And now what did you do TODAY?

[crappyjones123]

Thats what the anatomy professor called it...

[jvlgato]

Congrats CJ, that's good stuff!

[Augsburger]

My remote trigger has been getting rusty lately...needs more use.

[Torpedo]

My remote trigger has been getting rusty lately...needs more use.

Remote triggers must be kept in good working order. Don't forget to check the batteries before using.

[aardvark baguette]

a glorious 4 hour nap.

[shellylh]

Smelled a dead animal in the backyard.  I assume that it is a poisoned rat under the deck (our pest guy put poision out there recently).  Guess I'll try to get some one to come out on Monday.  Hopefully the smell doesn't get too bad before that time and hopefully it is not a dead opposum.  Have I mentioned how much I hate taking care of a house?  

[Craig Sawyers]

Saw Death of a Salesman, RSC Stratford on Avon, today; Athony Sher and Harriet Walter, actors of the highest calibre.  Awesome.

 

http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/death-of-a-salesman/

 

And while I'm on the actor thing, daughter has just nailed a three month tour as Titania and Helena in Midsummer Night's Dream and also as Mary Bennet in Pride and Prejudice.  http://www.chapterhouse.org/

[aardvark baguette]

almost forgot to renew a domain.

 

*long whistle*

[shellylh]

Got an estimate to rat proof the house.  Not cheap.  

[Voltron]

Have you really had a rat problem in the past?

[Grahame]

How much would an attack cat be? This is Texas, right?

[Dusty Chalk]

An ED-209?

[morphsci]

Got an estimate to rat proof the house.  Not cheap.  

 

 

Back slowly away from this one. It cannot really be done unless you are going to pay exorbitant amounts of money. What is required is to close every hole 1/2" diam. or larger for rats and 1/4" diam. or larger for mice. If you miss any, they will find them since they have nothing but time.

 

Grahame has a good idea or you could go with Greg's solution and cultivate rattlesnakes, which love to eat rodents.

Edited April 7, 2015 by morphsci

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, organic >> ED-209, those things might shoot your foot off if the rest of you keeps still.

[shellylh]

Have you really had a rat problem in the past?

 

Yes, we had some in our attic January 2013 (and at least one in our atrium at that time).  There are rat droppings right now in the attic that the company I called out says look like new.  There aren't that many though.  I haven't tried catching any in the attic recently.  We certainly have them in the backyard. 

Edited April 7, 2015 by shellylh

[shellylh]

Back slowly away from this one. It cannot really be done unless you are going to pay exorbitant amounts of money. What is required is to close every hole 1/2" diam. or larger for rats and 1/4" diam. or larger for mice. If you miss any, they will find them since they have nothing but time.

 

Grahame has a good idea or you could go with Greg's solution and cultivate rattlesnakes, which love to eat rodents.

 

Yes, this is why it is expensive.  The company say that they would close up every hole larger than 3/4" (they don't do mice).  The people before us closed up a lot of holes in the attic.  Most of the work is blocking off the bottom of the house.  

 

What would you suggest?  I certainly cannot do any of this myself and don't want more rats in the attic/house.  

 

There is a cat that likes to hunt in our backyard.  I am certainly not go to get a cat of my own.  We also have possums in the backyard which I think might eat rats.  

 

The company that I called was recommended on this site.   I felt like the person that came out knew what he was talking about and they do have a warranty... 

 

http://www.wildlife-removal.com/rat.html

Edited April 7, 2015 by shellylh

[morphsci]

What I would do is set traps myself. I would probably set four traps in places where you notice rat droppings. I would check them twice a day, once in the morning. If you catch a rat replace the trap with a new one, set it and wash the old trap and let air dry before using again. If you have rats you should catch some in the first few days. I would not worry about getting the house sealed up unless you keep catching the rats semi-continuously. If you are only catching 1 or 2 a month then you have to weigh the cost with the expense of knocking it down to 1 or 2 per year. I doubt you could ever get it down to zero.

The rat pictures on the website are actually mice.

[grawk]

A trick to help is to stuff steel wool and cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil into any openings you can see in the basement.

[Absorbine_Sr]

And remember, it's very possible that the rat proofing company told you they saw fresh droppings because they want to sell you expensive rat proofing.

[shellylh]

What I would do is set traps myself. I would probably set four traps in places where you notice rat droppings. I would check them twice a day, once in the morning. If you catch a rat replace the trap with a new one, set it and wash the old trap and let air dry before using again. If you have rats you should catch some in the first few days. I would not worry about getting the house sealed up unless you keep catching the rats semi-continuously. If you are only catching 1 or 2 a month then you have to weigh the cost with the expense of knocking it down to 1 or 2 per year. I doubt you could ever get it down to zero.

The rat pictures on the website are actually mice.

 

Thanks Jim.  The only problem is that I cannot deal with doing this myself.  I don't deal well with rats.  Also, just thinking about this makes me very anxious (and keeps me from thinking about things that I should be thinking about).  There is no way that I can live my life check for dead rats everyday and thinking about them all the time.  Yeah, it's my girlie side.  I can't even deal with thinking about having 1-2 rats per year.  This was something that Tim definitely did and I wanted no part of.  

 

Also, this is the company I called (the one I linked just had a referral to this company).  They did have a lot of information on their site though. 

 

https://mastersservices.com/animal-in-the-attic/

 

A trick to help is to stuff steel wool and cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil into any openings you can see in the basement.

 

We don't have a basement, we have a crawlspace and there is NO WAY I am getting in the crawl space.  The company was going to have to take off boards of the deck to close up holes under the house.  There is no way I can do that.  I have tried to close up any holes that I can get to but most are difficult to get to.

 

Also, the peppermint oil seems to be a myth, I looked that up at some point because I thought I could just put peppermint oil in the attic (which I suppose would have to be changed frequently). 

 

I hate owning a house "on my own."   I just don't really know what to do.  I would probably get it done if I knew that I was going to stay in the house but it seems like a lot of money to spend if I have to move out in 6 months.  I do have poison in the backyard which hopefully keeps the population down out there.  My pest guy put poison in the attic.  I am wondering if that is such a good idea though now.  I certainly wouldn't want to have a dead rat in the wall or some place in the attic that I couldn't get to (in the insulation). 

Edited April 8, 2015 by shellylh

[grawk]

we do the peppermint oil and steel wool thing in our house, which used to regularly get invaded by field mice (we live in farm country, and are surrounded by corn). We went from 4-5 mice a week in traps to 1 every couple of months.

[morphsci]

Thanks Jim.  The only problem is that I cannot deal with doing this myself.  I don't deal well with rats.  Also, just thinking about this makes me very anxious (and keeps me from thinking about things that I should be thinking about).  There is no way that I can live my life check for dead rats everyday and thinking about them all the time.  Yeah, it's my girlie side.  I can't even deal with thinking about having 1-2 rats per year.  This was something that Tim definitely did and I wanted no part of.  

 

Also, this is the company I called (the one I linked just had a referral to this company).  They did have a lot of information on their site though. 

 

https://mastersservices.com/animal-in-the-attic/

 

 

We don't have a basement, we have a crawlspace and there is NO WAY I am getting in the crawl space.  The company was going to have to take off boards of the deck to close up holes under the house.  There is no way I can do that.  I have tried to close up any holes that I can get to but most are difficult to get to.

 

Also, the peppermint oil seems to be a myth, I looked that up at some point because I thought I could just put peppermint oil in the attic (which I suppose would have to be changed frequently). 

 

I hate owning a house "on my own."   I just don't really know what to do.  I would probably get it done if I knew that I was going to stay in the house but it seems like a lot of money to spend if I have to move out in 6 months.  I do have poison in the backyard which hopefully keeps the population down out there.  My pest guy put poison in the attic.  I am wondering if that is such a good idea though now.  I certainly wouldn't want to have a dead rat in the wall or some place in the attic that I couldn't get to (in the insulation). 

 

That seems like a better company. I also understand not wanting to deal with rodents. No big deal for me since I did my Master's project live-trapping White-footed Mice and did a later project on Cotton Rats. Both involved handling living rodents. White-footed Mice are actually pretty non-aggressive. The same cannot be said for Cotton Rats. We usually end up with anywhere from 2 - 5 White-Footed Mice that decide it is a good idea to take up residence in our house. It always ends up being detrimental to their fitness.

 

I am not a big fan of poison, especially in open areas, because it usually ends up taking out non-target species, many of which actually help control the pest, and so you actually end up making your problem worse.

[shellylh]

We have the poison in tamper proof bait boxes. Is this still dangerous for non-target species? How? I guess a baby possum could probably get in the bait box but there is no way a large cat or possum is getting in there.

I do have one if those Victor Electronic Rat Traps. I suppose I might be able to handle one of those. Is it a bad idea to set traps before going out of town? I assume that dead rodents will probably attract other rodents (which is why I guess you said to check twice a day). Also, will the bait in the traps in the attic attract rats into the attic?

[Aimless1]

Peppermint Oil, bounce dryer sheets and moth balls are all a myth. 

 

Hiring someone is most likely your best option.

[jvlgato]

One word: Catcoon!

Not sure about peppermint oil, but steel wool helped us for mice. But we had specific holes to fill along the side wall.