Rats under shed (3 Viewers)

Alkhen

Well-Known Member
Looks like some Rats have taken to living under our shed. Really hate rats, probably my only irrational fear!

Moved to our new house last March and the existing shed is a bit of a wreck needs ripping down and starting again. Should have done it when we first got but lockdown screwed those plans. I was going to wait until spring now.

Noticed something had come up through the floor in the shed. Lifted a fet slabs around the outside and there is a network of rat sized tunnels.

Not actually seen any but shed smells a bit pissy.

I have a cat so am slightly hesitant to use bait. Might be paranoid. Anyone had success getting rid of them.

Pest control forums are full extreme solutions like into air rifle culls and terriers or just links to adverts
 

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RedSalmon

Well-Known Member
About ten years ago (could be longer) found out we had a rat in the outhouse which is next to the garage. Called the council and they came straight round and dealt with it. No idea if they still have such a service (given the cuts) but remember being impressed at the time.

Do you know anyone with a Jack Russell? They hate rats and never loose the ability to kill the little fuckers!!
 

Sky Blue Pete

Well-Known Member
About ten years ago (could be longer) found out we had a rat in the outhouse which is next to the garage. Called the council and they came straight round and dealt with it. No idea if they still have such a service (given the cuts) but remember being impressed at the time.

Do you know anyone with a Jack Russell? They hate rats and never loose the ability to kill the little fuckers!!
They do but limited due to cuts
 

Alkhen

Well-Known Member
About ten years ago (could be longer) found out we had a rat in the outhouse which is next to the garage. Called the council and they came straight round and dealt with it. No idea if they still have such a service (given the cuts) but remember being impressed at the time.

Do you know anyone with a Jack Russell? They hate rats and never loose the ability to kill the little fuckers!!

Yeah might see if that's still an option. Could go private but was hoping to do it on the cheap in this climate.

Used to have Jack Russells growing up, can confirm they were great raters. These seem to be entrenched deep under the shed so would be tricky even if I could. Have a cat who is a bit of a bruiser but he can't get to them.
 

bringbackrattles

Well-Known Member
Been in my new place just 7 months and saw a rat eating the bird seed that had dropped on the garden. Found out where it had made its home by the shed, put down poison pellets and blocked the entrance. Been a month and no sign of it as yet, so hopefully it worked ?
 

Sbarcher

Well-Known Member
We had chickens in our previous house and had to put mesh on the ground to stop rats digging under the wire mesh.
Kept a tub of very strong rat poison in the shed and stuffed it down the rat holes. Went to the shed one day and they had chewed through the plastic container and eaten all of the poison. Never saw a rat or a carcass again.
 
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AVWskyblue

Well-Known Member
Put an empty metal dustbin in your garden, put some old fish and chip wrappings in said dustbin, place a plank leaning against dustbin, leave it overnight then on the morning you should have any rats near your house in the dustbin so poor in some thinners and set light to it, problem solved.

Sent from my Alba7Nou using Tapatalk
 

LastGarrison

Well-Known Member
Put an empty metal dustbin in your garden, put some old fish and chip wrappings in said dustbin, place a plank leaning against dustbin, leave it overnight then on the morning you should have any rats near your house in the dustbin so poor in some thinners and set light to it, problem solved.

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Jesus fucking Christ. 😳
 

Alkhen

Well-Known Member
Put an empty metal dustbin in your garden, put some old fish and chip wrappings in said dustbin, place a plank leaning against dustbin, leave it overnight then on the morning you should have any rats near your house in the dustbin so poor in some thinners and set light to it, problem solved.

Sent from my Alba7Nou using Tapatalk
Nuclear option ☠️
 

Johnnythespider

Well-Known Member
Put an empty metal dustbin in your garden, put some old fish and chip wrappings in said dustbin, place a plank leaning against dustbin, leave it overnight then on the morning you should have any rats near your house in the dustbin so poor in some thinners and set light to it, problem solved.

Sent from my Alba7Nou using Tapatalk
Bit cold for a bbq
 

mrtrench

Well-Known Member
We have a rat issue every winter due to all the birds we keep. The council rat man was useless - charged £60 or so and ended before they were all killed. So I started baiting myself. You need the strongest bait to beat them - the weak stuff doesn't work.

A couple of years ago they changed the rules so that you cannot buy the strong stuff unless you have a qualification. I bit the bullet this year and trained up, so I can now buy the good stuff. It costs £72 to train and you can do it online. This is the course I took:

" Responsible and Effective Control of Commensal Rodents Certification " from Rodent Control on Farms Certificate - Pass Online Today

I wouldn't bother with the stuff you're allowed to buy unqualified. It costs to train but once you have the qualification you can get rid.

The poison I recommend is Tomcat:


But beware, some rats are now genetically immune.
 

Alkhen

Well-Known Member
We have a rat issue every winter due to all the birds we keep. The council rat man was useless - charged £60 or so and ended before they were all killed. So I started baiting myself. You need the strongest bait to beat them - the weak stuff doesn't work.

A couple of years ago they changed the rules so that you cannot buy the strong stuff unless you have a qualification. I bit the bullet this year and trained up, so I can now buy the good stuff. It costs £72 to train and you can do it online. This is the course I took:

" Responsible and Effective Control of Commensal Rodents Certification " from Rodent Control on Farms Certificate - Pass Online Today

I wouldn't bother with the stuff you're allowed to buy unqualified. It costs to train but once you have the qualification you can get rid.

The poison I recommend is Tomcat:


But beware, some rats are now genetically immune.

Wow fair play that's a good effort on your behalf. I'm hoping they were just opportunists. No reason why they would be there, like bird feed etc. I probably left some seed or bulbs out and they took the chance. We are in Gloucestershire semi rural suburbs so I'm hoping they won't be beefed up imune super rats that you hear about in inner cities!

Reminds me I traveled a bit in West Africa. Was in The Gambia and they have these HUGE pouched rats.

The hotel maintenance guys would go hunting them early hours. Was grim but they had to catch them because they attract mabas and cobras.
 

clint van damme

Well-Known Member
Wow fair play that's a good effort on your behalf. I'm hoping they were just opportunists. No reason why they would be there, like bird feed etc. I probably left some seed or bulbs out and they took the chance. We are in Gloucestershire semi rural suburbs so I'm hoping they won't be beefed up imune super rats that you hear about in inner cities!

Reminds me I traveled a bit in West Africa. Was in The Gambia and they have these HUGE pouched rats.

The hotel maintenance guys would go hunting them early hours. Was grim but they had to catch them because they attract mabas and cobras.

Seeds or bulbs you say?
I'm about to put a couple of raised vegetable beds in my garden. Could that attract them?
 

derbyskyblue

Well-Known Member
Put an empty metal dustbin in your garden, put some old fish and chip wrappings in said dustbin, place a plank leaning against dustbin, leave it overnight then on the morning you should have any rats near your house in the dustbin so poor in some thinners and set light to it, problem solved.

Sent from my Alba7Nou using Tapatalk
Now here's a man who dont fook about....
 

Harry Krishner

Well-Known Member
Put an empty metal dustbin in your garden, put some old fish and chip wrappings in said dustbin, place a plank leaning against dustbin, leave it overnight then on the morning you should have any rats near your house in the dustbin so poor in some thinners and set light to it, problem solved.

Sent from my Alba7Nou using Tapatalk
That must be the most imaginative method of rat extermination I've ever heard of.
 

dadgad

Well-Known Member
Problems with any poison:
1) The animals develop immunity
2) It kills the rats natural predators; weasels, stoats, owls, buzzards, foxes, etc.
Best ways is to deter them if you haven’t got a Jack Russell - block holes, build solid floors, sonic sound emitter or peppermint oil spray. (They hate the smell and leave).
 

clint van damme

Well-Known Member
Put an empty metal dustbin in your garden, put some old fish and chip wrappings in said dustbin, place a plank leaning against dustbin, leave it overnight then on the morning you should have any rats near your house in the dustbin so poor in some thinners and set light to it, problem solved.

Sent from my Alba7Nou using Tapatalk

Forgot about this absolute classic!!
 

itsabuzzard

Well-Known Member
Seeds or bulbs you say?
I'm about to put a couple of raised vegetable beds in my garden. Could that attract them?
They'll go for anything that might be edible, and plenty that isn't. If they're around, they'll go for any root crop, so watch your spuds and carrots. Dug up my wife's tulip and daffodil bulbs last year, so the gloves came off and I poisoned them and shot a few from the bedroom window. Now maintain a bait station permanently, and they haven't been a problem since.
Setting fire to them is sadistic, and uncalled for.

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Sbarcher

Well-Known Member
Never heard them called a tulip and daffodil bulbs, makes sense though.
 

Kneeza

Well-Known Member
I used to have one of those plastic compost bins at the bottom of my garden. Fairly useless as you need to empty them and mix the material regularly for it to be effective. Anyway, I took a garden fork down there one day to do the job, and lifted the bin from the pile, and about six rats shot out and scurried in all directions. So, I just instinctively launched the fork at the slowest one, and somehow managed to skewer it! Jesus, did it squeal...
 

Alkhen

Well-Known Member
Ha random thread to suddenly burst into life.

I totally failed to update my first post. Got rid of the little prick in the end. As people mentioned the off the shelf poison was useless. Tried smoking out it's holes but it didn't shift. In the end we paid the local rat man who came with high grade poisoned wheat. He put it down every hole and a week later I found a massive fat dead rat in the shed. Most annoying part was it had made its bed in an old guitar amp I was storing for my dad, it had pissed all in it and chewed it to bits🤦‍♂️.

The pest guy said that because there wasn't a major nest it was probably lone one that got displaced when the railway track that runs behind our house had all the brambles dug up and removed that winter.

Anyhow no problems since. We replaced the shed and and put paving under the new ones which probably helped
 

no_loyalty

Well-Known Member
I live in a block of 4 terraced houses, and the last couple of weeks we have had rats in the loft running between all houses, we believe they got in through the end house which was vacant for about 9 months. We put poison and traps down and have not heard them for over a week, but my wife heard them scratching above us at about 4am this morning. She spoke to the council last week about them coming out to deal with the issue, but the earliest they are available is end of February.
 

clint van damme

Well-Known Member
I live in a block of 4 terraced houses, and the last couple of weeks we have had rats in the loft running between all houses, we believe they got in through the end house which was vacant for about 9 months. We put poison and traps down and have not heard them for over a week, but my wife heard them scratching above us at about 4am this morning. She spoke to the council last week about them coming out to deal with the issue, but the earliest they are available is end of February.

See post 11.
 

Alkhen

Well-Known Member
I live in a block of 4 terraced houses, and the last couple of weeks we have had rats in the loft running between all houses, we believe they got in through the end house which was vacant for about 9 months. We put poison and traps down and have not heard them for over a week, but my wife heard them scratching above us at about 4am this morning. She spoke to the council last week about them coming out to deal with the issue, but the earliest they are available is end of February.
Nightmare, I found it pretty stressful and they weren't even in my house. Sounds like a similar setup to our place, being a small terrace, we are on the end so only have to deal with one neighbor thankfully but being attached in a chain is a bit annoying as you are relying on everyone else keeping maintenance up, pests out etc. We definitely have someone growing weed up in their loft, honks like Cheech and Chong up there on hot days! Not too fussed as in general everybody in our row are nice enough and a massive upgrade on my last neighbours!
 

Paul Anthony

Well-Known Member
I live in a block of 4 terraced houses, and the last couple of weeks we have had rats in the loft running between all houses, we believe they got in through the end house which was vacant for about 9 months. We put poison and traps down and have not heard them for over a week, but my wife heard them scratching above us at about 4am this morning. She spoke to the council last week about them coming out to deal with the issue, but the earliest they are available is end of February.

We had this when we lived in a more rural area. Council pest control came out, I don't know exactly what it was he used, but the little sods loved it. Only problem was, it didn't actually kill them...just made them go absolutely hyper! It was like having a bloody heard of elephants having a disco above our heads at early hours of the morning! Little sods even had the food tray he'd put the stuff on and we're throwing that around! Had to get Rentokil out in the end, apparently they can use stronger poison than the council (if I remember correctly).
 

Cata

Well-Known Member
Looks like some Rats have taken to living under our shed. Really hate rats, probably my only irrational fear!

Moved to our new house last March and the existing shed is a bit of a wreck needs ripping down and starting again. Should have done it when we first got but lockdown screwed those plans. I was going to wait until spring now.

Noticed something had come up through the floor in the shed. Lifted a fet slabs around the outside and there is a network of rat sized tunnels.

Not actually seen any but shed smells a bit pissy.

I have a cat so am slightly hesitant to use bait. Might be paranoid. Anyone had success getting rid of them.

Pest control forums are full extreme solutions like into air rifle culls and terriers or just links to adverts
poison in the runs on a daily basis should do it. Assuming the cat can't lift the slabs you just need to keep an eye that the rats don't bring the poison out. Typically they eat in situ or take back to the nest if they have young. Also make sure they have no access to food in the shed. Mind you an air rifle is more fun!
 

Mcbean

Well-Known Member
My shed at the end of the garden has become a bit pongy , I wonder if there’s something living under all the crap - going to have to get it all out in the spring I think - it sits on slabs so maybe there’s a chance it’s just a bit damp - there is no food in it 😳
 

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