Rat in my flat.

king_walnutking_walnut Posts: 539
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Hi, I'm a very long term lurker on these forums and this is my first thread.

Basically, I've seen a rat scurrying around my flat twice today, I currently sit here with my door ajar and a biscuit on the floor, and my hand I have a claw hammer and a selection of Japanese swords.

This however, isn't working. So my question is .. how do I catch this little bugger without having to go and buy anything? (desperately poor student, can't even afford to eat, blah blah) I don't think he'll fall for my trap anytime soon and I find the thought of sleeping quite uncomfortable whilst he's roaming around.

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.

Comments

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4,973
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    First I take it you rent so first of all get onto the landlord in the morning.

    Then also depending on the sort of area you live in contact the local council and ask if theres a rat problem in your area. The vast majority of councils these days son't seem to actually clear the problem them selves any longer but at least you'll know what the problem is and they'll be able to tell you how to deal with it as its actually got inside and also hey might have some of the painless rat traps that they'd give you which is basically the rat eats the poison and then gradually falls asleep. Only trouble is if its in your flat and you then don't see it I think I'd be wondering did the rat trap work and he's managed to get outside or under the floorboards and dorpped dead or did he decide to sniggle up in the wardrobe or under the kitchen cupboards before falling asleep.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4,973
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    Also think about if your intending on hitting it with a hammer. that is going to be bloody messy and it wont necassarily kill it in fat probably wont and you'll then have to scoop it up and chuck it out.

    Have you got an airing cupboard with the hot water tank in it. leave the door to it open they like the heat and then trap it in there over night, put towels in front of the door so it can't get out and call the landlord in the morning.

    I was in hopsital that was situated out in the country side a few years ago and we got field mice coming into the ward. We it proved that as orthopedic patients in for intensive physio all that you actually needed to see just how much someone could move was to get a few feild mice running around the ward cos we all suddenly jumped on the beds.
    The nurses though had experience of it and just got towels and ushered it into the generator room shut the door on it and put a load of towels in front of the door then called enviromental health in the morning and said see told you your pain free traps are useless, we always find you live mice that you can then put back where they belong after all they are wild animals as opposed to vermin like the ones in the towns all it needed was to figure out where the bloody hell these things were coming in in the first place.
  • SexbombSexbomb Posts: 20,005
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    It hasn't got in here has it?
  • king_walnutking_walnut Posts: 539
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    Yeah, I rent a flat in London .. so rats are pretty prolific around the whole city. Although I live on the 8th floor so I'm quite confused as to how it got in.

    I will definitely call the landlord in the morning, I've just been reading about how fast they can reproduce and I really don't need an army of rats in my flat.

    Unfortunately the boiler is in a cupboard in my kitchen so there's no airing cupboard .. but I think I've shut him in the toilet so I'll look tomorrow.

    Thanks for your help :)

    Sexbomb wrote: »
    It hasn't got in here has it?

    Hahaha! Funnily enough I've had that song in my head for the past few hours :P
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4,973
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    Yeah, I rent a flat in London .. so rats are pretty prolific around the whole city. Although I live on the 8th floor so I'm quite confused as to how it got in.

    I will definitely call the landlord in the morning, I've just been reading about how fast they can reproduce and I really don't need an army of rats in my flat.

    Unfortunately the boiler is in a cupboard in my kitchen so there's no airing cupboard .. but I think I've shut him in the toilet so I'll look tomorrow.

    Thanks for your help :)

    Well maybe he's done what they said in an episode of the professionals back in the 80's when they were looking for someone who had killed the dog with rat poison.
    Doyle finds rat poison under the sink and says to Bodie, rat poison, on the 10th floor, and he turns round and says, maybe they used the lift.

    Sorry couldn't help that theres just certain bits from programs you remember for a very long time.

    If its a tower block then get onto the caretaker it'll probably be a problem that more than just you've got and its up to them to sort it out.
    You've quite possibly got shared service areas where all the pipe work goes down and they might be getting in and out via there or if you've got rubbish skips as well that haven't been cleaned properly.
  • king_walnutking_walnut Posts: 539
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    I'm really confused.

    I've discovered that there are 2 of them .. maybe even more.

    My flat goes in an L shape .. and I glimpsed one running around the corner. So I got up and chased it, but when I got round there it had gone ... there's not even any holes or gaps or anything there, unless he can turn into a completely flat shape and get under the slight gap under my front door .. so I'm completely baffled.

    I'm dealing with Houdini rats :|
  • Mr PringleMr Pringle Posts: 6,469
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    I reckon you're seeing things mate!! :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,318
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    I have rats, pet ones. If any of them go walkies then I do the books and bucket trick.

    You will require the following

    1 tall bucket (rats can jump higher than you'd like them to)
    some books
    some smelly food, like a chicken bone or some tuna


    Put bucket somewhere near where rat has been seen, put the food in the bucket, put books up against the bucket like a stair-case. Shut all the doors and GO AWAY. Don't keep going back every 5 minutes to see if he's got in the bucket yet. Rats are revoltingly intelligent so there's a chance this won't work.

    Luckily mine are dumb so it does but I'm nice enough to let mine have a soft landing of a towel. Some people would use water if they want it to drown, but you'd need a way to keep the food afloat and not give the rat room to be able to get out.

    Otherwise, rat poison's not that expensive. You can also buy devices that make a noise to keep them away, luckily beyond human hearing range.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,815
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    Give your landlord a ring and get the pest control in - no way of knowing how many of them there are so best to get the expert to deal with it! This happened to my Mum recently when she had loft insulation put in - the guys told her there were rats in the loft! :eek:
  • DarthchaffinchDarthchaffinch Posts: 7,558
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    Light a small fire of leaves and smoke them out.

    :D
  • IWantPVRIWantPVR Posts: 8,302
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    Poison will cause them to go somewhere warm to die then stink out your flat while they rot and probably fill it with flies. The rat will be easier to live with than that!

    They can get through the tiniest holes. A mouse can squeeze through a hole the size of a pencil diameter. Look very carefully.

    They are incredibly clever so I don't hold out much hope for you managing to bash it with anything.

    Elsquid's trap sounds like fun but if they're too bright for that then you'll have to spend money. Don't spend much though as I expect there is a more general problem in your building and the building maintenance people will need to get involved to cure it permanently.
  • TasiTasi Posts: 1,950
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    We had one in our back yard (.. they are called a patio these days)
    We rang the council who sent the rodent control officer ( used to be called a rat catcher in my youth) He did a great job getting rid of it. Your landlord will have to pay a small fee but it is a one off payment and the rodent control officer comes back, no matter how many it takes until the rat goes.
  • IWantPVRIWantPVR Posts: 8,302
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    Tasi wrote: »
    We had one in our back yard (.. they are called a patio these days)
    We rang the council who sent the rodent control officer ( used to be called a rat catcher in my youth) He did a great job getting rid of it. Your landlord will have to pay a small fee but it is a one off payment and the rodent control officer comes back, no matter how many it takes until the rat goes.

    Outdoors you can just poison them but have to be wary of pets and wild animals which might consume it too!
  • gers09gers09 Posts: 1,914
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    Sexbomb wrote: »
    It hasn't got in here has it?

    Damn, someone beat me to it :D
  • The RatThe Rat Posts: 6,048
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    I just thought I would put my marker on this thread! :D

    Dave
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,703
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    Ewwwwwwww! Horrible!

    Get pest control in to sort them out!!!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,671
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    Its the law to report a rat infestation in your home to the Local Council.

    Apart from that, I had a mouse in my house 2 weeks ago and I waited for it to run past and I sat a bucket over it and then let it go a couple of miles away.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 14,815
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    Well not quite as bad but I had one of these in my living room the other night -

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tpnPfqFKP2Q/SuX5L0qZURI/AAAAAAAAF64/cyh4iHEYRMY/s1600-h/100_3715.jpg

    God knows how it got in or how long it had been indoors, but I suspected a few days, due to certain things that I'd thought odd. :D
  • duckapluckduckapluck Posts: 3,991
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    Most councils will treat a rat infestation free of charge but charge for a mice infestation, they will want to know what the poo is like, rat poo is kidney shaped.
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