I used electrical shock traps baited with peanut butter sometimes got more than one.
Normally, yes. But not if the rats have toxoplasmosis: Zombie rats: Parasite leads rodents to their death by making them sexually attracted to the smell of cats | Daily Mail Online
Even weirder: every now and then, we read in the news about police or animal-control officers raiding a "cat hoarder", a person or persons who keep dozens or even hundreds of cats in their home. Usually the authorities describe the home as stinking unbearably of cat urine, but the resident cat-hoarders seem not to be bothered by the stench.
It turns out that humans can get toxoplasmosis too, usually from improper handling of contaminated cat-litter (if you have an indoor cat, wear gloves and a respirator whenever dealing with the litterbox!) There is evidence that people with toxoplasmosis often begin to find the stench of cat urine attractive.
And, evidently, these people may also develop a deep and abnormal love for cats, which is what leads them to their cat-hoarding problem.
Absolutely terrifying when you think about it, a tiny parasite that can infect you, take over your brain, and bend your senses and emotions to suit its life-cycle.
-Gnobuddy
You might also try passive defence meaning you shield your pipes.
Fully replacing them is somewhat of a chore, specially if they go through walls, mortar, concrete, whatever, but maybe you can cover your current pipes with metal, some home bent tin sheet previously cut with metal snippers.
No need for the shield to be perfect, nor hermetic, water conduction is still done by the plastic tube, you just need to cover plastic pipes in a way rodents can not get at them with their teeth.
You will kill none of them, which in your circumstance is good, you won´t have to check regularly nor dispose of them.
You might also wrap plastic pipes with metal wire or strips cut out of metallic mosquito nets.
Or you might wrap pipes with kitchen type aluminum paper, leaving a few mm uncovered at each end so it´s not grounded, and apply, say, 60 VDC to it, the other end grounded.
You will not kill them by any means, but as soon as their sensitive noses, lips or tongue get 60V , they will not like that at all.
Remember the ugly sensation given by tongue testing a humble 9V battery and extrapolate that to 60V .
I´m quite certain they will NOT try to gnaw your pipes twice.
Fully replacing them is somewhat of a chore, specially if they go through walls, mortar, concrete, whatever, but maybe you can cover your current pipes with metal, some home bent tin sheet previously cut with metal snippers.
No need for the shield to be perfect, nor hermetic, water conduction is still done by the plastic tube, you just need to cover plastic pipes in a way rodents can not get at them with their teeth.
You will kill none of them, which in your circumstance is good, you won´t have to check regularly nor dispose of them.
You might also wrap plastic pipes with metal wire or strips cut out of metallic mosquito nets.
Or you might wrap pipes with kitchen type aluminum paper, leaving a few mm uncovered at each end so it´s not grounded, and apply, say, 60 VDC to it, the other end grounded.
You will not kill them by any means, but as soon as their sensitive noses, lips or tongue get 60V , they will not like that at all.
Remember the ugly sensation given by tongue testing a humble 9V battery and extrapolate that to 60V .
I´m quite certain they will NOT try to gnaw your pipes twice.
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There are products that either coat things with a disgusting sticky mess or made it taste horrible. The sticky stuff has worked for me on birds and rodents.
The other item is mothballs. But not loose they will move them put. I tape two aluminum pie plates together to hold moth balls in a package too big for them to move. A few dozen small knife stabs seem to provide enough ventilation. Best to do it before they breed.
The other item is mothballs. But not loose they will move them put. I tape two aluminum pie plates together to hold moth balls in a package too big for them to move. A few dozen small knife stabs seem to provide enough ventilation. Best to do it before they breed.
That’s horrible, I hope you can figure it out very soon.
The city of Seattle was using the glue traps some 20+ years ago, but stopped since the rats were chewing off their own legs to get out; more disease potential.
I have had great luck with a 5 gallon bucket with a dowel resting on top, a blob of peanut butter in the middle, but that was out in the open near my shop.
The live traps are no fun, then have to deal with a pissed off creature...
Can you poke some tweeters up into the loft space? Maybe some ABBA or something...
The city of Seattle was using the glue traps some 20+ years ago, but stopped since the rats were chewing off their own legs to get out; more disease potential.
I have had great luck with a 5 gallon bucket with a dowel resting on top, a blob of peanut butter in the middle, but that was out in the open near my shop.
The live traps are no fun, then have to deal with a pissed off creature...
Can you poke some tweeters up into the loft space? Maybe some ABBA or something...
I had an attic mouse. Avoided traps. I built an ultrasonic. Didn't bother him long. I left it off a few days, then wired it from my chair so I could "weeeeee..!" him when I heard the patter of teeny feet. He'd run, but come back. But one time "weeee" patter SNAP-- he fled across the trap.
I'm surprised they eat pipes. The US has been full of plastic pipes for decades. They mostly work fine. One run of plastic didn't last but all that's gone now. But I am seeing reports of Western Pine Seed Bugs drilling PEX pipe. Leaks inside walls for no good reason. I tore-out my copper for PEX. I have bugs; I thought stink-bugs, but turns out to be Seed Bugs.
Iron would clog with rust. Copper's solder makes you stupid. Old PVC goes brittle (my other shack is full of it). The mice can't eat the pipes if you lay them in a concrete slab: my uncle had to have his house jack-hammered because that was a pretty bad idea on Texas Clay.
Yes, anything to copper in places you can't swing a wrench or torch, SharkBite or now equivalents from John Guest and BrassCraft. (I like the JG a little better but it is hard to get a few at good price.)
I'm surprised they eat pipes. The US has been full of plastic pipes for decades. They mostly work fine. One run of plastic didn't last but all that's gone now. But I am seeing reports of Western Pine Seed Bugs drilling PEX pipe. Leaks inside walls for no good reason. I tore-out my copper for PEX. I have bugs; I thought stink-bugs, but turns out to be Seed Bugs.
Iron would clog with rust. Copper's solder makes you stupid. Old PVC goes brittle (my other shack is full of it). The mice can't eat the pipes if you lay them in a concrete slab: my uncle had to have his house jack-hammered because that was a pretty bad idea on Texas Clay.
Yes, anything to copper in places you can't swing a wrench or torch, SharkBite or now equivalents from John Guest and BrassCraft. (I like the JG a little better but it is hard to get a few at good price.)
We had a cat at the first garage I worked at.
It would come in to the garage wailing and it would have a mouse alive in its mouth. It would then let the mouse go and just as it had almost got away would chase it down and catch it again. It would then get bored and eat it. Half an hour later the bones and fur would come back.
Another day I heard the cat wailing and in it came with a rabbit.
Cats can be quite cruel.
+1 on the snake. I had a severe rat problem in the shop last winter and spring, and all of a sudden they just up and disappeared. This past week I moved some big speaker cabs that I haven't used in 2 years (inspecting drivers for surround rot and rodent damage) and found a five foot snake skin. That explains where the rats went.
Super funny!
Different animals here but I have to share it with you guys : raccoons in the attic, best solution for me? A speaker in the attic, connected to an amp, to computer, run youtube , many channels once, most of the songs were heavy metal.
The raccoons ran away next day!
I live in a subtropical area and many kids have "pet" snakes. Although people in general do not like snakes simply because they are known to give away apples to young ladies causing them to wear clothes instead of staying naked, snakes are part of nature.
I am sure that even in the busiest city in the UK you will find a variety of garden, house and tree snakes, but you will never see one. They keep out of sight because they know they are being blamed with the girl/apple story and people kill them for no reason.
However, if you are not too queasy getting a snake from the pet shop is really the answer and you have to do absolutely nothing else but placing the open container that you got it in into your ceiling.
After the mice are eaten the snake will move out and find another place where it would find food. After releasing it in your ceiling, you will probably never see it again.
Try soapy billow pads
Hi,
When i was working on airfields long ago- maney rodent would chew our nav aids cables, the solution was to cover cables and entrence/exits with teased out soap covered brillow pads, made them puke they never returned, this worked very well for us, very cheap to, we spent a fortune on professional rodent people with poor results, you can buy them I tesco! ( the brillow pads- not the rodent people
Regards
Johnny
Hi,
When i was working on airfields long ago- maney rodent would chew our nav aids cables, the solution was to cover cables and entrence/exits with teased out soap covered brillow pads, made them puke they never returned, this worked very well for us, very cheap to, we spent a fortune on professional rodent people with poor results, you can buy them I tesco! ( the brillow pads- not the rodent people
Regards
Johnny
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