Have any of you had the dubious experience of having roof rats at your house? All of a sudden we DO. How disgusting!! I have read up on them and they are horrible creatures - tails longer than their bodies, climb anything and can get into your walls and attic thru a 3/4" hole. The exterminator was out and put out some poison. (We don't have animals or kids here so feel safe that nothing that isn't supposed to will get to the traps.) Don't know how or why they decided to move in. We keep our garbage in cans that are always locked. There are no trees or fields near us; no fruit trees. They got into the attic and chewed thru one of the alarm wires and that awoke us at 12:50 one night. So inconsiderate.......
Ann
RATS!!!
Yes, we get rats and mice occasionally and they are a real pain. Even with the cat around they manage to get in the garage.
We have tried traps, and they haven't worked for us, the only thing that has worked is setting out trays with poison, that usually gets them, but be prepared for some wonderful smells coming from only God knows where.
Sometimes we find them some times not, but it eventually goes away. We put the poison where the cat can't get to it, she is a very finicky eater anyway and wouldn't touch it anyway, but better safe than sorry.
Good luck with getting rid of them.
Josephine.
Thanks Josephine. I don't like "critters" like this and unfortunately I think that in a residential neighborhood such as ours it means that someone isn't keeping their property as clean as it should be or that some recent movers-in brought them w/them, perhaps in "stuff" they had stored. There are plenty of new people around and I'm sure they are not aware that they have brought some of their "pets" w/them.
Hope you are staying warm.
Ann
We get them almost every winter. There are trees next to the house, and they climb up them and into the attic. My DH went around 3 years ago and filled in all of the (tiny!!) holes in the eaves that he could find and that worked for the last 2 years, but this year they are back. Ugh!! The poison works for us, too.
Put out all the poison that you can. That will get rid of them but the smell is from the dead ones.
Here in the country I have mice, there may be rats too but the cats take care of them as well as the chichen snakes in the spring thru fall. I put poison in the attic and behind stuff in the garage plus in the house. We don't have animals in the house so I don't have to worry about that. Our 6 year old knows what it is and won't touch it to save her life.
Good luck with them. They are after all looking for a warm place too.
Ann, rodents are one of those nasty facts of life when you have gardens and home ownership. Squirrels, raccoons, possums, et al. Our home is Tudor Style and squirrels love to pull off the ornamental half-timbering and pluck at the plaster to enter the attic and various crawl spaces.
I advise against poison. Most rat and rodent poison is highly dangerous to neighborhood dogs. "Rodenticide" attacks the rat’s blood over the course of days. It is a slow poison that affects the rat over the course of one or more days. In this time frame they continue to conduct their routine activities until they may suddenly be incapacitated. Neighborhood dogs and cats are put at risk if they attempt to eat the fallen rodents. I could not live with myself if I harmed a neighbor's pet. This is an insidious poison, because of its slow manifestations, so when the dog is taken to the vet that has eaten a rat, it is too late. There are special antidotes. Treatment could be also very slow.
During the winter, Animal Hospitals see many cases of animals ingesting rat poison. Most of the cases are due to ingestion of anticoagulants (warfarin, brodifacoum) rat poisons. But there are actually three general groups of rat poisons. The problem is not the home owner’s dog ingesting these rodenticides as much as it is the escaped rodent being caught by neighboring dogs.
Bromethalin is a safer rodenticide for use where dogs are present than the anticoagulant rodenticides. Bromethalin is a neurotoxin directly affecting the brain and cerebrospinal fluid. Clinical signs associated with ingestion of bromethalin appear about 10 hours post-ingestion and include severe muscle tremors, excitability, running fits, seizures and depression.
We have an annual service contract in Houston that is as easy as ABC (eh-hem) they are a class outfit that is a pleasure to work with and I highly recommend them. They set and remove traps that do not place domestic pets at risk.
I had to stop feeding the birds because that attracted rats. Are any of your neighbors feeding the birds with a birdfeeder? If you can convince them not to do it, the rats will move on. My pest guy also suggested I cut all the branches away from the house and roof so they can't have an easy access. Good luck Ann, rats are so nasty.
Rats will climb trees to get in but they can also climb up a brick wall. I have seen them do that. They are one of the creatures that we have to deal with out in the country so we see them do things to get into a warm spot that you wouldn't think of. You can tell the weather is going to get cold by just watching the mice.
Good luck.
Speaking of rats...I was out in the backyard one day and heard a squealing coming from my gas grill (which I keep covered with a tarp under my back porch). I walked to the porch and honed in on the sound...had an idea it was a rat but wasn't expecting to find two of 'em having a go at it inside my grill!!! EWWWWWWWWWW!!! I put out those big rat traps and ended up catching 7!!! UGHHH!!! Had no idea there were that many coming into my yard!
Then again...considering all the potted plants and plants along the fence I guess my yard makes a nice vacation spot! Also moved an old futon onto the back porch for the dogs to lay on...I went out a couple of days ago and found a bunch of chewed up acorns on it. Now the oak trees and acorns are in the front yard...so am assuming a rat should climb up the tree and onto the house and down the other side packing acorns. I can only visualize a big gray rat sitting back on that futon munching away at acorns!!!
Oh...and must tell this story too...I heard the doggy door flap one night while I was laying in bed reading. Both dogs were with me and I got curious and went to check. Didn't see anything. Next day my Mom comes over to help me move some furniture around and there's a dratted 'possum behind the bookshelf!!! ARGGGGGHHHH!!! She swatted it with broom and knocked it senseless and swept it outside. I had to toss it over the back fence :o) Now that I think of it...I could've sold it as a pet...imagine that ...a 'possum that knows how to use the doggy door!!! Am wondering how long that critter had been doing that...and wonder if it was looking for the dog food? I've seen videos of racoons getting in through doggy doors...but a 'possum?!
~ Cat
A few years ago, the next door neighbor saw one of her
cats bring in a dead rat from the yard. He carried it in through
the doggie door and gently laid the "love offering" at her feet !
No, thanks.
She's had racoons come through the door and eat the dog food,
as well as a squirrel or two, and even a few stray cats.
I do not want a doggie door, thank you very much.
So far we have what we call "The Tree" way out back no where near the house. The neighbors don't feed the birds. (I don't think they even feed their kids sometimes.) The only tree in the front of the house is a young Live Oak about 8 or 9 yrs. old and we keep it cut back from the house. On one side of us the neighbors have a vegetable garden and some kind of well build homemade shed which they have been working on. Behind us is an older subdivision right up to our back fence and it has some questionable buildings on it. The critters are getting in thru some as yet undefined holes that we have yet to find but we will.
People here on DG have berated me for allowing poison to be used on the rats because the dogs and cats might ingest the rats. Sorry about the pets but our house is an expensive asset and when rats start eating us out of house and home and chewing the alarm wires in two, we must as humans exercise our domain over animals wild and otherwise. Sorry to step on toes but no one is going to change our minds about that. Right now our toes are being stepped on and we don't like it and will not tolerate it. We have to do what is necessary to protect ourselves.
Thanks to everyone who has been helpful and supportive. We really appreciate you.
Ann
This message was edited Jan 17, 2007 8:13 PM
Have any of you had the dubious experience of having roof rats at your house?”
”People here on DG have berated me for allowing poison to be used on the rats because the dogs and cats might ingest the rats. Sorry about the pets but our house is an expensive asset and when rats start eating us out of house and home and chewing the alarm wires in two, we must as humans exercise our domain over animals wild and otherwise. Sorry to step on toes but no one is going to change our minds about that. Right now our toes are being stepped on and we don't like it and will not tolerate it. We have to do what is necessary to protect ourselves.”
The opinion that I expressed above and no one thus far seems to hold, is my response to the original question. It is a subjective opinion based on objective information. I did not intend it to “berate” anyone who disagrees, and was careful to present information in support of my position. I thought without rankling resentment.
I hope the information was respectfully presented on this thread and without the appearance of bitterness or rancor, as I intend no ill will towards anyone on this board. Two private citizens have contracted with services to address the same problem you introduced for discussion. My contractor locates the points of entry and seals them, he then uses traps and returns to remove the animals; your contracted service prefers baits.
Each contractor reflects our own stated preferences in dealing with the same issue. The services perform the service for which they are contracted, in the manner in which we wish it done. I am fine with that. I do not see anyone as “stepping on my toes” for holding a difference of opinion. I apologize if I offended anyone here for being the lone ranger; it was never my ambition to offend others for upholding a different viewpoint.
No offense taken here. Just stating my position because people do tend to get upset when a person takes a stand and will not back down when that stand if supported by the facts from experts.
Ann
Well, we hadn't heard the rats for a couple of nights so set the alarm when we went to bed. It didn't go off in the middle of the night so maybe, perhaps, hopefully, the darn things have moved on to more hospitable surroundings or enough got sick/killed that they won't bother us any more. Sure hope..............
Ann
Hope your problem is no more Ann!
Petit, I just read parts of this thread today and never would imagine folks would be anti-poison for rodents. I can see it might be a danger for the animals who get away from their owners and eat these dead rodents. But I say do whatever you need to to rid them from your home. I always try traps first but if that didn't work....
Do these seem to be a high problem in Houston? Seems a few from there have posted. I had never heard of this in Texas before.
Personally, we have never had rats, especially in our HOUSE! That's why I was so grossed out. In the fields, in barns and tool sheds but not the kind that we have (Had, hopefully). I had never heard of Roof Rats. If it is a problem, someone else caused it, I believe, and they just came in here because we were handy and warm. I do believe that the creatures of the wild know when the weather is going to be gross and they prepare in advance. The other day I was looking across the street at a neighbor's house and they had two garbage cans in front of the attached garage and it was overflowing w/garbage sacks. I guess I should have gone over and told them about our rats and they might want to reconsider covering the garbage cans to prevent having the furry critters at their house and then I rethought: what if, in the future we decided to sell--- would they tell the would-be new owners that we had rats here, even tho we had eradicated them? Decided not to say anything. You just never know..............
Ann
Ann - I would just have to say that you just have never seen them before. They are nocturnal, and unless you sustain damage, you probably would never know they are around. I live in The Woodlands, lots of trees, and they are here. All of my neighbors keep very clean properties and homes, but we do have trees. I have had rats in my attic after a pvc pipe was run up the side of the house and into the attic, as a covering for all of the electrical wires from a newly installed A/C. But they never sealed it off. Rats love to gnaw on electrical equipment. They used the pvc pipe as the roadway to the attic. Our alarms went off in the middle of the night. We discovered the rats had gnawed on the wires, and set out snap traps. Quickly learned we had to fasten them to a rafter, or a rat caught, but still alive, would make off with them. Didn't want them dying in the wall space!! Phew!! We've had rats gnaw holes in the screens around our pool and had to put in a solid metal sheet on the bottom panels to stop that. Again, we used the snap traps in the pool area. They've gnawed around sprinkler heads - that plastic surround. Made a tube of hardware cloth to encircle the head so it could still pop up and do its thing, but the rats couldn't get to the plastic surrounding it. Twice - in two different years - they have gnawed the electrical wires under the hood of my husband's Corvette while it was parked in the garage. The last time they had a nest in it. I keep a very clean house, and garage too. The only pile of stuff left lying around in the yard is the compost pile - and it is actually in a container. Knowing that the bird seed from my feeder was a big attractant to both them and skunks, possums, and raccoons and squirrels, I took down my feeders. I, personally, haven't had a problem since. Knock on wood.
I didn't want to use poison because I am deathly afraid a rat would get into the wall space and die there. The smell is horrible -and it doesn't go away for a long time!
I feel that Petit was only trying to make us aware of the danger posed to our domestic animals when we use poison. It wasn't personal. Such is the power of the printed word, when you can't hear the kind voice behind it.
They are definitely an animal that causes much damage, and need to be eliminated. I was just lucky, and the snap traps worked. Thank the Lord I am married though - because I would never have been able to handle the aftermath of releasing them from those traps!!! Yuck!
CJ, thanks for a scenario that I hope is worse than mine. You have woods - we have not. Like you say it's good to be married when you have dirty work to be done. I read where they love palms. Don't have those either. We'll just have to go w/the poison for right now and call the exterminator should we have some dead bodies around and have them do their thing. There are some outbuildings in 2 yards next to ours and am thinking they came from there. Hopefully we won't have any more problems. Don't like the idea of their chewing on the wires. Worse comes to worst, we'll move. The trouble w/neighborhoods like ours is that it is very transient and some of the homes don't have anyone in them for a few weeks. We're doing all we can to keep the varmints out of the house. Just can't stand rats or snakes. Not scared of them; just don't like them and will go a long way to keep them out. Yuuuuuk!
Ann
Vitamin D-3 (cholocalciferol) is added to milk and pet food. In rodents and hares it stores calcium in the blood triggering a heart attack in 3 to 4 days. It is made by treating animal fat with ultraviolet light. The brands follow, but check the ingredients to make sure they haven't changed.
Campaign®, Quintox®, Rampage®
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/view_question.php?id=126
I think that what the exterminator used is called Rampage.
Ann