Rat in the loft!

[bozzer]

I'll keep a couple of the big ferrets in the loft for a few weeks.

[Big Andy]

Got one "in the kitchen don't know what I'm going to do"

[johnbaz]

Got one "in the kitchen don't know what I'm going to do"

Ha ha ha!!

It tickled me Andy!!


John

[Turnup]

Shooting them in the loft is really difficult. How much time are you prepared to put in waiting for him to turn up? - and can you get a clear shot anyway?

Rat poisons cause desiccation of the corpse so there is no smell, but I don't think you can get the good stuff unless you are licenced vermin controller.

Trap is by far the bet option. Killing traps are cheap - live traps are slightly dearer - take it outside and dispatch at your leisure.

[chris.e]

I think a trap is your best option.
A mate of mine had a big rat in his loft and he used a trap to kill it.
As he went into the loft to install the trap, something moved under the lagging right by his feet.
He quickly hit it with the trap as hard as he could. He pulled back the lagging and there it was, a dead rat.
He was well made up with the trap - thought it was money well spent and because it was sort of unused, after a bit of a wipe-down, he now uses it to take his butties to work in.

Seriously though, a trap is your best option in a loft.

[junglie]

"I've been waiting a year." maybe you should have offered him a bit of cash or a bottle of his fave tipple,,,,,,No one climbs on rooves for fun we do it for money, prevention is better than cure when it comes to vermin getting in your house.I'd get that ivy off too before it causes more damage to your property.I had it on a small wall up to my garage roof on the side of my house.It forced it's way into the edge of the roof in the end & blocked the gutters. that was only a 6ft by 8ft patch & cost me £60 to get removed! I fixed the minimal damage myself or it'd have been a couple hundered quid to do it all.Ivy looks nice on some houses but I'd NEVER let it grow up one of mine again. Best to cut through all the base of the vines & poison it first, when it's all brown & dead it will be a hell of lot easier to remove.

[bozzer]

Yup I think a trap is the best bet.

Well ... update ... it's the next door neighbours that called in the vermin control from the council. They reckon they have heard rattus mooching about at night. It was the council pest controller that said I should be told about it as he had seen rat droppings in their loft, and said the rat could easily get through to mine, if he hadn't started in mine.

I've just popped up there to look for droppings. No need worry about droppings as evidence. My old pair of cricket pads are in the loft and something has nibbled through the thin plastic coating and started pulling the stuffing out of the pads. So ratty has been in my loft. The thieving of the padding suggests he/she is nesting?

I did offer the lad money to sort that hole in the gable end. He's a neighbour of many years and I've done him loads of favours re lending him tools and also helped/done the odd job on his car. He refused to accept payment. After a couple of weeks went by I talked to him again and politely suggested that if he was busy then I would pay someone to come and do it as it needed doing ASAP. He said not to get anyone else in as he would do it for nowt.

It's a bit more complicated as there is an old caravan that can't be moved at the moment on that side of the house. So you can't get at that hole on ladders up the side of the house. You have to get on the roof from the front of the house and do it leaning over from the roof. He actually popped ladders up at the front when I first asked him about it. He was on the roof in seconds and leaning over the hole. He said " There you go mate ... I'll have that done in 5 mins ... I'll bring some stuff in the van tomorrow and sort that ". Never happened and I forgot about it.

Anyway ... First job. Sort rat out. There's no way I'm shooting it in there. Too confined and too many obstacles and ratty isn't going to come out 6 feet from me and stand still whilst I shoot him.

I took the Ivy off the front of the house last year and started removing it from the back just before Christmas. To be honest it came off really easy in the parts where I have removed it. It does look nice and I have several pairs of sparrows living in it so it will be sad to see it go, but it is going.

[Silver Captain]

Hi bud take a look at these....or make yourself a rolling pipe/ barrel trap....real easy.

[angrybear]

Rats or mice ? I've got mice in the loft, or did have but none in the traps for a while, & even a mouse scratching about in the loft sounds loud in the night.

put a couple of traps down, but remember to check them.

[bighit]

Hi bud take a look at these....or make yourself a rolling pipe/ barrel trap....real easy.

Not wanting to be the bad guy but i would remove your link before you get get removed

[grumpygit]

Put some traps up in the loft and get rid of the ivy its a PITA and damages cement and brickwork. Rats and squirrels will climb anything like that, i used to live in a sandstone cottage and rats and mice regularly scaled the sandstone to get into my loft.