Old Ratty pays the Price........!

[Rolfe 2]

I got a call from a customer….could I come and sort their “Mouse” problem out as they were chewing up the carpet. I duly answered the summons and was shown some damage to the carpets where the heating pipes came up from below the floor-boards. It was obvious that this was NO mouse damage……….old Ratty had been trying to enlarge the entrance from the room side of the hole. I relayed the news to the client who said it was impossible as he had two dogs in the house……I was then taken to see the basement and a pile of rat droppings and typical smear marks up the corner of the room to the under floor area, this confirmed my initial assessment. Two Big-E rat traps were set in the basement as the client wasn’t happy with the use of anticoagulants as the dogs had free range of the property.

I was about to leave the client with instructions to ring me if the traps went off when I decided to shine my torch behind the cooker in the kitchen. Between the cooker and the work unit I spied the arse-end of a rat sitting motionless in the belief it couldn’t be seen and I had no terrier with me. Checking that all the escape routes were blocked off I decided to set off home (a 30 minute round trip) and fetch the terrier, this was too good a chance to miss.

We duly arrived back at the property and the client made himself scarce. As I gently pulled the cooker away from the wall, the terrier bitch had already marked the rat and was going frantic to get at her quarry as soon as the gap was wide enough she flew behind the cooker and nailed old ratty. He was a whopper…….one of the biggest this year and he managed to get a muzzle bite on the bitch before his demise but he soon paid the price for his foolishness. I took the rat out on to the lawn to get a picture before leaving the property……….Biggest “Mouse” problem I have come across….!

[Tiny 7 1,694]

Result...!!

[Millet 4,497]

Good outcome.. .i definitely would not want that thing hanging around my kitchen.

[Malt 379]

Well done that dog!

[Bootsha 1,306]

Well done fella, big old mouse to wasn't it. !!

[DUCKWING 302]

 

ROLFE ,

 

BEING IN THE BUILDING GAME ..........THE MAJORITY OF MOUSE AND RAT ENTERANCES IVE FOUND HAVE COME FROM THE SINK UNIT AREA , USUALLY FROM THE SINK WASTE PIPE RUNNING OUTSIDE AND MISSING THE SAND AND CEMENT WHERE IT EMERGES FROM THE WALL ,......I CANNOT COUNT THE AMOUNT OF NESTS IVE FOUND UNDER THE PLINTH AREAS OF KITCHENS MADE FROM CHEWED UP CARRIER BAGS ....

 

ALL THE BEST

 

DUCKWING

[Rolfe 2]

Most if not all mouse/rat infestations centre around the kitchen area or very close to it. An increasingly common entry point for old ratty is the cat-flap if the door has one. They are very adept at slipping through and pinching dog and cat food and pretty soon take up residence behind the plinths of the work units. Recently on pulling a tumble drier out from under a work unit I found the rats nest actually ON TOP of the drier literally inches under the worktop. Increasingly I am getting entry points from the sewer system and this I think has a lot to do with the water companies no longer routinely baiting them. I am dealing with three adjoining properties at the moment where the rats are entering the properties from the toilet-pan itself......not a nice though if you are sitting on it at the time.

Breaches to the underground piping and system and decaying brickwork to man-hole chambers are also common entry points and sadly a lot of these are happening beneath aging properties where they are virtually inaccessible and often requires the services of an inspection camera treatment at enormous expense. Old Ratty only needs a food source and a secluded harbourage to take up residence and it would appear from my findings over the last couple of years that rat numbers are certainly on the increase in my location...........Still.........it keeps me and fellow pest controllers in work so shouldn't really complain.

 

Rolfe.

[j j m 6,539]

well done bud

[DUCKWING 302]

 

THATS A COMMON MISCONCEPTION ROLFE YOU ARE RIGHT ...... THAT RATS WONT SWIM THROUGH THE TOILET U BEND , DOWNSTAIRS TOILETS ARE OFTEN USED AS ENTRY POINTS , THE WIFES PARENTS LIVE IN AN OLD HOUSE BUILT ON A HILL THE REAR LANES AND BACKALLEYS WERENT MEANT TO CARRY THE INCREASINGLY LARGER BIN WAGONS WHICH I BLAME FOR MANY OF THE COLLAPSING DRAINS , THAT AND THE INEVITABLE SUBCIDENCE , ITS COMMON SITE TO SEE RATS DROPPING INTO FRESH CRACKS IN THE TARMAC WHEN SUPRIZED , THERES MORE THAN ONE TEENAGER SITTING OUT AS IT GETS DUSK WITH A TERRIER UNDER ARM ..... RECENTLY OUR LOCAL TOWN CENTRE HAS GRASSED ALL THE PREVIOUSLY SHRUB COVERED AREAS BECAUSE OF CONSTANT INFESTATIONS FED BY THE DRUNKS LEFT OVER KEBABS

 

ALL THE BEST

 

DUCKWING

[logun 91]

interesting post this,, i agree with rats gaining accsess from toilets,, i workin the building trade to and many times known =rats to swim the u bend. but as duck wing said i think there two ways a rat would enter a home,,one ould be waste pipes . rats love expanding form full stop..it a rodent magnet,, makes fantastic bedding material etc,unless hole for waste done with core drill and not just nock out and filled your almost sure to gt a rat ,, but ? as duck wingsaid the old terrace houses the best for rats..... second i would say cavity walls. moden homes dont get the problems that say a 1940s terace have with cavity walls,, again most of the old clay drains broke at places and often rat can find accsess to cavity.. that leads to attic and between joist space. aint to sure about cat flaps tho rholfe,,?i workon drains as part of my job.i often need camera footage of old clay pipes before i build over them.. most are f****d,, holes ,cracks etc in old clay pipes.. so thats hy your more get a rat prob in old terace homes compared to moden homes that use plastic drains..