Dealing with rats in subfloor void

[Kwallacebu]

Hi there

I live in a victorian terraced house and I have discovered some fresh rat droppings in the sub floor void (under my ground floor floorboards)

My cat sits and stares at a particular place so I think that is where they are.

Not sure how they got in. All my airbricks are intact.

How should I deal with this? Any advice welcome. I've ordered some conventional rat traps to try and get them.

I have no idea where they are getting food. There is no evidence they are coming into my home above the floorboards...

Thanks
Sammy

 

[Scruples]

A quick solution would be to have the council put baited traps under the floor. They would try to find the point of entry and block them up once the traps were set.
A longer solution would be to get hold of humane traps (Amazon) and catch and release somewhere away from residences. Best to act quickly as they breed frequently.

 

[Kwallacebu]

Hi @sammy.se - I was wondering if you’d had any luck since you first made this post?

I live in a Victorian terrace and have experienced the same issue. We first realised the problem when we had a smell and flies coming through - we pulled up the floorboards and there was a dead rat. Following that we ripped up as many floor boards as we could and took a good look - blocking up any holes we could but since then we still do hear noises. We put traps down and caught multiple but we’ve stopped doing that as I find the whole process really horrible.

We have contacted various professionals but we would need to get our whole street on board to actually seal up all holes as it’s impossible to tell where they all are without ripping up all of our downstairs.

When you look under the floorboards there isn’t sign they live down there, there’s no nesting and you never see any in the day. I think they use it to travel through and they probably do under all the houses but it’s very off putting and horrible to hear. We bought this flat recently and it’s our first home, we’re thinking we might need to move but not really in a position to do that. Would be great to hear if you’d had any luck.

Thanks

 

[Kwallacebu]

A quick solution would be to have the council put baited traps under the floor. They would try to find the point of entry and block them up once the traps were set.
A longer solution would be to get hold of humane traps (Amazon) and catch and release somewhere away from residences. Best to act quickly as they breed frequently.

Our council won’t get involved with rodent issues because we own the property unfortunately. We did have a professional come round and they quoted us about £15k to totally ‘rat proof’ the whole property which we can’t afford to do. We also spoke to other professionals who said we’d need our whole road to be on board/allow access to their houses and gardens and in all honesty where we live I’m not sure that’s going to work out.

 

[deema]

Not sure if anyone has suggested this already. Call / google your local council, I’ve always found the costs they charge to be extremely reasonable, far cheaper than anywhere else and they usually guarantee their work for a period if there is a re-infestation.

 

[Fergie 307]

My dad had rats in his bedroom ceiling, you could actually hear them running about! Very difficult to access owing to some previous owner having build cupboards under the access hatch. One of his neighbours, a lifelong country girl in her 80's, suggested peppermint. According to her they can't stand the smell of it. I was not convinced but got some peppermint oil in a shallow dish and popped it as far as I could reach into the ceiling void. Much to my surprise no more sound of tiny feet! Maybe entirely a coincidence, or maybe she was right. What have you got to lose.
Incidentally if you use block bait you need to secure it using the holes in the middle. If you don't they will carry it away and store it somewhere else. That somewhere else maybe somewhere that pets or children can find it. You need to use a proper bait box, that should have bars for securing them. Alternatively you can use something like coat hanger wire, and make sure it is properly secured or they will have the whole lot away. The idea is to force them to eat it there and then.

 

[Tris]

Pesticide resistance is commonplace in urban rat populations so I'd second the advice to get a professional pest controller in. They have access to poisons that are not on the retail market, the 'poisons of last resort' as it were.

 

[RogerS]

Bloke down the pub told me that he uses glue pads. Apparently they are illegal to use but still available on Amazon. He got 2-3 rats each night. For a week. No idea how true that is.

 

[gmgmgm]

We put traps down and caught multiple but we’ve stopped doing that as I find the whole process really horrible.

Unpleasant as you might find it, you've already been successful doing this, and should find a way to continue, or someone who can do it for you?

 

[mcostello]

One of the more unusual ways to get rid of mice and rats was a coworker had Someone come over and bring a ferret along for a couple of hours. As soon as the vermin smelled the ferret they started screaming and vacating the premises at high speed. Don't know how long the effects last.

 

[Kwallacebu]

My dad had rats in his bedroom ceiling, you could actually hear them running about! Very difficult to access owing to some previous owner having build cupboards under the access hatch. One of his neighbours, a lifelong country girl in her 80's, suggested peppermint. According to her they can't stand the smell of it. I was not convinced but got some peppermint oil in a shallow dish and popped it as far as I could reach into the ceiling void. Much to my surprise no more sound of tiny feet! Maybe entirely a coincidence, or maybe she was right. What have you got to lose.
Incidentally if you use block bait you need to secure it using the holes in the middle. If you don't they will carry it away and store it somewhere else. That somewhere else maybe somewhere that pets or children can find it. You need to use a proper bait box, that should have bars for securing them. Alternatively you can use something like coat hanger wire, and make sure it is properly secured or they will have the whole lot away. The idea is to force them to eat it there and then.

Thanks I’ll try this!

 

[Kwallacebu]

Thanks I’ll try this!

Unpleasant as you might find it, you've already been successful doing this, and should find a way to continue, or someone who can do it for you?

I know but I guess the issue is they will just keep coming back if they’re under all the terraced houses.