Rats in the attic: strategies, please.

[snoozy]

Besides getting a rat terrier, what's the best way to get rats to exit the attic? I'm not sure where their egress is, and I don't want to poison them and have them rot up there. Is there such a thing as a strobe light which would do the trick or maybe I should put a fire alarm up there and drive them out that way.

Ideas?

[NCLee]

Set traps in the attic. Either plain old snap traps or some of the modern disposable traps that are less gross to use.

Living out in the country we get a few every fall, when the weather drives field mice in for the winter. Can't keep them out completely, even though we've tried to block any known/suspected access points.

The snap traps take care of them, with no worries about posion.

Growing up, I've lived with dead mice in the walls and no way to find them to get rid of the odor. (Same situation, grew up on a farm.) It's far easier to open a snap trap and flush the contents.

Lee

[farmmom]

I recently had huge rats in my attic. I tried both types of traps without success. They were able to snap the wooden traps without getting caught, and got off the sticky ones. I got 1lb blocks of "One Bite" poison, which they carried off (How big are they!!!!?) I finally have no rompers in the attic at night. They had to go outside to get water, and I haven't smelled any dead ones in the house.

[fishhead]

I don't have rats but I do have flying squirrels in the attic. They wake me up CHEWING and CHEWING and CHEWING! I have traps up there but rarely catch them. I'm tearing the covering off the wall where I hear them the most. I hate to think what it looks like inside the wall.

[Alice In TX/MO]

"Just One Bite" They will probably go out in the yard to die.

[Beltane]

We had a huge rat problem eariler this year - I guess because of all the rain here this summer. We tried everything, but rats are pretty smart! Snap traps would catch one or two, but then the rest would ignore them. Purchased a rat zapper, but that also only caught a few and the 'smarter' ones would never use it. The whole time we were fooling around with traps and rat zappers their population continued to grow. We finally used the big blocks of poison and got rid of them. Most we found out in the yard dead. Good luck.

[BTO]

Originally Posted by snoozy

Besides getting a rat terrier, what's the best way to get rats to exit the attic? I'm not sure where their egress is, and I don't want to poison them and have them rot up there. Is there such a thing as a strobe light which would do the trick or maybe I should put a fire alarm up there and drive them out that way.

Ideas?

I used to work on a mink farm when I was in high school. The owner lived in a large 200 year old farm house that used to become infested with mice and rats from time to time, usually in the fall. We saved the "runts" (dwarf mink) to release one in the house. They would fix the problem, usually within a week. Of course then we had to trap the runt! Alot easier catching one runt vs. umpteen million mice/rats.

[stranger]

there must be something for them to eat to even be around, check all your food containers, shut off their food supply and you'll get rid of them.

[JJ Grandits]

The term "Rat" has such a negative conotation. I prefer the term " Bald tailed house squirrel". Snap traps will continue to work if you change the types of bait used. If you use the same bait they will learn. Besides changing bait change locations often too.

[NCLee]

And, you may have to use several sizes of snap traps. The little ones for mice won't get big rats.

Agree about changing the bait in the trap. Cheese, peanut butter, small piece of bacon, piece of a soft cookie, etc.

Change the locations of the traps from time to time, until you get rid of the invasion. Always set them along walls, cabinets, etc. Rats and mice tend to hug the walls as they roam around looking for food and for places to build their nests. They like to scoot behind things to hide. So, in the attic, set some boxes a few inches from the walls. Place the traps between the boxes and the wall.

Lee