Critter in my house!! Mortifying! (LONG)

MAYNARDSMOM

MAYNARDSMOM

Cathlete
I always have the dogs food dishes ready with their next meal in them & put them on the washer - for some time I have noticed them occassionally 1/2 empty. At first I thought one of them was jumping up & helping themselves Iknew to much was gone for it to be a mouse. I buy 3 different kinds of dog food, 2 are kept in containers & 1 I left in the bag. Well I have found a hole in the bottom corner of the bag, again thought it to be one of the dogs. Well the beginning of the week my youngest ds heard a noise & says what he saw appeared to be a rat!! YES, a Rat in my house!!! I am disgusted!
So I set about to taking car eof this critter! Looked on-line for "natural" methods. Came up with soda pop & mashed potatoes! Did not work, she & I say she because only a female can be this smart & determined IMO!! She picked the dog food out of the potatoes ( I put a few pieces in to entice her) & bipassed the pop, I even bought her diet in case she's watching her wasteline. I then put the bagged food into a container, well she is very determined, woke up the next morning to the lid chewed on where she tried to get in. Tried another tactic, set a live tarp last night & put the container in the tub. Trap was sprung & empty & when dh went to take a shower he says "well that little @#$&^%*" It got in the tub & chewed 2 new holes trying to get at the food!! We have also put down a sticky trap that she apparently got stuck on but pulled away & stuck it to the wall!
We're talking super rat here! I'm picturing something wearing a cape! DS wonders if it may be a chipmunk or squirrel now.
Either way I'm terrified to go in the bathroom - it even comes out in the daytime!

Anyone have any tips or advice? I want to kill it not just get it gone! It's me vs the critter!!
 
Good luck. A few months ago we had a mouse in our kitchen that would eat the food out of the trap without triggering the trap. It got to the point where it was really funny, but that's probably because it wasn't coming out into the main part of the kitchen where we could actually see it.

Maybe you should call a professional to come get SuperRat. Seriously, I hope it is taken care of quickly because I didn't want to go in the kitchen and find the mouse anywhere, so I can understand how you are feeling.
 
Thanks Jill, glad to know i"m not the only one who is scared!

I saw it!!! :eek::eek: It's a RAT!!! Couldn't see her cape, she just popped her head out of the hole to see if it was safe. She must be an old pro to avoid my death traps!! Guess she didn't see the tally sheet of Tami vs the mice during the winter!?!?! I WON!

Anyone have a cat I can borrow?
 
Tami - if it's a rat, you would think you would have droppings everywhere. Have you seen any droppings at all? Rats LOVE dog food by the way. Don't ask how I know that. ;) Also, rats aren't usually "alone". Hate to bring that up! I know you want it dead, but you might consider one of those humane traps that she actually has to go inside to get the food. May be more effective at catching her. Poison is awful because they will eat it and go somewhere and die and trust me there is NOTHING worse than the smell of a dead rat in the house. I can pick out the odor from miles away - and again, don't ask me how I know that! ;)
 
Oh my! I would suggest a regular, run of the mill, rat trap with dog food as bait. You poor thing! Hope "she" leaves soon!
 
Liann,

Youre scarring me!!!! :eek: What do you mean they aren't alone!?!? There's more??? AAAGGGHHHHH!!!!! I'm going to have nightmares!

We do have the live trap set but remember she is a SMART one!! Of course it's only been set 12 hrs or so - dog food inside. I'm putting their dishes in the dryer now & tonight the dog food containers will be put elsewhere! Maybe if she has no otehr choice but the trap she'll go in - I guarantee she won't come out alive!!! Sorry PETA!
 
marnold said:
Oh my! I would suggest a regular, run of the mill, rat trap with dog food as bait. You poor thing! Hope "she" leaves soon!
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I could only find mouse traps - where will I find a bigger version? Maybe home depot or something. You're talking the snapping kind right? I'll have a whole arsenal before long!!
 
Hey there! Yeah, I would try the home depot. If that doesn't work, call one of the pest control guys out of the phone book. You could also try animal control. Good luck chickie!
 
Oh Tami! I have no advice but I just wanted to say :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:. GROSS!!! I would not even be able to fall asleep in my house! Hope you get SuperRat FAST!!! I've got the heebie jeebies just thinking about it!
 
We had mice in our house. Tried so many traps. I too tried to be humane but they were just too damn smart. They weren't even getting into the food because I was feeding them on a regular basis. (mice love PB!-cant blame them:p) I used the sticky traps and unless you get it when they get caught, they can get away. I was finding the traps with all the PB gone and hair stuck to the trap. UGH!! I did eventually catch 3. I even caught 2 baby mice at the same time. I brought them outside and couldn't throw them in the garbage so I put them behind our shed (still stuck). My family basically told that was dumb they are going to get back in. They wanted me to kill them. Just couldn't...they are kinda cute. I did eventually go for the inhumane ones since they kept getting away, but they never went for those. After I got 3 mice and the traps have been set up again but the PB is still there....for 3 weeks now. I think I got them all. :eek:

Me and my husband used to joke about one day we will catch him and he will have big black ears and red pants. They were very smart!!

Good Luck....can you call someone.

chrissy
 
Personally, I would call pest control. The rat(s) had to get in somehow. We had about a thousand of them living in our back yard, it seemed. They found a way to cross from the garage attic into the house attic via the breezeway. Thankfully, they never made it into the house or I would have moved! The pest control people set out humane traps and they are not gone. I cried at the thought of them dying and protested the idea of it all but was reminded by DH and the pest people that they carry multiple diseases and how would I feel about DD getting sick...so off they went. Good luck with it all.
 
yep we had a rat once! we were in an apartment and they had to bring a different fridge in and we think he was hiding inside the bottom of it. He'd come out at night and get into everything he could chew a hole into and yes left droppings. ick! he could get on top of the fridge somehow and chewed into chip bags and cereal boxes. but he'd hide during the day. sometimes we heard something at night. DH caught him with a trap. I felt sorry for him. I'm the kind that would've gone out of my way to use a nice trap and let him go in the boonies or something haha. but Dh wouldn't have anything to do with that.
 
I agree to call in a professional. They have to be getting in somewhere. Try to find one by word of mouth so you know you are hiring a experienced one. Good luck...if it makes you feel any better I've had a bat problem on and off for 7 years now and being a single mom I am the one who has to catch them. They just creep me out. They get in the smallest of holes. I had to catch one in June. I found the hole from the cable wire and caulked it up ...so far no more bats. Peggy
 
Oh Tami - I feel for you -- RATS, ugh, icky-poo!!! Apparently we do not have rats here in Alberta, but my Puddincat has caught a few mice. I think a professional exterminator is the way to go. How have your dogs reacted to this?
 
No reaction from the dogs yet although Maynard has been nervous the past 3 days, wanting to stay outside all day! He gets in a funk sometimes so not sureif it's one of his moods or "Rhoda" (she now has a name).

On my way to Home Depot to get the old fashioned snapping trap! No problem for me whacking the ole girl! Come in my house...I don't think so!

I'm turning into a crazed rodent killer!!
 
MAYNARDSMOM said:
On my way to Home Depot to get the old fashioned snapping trap! No problem for me whacking the ole girl! Come in my house...I don't think so!

I'm turning into a crazed rodent killer!!
Click to expand...

I hear ya on that! One evening last year I was lying on the couch and noticed Puddincat playing with one of her toys. How cute. Except this toy could move on its own :eek::eek::eek: It was a mouse. I disappeared upstairs and was too scared to come down til the next day. I gathered my nerve and ended up disposing of the deceased remains the next morning. A few weeks later I come home to Puddincat with a mouse in her mouth. Called my French-speaking boyfriend: "Il y a une souris dans sa bouche!" He came with traps and ended up catching a total of five. Haven't seen one since, but I know that if one ever dares to cross my threshold, my kitties will surely take care of the problem.
 
Call an extiminator ASAP. To me it is well worth the money and with all due respect to you animal lovers out there I'd want the darn thing dead esp if it is a rat as quickly as possible.
 
Ick, so you actually saw it??? I would be freaking out too! If you do get the big boy traps, just be careful the doggies stay away from them. I'll keep my fingers crossed that Ben* doesn't have any friends!!!

*Obscure reference to old rat movie I'm sure none of you have heard of. ;)
 
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