Room 101
I have notched a count of two dead rats: one by poison and one left by a friendly cat, I think, on my back porch. I am disappointed to learn that a new rat has moved into the house. But, I will strangle him or her soon enough. I promise.
I keep all of the food tightly packed away in glass containers and out of reach of rats, mice, children, and guests. I have no idea what s/he is finding to eat, 'cause there's nothin' to be found anywhere. And yet, a new rat bastard is here, making a hell of a noise under the stove. I've seen the droppings and can assert that this is no mouse. And then there's this crazy episode.
If you want to be freaked out, keep reading. My basement tenant told me that a rat jumped head first into his toilet and swam down out of sight. Yes, he flushed. After a web search, I confirmed that this is possible because rats can hold their breath for ages. They can come up and go down. Below the joint, the area is free of water. Even a person could hold their breath for that short of distance.
A dude has patented some sort of cage that one can affix beneath the toilet's wax ring to permit one's business to be flushed away but prevent rats from coming up. I imagine it's like a reverse lobster trap. I have no idea where to get one.
My question is, what the hell is attracting the scurvy rodents to my house? I asked the neighbours, and they have no rats. I've had rats; they haven't had rats. The mice seem to be gone, probably chased away by the rats or captured by them and served up as rat lunch.
Sure, I have read all of the things you are supposed to avoid, and I am going to stick with them. No more fat down the sink. One is supposed to wait for it to congeal and put it in the green bin or soak it up with paper towels and put it in your green bin. Grease is bad for your pipes anyway. They recommend putting bleach down your pipes every now and then. That sounds environmentally-dubious to me, so I am not sure about that. Oh yeah, sealing all of the holes in the house is recommended, but how is that really possible?
"Welcome death, quoth the rat, when the trap fell"
-Thomas Fuller
11 comments:
". . .a rat jumped head first into his toilet and swam down out of sight."
i seriously don't know what i'd do if i saw that in real life. i get freaked out seeing them run across the sidewalk. i'd probably have to move.
Yeah... :-(
A swimming rat? Heard of it, but none of my ratties ever liked water.
Maybe a hardware store would have the trap you're looking for?
Oddly, under the stove is one of my rat's fave places to hide when he's allowed out.
I'm sure I'd be just as freaked and grossed out if I saw a wild rat in close proximity, but for now I'm just thinking of my cute Gaius who loves cuddles.
Good luck getting rid of them!
Gross but it happens. this one apt we lived in had cock roaches. It was just gross.
I've lived with rats and roaches and mice (at some point of other), and I think roaches are the worst.
Have you tried a professional exterminator? They can usually tell you how the rats are getting in, and they usually have all the latest techniques for getting rid of them.
We had 2 mice once. We figured out where they were getting in, then we sealed up their access. We haven't had a mouse since.
Good luck!
Agree with tshsmom. I had a mouse prob. Nothing worked till I got advice from them. Those things can squeeze through cracks/holes the size of a nickel...not that I could find any. Sorry that I don't have any better advice. But do wish you the best of luck.
I hope I got him. The rat ate a whack of my industrial-strength poison. But, if I was unsuccessful, I may have to call in the pros.
There were "bats" living in the ceiling of my last apartment in Michigan. They'd be up there scrabbling around, freaking me out. So, I moved to Houston where we have have 1-1/2in tree roaches. We also have geckos, but those are cute.
Points for the Room 101 reference.
Ugh! I read this and thought, boy, I'm glad I don't have rodents but I thought that a bit too soon. One of my cats caught a mouse tonight. 2nd time ever my cat caught a mouse in over 7 years of living in my current home, but of course now I'm worrying that the place has become infested with them.
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