I just opened the door to the shed next to the drive to clean it out for spring and came face to face with two rats..
i jumped back.. they hid.. in the shed.
what do i do about this?
i live in a rental and have contacted the landlord but if he is as responsive about this as about everything else... i am going to be dealing with this myself:(
JimmyG
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Go to http://www.kingcounty.gov and put in \"rats\" in the search box.
They have a good outline of the hows, why, whats, and most important the getting rid of rats in/around your home.
JenV
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JoB: sick your Shiba on them!
JenV..
my shibas encountered the rats which have moved to the storage spaces under the deck already.
One is so excited she can\'t stand it and is begging to be let out at them again.
something happened with the other one and i don\'t know what. he finally came in with his tail between his legs.
I couldn\'t find a bite mark and he may just have been exhausted with struggling with the pile of crap that the landlord keeps in there.. he may have only been stuck... but he is slow recovering.
i am not a happy camper just now.
cruiser
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JoB,
Nip up to Home Depot and a grab few rat traps. Place them perpendicular to a wall near where you saw your visitors but do NOT set them (yet!). This will make the rats feel comfy with having something \'new\' around.
After two days set the traps with some peanut butter and put them back where you had them. The rats will see them and say \"ah those things have been here for a couple of days\" then slam ya got em:)
cruiser
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JoB,
Brain freeze in the above:) When you lay out the traps without setting them put some peanut butter on the traps. Your little friends will like this and will be drawn to the traps. Then when you do set them....well ya know
thanks cruiser...
i will be getting the traps tomorrow and hubby says he will lay them out.
i am NOT opening that shed again.
i told him to knock first:)
wow, JoB...do we have the same landlord?
hope the traps work....just one question...who gets to clean up the..umm...remains?
JenV
Member Profile
JoB- i wasn\'t being flip suggesting you sic your doggies on the rats...that is a cute video though.
I had a horrible rat problem last year. Make sure you get bird venting for any open areas where you think the rats might get in- like your dryer vent. Once we did that, there was nowhere for the rats to get in and I have not had any problems since. If they are big rats, do not get the sticky traps - the big rats just get away from those. you want to get a kill trap- one that, and I am sorry for being too graphic, will break their little necks. Good luck, and if you need some help, email me. I am not squeamish about these things any more after last year...
JenV...
i thought the dogs would keep any rats away from the house.. and i think mainly they have...
but this shed was out front where the dogs don\'t go...
and when i frightened the little buggers they ran downhill and under the deck... where my dogs went crazy with their scent.
hubby will empty the traps... and i will be making sure we do a weekend cleanup of all the possible hiding places in a couple of weeks.
my dogs would love to get hold of a rat. i am the one who is not so much for that idea:(
beachdrivegirl
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Thanks for the advice. A friend ours swore he saw a rat run in our garage the other night when he was coming over for dinner. We opened the garage door and switched, but couldnt find anything...
We have used glue traps with peanut butter and snagged a couple. We were also advised that if we kept some slightly used cat litter in the basement, which is a popular rat hangout, the scent might keep them at bay. The other thing is to look for where they might be getting in - we found an obvious entry spot in the basement wall and covered it - one of these days we have to get \"exclusion\" work done on the attic vents, because some sort of four-footed posse is having a party up there ...
TR...
i don\'t even want to go there:(
right now i have to decide what to do about the mess in the area next to the house... my dogs make a beeline for that area because of the scent and i can\'t really let them out in the yard until i do something.. it isn\'t a safe place for them..
my little boy shiba is ok this morning.. but we were very worried last night.
oh well.. ya gotta do what ya gotta do:(
We live near morgan junction and have seen a rat, two raccoons and a possum this week alone! Looks like critters are waking up for the spring.
Woo Hoo!
i just went to the backyard and found hubby had blocked the dogs from getting into the area area i was worried about.
i don\'t have to do anything except stop by home depot today and get traps!
while i am at home depot i will have to check out what has come in for the garden:) oh shucks:)
maybe i can even squeeze in a trip to Swansons:)
isn\'t life grand:)
I don\'t think it\'s just the spring that\'s bringing all these critters out.
I mean -- what with all the construction going on, whenever a lot is cleared or a building dozed there are going to be critters displaced. It\'s not just your human neighbors that are looking for new homes!
JenV
Member Profile
CRISIS IN THE RAT HOUSING MARKET! News at 11.
Actually this is one of those rare times I slightly miss my old job. Things that REALLY matter to people -- like pest problems -- always made GREAT tv stories. One of my last decent story ideas was something about spiders several months back, after we were not only besieged here at WSB HQ, but also in the Q13 newsroom -- one of my ex-co-workers actually trapped and killed a MASSIVE spider and taped the remains to a piece of paper to get bosses\' attention (as in, me among others). I tried to explain that in most cases, spiders are absolutely harmless and actually beneficial - they eat lots of smaller bugs that might overrun us otherwise -- but my spiderphobic co-workers would have none of it! -- TR
Just a note: I heard separately this week of a lot of Rat traps appearing at several business directly east across the Duwamish. There might be a season related re-location or it might indicate a population boom year in the canal or Norway populations.
For the bookmark file if you need to get someone to deal with wildlife who might be cohabiting with you without permission.
http://www.aaanimalcontrol.com/Professional-Trapper/wildlife/WA-Seattle-Wildlife.htm
thanks ken.
beachdrivegirl
Member Profile
JoB,
Did you ever find something that worked well for you? I just watched rats (two) play chase on our fence and want to take every preventative measure possible.
beachdrivegirl..
sadly.. i didn\'t.. but maybe your rats aren\'t as smart as mine...
they ate the peanutbutter off the big rat traps without tripping them...
Some years ago rats began showing up in our neighborhood. I\'ve forgotten the department we called, something about rat control. Their first question was what had changed in the neighborhood that would attract them (food). After some investigation one of our neighbors had moved her dog food from her kitchen to the back porch. A few weeks later the rats began showing up. Removed the dog food and the rats soon dissapeared.
Warfin -- rat poison! I\'ve used it too and it works almost too well. Not in West Seattle, I was renting a room temporarily in the summer. I soon discovered that at night, rats were passing through on a regular route. I tried traps and caught a few, but with no effect on their traffic. I next tried Warfin. They ate every speck I put out for 2 or 3 days...then dissapeared. I felt proud of myself for a little while until the odor began! We found some dead rats under a lumber pile, but the odor persisted. We had a flash flood on the street from a summer thunderstorm and discovered that the drains weren\'t working. They were plugged with dead rats! I think I\'d try to live with them in harmony before trying that again! Though the poison did work at the time and we were rid of them for the rest of the summer.
RonM...
i have two rat catcher dogs.. i don\'t think second hand poison is a good idea for them:(
the rat problem here is long term.. we live above a wooded area and there is vegetation from the woods to our shed on the neighbor\'s side of the fence..
i would try to battle with the neighbors.. but i rent and don\'t know if i will be staying long enough to make it worth my effort.
i notified the landlord and don\'t use the shed.
As I said, I\'d seriously try to live with them in harmony than to try poison again!
Then you\'ve made your choice and may you find some peace among the neighborhood fawna...
RonM..
i found a great deal of peace here.. and love the woods too much to want to see it cut away...
as for the rats. i just hope they are enjoying their home and don\'t try to invade mine.. being rats.. i think the minute my dogs move.. they will try to move in..
but in the meantime.. the shed provides real entertainment for the dogs who do their best to get to it as they move from the car to the house:)
JoB, they\'re probably wood rats. That\'s mostly what we get around here. They will nest in attics or other secluded places, and will look for edibles anywhere they can, but they\'re never going to disappear. They\'re perfectly happy in a tree nest or burrow also.
Next time you see a coyote, invite it to your neighborhood and you wont see the rats anymore!
beachdrivegirl
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So CM and RonM, would you suggest that I just leave them? i have an indoor dog that I believe will keep them out of the house. he freaked just watching them through the window. I was just worried about them coming in the house b/c alot of what I read suggested that they will invade your home if they are near it.....
flowerpetal
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What did grandma say? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You or \"the experts\" can find possible entryways into your house now. Rats will be looking for them as the weather cools and nesting material becomes needed for the winter. Small but heavy mesh works well. Also, rats will not chew or scratch through steel wool. My first house was a 1905 built home with many additions not always well planned. There were a number of avenues for marauding rats and we became successful at keeping them on the outside.
beachdrivegirl
Member Profile
Thanks Flowerpetal. That is my main concern because my house is built in the 1920\'s and I have a feeling there are probably ways for them to get in.
Yeah, you\'ll definitely want to keep them out of the house and \"discourage\" them from your property. I\'ve found that once they realize the area is no longer safe, they will move on. Not to be grotesque, but a dead rat left in a trap for a few days will definitely rid you of the issue.
Unfortunately, an indoor dog will keep them out of the living spaces, but once the rats realize it\'s not a threat to them in the crawlspace, attic, walls, wherever, they will essentially ignore your dog and drive it insane.
Neighbors had a Jack Russel and a HUGE rat nest in their crawl space. Poor dog was put on doggie-valium until they removed the nest.
Oh, and as RonM mentioned, posion works, but it has unintended consequences. They don\'t \"go outside\" to die, they\'ll die right in your walls. They also don\'t die instantly, so the other rats don\'t associate their death with the area you\'ve put out poison, so they will continue to come back. God forbid your dog finds a poisoned dead rat, too.
flowerpetal
Member Profile
I\'ll repeat a story here that is evidence enough for me that rats are innately evil. It is a true story.
In the same house as mentioned above, weeks before our first Christmas there; we were aware that rats had invaded the attic but we never saw tell-tale evidence of them in our living space. We were greyhound owners and with their sight hound skills they could spot the smallest of movements.
On a Saturday evening I brought out the ceramic Nativity set, Italian made and passed down from my family. I proudly displayed it on an ocassinal table at a prominent spot in our living room. I admired it before going to bed. And in the morning I was ready to take a look at it again and be reminded of the joyous season that approached. Imagine my shock; my disgust; my anger.
You may have guessed; the rats had found their way into our living space; into our living room; and onto that table where the holy family stood/knealt around the infant. Scattered across the top of the table were the unmistakealbe \"droppings\" of the attic visitors. No where else down in our part of the house had they been that night or ever again. It was the next week that we began to learn of the prevention techniques that we sucessfully employed to keep the rats living under the blackberry bushes in the neighboring yard.
guidosmom
Member Profile
Several years ago I lived in an apartment near Cap. hill with my dog (a Jack Russell Terrier who can smell rodents miles away). When we first moved in the court yard had a lot of rodent activity. Guido (my JRT) actually caught a rat and killed it the first month I tried to stop him but he was too fast, despite being on a leash. My ex managed to pry it from him somehow. After this, all the tenants started noticing the rats had pretty much moved away. We moved out several months later and I kept in touch with a few of the tenants who said a few weeks after we moved out, the rats came back!
we do have coyotes in the woods.. i think that may be why they moved up the hill into the shed:)
I\'d never advise anyone tolerate rats. Their unhealthy downsides (for humans) far outweigh any rational for keeping them around. I think the best defence is to eliminate the incentive; that means food. If that\'s not practical, Russel Terriers, traps and poison are alternatives. You can try to close up entry points around your house, but it doesn\'t take much of an opening and they will gnaw through almost anything if they know there are rewards on the other side. Like moles, I\'ve read of a number wives tale deterants and like mole deterants, none are very successful. I\'d try the city health department for more information. As I\'ve said before, there used to be a city department of some kind that specialized in rat control and maybe it still exists. If all else fails, what about a commercial exterminator?
beachdrivegirl
Member Profile
Do you have a recommendation for a commerical exterminator? I honestly do not know where the food source coudl be coming from. We feed our dog outside (so his food is noutside), we do not have any frutis/veggies planted out side, and our garbage lid is kept on...any other suggestions as to what rats could be feasting on?
Ken..
is my veggie garden a rat food source? no indication so far that they are feeding there...
i have no other food outside... and there is none in the shed...
i tried traps.. i am going to try again with different bait.. but they are eating the peanutbutter right off those big rat traps and still sheltering in the shed.
i won\'t do poison. not only do i have dogs, but both neighbors have dogs... and no dog food out that i can see.
i am buying one of the bigger sticky traps today and i will try that too..
angelescrest
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Do garden composters attract rats? I fear I know the answer to that one.
beachdrivegirl
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Sorry that is supposed to say do not feed outside.
timeslid
Member Profile
We have had rats in and around our 1909 house for years. Some years are better than others. This year was particularly bad - the little buggers were in the walls in the crawl space and even in the basement (much to the interest of our cat). We could hear squeaking and playing and who knows what going on.
The war begins:
I have snap trapped at least 10 on the roof and one in the basement. The ones on the roof are roof rats (brown and smaller) the one in the basement was a LARGE Norwegian rat. I have blocked up all the suspect entrances but with such an old house I am sure there are areas I have missed. They were still around. So - I hired Alpha pest control (www.alphaecological.com). They use a different kind of poison that is highly toxic to rodents but not as toxic to other beasts. They baited around the house and I haven\'t seen a rat in about a week. I also cut all the vegetation around my roof line and put rat stop (plastic vinegar jug cut into a cone) on the power line coming into the house.
I think the battle has now turned in my favor. Good luck!
beachdrivegirl
Member Profile
Thank you timeslid!
timeslid
Member Profile
Because of the ongoing rat issues at my house I have learned that rats will be attracted to: Fruit trees and fruit in general as they eat my strawberries and raspberries, chicken coups (no duh), dog and cat food, dog and cat fecal matter (our neighbor had a dog and couldn\'t figure out why there was no poop in her back yard; she let the dog out there and only there. Hmmm...rats). Compost is not an attractant if it doesn\'t have table scraps.
Also, JoB with regard to eating the peanut butter off the traps and not catching any could be a sign of beetles and or mice. I have black beetles eat the bait off the traps in a night. Mice also eat so softly as not to trigger the mechanism.
angelescrest
Member Profile
Thank you for the info, Timeslid.
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