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Rat-Gate...

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fliptheswitch | 09:56 Wed 04th Jan 2012 | Home & Garden
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I'm having problems with rat-gate... again.
I thought I was being dramatic, but there's definitely something there.
I cleared away absolutely everything last night, and swept and bleached the floor. I've been doing this every night, so I could plainly see if any droppings had been left, the next day.
Got up this morning, went into the kitchen. Still no signs of droppings, BUT, the oven glove (which hangs over the oven door handle) was on the floor, and had been chewed!! URGHHHHH!
Also, there were oranges on the floor, which had been in a bowl, on a shelf, quite high up from the ground.
There were also two receipts/giftcards, that I'd put up on top of the shelving unit, which were in the middle of the floor, and had been slightly bitten.

It's like coming down to find an invisible dog has been in the house!

Pest control are coming out Friday afternoon.

I've left traps, but nothing has been caught.

I'm starting to consider the "broken glass in peanut butter" method, that someone suggested.

Any other ideas? Would getting a cat be a bit drastic?
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I wouldn't like the idea of rats in my home but your idea of glass in peanut butter if you are serious is disgustingly cruel.

If they have to be killed then do it humanely.

Leave it to the pest controller
Just to put a dampener on the darkness theory, I caught my Roland mooching round my kitchen in broad daylight- he definitely wasn't just a night owl...err night rat!

After my experience with the rat man I called out, i'd seriously think about obtaining and putting down the poison myself, as he was pretty much useless, for what he did I could've done myself and saved myself £25.00 into the bargain.
Maybe this link will help

http://life.familyedu...aintenance/47845.html

Warfarin is a presription only medicine given to thin the blood but I believe its the main ingredient of rat poison.It seems the droppings may be hidden in cupboards etc. The flour idea does seem to be a good one. Good luck. Keep us posted.
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Update on Rat-Gate:
Had a call from the council, who'd had a cancellation, so were able to come and see me this afternoon. Result!
Well, ratman has just left. He was actually *really* helpful, and had a thorough look around the kitchen and outside. He took the kickboards off the bottom kitchen cupboards and there were indeed "signs" of Mr Rat having been in there.
Still no droppings, but a chewed-up food packet, and also a small rubber ball (child's) that he'd had a go good at. Ming!
Ratman got his torch out, and said there is a large gap where the drainage pipes are against the wall and then go under the house. This is where he thinks Ratty is coming up from, and is then getting into the main kitchen via a slight gap underneath one of the cupboards.
He had some poison, but said the trouble with it is, if the rat eats it and dies, it'll probably be under the house... and will stink! Blurghhhh.
So, I nipped to the hardware store, and got a couple of snap traps. Ratman waited at my house, and then helped me to set them up. He's put some chocolate in the bait area, and used a cable tie to attach it to one of the kitchen cupboard legs, behind the kickboard.
He said to check it before bed, and if there wasn't a dead rat in there by then, he's convinced it'll be there by morning. So... I sit and wait.

When I was buying the snap trap, there was another kind of trap there, called a "glue board".
I asked ratman what they were, and he said they literally make the rat stick to the board, and should be used as a last attempt.
He said he's seen incidents, where the rat has CHEWED OFF it's own leg, to get itself off the board!!!

Thought I'd share that last little bit with you :))
-- answer removed --
Looks like rat poison is the best bet.
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2Short, yeah they do seem a bit daft! I'm sat here waiting to hear a loud bang, now... although it probably won't happen until the middle of the night.

Nanny, we (me and ratman) decided against the poison, as he's just end up dying under the floorboards, and I'd never be able to get to him to remove the body.
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LOL, Mark :D

Yes, hopefully not for much longer!

I'll be sure to take a pic, once it's safely in the trap, and post it on here for all you rat lovers.
Ahhh, excellent Flip! Your rat man sounds a lot more efficient than what mine was. Did yours manage to smash your coffee canister to smithereens as well?
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Haha B00. That made me chuckle. No, he didn't do any damage. He was ever so helpful and didn't mind waiting while I went to the shop to get a new trap, which he then fit for me. Really nice chap he was.
What a plonker yours sounds! :D
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Lol. Oh yeah, I see what I did there. Haha.

Yeah, I reckon that would cause quite a whiff if ratman died under there. He was quite a portly chap.

I know it's going to frighten the life out of me, when it goes "bang"!
glue boards sound horrible, i couldn't do that
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Fluff, the glue boards sound horrendous! It would only "catch" the rat for you (if you could call it that?) you'd have to then kill it yourself! Gross!

2Shot, good luck with that. Ratman did have a look in the garden, but said there were no "signs". I think he thought he was some kind of detective, out there with his torch.
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Sorry, I meant 2SHORT, not shot.

It's all this talk of killing! :P
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I never did find my Roland's body you know, lol. No smell, so Gawd knows where its gone!
Sorry someone had to do this |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS0fXQN6zrI

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