Rats In The Walls And Loft.

[Yokel Matt 918]

Jesus - worst night sleep ever! You'd have thought it was the zombie apocalypse judging from the wife's reaction last night when it sounded like rats wearing hobnail boots were twerking in the walls and attic.

 

I know I've got to find out there the buggers are getting in and block it up but could anyone suggest a good readily available poison on them? I've used stuff that calls itself rat poison from garden centres before outside my chicken coup but the fuckers ate it like sweets and keep coming back for more!

[torchey 1,204]

Where in somerset are you ?

[nod 285]

Trap it, then check the drain inspection chamber

[Nicepix 5,650]

Mate, I feel you pain. I really do.

 

A month ago I found a fouine (Beech Marten) nest under the eaves while I was doing some guttering work. It was obviously old and we hadn't had any problems in the two years we had been here so I dragged it out and chucked it. A few days after I finished the guttering we heard something clambering up the drain pipes and then it was like a bloody carthorse galloping across the ceiling. Bearing in mind the loft is lagged with 6" of fibreglass how the Hell a 2 kilo animal could create so much noise I don't know.

 

You are not allowed to trap them in our area so the Mk. IV Springers were out of the question for now and even then, barely adequate. They don't like noise but my PIR shed alarm device was at a friend's house and he was on holiday so I climbed the ladders and fitted squashed up chicken mesh in the gaps between the four down pipes and the mouldings. Bleeding thing ripped the chicken wire out first night.

 

Round two, up the ladders inside and out and squished the chicken wire in with a wooden batten. Then followed six or seven nights whereby we would sleep with the patio window slightly open and on the first sign of noise one of us, usually me, would rush out armed with a torch to deter the marten. Initially I would put some pyjama bottoms on, but as the nights progressed getting dressed was forgotten and so one or the other of us, usually me, would be racing along the balcony from one side to the other in the nude armed with a torch. Fortunately we are not overlooked.

 

Reading up on these things it seems that they have a 200 hectare range. Now 200 hectares is about ten times the size of our village and there must be 60 or 70 houses to choose from, so imagine my delight in knowing that our house was the one it wanted to hibernate in. But it obviously had second thought about sharing its home with two nude lunatics so eventually it buggered off. Except that we still had noises from between the living area floor and the suspended ceiling in the basement. Closer inspection revealed rat droppings. And one of them had been digging into my wormery in the basement and running all over my wine cellar. Now that meant war! Two weeks previously Dirks Donuts had kindly supplied me with two rat traps and I had passed them on to a customer of mine. If only.............

 

Two Mk. IV Springers were boxed, baited and readied and the remainder of a box of vole poison used on a job were scattered in the void. Two hours later there was a noise like a shotgun going off and on checking one trap had a victim. It was coming out of the room where my wine and wormery was. That'll teach it.

 

That left one more to catch I reckoned. A sleepless week later there was still one to catch. It ate all the pink satchets of vole poison and half a box of rat poison whilst studiously avoiding the two traps. Little Wife was getting to the end of her tether. She doesn't sleep well and this was keeping her up all night as it was literally inches from where we slept, just under the floor boards. I daren't tell her I'd found evidence in a kitchen cupboard. Fortunately she was going to visit her sisters for a week so that left me to deal. I had planned to go off fishing for a few days so I emptied the rest of the satchets of rat poison into the areas of the false ceiling, refereshed the rat traps with cod liver oil and chocolate and went fishing for three nights.

 

When I got back it was all serene. No noise, no scurrying under out bed and no traps activated. Bliss!

 

All I have to do now is trace that strange smell in the basement......................................

Edited November 9, 2015 by Nicepix

[Yokel Matt 918]

Where in somerset are you ?

West of bristol mate - near Nailsea.

 

The wife was motivated enough to go the the local agri centre today and got some stuff called jade grain which they reckon is good(??) Bait outside, trap inside the way to go? I don't want one of these fuckers stinking the house out or she'll have me up there til Christmas lifting boards and rock wool looking for the bloater!

 

There are a couple of mk4s in the loft directly above our bedroom so if they go off in the night I expect I'll know about it!! - they way thing are going it'll probably foul catch and the thing will scream the house down.

Edited November 9, 2015 by Yokel Matt

[Rowan 308]

Hi mate , is it jade Bromagrain made by Lodi your using ? If so the active ingredient in that is Bromadiolone . It may be ok in your part of the world , but around East Anglia , where I live rats on the whole are resistant to it. .

 

I guess they would tell you its good at the agri centre , try and put them on the spot with a phone call asking if rats are resitant or not to the active ingredient in it in your area... .

[nod 285]

Where in east anglia are you rowan they are not resistant where I am

[Yokel Matt 918]

Bromadiolone is on the label of this stuff although from the quantity they are last night (outside) I'm hoping they OD. Had one in the fenn outside as well although it was half the size of the one I saw near my log pile which looked as if it could take on a tom cat.

 

From what I've seen when shooting them with the Airgun they readily eat their fallen comrades if given half a chance. If they eat a poisoned one would they develop an immunity if it's in a weak enough dose?? If so should I chop and change the poison to keep ahead of them?

[Deker 3,455]

Bromadiolone is on the label of this stuff although from the quantity they are last night (outside) I'm hoping they OD. Had one in the fenn outside as well although it was half the size of the one I saw near my log pile which looked as if it could take on a tom cat.

 

From what I've seen when shooting them with the Airgun they readily eat their fallen comrades if given half a chance. If they eat a poisoned one would they develop an immunity if it's in a weak enough dose?? If so should I chop and change the poison to keep ahead of them?

 

They will not have a chance to develop any immunity if you keep the bait topped up, Bromadiolone, Difenacoum, Brodifacoum, etc are commonly used anticoagulants on rodents. In simple terms when they stop eating the bait they start getting better, it is important they ingest enough bait to kill them, so always keep the bait topped up, never let it run out. Immunity in some form to many "poisons" has been found in many areas, hence why there are numerous baits available, but use baits appropriately and there is no need to chop and change different types.

 

Edited November 11, 2015 by Deker

[Rowan 308]

Where in east anglia are you rowan they are not resistant where I am

North Norfolk , apply bromadiolone any where around the coast here and they just eat it , as much as you would like to give them. .

 

you can google rodenticide resistance to find out exactly what is recommended to use in your area.

[Sweeney 316]

You killed them off yet pal?

[Nicepix 5,650]

I don't know about Yokel Matt. But in my case the smell has now gone, as have most of the flies

 

(Don't tell the Missus!)