No dice.
We baited up our trap again (with apples, peanut butter and cheese), and went to sleep hopeful (left pic from last night). We caught nothing! These guys are smart. So, we called in a pest expert today (thanks, BTW, for all your comments to do this). Eric Korkowski from Pro-Pest (818.505.6241) just came by the house and quickly figured out our situation...
The house has got some big open holes with lotsa footprints inside (underneath) and outside, and there are probably a bunch of rats travelling into the house through the walls. SKGR's mother is SO creeped out by this, none of us are going to sleep tonight...
And Ursula is NOT sleeping in her little bed on the floor again (we found a rat sh*t in the hall, near the bedroom!).
The solution? Eric has baited the inside and underside of the house with big rat traps. He'll be back tomorrow to see what has happened and will continue to bait traps for about 4-6 days before fixing all the holes in the house. He charges $50 a visit and @ $150 to do all the work in repairing holes to the house.
He says this should take no more than 6 visits, bringing us to a total of $450. He guarantees his work for up to 6 months and promises our house will be rat free. If this solves the problem, we're more than happy to pay it.
Oh, and we're hoping for some action tonight...
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Ewwww. Good luck!
When I was a kid we realized we had mice in the house because one of my Barbies (who were kept under my bed) had half her face chewed off!
Everytime someone mentions a rat or I see one (I used to work in D.C) I still Barbie's half-face and to make it worse, this was the doll I had already given the short Princess Di haircut.
May I suggest the "Mouse Mover" from Sharper Image?
It sells for about 50.00 and has proven successful not only for myself, but several other people I know who have had problems with critters.
It is based on electronic frequencies that the rats, mice, etc, can not tolerate.......and they move out!
It REALLY works and is.......non-violent......
Find their website on Google and may it solve your problems in a peaceful way!
PS If you have pets, no problem, there is a setting so as not to disturb them...
I really suggest a cat. My parents had rat problems on and off for years that just would never really go away. Then 4 years ago they got a cat, and haven't had a single rat in the house since.
Also - at least up here in N. California, the rats LOVE ivy. So if there's any ivy around, tear it out.
I would just move...you can't live in my house unless you pay part of the rent or mortgage.
I lived on a farm in Ireland, and despite several semi-feral cats about, we still got some rats in the walls (cats unfortunately lacking walk-through-walls superpowers). We sealed any holes we could find, then got a bunch of those sonic things, and they stayed away. I would definitely invest in a few (plug them in throughout the house) after you're done with the rat guy. That should keep them from coming back.
Rats. Mice. Nasty. Good luck, whatever you do that works. There's many ways to deal with this problem.....
but the cat thing - I don't see rats and mice as reason to get a cat. Loving cats would be a good reason. Not all cats are mousers. Mine would faint. Rats carry disease. Cats eating mice don't necessarily live a good life, even ferel cats.
If we have the money to buy modern things, we have the money to buy the appropriate rat/mouse remover.
Maxwell: Sounds as though you have it all under control. Will be curious to see the outcome.