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  • FabiBeanFabiBean
    Same happened to me, exactly under the kitchen floorboards, but I actually saw them coming out twice from the space under it. I was going insane from the stress, and then by magic they were gone. It must have helped spraying peppermint oil everywhere in the kitchen and buying one of those electromagnetic repellent to plug.
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  • helenhelen
    we've had rats on occasion - backing onto Parkland Walk means they'll always be around and you can't poison a public place so it's just something we keep an eye on and have to deal with occasionally. Dennis the rat man told me some stuff that might be helpful/reassuring....so where there are rats there aren't mice (the rats eat the mice). Foxes will instinctively always shake and kill rats...they won't necessarily eat them (too many kebabs and bagels around here for them to need to) but they will shake and kill - so i'm actually quite pleased we have a fox population around us as they do help control the problem a bit. In terms of smell - not much to be done other than buy a lot of nice smelling candles. The smell is bad for about 2-3 days and then lingers a bit. Get some fly swats/spray as you'll suddenly have a weird fly problem for a couple of days as they decompose...but they do rot off pretty quickly. With the "where are they coming from" question - the issue is that they have babies pretty quickly so it might not be that they're getting in, rather one or two got in and had babies and so they are self multiplying (we had this - a pregnant rat got in and gave birth under our kitchen). Once they've all eaten the rat poison your problem might well just go away for good. It's just one of those things...try not to worry too much, but the poison will sort it.
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  • _Bee_Bee Stroud Green Road
    Good to hear you have the mesh - Brillo pads are great for this as well. Honestly, though, I would be more concerned with the neighbour's cockroaches.... those are sneaky disgusting creatures and a terrible pain to get rid of!
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  • grennersgrenners Ferme Park Road, N4
    Interesting. We live in a first floor flat but our bedroom is in a rear extension with a flat roof. Something lives inside the flat roof. Either rat or squirrel. Haven't done anything about it fear of the cost of opening up a roof......
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  • AnkaAnka
    edited January 2017
    Donna - I have moved to Florence Road on the 20th Dec and one of my 4 cats presented me with 2 mice few days later. Half killed still wriggling as cats tend to bring their gifts go. Shooshed him to the garden with it to kill it off as did not want it to suffer (yeah I am like that sorry). My 3 remaining cats slept through all the drama unfortunately. http://i63.tinypic.com/mw8u8z.jpg (oh dear - only cat with mouse is my photo so whatever turns up before/after is not mine - just so we are clear) Are you sure yours are rats not mice? For the 2 weeks and a bit I have been here those are the only 2 George got - but he is flat as a pancake by the cellar door hoping for more. I was not aware of this issue when I moved in here but after the 2 gifts had a look around and notices wire wool everywhere so here we go. I am on a ground floor, flat is old and needs a lot of work which will take me ages. I can hear scratching in the walls in the evenings. Old horrid carpets which I can not replace now so have to live with for a while - no idea if there are any holes under them. Cellar - that seems to be where they came from before George got them. With pets in the flat I can not put any poison out and would not ant anyway. I may be naive but I hope that with my 4 cats they will move out. I am backing onto the Parkland Walk too which is great for the cats to run around almost safe but also an issue with creatures coming in. But I have to brave it and go down to the cellar with some wire wool as I want to store some things in there and at the moment this is not possible.
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  • conformable_kateconformable_kate
    Cats are good. I've never had rats (touch wood) and I've always had cats. I've had mice when my single remaining cat grew very old and frail, and in the early weeks of the kittens that replaced him, but since the kittens grew old enough to be scary the mice have disappeared. And my cats are useless as hunters - all they ever bring in is earthworms, which I can live with. So Anka, with a bit of luck you're right to think they may discourage rodent visitors. Now if only cats could get rid of moths ...
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  • AnkaAnka
    :) - my cats get moths actually....
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  • miss anniemiss annie
    Beetroot catches and eats moths, not those pesky tiny ones though.
    @grenners if it's squirrels in your roof you need to sort it out. They love to chew electrical wires and this frequently causes house fires.
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  • DonnaDonna
    edited April 2017
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  • DonnaDonna
    edited April 2017
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  • trainspottertrainspotter
    We had a problem in the summer - in our cellar, which has an open earth floor and can't be made rat-proof because it runs along the whole terrace I think, but they did enter the house as well - it was horrible - and the flies were also quite distressing. If you can remove the body it is worth doing, if gross. We used Diamond Pest Control who were good - though I don't know if they really did anything we couldn't have done ourselves - it mostly involved poison and blocking entry points, but it felt reassuring having them on standby and they did once come and shoot two rats making a nest with an air gun after I called them out as an emergency having heard them in our fireplace. We haven't heard/seen anything since that day, which was a few months ago now, and I am reassured by the comments above that it's possible the problem may just go away. I was ready to burn down the house and start again.
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  • AnkaAnka
    Oh so the water guys all over Florence Rd are connected to you Fiona? They just keep in digging everywhere today.

    I do not see any droppings at all at my place so can mot really say but the 2 that George got were definitely small field mice.

    Could you please post a link to those traps? Thanks a lot

    Hope they all move out soon sighh
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  • DonnaDonna
    edited April 2017
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  • AnkaAnka
    Thanks @Donna Thames Water must be coming back as big part of the road still blocked ..
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  • miss anniemiss annie
    My uncle is licensed to use a variety of firearms and regularly shoots rats for people.
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  • trainspottertrainspotter
    Update: My electrics short circuited at the weekend and upon inspection I found that the dishwasher cable had been gnawed and there is a melted section on it. Scary. Please check your wiring, folks, if you've had trouble with rodents.
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  • DonnaDonna
    Thanks Trainspotter, I will do that.
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  • AnkaAnka
    edited January 2017
    Luckily I have not seen one since the one day when George my ginger boy got 2 one after another - to my relief and his disappointment. I can hear mice in the walls but no mouse droppings anywhere and not any other signs of their presence. I may venture into the cellar at some point next week - have not been in there yet since moving in. Need to see if there is anything in there I need to block and to check for anything that could be harmful to cats as plan to let them into the cellar for a bit for a few days before putting my things for storage in there. Not sure what side of Florence Road are you on Donna but I do apologise if one of my cats tries to visit - massive silver one with white chest and paws is the "visiting neighbours" type. If you see him - feel free to shoosh him away. He is veryyyyyy big and very calm but just likes visiting people, sorry x Has your electronic trap got anything in it yet? Is it working?
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  • DonnaDonna
    edited April 2017
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  • AnkaAnka
    Oh sorry to hear that... Re animal to catch them - not after you put poison down I am afraid. Rat catching breed may not be such a bad idea to be honest but would need to be poison free/safe for the dog. Lots of owls die after eating poisoned mice etc :( You may want to look at Borrow My Doggy website: https://www.borrowmydoggy.com/ perhaps?
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  • Billy BookcaseBilly Bookcase
    Does anyone know whether the local rats are resistant to Bromadiolone? The ones that have made their home under our decking have gone through 9 boxes of the stuff during the last fortnight. The bait boxes are filled and they empty them overnight. I suppose they may be storing the food but they don't seem to be being poisoned and guilty as I am about this approach, I'm at the end of my tether. They started coming to eat the sunflower seeds spilled by the Goldfinches and Chaffinches who are such messy eaters.
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  • miss anniemiss annie
    The other birds and the squirrels should finish up all the seeds on the ground - blackbirds, pigeons. magpies and jays get ours. Perhaps change your feeders or hang a bin lid underneath to catch the spilt seeds.
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