We've got a RAT!!!!

[Carol K]

Oh boy... it sure does sound like this!

"The Norway rat ( Rattus norvegicus ) has coarse, brown-ish fur, small ears, a blunt nose and a stocky body that may weigh up to 0.5 kilograms (1 pound). The tail is shorter than its overall body length. It builds elaborate systems of tunnels and burrows at ground level. It prefers damp areas such as crawl spaces or building perimeters.

Knowing Vlad, he won't even attempt to get rid of it. Vlad won't even kill a bug in the house. He picks it up with tissue and tosses it out the door.

 

[TNHunter]

it's a bird, it's a plane, it's superrat. back in my home state of alabama we call armadillows opossums on the half shell I agree with shotgun approach.
Paul

 

[Cfmct]

Oh boy... it sure does sound like this!

"The Norway rat ( Rattus norvegicus ) has coarse, brown-ish fur, small ears, a blunt nose and a stocky body that may weigh up to 0.5 kilograms (1 pound). The tail is shorter than its overall body length. It builds elaborate systems of tunnels and burrows at ground level. It prefers damp areas such as crawl spaces or building perimeters.

Knowing Vlad, he won't even attempt to get rid of it. Vlad won't even kill a bug in the house. He picks it up with tissue and tosses it out the door.

Carol

Rats come in to have babies... little rats will be running through your walls and they will breed and when they can't find food outside they will start eating the insulation off the wires in your walls... Kill the rat, use a glue trap or a rat trap or poison but kill it. Then fill the hole with cement and mix in steel wool and crushed glass that should stop any further rat infestations. If your neighbors or you are feeding the birds then that is what they are eating right now.

 

[bobbulge]

Hey Spitfire, usually after I see the mouse on the glue trap, I take it up the street in a paper bag and put it on the train track. That usually teaches the mouse not to sneak into my house and have my wife and kids keep me up all hours of the night especially since I have to wake up and be at work at 3:00 in the morning. My wife and kids won't let me sleep if they know a mouse is in the house. SOOOOOO Choooooo Chooooo!!!!

 

[Carol K]

If your neighbors or you are feeding the birds then that is what they are eating right now.

Thanks for confirming that Craig, because I have STOPPED doing that. Will he go away if there is no food?

Poor Birdies.

 

[Cfmct]

If your neighbors or you are feeding the birds then that is what they are eating right now.

Thanks for confirming that Craig, because I have STOPPED doing that. Will he go away if there is no food?

Poor Birdies.

Nope... Its breeding time and you're gonna be a mom only you're not going to like the babies... I kill a lot of rats for my customers who feed the birds the way I described above.

 

[blueduke]

I read the posts and it is a norway rat and it will not leave and if you seen one then there are more.I worked in a textile mill in my younger days and when we got them we had them till they went to Mexico when the plant went there. no but i would get rid of them ASAP.call animal control they sometimes will let you borrow a live box squirrel trap.and put pepperoni in it.

 

[booker]

Do you have muskrats up there ?

 

[squish_52]

get a female cat, she'll take care of just about anything besides the females are the very best mousers...i used to have a cat and she would keep out infestations of varmits at bay. Just be sure she is spayed first dont wanna have tons of kitties running around i'm sure

 

[Cfmct]

Hey Spitfire, usually after I see the mouse on the glue trap, I take it up the street in a paper bag and put it on the train track. That usually teaches the mouse not to sneak into my house and have my wife and kids keep me up all hours of the night especially since I have to wake up and be at work at 3:00 in the morning. My wife and kids won't let me sleep if they know a mouse is in the house. SOOOOOO Choooooo Chooooo!!!!

Sorry bob bulge, but that is terrible. Not funny

Carol, if it's a rat, of whatever type, get rid of it in a fast kill way (not the glue trap). We feed birds all the time here, we live in the country, and we don't have rats except in our shed. What does feeding birds have to do with rats?

Rats love eating bird seed Ang... I hope this thread doesn't get as long as the global warming thread lol..

 

[booker]

Go buy the live trap and then take it far away

 

[Don]

Carol, as far as you thinking that the critter might be too big for a rat, I used to live in the south Bronx and some of those rats were alomost the size of cats. They can get pretty big, if fed well.

 

[wymanwvp32]

Do you live near a river or creek? It sounds like to me you got a river rat in your house.... I think they are really called muskrats, but around here we call the river rats and they get really big are are quite bold.

 

[ToddB64]

Carol.........booker's idea of a muskrat is a good guess as a lookalike. I used to trap these along a small creek in my early teens (my mountainman fantasy days ), and I know this animal prefers small ponds and lakes as well, so I don't think it would normally move into a building, although in rare cases anything's possible I guess.

I totally agree with bookers idea of a humane trap, like the Havahart. These are available at places like Dick's Sporting Goods
, country hardware stores, bait shops and the like, and this is the best way to go I think. Regardless of what it is, that's really a moot point; any kind of small wild animal like a rat, opossum, raccoon or groundhog, that must hustle for it's meals
will usually succumb to the right bait in a "live trap". I believe groundhogs are more vegetarians though than meat eaters, but a meat bait would be a good starting point.

Check the trap before daybreak every morning, because any nocturnal animal will go into a panic to get free at early light and will sometimes damage themselves trying to get out of the trap, frantically chewing on the wire cage. One time I was a little late running my trap line in the morning and found that a muskrat had chewed off it's own leg to get out of a spring-jaw trap. Back in those days I was going along with my Dad and uncle, hunting raccoons at night with dogs, for the animal pelts, and the skinning and stretching of the hides onto small boards usually fell to me, so I was "hardened" towards these
little critters at that time in my life......now I regret it and wouldn't kill an ant if I could help it. Yup, I've gotten real kindhearted in latter years and lost that desire to take life for sport. Now all you hunters out there, don't get all riled cause I been there, done that, and understand your feelings . My brother is still an avid turkey & deer hunter and we talk about his hunting trips all the time ! I just have a different attitude about it now, and have other interests, hobbies, etc..

So Carol, I hope you get something out of this reply that can help your situation, or maybe it's already resolved by now ; anyway, just thought I would add my 2 cents.

Regards........Todd

 

[ToddB64]

I don't know. Adopt a cat just to catch a rat (or possum or whatever?) Seem kind of drastic.

Agree !........And there's that smelly cat box to clean, every AM & PM ! I know, we have four cats....that my wife wanted and (3) boxes to clean. I help out and sometimes it's really stinko ! All you cat lovers out there, if you value your health, please make sure to wear a paper mask (bacteria in the invisible dust from the kitty litter can hurt your sinuses and lungs !....I'm sure you know that....just a reminder.)

Todd

 

[WThesing]

We "inherited" a couple of rats when they started demolishing on a property next door a few years back. The thought of a "rat" in my home was upsetting. The answer was putting out some bait in the basement and using a high powered pellet rifle. We then started getting a rat gathering every day under our bird feeders around 7 AM and 4 PM. I set up a blind behind my trash cans and shot at least 4 - 6 a day. When I complained to our township about the conditions next door I was told by the township manager that "our township had no rats" (property was owned by political cronie). I told him to do something with a cleanup order for next door or I would be putting the carcasses on his desk that afternoon. I did get immediate results.
Possums are much larger, and we do get an occasional one drawn by outdoor cat food. By limiting the food source and time of availability the possums and skunks are not seen as much.

 

[B. Positive]

Eeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!

 

[bobbulge]

Sorry EPI, but I can't stand the little varmints. I use to just ask the little girl around the corner to get it out of the house because she loved playing with any kind of animal and was planning on being a vet but my wife said, what are you going to do if she get bit so that when I started the Choo Choo!!!!


But know we have a female cat and haven't seen one since she's been here. Also my kids wanted the cat and said they would take care of it but I guess you know who does.

 

[Carol K]

Do you live near a river or creek? It sounds like to me you got a river rat in your house.... I think they are really called muskrats, but around here we call the river rats and they get really big are are quite bold.

Yes, the Housatonic river is not even a block away. I'll look into muskrats.

>> updated >> wow, it just might be a muskrat!

Found a page on traps too
http://www.tomahawklivetrap.com/products/28.html

 

[George in PA]

Living in a residential neighborhood, we cannot use the preferred shotgun method of getting rid of ground hogs. I bought a hav-a-heart type trap at Harbor Freight for about 20 bucks. Once I have captured one of these mean critters they are then dispatched with a 38 cal. Be certain that your rat is not a ground hog if you use a live trap because thay are mean, nasty and mizerable creachers, just like me. Now if by chance you accidently trap a skunk don't startle it just release it as they are nice gentle creatures. George