Rat Problem

[Tirilia]

Ew.

We have rats in our place. And we rent. Owners wont do anything about it.

We've no idea how the rats are getting in, we think maybe just one has just gotten trapped inside and wont leave for the abundance of food.. or something like that. So we've stopped up the pantry, hidden the fruit bowl.. so its taken to chewing newspaper, delving into the sugar bowl and eating its way through oven mitts

We don't really want to kill it, just to get it out and stop it getting back in. And no, we have lizards, not snakes XD.

Any ideas of how to get rid of them/it?

 

[mr black]

You could always get one of those humane rodent traps. I believe the rat gets in then can't escape so you could just let it go somewhere i guess.

 

[caustichumor]

Rats can be very determined, I worked at a Restaurant here in Townsville a few years ago where we had a rat problem. Now the problem was they would chew through the door overnight into the restuarant and then chew through the wall into the kitchen. They actually started eating the live mudcrabs that we had tied up in the pantry! (we had to start untying them before we left at night to give them a fighting chance) We did eventually poison them all off but they can take a lot of poison and plaster repairs first...

 

[Slateman]

Get a cat

 

[solar 17]

humane rat trap

l live in boondall and can lend to you if you are near me a humane rat trap.....cheers solar 17..[Baden]

 

[abbott75]

you could just let it go somewhere i guess.

It will just come back.

Most of the rats that colonise people's houses are exotic feral pests. Although you may not want to kill it, it is the best thing.

 

[abbott75]

Get a cat

:shock:

Slatey, remember, this is APS!

 

[Jason]

You could always get one of those humane rodent traps. I believe the rat gets in then can't escape so you could just let it go somewhere i guess.

i have heard this a few times from different people, evrytime i hear it i wonder where is the logic?
rats are a major pest why would you want to release the pests into another area?
KILL them, you'll be doing australia a favour!

 

[inthegrass]

just set a trap and kill the bloody thing!.
cheers

 

[Bourbs]

...you could catch it in a humane trap .... and then find your nearest colony of hawks to release it near hehe

 

[spilota_variegata]

Many years ago we had a mouse problem in the house. We set mousetraps, had pet cats - you name it - we still had mice. My father bought some sulphur from the local hardware and put small amounts into metal trays. After evacuating the house of people and cats, he lit the sulphur and let it smolder away. After about an hour or so we came back into the house and opened the windows to let the unpleasant odours out. Every mouse in the house was dead and we never had another problem with them. I'm not sure about the properties of sulphur but it killed all the mice from the ceiling to under the house.

Just a thought...

 

[bobchic]

now... imagine if this was a snake... and someone who knew nothing about snakes was saying the same thing about them...

I think you should release to a diffrent area... maybe someone less residential

 

[Tirilia]

*lol* I hate Cats, but its a good plan. We do have a dog.. but he's pretty useless as a ratcatcher.

Interesting ideas everyone.. perhaps we should just set a few traps up where its hiding (behind the liquor cabinet) .. but to be honest I don't really want to find a dead crushed rat after a day at work or a nice nights sleep *shudder*

Any other ideas? are pro rat catcher people good? We also have a million possums living in our roof.

 

[Bourbs]

id imagine a pro rat catchers main aim is to kill anyway....

 

[fine_jungles]

is it true that snake feces get rid of rats and they don't come back (heard of a friend)

 

[FAY]

Get a snakey friend to save you some poo and shedded skins....I did this for a friend..she put it in her roof...no more rats lol

 

[wiz-fiz]

we get mice in our compust we just grab something and try and wack them as hard as we can!
my dad brock a garden fork by tryinmg to hit a mouse near a rock!
just kill them
kill them
kill them
kill them
kill them
kill them

 

[alex_c]

now... imagine if this was a snake... and someone who knew nothing about snakes was saying the same thing about them...

I think you should release to a diffrent area... maybe someone less residential

snakes are native most rats are not therefore they are a pest

 

[cris]

Get the snap shut ones, they kill rats quick and are cheap and easy to use. Live traps are good, but then you have the hassle of killng the rat or illegally releasing it. Also this way you dont have to worry about a poisoned rat raunning around to get eaten or get into a bad place to rot for a few days before you find it (eg. a basket of clothes lol).

 

[pythonmum]

I live near the bush and people around here always think they have native rats in their yards. They are not natives! They are Rattus rattus - aka sewer rats. (I've set snap traps and keyed out the victims.) Rattus fuscipes (native rat) lives in the bush around here, but never comes near the houses.

Despite 2 dogs, snake poos thrown in the gardens around the house and snap traps in the likely spots, we still had a rat in the house. It chewed through the dishwasher hose and the resultant flood caused thousands of dollars of damage. After that, we got some bait stations from a professional exterminator. The dogs can't get the bait and don't eat dead rats. We have to keep re-filling the baits because the rats re-colonise from neighbouring areas, but this is the most effective way we've found to control the rats.