<p>Jym, I can sympathize. We’ve been dealing with a rat problem for the past month or so. We were hearing noises inside the bathroom wall around dusk and dawn – came to find out that the screening covering the crawlspace opening right beneath the bathroom window had been broken and apparently rats were getting in that way and making their way up to the attic.</p>
<p>I started watching the security camera video from that side of the house and saw that rats were having a party every night running up and down the fence that separates our yard from the next-door neighbors. When I told them about it, they said that they had been hearing scratching noises over their kitchen ceiling and squeaking that sounded like it was coming from behind the cabinets. </p>
<p>We called a rodent exterminator and he placed some tubes with tracking powder inside. That’s supposed to kill them over a period of 1-2 weeks. We closed up the crawlspace after being fairly sure that the rats were no longer up there and we haven’t heard noises since. The neighbors set traps in their attic and have caught 6 or 7 rats so far. All but one were quite young so there was probably a nest. Yuck. The security cameras show that there are still some rats on the fence at night but the population has diminished.</p>
<p>No smell so far coming from inside our house so I’m pretty sure there are no dead rats inside. But the neighbor thinks that there may be a dead one in her attic because there’s a faint bad smell. Her husband hasn’t been able to find it, though.</p>
<p>We’re both going to put bait stations outside to try and control the ones that are cavorting on the fence. Rats just gross me out – I can’t stand knowing that they’re just feet from my bedroom window at night. :eek:</p>
<p>We have a heavily wooded lot and have battled critters over the years. Last winter it was mice. Found some tiny ones curled up in my kitchen trash can. Almost wet my pants! :eek:
H set traps and caught 2 more. This spring I could hear some scratching sounds from what I thought was the ceiling of our four season porch. Called the wildlife guy and he found a hole going into the soffit. While I was standing in the yard he banged on the outside until we could hear movement and a red squirrel came flying out the other end from behind the gutter and just missed landing on my head!!! Once again I almost wet myself! Two years ago we heard noises under the floor of the porch and they think it was a raccoon who got in and pulled out the insulation. They never caught him but we sealed the hole and haven’t had any issues since. It is a constant battle living in a wooded neighborhood! I hate squirrels. They are just rodents with good PR. We have an albino squirrel that freaks me out with its red beady eyes! :eek:</p>
<p>I can smell a dead animal right away. Once you smell one you never forget.</p>
<p>Oh no, North Minnesota. I don’t like hearing that. That’s where we live now. In Minnesota. We have a walnut tree growing next to the house, so of course the squirrels love us. I’ve been letting the cats out frequently, and almost every time I do, the next day I find a little <em>present</em> of a mouse, a vole (I think?), a chipmunk or rabbit in the yard, on the sidewalk, or near the front or back door. There is soooo much wildlife here, and we live in the city!</p>
<p>Ooh, I can’t imagine watching them on the video cam. I’m in a residential part of a small city. What we have in my specific corner has been raccoons and the occasional opossum or skunk. Darned skunk would sit on our porch. He has been known to saunter past us, while we were sitting in the front or back. </p>
<p>Yes, mice can squeeze through holes as small as 1/4 inch. I once read about our city guys who track rats. More than you want to know. Our city has recently changed to trash cans with more secure, hinged lids- and rules about ensuring they are completely closed. City wide. Idea is to hope they find more fertile grounds, elsewhere.</p>
<p>We live in a residential area. We’ve been overrun with squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits. They were less active last year, because we had… coyotes!!! Some neighbors lost their pets :(</p>
<p>Update: Wildlife guys came today to do a last check and pick up the 4 unoccupied traps they set. They brought some hospital grate disinfectant to kill the last of the smell (which they agree at this point smells more like pee than dead critter. Oh rats (oops, pun intended) I was supposed to have him specifically spray the insulation accessible behind the wall. I forgot. Wonder if Lysol will help?</p>
<p>I can smell a dead rat a mile away…I hate the odor. It’s getting colder outside and roof rats try getting into houses now to get warm. Wouldn’t hurt to throw a few rat traps around your house to make sure there are no lurkers or new arrivals. Double check around perimeter of house for cracks, holes, etc. rats can use as entry.</p>
<p>Thanks, lizard. We spent $$$$$ this past spring when we discovered that we’d been sharing the basement ceiling, at some point in the past, with “uninvited guests”, to have the company protect/seal our house which included some gutter seals (that messed up our rain guards, but thats another story). They sealed another hole they found when they came back a few weeks ago. If I see/smell anything-- they get the call!!</p>
<p>We had some chimney guys come and look at the chimney of this seven year old house that we bought. The wildlife guys that came out to capture the squirrels that were coming into the house had done a temporary fix. So, the chimney guy told us that the top of the chimney had never been finished. Argh. We are the second occupants, so this house passed two inspections. He didn’t think the squirrels were getting in there, though I think they were. But he also found some other holes in a different part of the roof where more squirrels were apparently getting into the top of the house – a different batch of them than the ones that were crawling down the side of the house through the open chimney and coming into the living room ceiling – so they sealed those up. Will this never end??? But even so, I’m glad it is squirrels and not rats. I still prefer squirrels to rats . . . At least I THINK it is squirrels and not rats, but honestly, don’t know. Geez. One time in California, a good friend of mine discovered a rat coming up through the sewer into her bathroom toilet . . .</p>
We have an albino squirrel that freaks me out with its red beady eyes! :eek:</p>