Comments on: I don’t want to have my face gnawed off by rats. Can you help?

By: Rory

Rory — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:52:19 +0000

We had a rat problem last year. Same type of story, older house and we have an old rock wall foundation, so lots of gaps for them to get in. We, meaning my husband, set a lot of rat traps. He found the most effective way was to place several traps in front of where we heard them inside the wall, sort of like a minefield of rat traps. I will say, it was very creepy to be sitting in the living room and hear the traps snap in the room below you.
Just be aware that whatever method you pick, rats will eventually adapt and learn to avoid the trap/poison/etc. Crafty little things!

By: Micaela

Micaela — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:15:44 +0000

Ok Katie,

I don’t want to be an alarmist, but a bell went off when you wrote this. Did you ever consider you might have had Hanta virus?
http://www.cdc.gov/NCIDOD/DISEASES/HANTA/HPS/noframes/symptoms.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/NCIDOD/DISEASES/HANTA/HPS/noframes/rodents.htm

It is believed to be acquired by respiration of mice droppings, not just a direct bite.

By: Clinton

Clinton — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:15:26 +0000

We haven’t had rats but field mice. When I was young my mother set poison traps around the house. A few weeks later we had a horrid smell that we couldn’t quite track down. Turns out a mouse had taken the bait, climbing into the wall and died in the insulation. We had to tear out the wall to remove him. Since we have used the old 4 for a buck traps and kept all food in sealed containers. So far so good.

By: Leslie

Leslie — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:06:32 +0000

I know they say that the bait will make them go outside to die but that has unfortunately not been my experience. We had one rat die under a piece of furniture and another to just come and sit in the middle of the kitchen looking sick. Two mice died behind the refrigerator. If this happens in your house, you will know.

By: MB

MB — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:02:06 +0000

Bait boxes are the way to go. The poison causes them to seek water which makes them (hopefully) go outside to die instead of funking up your house with their death juices. It is also not supposed to harm other animals that may ingest their carcasses. We use Heritage Pest Control.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:59:28 +0000

You need some good mousing cats, that’s for sure.
Put all your dry food into mouse-proof containers. All pet food, too. Get that expandable foam spray insulation and search for nooks and crannies. Set traps. Reclaim your boundaries!

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:45:35 +0000

Oh, oh oh, and can I tell you last year my in-laws, who have an ancient house in CA, had RATS in their attic- They set out traps and one day, my mother-in-law pulled down the ceiling attic door and a DEAD RAT IN A TRAP FELL ON HER HEAD AND THE WHOLE THING THEN GOT CAUGHT ON HER SWEATER. I think I would have died if that had happened to me. Seriously. Died.

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:43:12 +0000

We had mice a few years ago in our attic and I FREAKED. I read everything there was to read on the Internet. We’d had them for a while, too, so they had multiplied- It wasn’t until they began hanging out downstairs that I realized they were um, a problem, and not just occasional visitors.

That said, we got rid of them two or three years ago and haven’t seen them since, despite the fact that every exterminator will tell you that you can’t get rid of them until every single dime-sized hole leading into your house is sealed. Here’s what we did.

We bought like, a thousand old fashioned wooden traps. They are the best. We put a dollop of peanut butter on each one and set them along the walls in every room where we had seen mice, and all over the attic. Then we waited.

I made Hubs go downstairs first each morning to check the traps because- GROSS. I think we caught two downstairs and about 14 in the attic. It took two or three weeks, too. You have to be willing to wait, and set the traps out every single night, because it can take a while to get all of them. We knew they were gone when… we never caught another mouse. Now, we set the traps out in the attic as soon as it starts getting cold outside, just to keep a handle on it and figure out if we have a problem- but we haven’t seen any mice in two years, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Oh, and it turned out they were attracted to our house because of the open bag of dog food in our garage. I actually found dog food IN MY CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS, which they’d been taking from the garage up to the attic. EW. The big advice is to put your dog food in a trashcan with a tight lid, if you aren’t doing this already. Mice LOVE dog food.

My final advice? Don’t google Hantavirus. Just. Don’t.