OMG! RATS!

[Ellen]

Date: 1/8/2007 12:48:12 PM
Author: sumbride

I do! Luckily I know lots of people in the neighborhood that I could ask to help. They''d probably be just as creeped out, but the ''damsel in distress'' has to come into play at some point, right?

LOL Of course!

I don''t think it''d creep a guy out, just make him feel "manly" for helping you out.

 

[CrownJewel]

Date: 1/8/2007 12:14:06 PM
Author: Ellen

Ugh, I feel for ya, I really do. Even though they''re like a glorified mouse, they''re SO much creepier...


Funny story. The rental house I referred to was one we own, not live in. The gal who lived there called to tell us she had mice, she''d seen one. So hubby went and put out traps. The traps would be found tripped, but no mouse. So, he kept setting them.

A few nights later, her boyfriend was over and the ''mouse'' went running across the floor. He smacked it with something, don''t remember what, and killed it.

She called to tell us he had killed it, and hubby said he''d just leave the traps in case,

A few days later, hubby ran into the boyfriend, who told him the ''mouse'' was really a rat. She never knew.

LOL Ellen, when I skimmed the story, I saw "hubby ran into the boyfriend" and I thought, ohmygosh, a SCANDAL, as in the woman''s hubby ran into her boyfriend. Anyway...I realized it was YOUR hubby running into HER boyfriend.

I told my FI about the rats coming up through toilets and he said it''s true. He saw something on the Learning Channel about how amazing rats are, and they showed how rats come up through toilets. EWWW.

sumbride, when we had mice in our NYC apt, we stuffed their favorite holes with steel wool. And we set traps. Nothing really worked until we called the exterminator. Hopefully your problem gets resolved really fast, without too much anguish for you. I totally feel your misery!

 

[Ellen]

Date: 1/8/2007 3:12:34 PM
Author: CrownJewel


LOL Ellen, when I skimmed the story, I saw ''hubby ran into the boyfriend'' and I thought, ohmygosh, a SCANDAL, as in the woman''s hubby ran into her boyfriend. Anyway...I realized it was YOUR hubby running into HER boyfriend.

lol!

 

[strmrdr]

One place where I used to work they would run thru the doors in the main entrance in the fall if they were left open.
Big buggers too 8 to 12 inches long.
Id get bored and open the outer doors and lock the inner doors and stand guard with a broomstick and smack em as they ran in.
My record was 18 in one 8 hour shift and 6 in about 20 min. had 4 of them come in at once and it got a little crazy LOL

Everyone called me Ratkilla

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 1/10/2007 12:23:43 AM
Author: strmrdr
One place where I used to work they would run thru the doors in the main entrance in the fall if they were left open.
Big buggers too 8 to 12 inches long.
Id get bored and open the outer doors and lock the inner doors and stand guard with a broomstick and smack em as they ran in.
My record was 18 in one 8 hour shift and 6 in about 20 min. had 4 of them come in at once and it got a little crazy LOL

Everyone called me Ratkilla

I was waiting for you to show up, just knew somehow you''d have a story to tell!!!

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 1/10/2007 12:44:41 AM
Author: Kaleigh

Date: 1/10/2007 12:23:43 AM
Author: strmrdr
One place where I used to work they would run thru the doors in the main entrance in the fall if they were left open.
Big buggers too 8 to 12 inches long.
Id get bored and open the outer doors and lock the inner doors and stand guard with a broomstick and smack em as they ran in.
My record was 18 in one 8 hour shift and 6 in about 20 min. had 4 of them come in at once and it got a little crazy LOL

Everyone called me Ratkilla

I was waiting for you to show up, just knew somehow you'd have a story to tell!!!

Iv got a couple other good rat stories if anyone wants to hear em. All true stories.
2 rats in a tent with 4 teenage girls is a pretty funny one.

 

[RockDoc]

Well ............ rats are yucky!!!! Yeeccchhhhhhh.


On a lighter note........

Anyone see the movie Mouse Hunt, with Nathan Lane and Christopher Walken as the "exterminator"..???

One of all time funniest movies ever.....

Rockdoc

 

[strmrdr]

ok now for another rat story...

picture this: adventure church camp.
Which basically meant instead of dorms we stayed in tents and cooked our own food.
There are 12 tents, 38 teenagers and 6 camp staff, arranged around a clearing in the woods around the central campfire and cooking area.
It had been raining hard all day so we were stuck in our tents all day.
Early evening and all the sudden we hear what sounds like 200 girls screaming in terror so we rush outside.
We see a collapsed tent with figures moving under in it.
Every one rushes over and as soon as the tent top is picked up and opened the front flaps 2 rats run out.
All the rest of the gals and a bunch of the guys including 3 of the staff start running away screaming and drop the sodden tent back down on the girls making them scream even more.
About this time someone starts laughing and everyone who wasnt running away screaming was laughing big time getting soaking wet in the rain.
It seemed like 5 min before everyone settled down enough to get the girls out of the tent.

It seems they had came in with one of the girls and another girl tried to leave the tent thru the back where there is no door and busted the center pole right in half collapsing the tent on top of 2 rats and 4 girls.

They ended up calling the bus to take us back to the buildings where we spent the night in the gym. 3 of the girls refused to go back to camp and went home.

 

[Ellen]

Hilarious visual.

 

[sumbride]

Strm, I''m convinced it ran in the door! M thinks otherwise.

When we first moved here, he got a pellet gun and started shooting the ones outside. He actually got to be a pretty good shot. My mom had a plaque made up for him that says "Champion Rat Killer" with a big rubber squeaky rat on it. Man, that got some attention at the trophy shop! We have it hanging in the basement stairwell so not everybody can see it, of course. A few months ago, M found out it''s illegal to use pellet guns in the city, so he doesn''t go hunting anymore and it''s really bumming him out. I honestly think the police would overlook it if they saw him hunting rats...

the exterminator should be here in about 2 hours!

 

[Ellen]

Date: 1/10/2007 9:51:13 AM
Author: sumbride
I honestly think the police would overlook it if they saw him hunting rats...

the exterminator should be here in about 2 hours!

I think so too.

Let us know what they say!

And be sure to mention that hole, I'm wondering if it somehow leads to next door...

 

[sumbride]

The exterminators were just here. Didn''t find any creatures, but they did find some droppings back in the utility area that I hadn''t thought to check, since it was far from the kitchen! Far by human measure, but just a scamper up a wall and through a floor for a rat. They put out block bait in cat-proof containers (rat has to climb in) and some glue traps that smell like peanut butter. My whole kitchen smells like peanut butter right now. Maybe I''ll learn to associate the smell with rats and poison? The whole area under the fridge and the stove is completely papered in glue traps.

He told us that they do sort of go through the walls in rowhouses, but not chewing through brick... they go through where the utilities come in, where the brick crumbles a little at the top of the basement, even through the attics, which we don''t have access to. We''re going out to buy spray foam tonight to fill all those little holes. While they can chew through spray foam, they aren''t likely to since there are so many other houses to break into around here.

It was only $75 and a follow up is $45, so I''m hoping we catch something, but I honestly expected to pay a lot more! Oh, and the guy gave me his card and told me to mail it to the owner of the vacant house. Said they''d be happy to take care of that problem for him. Cheers to that!

 

[strmrdr]

stuff the holes with steel wool then seal with the foam it will help keep them out.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 1/10/2007 3:12:33 PM
Author: strmrdr
stuff the holes with steel wool then seal with the foam it will help keep them out.

I''ve heard of this too, great idea!!!

 

[sumbride]

The peanut butter smell is driving me CRAZY! It''s cloying and it just hangs in the air. Plus I was working from home all day and I couldn''t get away from it. And yet... M can''t smell it. Not even a little bit. And HE''S the one that loves peanut butter!!! Figures.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 1/10/2007 7:07:08 PM
Author: sumbride
The peanut butter smell is driving me CRAZY! It''s cloying and it just hangs in the air. Plus I was working from home all day and I couldn''t get away from it. And yet... M can''t smell it. Not even a little bit. And HE''S the one that loves peanut butter!!! Figures.

lol Try burning a candle and/or open a box of baking soda if you have it, might help.

 

[sumbride]

Thanks Ellen! that actually hadn''t occurred to me! I think I can take the peanut butter if I add some vanilla, maybe.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 1/10/2007 7:21:23 PM
Author: sumbride
Thanks Ellen! that actually hadn''t occurred to me! I think I can take the peanut butter if I add some vanilla, maybe.

Careful, you may find yourself baking cookies shortly.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 1/10/2007 7:31:16 PM
Author: Ellen

Date: 1/10/2007 7:21:23 PM
Author: sumbride
Thanks Ellen! that actually hadn''t occurred to me! I think I can take the peanut butter if I add some vanilla, maybe.

Careful, you may find yourself baking cookies shortly.

mmmmmmmmmmmm peanut butter cookies
storm will kill rats for cookies!!!!

 

[sumbride]

The vanilla candle helped a lot! I was able to cook dinner without gagging! And Storm, if you want to come over and kill the rats yourself, I will bake you LOTS of peanut butter cookies!!!

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 1/10/2007 9:41:35 PM
Author: strmrdr

Date: 1/10/2007 7:31:16 PM
Author: Ellen

Date: 1/10/2007 7:21:23 PM
Author: sumbride
Thanks Ellen! that actually hadn''t occurred to me! I think I can take the peanut butter if I add some vanilla, maybe.

Careful, you may find yourself baking cookies shortly.

mmmmmmmmmmmm peanut butter cookies
storm will kill rats for cookies!!!!

yeah just invite Storm over, your rats will be gonzo!!! Just wish he lived near me, I saw a mouse the other night. Freaked me out. Had the exterminator come and hopefully, that will be the end of it.

 

[strmrdr]

now im craving peanut butter cookies big time and my car dont have heat so I cant go get some

 

[dtnyc]

I used to have the peanut glue traps, then they switched to banana and the peanut butter is better!

Hope and pray that if one gets stuck in a trap your husband is there to help you!

They knocked down 4 townhouses across the street from me a few months ago, when it started getting cooler. All of a sudden mice in the sticky traps that had been down for months... I came home one afternoon to squeaking... there was a mouse in the trap- dog is freaking out because it''s between cabinet and the wall. The next morning I woke up to squeaking, and then came home that afternoon to more squeaking, and then there was even more that night. I got 4 in one day and 6 in one week. It was awful- I can''t imagine dealing w/ a rat in one of those traps- ugh...

 

[RockDoc]

I seem to vaguely remember someone telling me to mix the peanut butter with cement.

Then when cement ( I guess it is powder ) gets moisture mixed with it in their stomach it swells then hardens up and that is the end of the rat.

Shrug.


Rockdoc

 

[Ellen]

Date: 1/10/2007 11:11:52 PM
Author: RockDoc
I seem to vaguely remember someone telling me to mix the peanut butter with cement.

Then when cement ( I guess it is powder ) gets moisture mixed with it in their stomach it swells then hardens up and that is the end of the rat.

Shrug.


Rockdoc

Ew, that''s kinda sick, but funny.

sumbride, glad the candle helped!

 

[sumbride]

Rockdoc... I think you''ve just given me a plan of attack for the outside rats! A bag of cement and a jar of peanut butter is way cheaper than all the poison we''ve been tossing over the fence!

No squeaking yet, but I''m hopeful to come home to some. The bait does seem to be bringing them out of the walls a little more... M found some fresh droppings in the basement hallway this morning. Come out come out wherever you are... comeout and die!

Kaleigh - I do hope your mouse bites the big one too!

 

[sumbride]

Oh, and M had a freakout that our cat Bill would actually catch one, kill it, then bring it to us as a trophy... in the middle of the night. The toy mice are always on the bed in the morning. So the cats were banned from the bedroom last night, whereas two days ago, I locked them in with me to protect them! We told Bill to go on patrol, but to please not share. Not that I want him getting ahold of a poisoned rat. Ugh, more things to worry about!

 

[Selkie]

How are things going with the rat battle? I sympathize. The lab I work in is in a 1940''s building with lots of nooks and crannies, and we''ve had run-ins with both rats and cockroaches, unfortunately. We haven''t actually had one in the lab in a while, but once my boss left an open bag of trail mix in his closed office, and a rat actually chewed on the bottom of the thick mahogany door to make a gap large enough to get in. The rats themselves don''t really bug me, as long as they abide by the "agreement" that they only come out at night, but I hate those glue traps, because you still have to deal with killing the damn things.

 

[sumbride]

We haven''t had any luck in catching one yet! I''m getting so disgruntled! One of my cats had a tummy ache on Sunday and I was convinced he''d gotten into the poison, so after a $200 trip to the ER, we were told, no, he just had a tummy ache! Grrr... While I''m relieved he didn''t get into the poison, a sick cat on top of the rat is just too much.

I did buy some snap traps and some bacon to wrap around the peanut butter (local knowledge) but I haven''t prepared myself to go through with it yet!

 

[Ellen]

Have you seen any droppings?