RATS!

[trevorbayliss]

I have got rats or mice in a roof space. It is £90 to have a guy put some poison down.

I am going to do this myself, but not done this before. Any ideas on how much stuff i need to put down and what the best product is ?

 

[footprints]

Try your council mine (in Sussex) only charge £50 and will return and bait twice more for that.

 

[Bosswhite]

Our roof is thatched so have a few lodgers in the roof space when the weather gets cold.

I just use good quality Poison ( google a supplier or Pestcontrolsupermarket.co.uk) I have found the loose wheat/corn poison the best, smaller grains, a three sachet packet should work for the winter.

I cut down old plastic bottles and use the base as a bait tray.

 

[Keithmac]

I put some bait down but also a fair few traps as well, think both worked better together.

If they crawl off and die in the cavity wall it can be a problem..

 

[KenGMac]

I use the cheapest Rat killer from B+Q some come as three bags, some as four [as I recall]

I use them externally, the large brown furry things keep appearing and feeding on my hens Layer pellets.

As for Mice? I prefer to use traps laced with Peanut Butter, this stuff seems to attract rats and mice like nothing else.

Ken

 

[Doggit]

It's more than likely to be mice up there rather than rats, and you could flush them out by burning sulpher powder and it'll kill all the creepy crawlies up there at the same time. Set a coke can upside down on a stable plate, put a tablespoon full in the dished bottom of the can, and set light to it with a match, and then close the loft hatch. Leave for 24 hours, and they'll be either dead, or gone.

 

[Bosswhite]

Being an ex Firefighter, I would not recommend setting light to anything in a roof space and leaving it .

 

[Doggit]

I know what you're saying, hence the stable plate, but trust me, you wouldn't want to light it and then stay up there, as it'll choke you to death as well.

I's only a tablespoons worth, and it essentially melts with a miniature flame, so there's not a lot of danger to it, but your points well made.

 

[Brigadier]

Rat traps, baited with chocolate buttons, have done the trick before.

I was told that rats have become wise to baits like tuna, chicken etc, so to try chocolate instead.

No fear of them crawling off to die anywhere either

 

[opps]

Try your council mine (in Sussex) only charge £50 and will return and bait twice more for that.

Up until April this year, Hounslow council used to bait rats for free. A few years ago, I had a client in Chiswick who had rats living in the foundations. The council rat man visited so many times that he finally concluded that the bait that he was using might be attracting even more rats.

The client ended up moving out whilst all of the ground floors were ripped up and the foundations were backfilled with concrete.

 

[Nige F]

Being an ex Firefighter, I would not recommend setting light to anything in a roof space and leaving it .

Not even a fart ?

 

[Brigadier]

Especially not a fart!