Rats in the attic - pest controllers

[Brains]

As a London Landlord we have and annual battle with mice in the Victorian properties most winters.

The most effective solutions we have found are:

• Remove all food sources, a mouse can live on a single grain of rice for a day
  
• Put down Neosorexa Gold, and keep it topped up. (Purchasable at a Farmers Warehouse, not your average DIY place)
  
• And get the property 'Mouse Proofed'. A mouse can get through any hole big enough to poke a pencil into. There are a few companies that will do Mouse proofing, but basically it involves stuffing wire wool and mastic into every crevice they can find including under the bath and behind the sink. It's very effective, comes with a 2 year guarantee, but it's not cheap

The same rules apply to Rates, but in addition get all the drains looked at

 

[Pale Rider]

Our cat killed two rats recently.
I must admit I was quite surprised he took them on

Good effort, the cat's risen in my estimation.

Having said that, there are terriers which can kill hundreds of rats, and that's before dinner.

http://www.thefield.co.uk/country-house/ratting-with-terriers-26835

 

[Mrs M]

Good effort, the cat's risen in my estimation.

Having said that, there are terriers which can kill hundreds of rats, and that's before dinner.

http://www.thefield.co.uk/country-house/ratting-with-terriers-26835

That's an impressive trailer full of rats .

 

[Spinney]

Council it is - £35 for an advisory visit, then £70 per treatment (which is up to 2 visits), but if treatment taken up on the advisory visit the £35 can be deducted from it. Sounds pretty reasonable to me.

Thanks all!

 

[classic33]

Well, no - according to the council guy you need a special licence to use the good stuff.

He is correct. TPTB have really tightened up on the sale and control of poisons.

Incorrect, that doesn't come in until June next year.

 

[classic33]

Council it is - £35 for an advisory visit, then £70 per treatment (which is up to 2 visits), but if treatment taken up on the advisory visit the £35 can be deducted from it. Sounds pretty reasonable to me.

Thanks all!

They'll be using the same stuff as is available to yourself. Different packaging, but the same stuff. No-where near as strong as the farming stuff.

 

[Spinney]

They'll be using the same stuff as is available to yourself. Different packaging, but the same stuff. No-where near as strong as the farming stuff.

Well, I'll ask them about that.

 

[Debade]

Pest control is much less about poison strength than understanding pest behavior. First, make sure you have rats and not mice or vice versa. You can tell by the droppings. Rats are shy and cautious. Mice are curious. Rats will take longer to try a poison. Rats travel in a consistent pattern preferring to rub their bodies against a wall. If you have a very sever problem, you will see the grease mark they leave behind. Mice will experiment. They will not follow a typical pattern. All of this may help for where you would place poison or traps.

I did not read all the posts but the one that said to ultimately build them out of your attack is a very good one. Poison is short term, building out is long term. Rats and mice can get through a hole about the size of a pencil if they need to. You may also want to look at vegetation near your roof. If they are coming and going, vegetation on the ground around the house maybe providing cover. Cutting back some of the shrubs might be helpful. Also, you may want to put out a child proof poison station on the outside if you expect they may be traveling outside.

A good Pest Control company/technician, knows these types of things. If you DIY, you should start by educating yourself. If you hire someone, educate yourself a bit to feel comfortable that they know what to do. Also, no matter who you hire, ask if the price includes getting rid of the pests vs. a charge per visit. If it is a charge per visit, ask them how many rodents they expect to leave behind on each visit. .

 

[andytheflyer]

Ignore the rat poisons on sale at any DIY store. The rats'll eat it and come back for more.
As said above, a farm supplier will have better stock. They can't afford their best adverts to come back to haunt them.

Well, I had rats under my garden shed last year, and when the neighbours mentioned it I felt I had to act - I have to admit my own fault for feeding the birds. The rats mopped up the dropped seed.

I bought a bait box and the bait from Homebase (about £40) and put it under the shed. No rats seen a few days later.

However..... the neighbours found dead rats in their shed a week or so later.....

The bait was a blue grain-like block and my results were good. I took the shed down a few weeks later (it was rotten) expecting to find a nest, but nothing - so I suspect the rats had simply been going under the old shed for cover. We certainly could watch them in the garden as we had our breakfast though.

They took the bait within a couple of days of it being put down. I even found part of a bait block under a bush - so they'd been keen to drag it off somewhere else. Had to keep the dog out of the garden for a week or so.

 

[Spinney]

Sounds like the council visit would be worth it for the advice on placing poisons etc, even if they only put poison down themselves.
I had considered putting bait outdoors as well.

 

[FrankCrank]

....had a recent ongoing battle with rats nesting in the ground floor ceiling void. Cured that with poison pellets, unpleasant smell for a few days but no big issue.

Still setting traps outside to catch any new prospective squatters, managed to capture 7 so far for transportation to new pastures, might surpass the 11 caught 2 years ago. Plague of them in the neighbourhood right now, others nearby are also being inundated.

Refuse collection and storage of rubbish is the main culprit, goes with living in a 3rd world country I'm afraid..........

 

[AndyRM]

Have you tried a grenade?

 

[Spinney]

The little sods have eaten all the bait I put down last Friday. Off to see if I can buy some stronger stuff.

The council advice sheet mentioned fitting balloon guards or cone guards to drainpipes.
The former are generally intended to stop leaves blocking the downpipes, I think, but presumably metal ones with small mesh size would help stop vermin climbing up inside the drainpipes.

Cone guards are, I assume, to stop them climbing up the outsides, but I can't find them on the internet. Although possibly easy enough to bodge up using bits of plastic and duct tape? Anyone had any experience of these?

I'll ask the council chap(ess) when (s)he comes, but don't know what their waiting list is like.

And on the subject of stronger stuff - the stuff I bought from my local DIY shop is one of the brands stocked by my local farm shop, but I'll see what else the farm shop has.

 

[perplexed]

Play this on a loop to the little buggers...

 

[Pale Rider]

The little sods have eaten all the bait I put down last Friday. .

Does it say the bait takes a few days to work?

As you mentioned earlier, the increasingly poorly rats may wander off.

We used to use Warfarin on the farm.

I've seen rats staggering around the yard under the influence - it was the only time they moved slowly enough for me to hit them with my air rifle.