Rat In House - What To Do?

[redruby 279]

So, a rat has been seen in the attic bedroom.  Any advice on the best way to get rid of it (them??)  I'm sure it was attracted up there to begin with by some nuts that were dropped there and forgotten about.  It was only when these were all cleaned up it made it's presence known scurrying around and climbing on the bed no doubt looking  for food.  The likely entry point is sealed off now and bait has been put down but I'm worried about the smell of dead rats trapped in the house in this heat  

[Janus 28]

You would be justified feeling that way about the smell of a dead rat in the house. I once had one poisoned in the cavity of the wall in winter. Smell was horrendous even with windows open. In the end I had to move in to another room to sleep. The smell lasted for two full weeks.

Edited July 23, 2019 by Janus

[Top Cats Hat 10]

10 minutes ago, redruby said:

So, a rat has been seen in the attic bedroom.  Any advice on the best way to get rid of it (them??)  I'm sure it was attracted up there to begin with by some nuts that were dropped there and forgotten about.  It was only when these were all cleaned up it made it's presence known scurrying around and climbing on the bed no doubt looking  for food.  The likely entry point is sealed off now and bait has been put down but I'm worried about the smell of dead rats trapped in the house in this heat  

If you’re not squeamish, a rat trap and a piece of cheese usually works, but you need to work out it’s route and place the trap somewhere along it.

[Phili Buster 10]

You could try Sheffield Council but may well charge, try "rat catcher Sheffield council" in a well known search engine

[JamesR123 0]

If you keep the house clean and they haven't nested they will just leave

[Janus 28]

Best opion is a No4 Fenn trap,  (which by law must be in a box), and facilitates the rat trap working correctly as the box creates a `tunnel`. No bait needed.

Edited July 23, 2019 by Janus

[ANGELFIRE1 10]

Get a mate who has a Terrier and let it free in the house, if it's a Terrier worth its salt and the rat has no escape route, the rats demise is guaranteed. 

 

Angel1

[Janus 28]

@redruby

There are a few options there now. We just need to find someone with a ferret.

[L00b 441]

34 minutes ago, ANGELFIRE1 said:

Get a mate who has a Terrier and let it free in the house, if it's a Terrier worth its salt and the rat has no escape route, the rats demise is guaranteed. 

 

Angel1

Quoted for truth. But plan for some incidental damage.

 

Friends of ours were in for a new kitchen kick-plate, a new coffee table in the lounge and some odd trinkets, by the time our mutt was done at theirs. Was a big house in countryside, with rats coming in through air bricks; and ours is a

 Patterdale on the large side, teen labrador-sized, 17kgs/about 40lbs in old  money: once he got the scent, that was it, loco on full auto/don't get in way ).

 

Worth it for the entertainment, though   (and no more rats, obviously)

Edited July 23, 2019 by L00b

[ANGELFIRE1 10]

4 minutes ago, L00b said:

Quoted for truth. But plan for some incidental damage.

 

Friends of ours were in for a new kitchen kick-plate, a new coffee table in the lounge and some odd trinkets, by the time our mutt was done at theirs (was a big house in countryside, with rats coming in through air bricks; and ours is a

 Patterdale on the large side, teen labrador-sized, 17kgs/about 40lbs in old  money: once he got the scent, that was it, loco on full auto/don't get in way ).

 

Worth it for the entertainment, though   (and no more rats, obviously)

Well I never, we agree on summat. Defo worth the entertainment, and the odd bit of collateral damage.🤣

 

Angel1.

Edited July 23, 2019 by ANGELFIRE1

[L00b 441]

15 minutes ago, ANGELFIRE1 said:

Well I never, we agree on summat. Defo worth the entertainment, and the odd bit of collateral damage.🤣

 

Angel1.

 

 

It's not because we disagree on politics and certain other topics (sometimes), that we have to disagree on everything 

 

God knows I'll have got my own 'reprehensible' traits for others on here (I smoke, I drive a big engine'd petrol car, I speed, I swear, etc. and, whilst on about the dog collateral damage, he killed a stray kitten on our property only last weekend (I've lost count of kills in t'wild) before I had a chance to cop on & restrain him: he was doing his job, I'm not going to lose sleep or shed a tear (I did bury the kitten properly)...but we know well how those kind of incidents play with townies : kill rats = good, kill bunny or kitten = bad).

 

Hey, it's a terrier. With the prey drive of a great white. Never harmed a human, but everything else is on the menu, big or small, fluffy, scaly or feathery.

Edited July 23, 2019 by L00b

[ANGELFIRE1 10]

1 hour ago, L00b said:

 

 

It's not because we disagree on politics and certain other topics (sometimes), that we have to disagree on everything 

 

God knows I'll have got my own 'reprehensible' traits for others on here (I smoke, I drive a big engine'd petrol car, I speed, I swear, etc. and, whilst on about the dog collateral damage, he killed a stray kitten on our property only last weekend (I've lost count of kills in t'wild) before I had a chance to cop on & restrain him: he was doing his job, I'm not going to lose sleep or shed a tear (I did bury the kitten properly)...but we know well how those kind of incidents play with townies : kill rats = good, kill bunny or kitten = bad).

 

Hey, it's a terrier. With the prey drive of a great white. Never harmed a human, but everything else is on the menu, big or small, fluffy, scaly or feathery.

The reason why I have never had a dog other than a Terrier, they, well most, still retain the prey drive of their ancestors.  If any one asks me, "what is it like to own a Terrier" my stock answer is, great little dogs, but if they come across something, if they cannot shag it or eat it, then they damn sure will kill it.

 

Angel1.