Rats In A Loft

[Heyford moles Pest Control 16]

gents,

 

A couple of weeks ago I was called to deal with squirrels in a loft as the owners have seen several in the garden & now noises coming from the loft,

so live catch traps set up in the loft baited with whole maize. a few days later got a call to say not a squirrel but a rat in the trap!!

so rat despatched & traps reset with peanut butter bird seed etc

 

the seed at the front of the trap keeps going & the peanut butter off the trigger plate but not setting the trap off.

the owners have 2 small dogs so don't want me to use any poison up there.

 

wondered if any one had any advise on this problem?

 

cheers Ian

[Matt 160]

gents,

 

A couple of weeks ago I was called to deal with squirrels in a loft as the owners have seen several in the garden & now noises coming from the loft,

so live catch traps set up in the loft baited with whole maize. a few days later got a call to say not a squirrel but a rat in the trap!!

so rat despatched & traps reset with peanut butter bird seed etc

 

the seed at the front of the trap keeps going & the peanut butter off the trigger plate but not setting the trap off.

the owners have 2 small dogs so don't want me to use any poison up there.

 

wondered if any one had any advise on this problem?

 

cheers Ian

 

Are you sure there are no mice there?

 

Did you find the source of the rat problem? How did they get into the loft?

 

You should also educate the customer. There is no risk to pets from bait providing it's properly placed. A dog would have to eat a significant number of dead rats in a short space of time for it to have any effect on it.

 

Motion sensor cameras are very useful in situations like this.

[jonnygray 139]

might sound stupid but do they let there dogs in the loft and can they not keep them out of there? and if the dogs were taking care of the problem then there would be no problem! can you not sell them a good terrier and forget the posion??

[Mr Muddy 141]

I’ve been told; something like a Labrador would have to eat a whole kg of difenacoum to kill it, so as long as it’s in boxes I don’t see a problem.

 

My hat’s off to you for being cautious though.

You’re the type of bloke that actually gives pest controllers a good name for a change.

[TOMO 26,231]

What Matt said,,,, and despite what most people would have you believe ,,, it is possible to have both pests present ,,, I have had both rats and mice in a loft situation,,,

 

And I wouldn't be arsing around with a live trap for rats,,, get some bait up there,,, blocks on wire

[nod 285]

off the top of my head I think a dog would need to eat 200g per kg of dog, educate the client and tell the best and quickest way of getting rid of them

[paulus 26]

if you use bait then be prepared to discover the cause of a god awful smell a few weeks later, rooting under loft insulation is no fun

[StephenWalsh 73]

I'm pretty sure a dog, even a fairly small one, would make a fairly big lump under the insulation and therefore be quite easy to find.

[EDDIE B 3,166]

Yea i would agree with most on this! Mice or even very young rats! Caught a large rat in a friends loft along with seven very small rats all caught with mouse traps!

The mouse traps were actually left in the loft by the owner some time before i went up there, and so i just set them whilst passing!

[air gun ant 1,666]

Mice

[jack68 628]

have you found rat dropping up in the loft or mouse dropping could it be a squirrel..? that will give you your first clue as to what pet you mite be dealing with. how as said pest got into the roof space of the house eg is it a bungalow were the pest can clime on the roof and get in under the soffit, terrace house were it could be running the full block, all need looking at as it got up there some how. I would put the people at ease at explain the working of the poison bait you want to use. or use both rat and mouse traps to get on top of the situation but the dropping will tell you what your trying to trap...

[Heyford moles Pest Control 16]

Thanks for all the advise,

I don't think it is mice as the food at the back of the trap hasn't been touched, the entry point into the house was the cooker hood extractor vent, the flexy ducting has been chewed & they have got into the cavity of the walls this now has been meshed.

I have gone through everything with the owners about using bait, there argument for not using it is the smell of things decaying in the walls or loft & possibility of the dogs eating dead things!! I have explained they would have to eat a bucket of bait to die!!

I'm putting a camera up there tomorrow so should get some answers

cheers

[Mr Muddy 141]

I'd like to get one or two of those motion detecting cameras myself.

 

Can anyone recommend a good one?

[Dr mole 15]

Heyford, if it's mice eating the bait there should be mouse droppings nearby. As you know, they're crapping all the time. Plenty of traps down if you really can't bait. Let us know what the camera picks up.

 

Mr Muddy - Bushnell make some great Trophy Cams. E-bay have some from about £125.

 

Santa was good to me this year (god knows why) and delivered this one:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bushnell-119477-Trophy-Cam-HD-Max-with-Colour-LCD-2012-Brown-/271295944793?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_DigitalCameras_DigitalCameras_JN&hash=item3f2a7f9859#ht_3434wt_1206

 

I like the fact that it has No-Glow black LED's - handy if using outdoors and you don't want to draw attention to it from any thieving gits.

Edited February 18, 2014 by Dr mole

[Heyford moles Pest Control 16]

well I've got my answer there's 2 rats quite happy to go in & out of the cage trap eating the bird food all the way to the trigger plate then no further.

the camera was activated 70 times in 12 hour period so very busy evening for them.

not sure how to add video's onto the forum so can some one tell me how to do it then i'll add some footage