"You Dirty Rat......."
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maggie~hamilton
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LAAC
It's not that I think they would hestitate to kill the rat, but the time it would take them to get around to coming by for it.
Used to be, when you would call to report road kill they'd be there in a jif but no longer. I saw a poor dead kitty up on San Vicente, a major boulevard near my apartment. Called Animal Control and it was not until several days later that the corpse finally disappeared. And, at that, I am not sure LAAC was who retrived it.
It's not that I think they would hestitate to kill the rat, but the time it would take them to get around to coming by for it.
Used to be, when you would call to report road kill they'd be there in a jif but no longer. I saw a poor dead kitty up on San Vicente, a major boulevard near my apartment. Called Animal Control and it was not until several days later that the corpse finally disappeared. And, at that, I am not sure LAAC was who retrived it.
sudsmaster
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Baiting a Rat Trap
The problem with peanut butter is that the rat can gently lick off the stuff without necessarily setting off the trap.
I've used a raw almond wedged under the bait hook on a bail-type rat trap, with good results.
PS- Maggie, you'd better do something soon. Laundress will never attend one of your candlelight suppers unless your home is certified to be rat-free.
The problem with peanut butter is that the rat can gently lick off the stuff without necessarily setting off the trap.
I've used a raw almond wedged under the bait hook on a bail-type rat trap, with good results.
PS- Maggie, you'd better do something soon. Laundress will never attend one of your candlelight suppers unless your home is certified to be rat-free.
polkanut
Well-known member
My grandmother was vehement about rat control. Once, as a small girl (6-7yrs. old), they had problems with rats in the chicken coop on the farm. Her brother Elmer, had the "bright" idea to have my grandma chase them out of the coop, and he would shoot them with a .22 rifle as they came out. What he didn't tell her was that he was going to lock her in there. Well, grandma started screaming for help. When my great-grandma got ahold of Uncle Elmer, he wasn't able to sit for at least a month, if not longer. Until her dying day, whenever you mentioned the word rat, she would just about go berserk, no kidding. Grandma passed away 2yrs. ago @ 102. Can't say I blamed her at all.
maggie~hamilton
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Update...
See photo.
I heard the trap in the kitchen go SNAP around midnight. I believe the rat was exterminated instantly, because by the time I got out there -- just a few seconds after hearing the trap go off -- it was already quite dead, and did not appear to have suffered. It actually looked rather peaceful and, well, hmm -- nonchalant. If one can be nonchalant in death, that is.
Note quarter for size reference. This one is much smaller than the one our friend Jorge and I saw. I think this one is a baby. Or maybe a teenager. The one I saw previously was about the size of a 6-week-old kitten, and the one our friend Jorge saw he described as "HUUUUUUGE." So I suspect we have a Rat Family surreptitiously cohabitating with us.
Yes.
{{{*Shudder*}}}
See photo.
I heard the trap in the kitchen go SNAP around midnight. I believe the rat was exterminated instantly, because by the time I got out there -- just a few seconds after hearing the trap go off -- it was already quite dead, and did not appear to have suffered. It actually looked rather peaceful and, well, hmm -- nonchalant. If one can be nonchalant in death, that is.
Note quarter for size reference. This one is much smaller than the one our friend Jorge and I saw. I think this one is a baby. Or maybe a teenager. The one I saw previously was about the size of a 6-week-old kitten, and the one our friend Jorge saw he described as "HUUUUUUGE." So I suspect we have a Rat Family surreptitiously cohabitating with us.
Yes.
{{{*Shudder*}}}
Its eyes coordinate so well with the color of your floor.
maggie~hamilton
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"Haven't you heard, Blanche? We've got rats."
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...in_Whatever_Happened_to_Baby_Jane_trailer.jpg
maggie~hamilton
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I've called the pest control people, the exterminator is coming out this morning to retrieve the rat and set a new trap. The lady I talked to seemed to confirm that there's probably more than one.
When the exterminator called, I described the critter to the him and he said it does sound like a baby rat.
Check out this heartfelt message from a friend:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rodents, just like the rest of us, are just trying to live and get by as best they can. S/he didn't really do anything 'wrong' and I'm quite sure didn't deserve that horrible fate.
Next time, CRL, try an alternative, humane method. Here are a few links to humane solutions to your problem. Please have a look at them:
http://www.abundantearth.com/store/mousetrap1.htmlhttp://www.themousedepot.com/http://www.beautifulbritain.co.uk/htm/wildlife/humane_traps.htmhttp://glass.typepad.com/journal/2005/09/how_to_catch_a_.html
Perhaps next time there will be a happier ending. Good for you, good for them, good for everyone.
Peace & Love,
Randy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wrote back to him,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Randy, you know I am an animal lover as much as you are. However, when it comes to rats and other household pests I have to draw the line. Vermin carry disease and transmit filth. We have two dogs here. If one of them cornered a rat and it bit them and it had rabies, what then? Should I write off the loss and adopt the rat as a new pet?!
Besides, as I said, I am certain that the rat did not suffer. When the exterminator put out the traps, he showed me how powerful the spring is. It literally snapped a carrot in half. That much force will kill the rat instantly. People have this image of a poor rat stuck in a trap wriggling and writhing in agony for hours but that's not how it happens. It's instantaneous. Now, the horrible glue traps are a different matter and I would never, ever use that type.
I appreciate your tenderness and sensitivity but again, we have to make a distinction here. Sorry, but per the "humane trapping method," I'm not really inclined to catch a rat in a box and then drive 5 miles distant and release it. Besides, what would the rat then do? Right. Go into someone else's house. I doubt it would be a "Lassie Come Home" scenario.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then, right on cue, came the following from a friend who lives in Turkey:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ah, rats. Here in Istanbul with the enormous street cat population one only sees rats occasionally. But my girlfriend, renting a house in my old neighborhood, woke up to find she had been bitten on the jaw by something skittering away behind the bookcase. She's gotten all her rabies shots, found the hole, covered it with sheet metal, and gotten ready to go home to the States. She has to get the last shot today, because a rabies shot is 15 lira -- about $8 -- and $600 in the good old US of A. And they say Turkey is backward. But I have four cats and although I have seen my kittycats many times sitting intensely before a particular place in the wall, I've never seen a rat or mouse. Just a nose, all by itself, whiskers and all, lying out in the garden yesterday.
Ah, life in the Big City.
toggleswitch
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M-I-C-K-E-Y ______ M-O-U-S- E
~Rodents, just like the rest of us, are just trying to live and get by as best they can.
And to that I say, you have the entire world in which to live. You are not on my lease and don't pay rent or utilities. So I'm evicting your @$$ from MY house. If you don't go when asked I'm just gonna have to KILL you. You've been warned. Now get out!
Glad to hear you are having the pest professionally and properly disposed-of. Avoids following scenario.
~Rodents, just like the rest of us, are just trying to live and get by as best they can.
And to that I say, you have the entire world in which to live. You are not on my lease and don't pay rent or utilities. So I'm evicting your @$$ from MY house. If you don't go when asked I'm just gonna have to KILL you. You've been warned. Now get out!
Glad to hear you are having the pest professionally and properly disposed-of. Avoids following scenario.
toggleswitch
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Rats- Collect
toggleswitch
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Rats- Singe hair
toggleswitch
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Rats- bathe er......... marinade.
toggleswitch
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Rats- chop
toggleswitch
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Rats- Fried up
toggleswitch
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You want duck sauce?
Din din is served!
Din din is served!
Allegedly
This was a true story from a restaurant in Newark, NJ.
-This restaurant got closed down yesterday. It was told by a reliable source that PSEG needed to use Amin's entrance in the basement to assist another shop that was having a gas leak, the service worker went into the basement of Amins and discover a butcher chopping meat, that's fine, but he was putting the meat in a crate on the floor (not good) but wait there's more, there were 20 dead rats on the floor. The ser vice worker left the site told his boss and the city inspectors moved in. They noticed that the so called "rats" which were reported were no longer there. The inspectors then came across a padlocked door and instructed one of the cooks to unlock it. This is what they found other workers doing outside behind the restaurant.
This was a true story from a restaurant in Newark, NJ.
-This restaurant got closed down yesterday. It was told by a reliable source that PSEG needed to use Amin's entrance in the basement to assist another shop that was having a gas leak, the service worker went into the basement of Amins and discover a butcher chopping meat, that's fine, but he was putting the meat in a crate on the floor (not good) but wait there's more, there were 20 dead rats on the floor. The ser vice worker left the site told his boss and the city inspectors moved in. They noticed that the so called "rats" which were reported were no longer there. The inspectors then came across a padlocked door and instructed one of the cooks to unlock it. This is what they found other workers doing outside behind the restaurant.
bigbubbacain
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I don't know if they have Lowe's in California, but.
Here in Texas, I wen to the Lowe's in my area and I found the TomCat brand traps. They work beautifully. They're a solid piece plastic trap with an insertable bait cup. it's suggested to put peanut butter in the cup. The best part about these traps is that they have a HAIR TRIGGER!!! I own a smoker, and we're in the midst of Houston's monsoon season. This means that when I make beef jerky, I must do it in the garage. Therefore, I keep my TomCat traps freshly baited. One thing I know about catching rats (and also about studying them in college level psychology courses), rat traps are more successful when positioned against the sidewall. When rats forage to look for food, it's their instinct to follow a border or a boundary. This is where the we arrive at the cliche of "running rats through a maze". Rats have an instinct to follow an edge or boundary. All I know is, when I place these TomCat traps against the wall board, the traps couldn't fail. I went through a month in which I caught 1 rat per night for a whole week. Give it a shot.
Here in Texas, I wen to the Lowe's in my area and I found the TomCat brand traps. They work beautifully. They're a solid piece plastic trap with an insertable bait cup. it's suggested to put peanut butter in the cup. The best part about these traps is that they have a HAIR TRIGGER!!! I own a smoker, and we're in the midst of Houston's monsoon season. This means that when I make beef jerky, I must do it in the garage. Therefore, I keep my TomCat traps freshly baited. One thing I know about catching rats (and also about studying them in college level psychology courses), rat traps are more successful when positioned against the sidewall. When rats forage to look for food, it's their instinct to follow a border or a boundary. This is where the we arrive at the cliche of "running rats through a maze". Rats have an instinct to follow an edge or boundary. All I know is, when I place these TomCat traps against the wall board, the traps couldn't fail. I went through a month in which I caught 1 rat per night for a whole week. Give it a shot.
seamusuk
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OMG!!!!!
Ok thats just put me off Chinese restaurants for life........
Seamus
Ok thats just put me off Chinese restaurants for life........
Seamus
toggleswitch
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OOOPSIE!
But remember nothing has changed but what you know. Believe me, my gag reflex is back after those pics.
~As to placement of the traps, they are all (4 of them) placed along walls.
YAY to success in mitigating the problem, then solving it.
But remember nothing has changed but what you know. Believe me, my gag reflex is back after those pics.
~As to placement of the traps, they are all (4 of them) placed along walls.
YAY to success in mitigating the problem, then solving it.
sudsmaster
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Good work, Killer...
That's a bit small for a rat, but I've trapped several of not much larger size in my back yard. So rats come in all sizes. It's not a "baby" rat, though, if it was, it would be nearly hairless.
One of my cats gets a number of the rats, but he wasn't able to keep up, so I started setting traps. I got three in as many days, and then since then its been about one every few weeks. All were caught using a raw almond as bait.
That's a bit small for a rat, but I've trapped several of not much larger size in my back yard. So rats come in all sizes. It's not a "baby" rat, though, if it was, it would be nearly hairless.
One of my cats gets a number of the rats, but he wasn't able to keep up, so I started setting traps. I got three in as many days, and then since then its been about one every few weeks. All were caught using a raw almond as bait.
maggie~hamilton
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"Another one bites the dust"
Well, yesterday morning I came into the kitchen and saw another rat scurrying across the floor. At the same time, I checked the trap and saw that another one had been caught. I'll spare you a photo this time; I suppose you can take my word for it that it was there. It was a little bigger than the first one.
So that means three of them at least, two dead and one to go; and, one can only assume, that also probably means there are more.
Lovely.
Well, yesterday morning I came into the kitchen and saw another rat scurrying across the floor. At the same time, I checked the trap and saw that another one had been caught. I'll spare you a photo this time; I suppose you can take my word for it that it was there. It was a little bigger than the first one.
So that means three of them at least, two dead and one to go; and, one can only assume, that also probably means there are more.
Lovely.
maggie~hamilton
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Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
launderess
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I've Told You
It is VERY rare to have just one rat indoors, it is not called a "rat pack" for nothing. Get that exterminator back, and have him do a through job in finding where the varmits are coming from and seal off all means of access to your home. Once that is done you can trap/kill the ones already inside. Unless you deal with their means of egress, you will be doing nothing but catching rats. Times a wasting as soon Fall and cooler weather will arrive, and that is another problem as rodents will seek nice warm indoor quarters for the winter.
If you live in an apartment building, it is wise to call your local health department (rat catchers), and have them out to inspect your building. It is very common for rats to gain entry from old or poor sewage pipes that they have either chewed an opening for themselves, and or the pipes no longer hold against rodents.
Best of British luck.
L.
It is VERY rare to have just one rat indoors, it is not called a "rat pack" for nothing. Get that exterminator back, and have him do a through job in finding where the varmits are coming from and seal off all means of access to your home. Once that is done you can trap/kill the ones already inside. Unless you deal with their means of egress, you will be doing nothing but catching rats. Times a wasting as soon Fall and cooler weather will arrive, and that is another problem as rodents will seek nice warm indoor quarters for the winter.
If you live in an apartment building, it is wise to call your local health department (rat catchers), and have them out to inspect your building. It is very common for rats to gain entry from old or poor sewage pipes that they have either chewed an opening for themselves, and or the pipes no longer hold against rodents.
Best of British luck.
L.
maggie~hamilton
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Thx Laundress
Given that we've trapped 3 of the ugly buggers (no offense to those who take to them as pets), I guess I am gonna call the Health Department. I am mostly worried about one of my dogs cornering one and getting bitten.
Then there was the story about my friend's friend who lives in Turkey who was bitten on the face by a rat and had to under go a series of horrific injections of rabies vaccinations.
btw the 2nd two that got caught were bigger than the first one.
Given that we've trapped 3 of the ugly buggers (no offense to those who take to them as pets), I guess I am gonna call the Health Department. I am mostly worried about one of my dogs cornering one and getting bitten.
Then there was the story about my friend's friend who lives in Turkey who was bitten on the face by a rat and had to under go a series of horrific injections of rabies vaccinations.
btw the 2nd two that got caught were bigger than the first one.
sudsmaster
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Maggie,
I don't think that exterminator was very good. Obviously the rats had to come in from somewhere; that he didn't find a source of entry shows that he didn't look hard enough or didn't understand what he was seeing. I agree with Laundress; you have to seal off the entry hole(s) before you'll be able to end this problem.
I am assuming your dogs are strictly indoor pets and there is no pet door for them to come and go as they please. I mention this for two reasons: a pet door can be used by rodents, and, I have had my cats on occasion bring in live mice and let them go inside the house so they can "play". This doesn't happen so much any more since one of the current cats knows how to kill mice and rats quite efficiently.
Which reminds me, time to go check the rat traps in the back yard lean-to.
I don't think that exterminator was very good. Obviously the rats had to come in from somewhere; that he didn't find a source of entry shows that he didn't look hard enough or didn't understand what he was seeing. I agree with Laundress; you have to seal off the entry hole(s) before you'll be able to end this problem.
I am assuming your dogs are strictly indoor pets and there is no pet door for them to come and go as they please. I mention this for two reasons: a pet door can be used by rodents, and, I have had my cats on occasion bring in live mice and let them go inside the house so they can "play". This doesn't happen so much any more since one of the current cats knows how to kill mice and rats quite efficiently.
Which reminds me, time to go check the rat traps in the back yard lean-to.
maggie~hamilton
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Yes, my doggies are indoor only, and there are no pet doors. The one place I had thought the rats might be coming in is through the dryer vent but I checked it to make sure that the louvers on the outside of the building (that close down over the vent when the dryer is not operational) are working properly and they are.
Not to mention that the vent is in the middle of a wall, about 4 ft. from the ground. I =guess= rats could climb up a vertical stucco wall but, again, the vent is sealed off except when the dryer is running so they couldn't get in that way.
When the exterminator was here yesterday I asked him if it would be smart to place some traps down in the basement and he said no, there would be no point. Now I wonder if he is just lazy.
launderess
Well-known member
Seal Up Those Rat Holes
Many, many times exterminators are paid by the call, that is each time they go out and bait/lay traps someone writes a check. With that incentive, some are rather lax in doing the job correctly. Why should they? Once the rats are gone, so is their meal ticket. If you are catching several large rodents, you have a PROBLEM, and unless the thing is dealt with firmly,it will only get worse. Remember those cartoons where the rats/mice tie up the lady of the house and dance around like Indians? *LOL*
May not be an expert on rodents/rats, but live in a city where the things are EVERYWHERE, and were recently featured running amuck in a fast food restaurant, so think I know one or two things. Any exterminator have ever known says the same thing: one must first seal off all points of entry, then remove all food sources, finally bait/trap.
If there is a entry way from the sewer/your basement into the building, think of it as rat highway. You'll keep trapping them, but more will keep coming. They follow the scent of previous rats that have gone before them.
By all means call your local board of health ASAP, and also (funds permitting), contact another exterminator and ask to have your apartment/home rodent proofed and checked for where the buggers are coming from. If you are not too delicate, you can rodent proof your home yourself, but it must be a through job. Everything must be pulled out of/away from walls, cabinets and any holes larger than a dime must be stuffed with the most coarse steel wool (adding some crushed glass is good), and packed TIGHT. This includes areas behind the range, and behind/under the fridge, around all steam/heat/water pipes, electrical outlets.
Speaking of the fast food restaurant rat show, every building around that restaurant called in top shelf exterminators to have everything locked and loaded against rats moving house into their buildings once the extermination program was underway.
Many, many times exterminators are paid by the call, that is each time they go out and bait/lay traps someone writes a check. With that incentive, some are rather lax in doing the job correctly. Why should they? Once the rats are gone, so is their meal ticket. If you are catching several large rodents, you have a PROBLEM, and unless the thing is dealt with firmly,it will only get worse. Remember those cartoons where the rats/mice tie up the lady of the house and dance around like Indians? *LOL*
May not be an expert on rodents/rats, but live in a city where the things are EVERYWHERE, and were recently featured running amuck in a fast food restaurant, so think I know one or two things. Any exterminator have ever known says the same thing: one must first seal off all points of entry, then remove all food sources, finally bait/trap.
If there is a entry way from the sewer/your basement into the building, think of it as rat highway. You'll keep trapping them, but more will keep coming. They follow the scent of previous rats that have gone before them.
By all means call your local board of health ASAP, and also (funds permitting), contact another exterminator and ask to have your apartment/home rodent proofed and checked for where the buggers are coming from. If you are not too delicate, you can rodent proof your home yourself, but it must be a through job. Everything must be pulled out of/away from walls, cabinets and any holes larger than a dime must be stuffed with the most coarse steel wool (adding some crushed glass is good), and packed TIGHT. This includes areas behind the range, and behind/under the fridge, around all steam/heat/water pipes, electrical outlets.
Speaking of the fast food restaurant rat show, every building around that restaurant called in top shelf exterminators to have everything locked and loaded against rats moving house into their buildings once the extermination program was underway.
maggie~hamilton
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The exterminator
is paid for by the owner of the building, so the company he chooses is out of my hands. I am going to call the Health Department Monday and then take it a step at a time. "Thanks for commiseratin.'"
is paid for by the owner of the building, so the company he chooses is out of my hands. I am going to call the Health Department Monday and then take it a step at a time. "Thanks for commiseratin.'"
westyslantfront
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Got rats? Call Baby Jane Hudson and invite her over to
cook din-din.
I found a dead pack rat in my laundry room last week. But in the part of Tucson that I live in we have coyotes, bobcats,
and snakes.
Baby Jane Hudson and Toggle could cook up a storm in the kitchen.
Ross
cook din-din.
I found a dead pack rat in my laundry room last week. But in the part of Tucson that I live in we have coyotes, bobcats,
and snakes.
Baby Jane Hudson and Toggle could cook up a storm in the kitchen.
Ross
sudsmaster
Well-known member
Charles,
I think you're on the right track in calling the Health Department. You should not have to put up with living with vermin in your own home!
Another option, should it come to it, is to hire your own exterminator and then deduct the cost from your monthly rent bill. This is entirely legal in many communities in California, check with your local rent lawas. The key is that you gave your landlord a chance to fix the problem, and he failed, so it's reasonable to expect that you have to take matters into your own hands. There is such a thing as a "warrant of habitability" that matters a lot.
Oh, by the way, please make sure that rats aren't making a nest in any of your vintage vacs! LOL!
I think you're on the right track in calling the Health Department. You should not have to put up with living with vermin in your own home!
Another option, should it come to it, is to hire your own exterminator and then deduct the cost from your monthly rent bill. This is entirely legal in many communities in California, check with your local rent lawas. The key is that you gave your landlord a chance to fix the problem, and he failed, so it's reasonable to expect that you have to take matters into your own hands. There is such a thing as a "warrant of habitability" that matters a lot.
Oh, by the way, please make sure that rats aren't making a nest in any of your vintage vacs! LOL!
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