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  • Rats!

    We had always noticed that in our attic we had 'occasional' incursion by rats. They seem to like to chew on photographic negatives and odd stuff, but after they tore apart our Christmas Wreath foundation, we had to pay attention....

    So, we got a haole 'havahart' trap (we no like kill things), set it up in the attic and caught a couple rats and let them go in "non-residential" areas, to fend for their own selves.

    Then we noticed we had OTHER invaders, in our back room. Rat feces (that's ratshit for the less educated), and holes chewed into our stored dog and cat food. OMG!!~!!~!

    So, TMALSS, we got one other Havahart, and set it up.
    Yep, we caught SEVERAL others, and we still setting traps.

    4 Why?
    1) Stored food:
    2) we keep compost piles outside in the garden (where they nest);
    3) overfed and lazy cats;
    4) inattention.

    I no like kill things (except ANTS AND CENTIPEDES), so it's catch and release down by the waterside.... 8 miles away. BUT, it's a place where feral cats live. They never catch the buggahs, but give them one run for life. Natural selection, I figger. Keep them in check, and keep them away from houses. Who knows?

    If you poison rats they die inside walls and stink.
    If cats eat them they get sick.
    Mo beter 'catch and release', fo real?
    At last I no gotta kill 'em.
    Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!
    ~ ~
    Kaʻonohiʻulaʻokahōkūmiomioʻehiku
    Spreading the virus of ALOHA.
    Oh Chu. If only you could have seen what I've seen, with your eyes.

  • #2
    Re: Rats!

    So, how are they getting into the attic? At my old house we used to have a rat problem until I finally figged out how they were getting in. Covered the holes and no more problems.

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    • #3
      Re: Rats!

      Sitting next to me by Dukes statue on the beach was this guy. He was cutting tins with secateurs, flattening them and then rubbing them in the sand to get them polished.
      I couldn't stop myself from being nosey and I asked him why ? What for ?

      He told me that he gets paid to tack the shiny aluminium around the trees near some hotels, so the rats can't climb up and make nests there. (They can't get a grip on the metal and aluminium will not rust.) He went on to say that he also does the same with many houses and has formed a thriving business.
      His output is minimal, as most of his raw material comes out of of bins.

      I remember thinking at the time, 'What an enterprising guy.'

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      • #4
        Re: Rats!

        Originally posted by GeckoGeek View Post
        So, how are they getting into the attic? At my old house we used to have a rat problem until I finally figged out how they were getting in. Covered the holes and no more problems.
        Out back, behind my washer, they chewed a hole through the 1/2 x 2 fencing grate, got under the Furo tub to the drain pipes and into our back room.
        To get into the attic they climb the walls to the attic vents (3 screened holes in Hicks Homes every 6 feet) and chewed through the screens.

        My cats got one today (hooray for semi-feral felines!), and I caught 3 over the last 3 months, more than I've seen in years.

        I'm plugging holes....
        Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!
        ~ ~
        Kaʻonohiʻulaʻokahōkūmiomioʻehiku
        Spreading the virus of ALOHA.
        Oh Chu. If only you could have seen what I've seen, with your eyes.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Rats!

          Originally posted by Barry View Post
          shiny aluminium around the trees near some hotels, so the rats can't climb up and make nests there.
          That's been going on for as long as I remember. Sometimes you'll see where a tree trimmer has walked over them with their spiked shoes rendering them useless.



          Originally posted by Kaonohi View Post
          I'm plugging holes....

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          • #6
            Re: Rats!

            Gawd, rats make my skin crawl! Last place I lived (a townhouse), rats got into the attic space. We lived next to a very wooded area, stream and all and maybe the bird feeders I had in the yard attracted them. They were either roof or Norway rats but they were huge. Everything in Texas is big. Used the trap houses but they weren't falling for that. Nor the sticky pads which is gross. Also because I have a pet. And nix on the pesticides also. If they got stuck in the chimney, that'd have been the ultimate. Had a bird die in the chimney once during the winter. That was bad and couldn't build a fire in there for a long time. I thought they were just nocturnal but I'd see them shimmy up the outside brick wall and into the opening where they got in, in broad daylight. Bold suckers.

            One night, their scurrying around woke me up and I went into the kitchen. I saw movement outside so I grabbed my videocam and used the night vision feature and there were three sitting on the roof's eave. Unnerving! I showed it to DH when he walked in and said "I'm outta here." And I don't know if it's a coincidence but I popped an eye blood vessel that day. So that was the deciding factor and I moved...out-of-state. *L*

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            • #7
              Re: Rats!

              When the avocado tree is full you can see rats hanging on the branches
              at dusk and into the night nibbling on them........

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              • #8
                Re: Rats!

                What gets me ! When Noah was bringing the animals into the Ark 2 by 2. Why didn't he squash those two mosquitoes and kill the two rats ?

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                • #9
                  Re: Rats!

                  Originally posted by Barry View Post
                  What gets me ! When Noah was bringing the animals into the Ark 2 by 2. Why didn't he squash those two mosquitoes and kill the two rats ?
                  Why do you think they're called rats? They were hiding somewhere on board.

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