inside, they can travel to their heart's content. Is there an attic? Have you put poison up there?

The net of it is that you have to get the poison where the critters travel. If you can identify areas besides inside your ceiling, then maybe you can get them there. If not, then you're back to square one.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

You know, I take issue with your broad slam against advice found in usenet. An awful lot of professionals and very knowledgable people have participated in the various newsgroups over the years. By far, some of the best advice you can get on ANY topic can be had with a little usenet searching via Google Groups. That's not to say you won't get bogus advice from someone who doesn't know what they're talking about... but hell, you get that in the real world too ;-)

-Joe Barta

Reply to
Joe Barta

OK Joe, I'm sorry then. It was not a slam. Read what I wrote. I specifically said "it's usually better to take the advice of the professional than it is to try to circumvent them by getting free advice from a newsgroup". The OP had the advice from a pro. He stated that his objection to it was that he didn't want to cut a hole in the wall. So - he came to a newsgroup - a woodworking newsgroup, to inquire about pest control. Granted, and I agree that there is a lot of OT advice to be had here that can be quite good, given the backgrounds of folks here, who are generally here because of a common interest in woodworking. That said, I stand by my statement that in the face of professional advice (which I think is pretty reasonable advice based on the info provided), to come to an unrelated newsgroup looking for better ideas.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

Put one of these in your attic:

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Reply to
Dhakala

Had the same problem and was given the same advice. However, I was lucky - was sitting in the patio one night and saw some movement - was able to see a rat squeezing in thru a hole in the wire mesh over a small vent. Put some rat poison right outside the vent the next AM and closed the vent. I guess when they came back the next night, they ate the rat poison because I was finding dead rats for a week. Fortunately, none died IN the house - that would have been quite a smell. DAMHIKT.

If you don't want to take his advice, you have to look over every inch of your house from top(roof) to bottom ( basement) for any hole small enough for a rat to get through.

Good luck!

Vic

Reply to
Vic Baron

A shotgun and waiting for the scratching comes to mind.

Oh, never mind.

;-)

Reply to
no(SPAM)vasys

Where can I get the WifEx product? ;)

Reply to
George Max

| Where can I get the WifEx product? ;)

*Warning* - the WifEx product generally costs 10% more than you have. [ DAMHIKT ]

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

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Reply to
Morris Dovey

Reply to
Sweet Sawdust

Well hell die in the attic or the wall and your house will stink...Sounds like a poor and expensive strategy.

My mother had a dead one fall through her ceiling into her bed while she slept. The dog ran, ROFL. I think she still has flashbacks.

They can get in through foundation sometimes too if a wall has shifted. If its making all that noise then its likely not a mouse but either a big rat or a possum, a coon, or squirrel.

I wouldnt take it if I were you. I'd don a bat, and a helmet and crawl up there and reclaim my house!

Reply to
dnoyeB

Might be squirrels or racoons. Look for a hole in the soffit. If you find one, a baited trap nailed on the roof near the hole works. Cheapest canned cat food you can find works for racoon. Sometimes though, you catch a neighborhood cat first. If you have a basement, check there for tracks. We had a racoon set up house in the attic, but he made trips to the basement alongside the vent for the furnace. Found the tracks on a dusty tool box.

Reply to
Lobby Dosser

So far, I have had 2 pest control guys over. One wanted to put traps around the outside of the house. The other wants to cut a hole in my living room wall. If I get a third guy over, he will probably want to do something else.

Reply to
BobE

Same solution I recommended for rodents. :-)

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I don't think that electronic pest repeller works on snakes. Ultrasound is the main repellant, and snakes don't have ears.

Your cat may be deaf, too.

Reply to
Dhakala

If it's been scratching, you already have most of a hole in the ceiling. Probe around the area where the scratching occured and you might poke right through.

So complete the job, get the mouse out of there, figure out where he got in, and patch.

I had the same problem. I was surprised just how large an area the mouse had scratched out without actually break>

Reply to
Mike Berger

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