My non friends made a hole

[mark1a]

I'm gonna assume.my friends are mice and not the big foot long rat I stopped from getting my my shed. State of home is currently being decorated, with kitchen not on my to do list this year. The plastic step cover is loose, I've covered the hole with metal and gorilla tape and filled the holes with wire wool. How hard would this to repair outside so it's go cement in the gap? How would I even do this?

Cheers

 

[JohnD]

What are the dimensions of the hole?

Is there a supply of water, from a leak or a garden feature?

Is there a supply of food from a bird-table or a pet's bowl?

 

[mark1a]

The hole is 50p size. The area by the step does collect water but also slowly drains away through gravel over concrete. The plastic cover does lift in the middle so I will sort that out

No bird table for that reason. Inside of the door is a kitchen with obvious food and pet bowls.

We have often heard sounds over last few months but even after investigating, I never found anything. I put bait in areas away from pets, pulled out the under stairs cupboard and found nothing.

I did buy a couple of wooden traps to put under the units in the kitchen and obviously away from my dogs.

Ideally anything I do need to be a temp fix, as currently decorating before baby arrives.

Should I get a cheap tile and stick on the wall to cover gap that's currently filled with wire wool?

 

[JohnD]

Fill the hole with pebbles and mortar it. They will probably make a new hole. I think it's rats. Get some poson, put several small baits down, shielded from pets and wildlife , replenish daily until it stops going.

 

[mark1a]

Fill the hole with pebbles and mortar it. They will probably make a new hole. I think it's rats. Get some poson, put several small baits down, shielded from pets and wildlife , replenish daily until it stops going.

What mix should I do? Also from the next photo do u think they pulled it from inside? I don't remember that being out yesterday. Traps going down today. Not sure how to use poison in the house incase they drag the poison bags out

 

[JohnD]

I used to put it in small red plastic flower-pot saucers, which are easy to see and to clean, under kitchen cabinets and inside open-ended covers beside walls and fences where they like to run. I used blue grains. Out of reach of pets, birds and hedgehogs. Use lots of small baits as they like to graze. You can add tasty treats like bacon scraps, peanut butter, grill fat to attract them by scent. They are attracted to pet bowls so clean up and remove after use, and clean the floor of scraps and splashes. Cats can be fed on a table off the floor. You can get waxy poison blocks which withstand damp and rain. You can buy small bags of dry mix mortar and fine concrete, though it works out dearer than big bags. Pebbles and large stones they can't gnaw through. Put poison under the shed.

They might be under the kitchen floor through gaps round pipes. Rats will fight cats.

 

[Odds]

I had a hole by the door and a mix of stones and cement sorted that out, but this hole looks to be in plastic trim so perhaps expanding foam with a blob of white sealant on top would be more suitable?

 

[JohnD]

They'd gnaw through that.

 

[Odds]

not if a poison trap got them first.

 

[mark1a]

Cheers guys as a temp fit I filled the holes with stones wire wool and sealant. As it a cavity wall I suspect if they are already in the walls it's gonna be tough. Haven't been able to seal cracks outside yet as it's been chucking it down.

Can anyone tell me what they think of these marks in the photo? The wire wool I've put in the food storage cupboard tonight. We have heard several noises from there and under stairs. I've already put bait in the stair a couple of months ago. Have put empty traps in this cupboard as my wife didn't want me to use peanut butter incase it encourages them. Apart from trap, bait sealing gaps, what else can I do? Not really what I wanted with a baby on the way with the work around the house I gotta do

 

[mark1a]

Ok it's rats. I saw a tail go up that hole that had only a few before been filled with wool. Tail I saw was around 4 inch long. Now.gone to rat trap with peanut butter and a bait bag. Should I call in pest control?

 

[foxhole]

If you still have rats then yes, you need to know where they are coming from, neighbours called in rat control who traces them to holes near rear of property fence, baited theses holes and covered with stones (rats could move the stone which would prove they were still active but no movement seen and rat problem ceased. )

 

[Odds]

Are you sure it's a rat? The hole by the door doesn't look big enough for an adult to fit through...

...however, i was looking out the window at the garden recently, as you do, and caught sight of Mrs Mouse scurrying quickly across the path and into the rockery where i know she has a hidey-hole under a large rock by the fence. Warm n' snug it must be in there, mossy comfort for her brood - but no way in to the house since i blocked up a hole in the outhouse behind the washing machine.

 

[mark1a]

Are you sure it's a rat? The hole by the door doesn't look big enough for an adult to fit through...

I saw a length of tail around 4 inch long. Whilst that hole isn't I've already had one rat death in my shed last year, blocked it with metal on bottom of door, have rat or rats on my bin area. Rat broke the new trap. We have kept the back door shut since last summer but he has been around

 

[JohnD]

he has been around

There is never "one" rat.