Rodents in the duct work?

[Guest]

. . . .

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Yeah, we had a rat come down the wires from the main lines, then climb the stucco (did you know rats can climbe stucco?) and sneak into the attic. It lived up there for a couple of weeks or more, driving the terrorier crazy. Then it got under the house and doggy started getting intense until finally the vermin made a strategic error and got into the pantry. Pepper alerted and I started pulling out the big drawers. After the second one I could see a hairless tail disappear down the back. Chortling evilly to myself I pulled out one drawer after another until the only retreat for the little beast was into the bottom drawer where the Death of Rats awaited. Damn, that was satisfying!

 

[shereads]

No sign of it, really. No odor, no droppings, no shredded insulation, no holes, no scurrying or scampering noises at night . . .

Just a cat or two, perched at the bathroom heating vent.

Waiting.

Watching.

Very intently watching.


Damn it.



Can't poison, right? We'll stink up the entire house.

Glue traps? Baited things?

Anyone else had experience with this?

Oh yes indeed.

1) Do NOT under any circumstances use the glue trap.

2) Do NOT ask why; you don't want to know.

3) If your rodentiferous houseguests must die, and you have no easy access for removal of their, er, remains, let it happen during cold dry weather. Freezing, preferably.

If you can afford an exterminator, by all means hire one and let them deal with it. Just make sure they don't screw up and leave poison where your pets can find it; and make sure they observe #1 above. They will want to use glue traps, because they won't be there at 3 a.m when you hear the hideous squeals of angu -- Nevermind. (See #2)

 

[TE999]

No sign of it, really. No odor, no droppings, no shredded insulation, no holes, no scurrying or scampering noises at night . . .

Just a cat or two, perched at the bathroom heating vent.

Waiting.

Watching.

Very intently watching.


Damn it.



Can't poison, right? We'll stink up the entire house.

Glue traps? Baited things?

Anyone else had experience with this?

Glue traps are the most effective and the least injurious to people and pets. My SIL has an invasion every fall no matter how well they seal the house. She has two cats...but they're so well fed they couldn't catch a cold.

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

We have an invasion of field mice every winter. We generally use glue traps and D-con (for the attic). Hubby checks them regularly. He also gets woken up to dispose of one if we hear one squeaking during the night because it got caught.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

You need a terrier. Everyone needs a terrier if there are rodents in the neighborhood.

 

[Guest]

. . . .

 

[wafflemtl]

No sign of it, really. No odor, no droppings, no shredded insulation, no holes, no scurrying or scampering noises at night . . .

Just a cat or two, perched at the bathroom heating vent.

Waiting.

Watching.

Very intently watching.


Damn it.



Can't poison, right? We'll stink up the entire house.

Glue traps? Baited things?

Anyone else had experience with this?

Had some in the floor of my flat once. I used poisoned wheat (it suppose to be pink) and there was no smell at all. I think rat die from haemorrhage and dry up.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I really like rats.

And my parents had an invasion-- beautiful, elegant little things, in silky dove-grey jammies. Of course they pee wherever they happen to be, and leave other momentoes behind as well, so...

They used glue traps, I hated having to be the one that carried live rats outside and snapped their necks. I couldn't stand the idea of throwing them into the garbage can alive.

 

[shereads]

Damn it.

Why can't the little fucker(s) come running out of the vent and one of our cats catch it and eat it?

Well, because my Jonesey isn't here anymore. And the other tomcats we have are slack-jawed knuckleheads.

Maybe little Pixie is a mouser.

Want to borrow Daisy? She's desperate to capture her very own rodent (see "after" photo of her practice vermin, in my sig line)

 

[sr71plt]

Oh, sorry. I thought this was another thread about scurrying Scouries.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I really like rats.

And my parents had an invasion-- beautiful, elegant little things, in silky dove-grey jammies. Of course they pee wherever they happen to be, and leave other momentoes behind as well, so...

They used glue traps, I hated having to be the one that carried live rats outside and snapped their necks. I couldn't stand the idea of throwing them into the garbage can alive.

That's what's good about terriers. They don't play with the critter like a cat does; they just give it one, very quick crunch and a shake and spit it out. End of problem.

I had a beagle once, though, who used to eat any rodents he caught. Fresh breakfast, as far as he was concerned.

 

[Guest]

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[Guest]

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[Guest]

. . . .

 

[voluptuary_manque]

You come along with, and stay for the weekend.

Excellent idea! Daisy is just what you need and that mouse is just what she needs. It's a poifec metch!

 

[Stella_Omega]

That's what's good about terriers. They don't play with the critter like a cat does; they just give it one, very quick crunch and a shake and spit it out. End of problem.

I had a beagle once, though, who used to eat any rodents he caught. Fresh breakfast, as far as he was concerned.

If it happens again, will you bring Pepper up?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

If it happens again, will you bring Pepper up?

Gladly! I may even find an old hunting horn or something to make the chase that much better. Got any old green coats to wear? Maybe some Wellingtons?

 

[shereads]

They used glue traps, I hated having to be the one that carried live rats outside and snapped their necks. I couldn't stand the idea of throwing them into the garbage can alive.

I wasn't that lucky.

The exterminator had told me he'd be back the next day to "check the trap." As if there would be something subtle about the actual capture, if it occurred.

Late that night, I was awakened by what sounded for all the world like an infant human, crying. I immediately knew what it was: a rat had come in, as predicted, through the hole it had chewed in the baseboard behind my washing machine. Now it was super-glued to a flat piece of cardboard: first its paws and tail, then it's nose and mouth as it fought the trap; then its sides and back as it struggled, wrapping itself in the sticky paper like Cleopatra in Caesar's carpet.

My dog was going berserk. By the time I got the dog shut up in a back room so I could deal less hysterically with the wailing rodent (it's an eerily human wail), the poor thing had managed to free himself from the trap by means of wiggling its body through the hole in the baseboard, twisting and turning so that the glue trap was left inside the house - along with most of the animal's fur and a significant amount of its skin, still superglued to the trap.

Nothing alive - neither diseased vermin nor Bill O'Reilly - is so lacking in merit that it deserves to be peeled.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Rush Limbaugh, maybe.

That's the reason I was taking them out-- I would hear them instantly, it would wake me straight up, out of the deepest sleep...

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Rush Limbaugh, maybe.

That's the reason I was taking them out-- I would hear them instantly, it would wake me straight up, out of the deepest sleep...

I can't figure out why people think those things are somehow more humane. The old fashioned neck breakers baited with bacon or peanut butter and set properly (against a wall under a slanting board so that it makes a tunnel with a trap facing each direction, trust me on this) is instant. Much kinder.

 

[Guest]

. . . .

 

[Dhalgren150]

No sign of it, really. No odor, no droppings, no shredded insulation, no holes, no scurrying or scampering noises at night . . .

Just a cat or two, perched at the bathroom heating vent.

Waiting.

Watching.

Very intently watching.


Damn it.



Can't poison, right? We'll stink up the entire house.

Glue traps? Baited things?

Anyone else had experience with this?

Bait them and if you think they are dead. Agricultural lime in a cup will absorb any smell.

Or paraformaldehyde will work.

I am a LPCO this is how I treat for rodents.

Mice not much smell Rats smell as do a squirrel.

Peace be on you.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

That's our plan.

Something to quickly kill, yet protect the knucklehead felines from getting paws snapped.

Yeah, I'd think that the board would have to be narrow enough that the feli-nitwits can't crawl down even if they want to and peanut butter would be a less cat-attracting bait than bacon. Brace the board well so that the cats can't even budge it and leave the traps unset and unbaited for a couple days to give ol' rodentia the feeling that it's a protected highway just for him. Then set the traps! If this doesn't work, I got a great book on how to trap most anything and am always happy to do research.

 

[Dhalgren150]

That's our plan.

Something to quickly kill, yet protect the knucklehead felines from getting paws snapped.

Di trax no second hand kills