There's a rat in mi kitchen...

[B00]

No really there is, and I'm totally freaked out.

We have an old fire, never used in there, and I'd noticed the dog snuffling round it extremely interested and jokingly said to Mr Boo "Bet there's a rat behind there". Well it bloody backfired on me, as apparently there is, Mr Boo saw it scuttle back in there when he did a late night forage for food (hubby I mean, not the rat, though no doubt that's what it was doing as well!) I know (well now I do) that it was eating the dog's left over food, so that will be picked up before i go to bed each night, there's nothing else (food wise) it can get to.

Would a humane trap work? About a tenner on Ebay. Reluctant to put poison down as a) im a softy, don't want to actually kill it, and b) scared the dog will eat the poison instead. What do I put in there? The trap I mean? Chocolate?

Mr Boo says that once it's gone, he'll rip the fire out and board up the hole.

Please help me, I shudder each time I think about it :-(

[B00]

you can sing their praises all ya want Trim, but this bugger is being evicted from my kitchen- one way or another, it has been warned :p

[ummmm]

In my case the neighbours crap, which we had no control over...

[B00]

no, I didn't!

I had a pet rat, believe it or not after this hysterical rant, he was ace, iv'e even got quite a grudging affection for wild ones, just not in my sodding house!

[LoftyLottie]

We get them in our loft most years, when they come in off the fields, climb up the brick and flint walls and get in under the tiles. They sound like elephants and jump from the beams up there. We put poison down. Mr LL shoots them rather than poison them when they are outside, but it's not easy to shoot rats in the loft.

[B00]

So i take it hoping the council guy comes with a machine gun is out of the question then Lottie?

[B00]

Did he wake? ;-)

[nannybooby]

lol lofty that could have been written about our house too. We are also near tge riverbank so they come up from there too.Our yorkies go mad when the rats are near but I wouldnt let them out to catch them ,too worried about rat bites to my little babies.

[snags]

The rat has probably sensed it's own impending doom is imminent and is shagging like crazy as we type... passing on the genetic homing code for B00's fireplace ;-p

[B00]

Well any future inhabitants are gonna be sorry snaggles, Mr Boo's ripping the fireplace out after he's convinced it's dead, big girls blouse!

[snags]

Is Mr. B00 as girly when it comes to Cyril your resident tarantula?

[B00]

Yes he is. And moths and wasps, i've to get rid of those. (wasps i kill, moths get caught and released outside).

In his words they're "horrible flappy things" and he won't enter a room if they're there.

[vivandorron]

B00... I wish you luck for tomorrow.

You have a rat and your council are rats to be charging you for their service. My local authority doesn't charge a penny to exterminate mice and rats in domestic premises.(minimum £52 for non domestic.)

Ron.

[LoftyLottie]

Our Council charges.

They are not even interested in country rats though, although they will come out and lay poison. No point, because we can do that ourselves. It's not difficult.