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[Closed] There's a rat in my garage, what am I going to do?

nbt · 2019-12-29T16:13:26Z

Our house is (was) a 3 bed semi, onto which a garage has been built. There's convenient access from the garage into the kitchen, so we keep the green kitchen scraps compost recycling bin in there - a small plastic bin into which we put a compostable bag each week. We dump all the food waste in there and it's collected each week by the council Last week I noticed that there was no bag in the bin which i thought was odd, then on closer inspection realised it used to have a bag in it, but something had chewed through the bin then eaten the bag and much of the contents. I've had a scout round and there's an old airbrick with a gap big enough for a rat to pass through, so I've blocked that by putting a brick in front of it. On the other side if the airbrick is the crawlspace under the house, so I went down there to check and sure enough it's full of ratshit. Have found what I think is the entry point, a hole in the external wall (it's a traditional cavity wall). That's likewise now been blocked. What else have I missed? Is there something else I need to do? Am I going to need to call in the professionals, and is it something the council might offer?

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Bruce

Posts: 2002

Full Member

This thread contains some recommendations for methods of killing rats which may be considered cruel, ie drowning.

Here are some links to useful information about dealing with rodents.

I hope it helps

https://www.rspca.org.uk › Living+with+Rats+and+Mice+(13.06.2017).pdf

UFAW.ORG.UK "https://www.ufaw.org.uk/downloads/welfare-downloads/guidance-on-humane-control-of-rodents-feb2509v19.pdf"

Posted : 02/01/2020 2:14 pm

submarined

Posts: 3608

Free Member

Poison is a horrible way to kill a rat.
We have chickens like some of the other posters, and rats are pretty much mutually inclusive. Luckily they are a long way from our house, but they are still capable of causing significant damage (they've caused a fair amount to the wiring in my car)

I refuse to use poison because a) it's indiscriminate(we have all sorts of other things living in our garden), and b) it's not a humane way to kill a rat in any way.
Cage traps/drowning is just as bad imho.
I'm using snap traps at the moment in boxes but they're only catching smaller ones, and I've had a particularly nasty incident where it appears it trapped the leg of one, which it then gnawed off to escape...
Seriously looking at one of the GoodNature ones now.

Posted : 02/01/2020 4:42 pm

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