Something is eating my house

[SuKe]

I’m at my wit’s end.

Something is living in our house and eating its way through it.

We have had creatures living in the loft, and I’ve put branches of bay leaves in there which seems to have driven them away.

However, something is living downstairs. I have seen it many times running along the wall in the living room and disappearing. Running through the kitchen into the hall, and disappearing. It has been up on the dining table and bitten into five apples. It has climbed up into an alcove and pushed a jug to the floor, smashing it. It has climbed into another alcove and pushed 3 bottles to the floor. It ran into the hall the other night behind the crate where the dog sleeps, and vanished. The dog didn’t react.

It has bitten a large hole in the plasterboard, and eaten the skirting board alongside.

We have put down baited humane traps, which it has emptied of food without setting the trap off.

It is very fast, I haven’t been able to get a good look at it, but it seems to be a caramel brown colour, with a long tail. It’s quite large, probably the size of a new-born kitten.

Last night I pushed a 20 cm. length of bay tree into the hole it has created. This morning the entire thing had vanished, apart from two leaves and a bit of stem on the other side of the wall.

It has now started leaving droppings outside the hole.

I really don’t know what to do. We’ve installed sonic deterrents that don’t seem to have any effect. I want to block the hole, but am worried that it will create a new one. I think it’s moving around the house through the walls where we had internal insulation installed.

Please can anybody suggest a way of either capturing it, or driving it away?

I have photos of the damage and the droppings, is there a way I can upload them here?

[SuePJ]

Get a trail camera set up.

Rat? Is the tail smooth or fluffy?

[SuKe]

From what I have been able to see as it’s galloped past, the tail is smooth.

I can’t see why it would be living here, there is no food accessible.

[SuePJ]

Given how it’s behaving I would suggest a humane trap is too kind. Buy one of these, bait it with peanut butter and or Nutella and put it in front of the hole.

Protect Home Electronic Rat Trap, 1 Piece : Amazon.fr: Garden

You may think you have no food - the rat obviously disagrees. Dog food?

[vero]

Poor little creature. Put food out for it in a bowl next to its hole, it won’t come and forage and break things
Or use one of those blue and yellow humane traps, you’ll have to release it a long way away.

[DrMarkH]

@SuKe

We have put down baited humane traps

We have a tiny humane trap for the occasional shrew, but mice and rats get killed by trap or by cat.

'Many ecologists suggest rats or mice released outside their territory are unlikely to survive, therefore live trapping and releasing elsewhere is likely to be less humane than using a good quality lethal snap trap, and is not recommended…

Rats and mice held in live traps may experience moderate to severe welfare impacts for hours while held in the trap. They will be subject to behavioural and movement restrictions, unable to forage, move or escape the attention of predators, and lactating females will be prevented from caring for young pups. For this reason it is critical that traps are checked regularly, if they are not, then animals may suffer or even starve whilst held in the trap.

Rodents may also injure themselves trying to escape. Trapped rats are likely to experience fear and distress as a result (Baker et al. 2022). Providing water and bedding in traps should decrease dehydration and chilling, while using covered rather than mesh traps might reduce deaths in live traps (Dizney, Jones, and Ruedas 2008). Once live traps are set, they should be checked as often as possible and at least every 12 hours to minimise welfare impacts. Remote monitoring devices can be used to immediately alert users to captures, but routine checks should be conducted anyway, in case of device malfunction. Once found, trapped animals should be dealt with quickly and humanely. Releasing rats near the point of capture is unlikely to solve the problem as the animals are likely to return unless the premises have been effectively proofed. Release of an animal elsewhere is not necessarily humane either. While the impacts of releasing rats have not been formally assessed, it is likely that they will suffer. Translocated animals may have difficulty finding food, water and shelter, and fail to integrate into new territory, and may suffer and die as a result (Mason and Littin 2003). Also if the area contains suitable habitat it is likely that other members of their species will be present, and the habitat may not support additional animals. This is likely to lead to conflict.’

Humane Rodent Control Detailed Advice - Science for Animal Welfare

[SuKe]

Nope, no food at all. Everything stored in glass jars. Dog food sealed in bin. Crumbs swept away.

I am loathe to kill anything, but unless there is an alternative solution I feel we are going to have to.

[SuePJ]

When I first arrived in France I used humane traps on our mice. Our vet said “You’ll learn!” She was right.

[toryroo]

I like you very much Vero but feel strongly the opposite to you regarding rats!!! (Hope I’m still invited next week!!).

I would get a lethal trap, they are a nightmare and one turns into many so quickly. We had them last year in our coop and compost. One jumped out of one of its holes and ran over my foot . I was terrified of them before (1984 at the wrong age?) and they made me worse. I was terrified to use the garden, hated seeing to the chickens. It was awful. I’ve even not yet replaced my murdered chooks as hoping a winter plus a break will be enough to be rid of them

[Porridge]

Interesting how animal-lovers can have diametrically opposed ideas on how to deal with uninvited guests!

I will catch insects and spiders (and snakes) and gently release them into a hedge. I love the trust that a bee gives when you help one on the pavement. I think rats are fascinating creatures but I’m afraid I’d be ruthless about catching one in one of @SuePJ ‘s traps.

[vero]

I’ve never had wild rats at home in spite of hens, pet rats, guineapigs, gerbils, rabbits (and cats and dog) but perhaps as there are also snakes, fouines, badgers and foxes around they don’t come, too risky. The guinea pigs and rabbit were in huge garden runs or loose in the house (because of children) so you’d have thought rats would have felt right at home

[SuKe]

I really feel for the creature. I love all animals, and appreciate how clever and endearing rats can be. However, it really is causing severe damage to a house that we will shortly be hoping to sell, and I am also worried about the risk of disease to us and our dogs.

[NotALot]

If uninvited quests are attacking me, causing damage, eating my food or using my home as an open plan toilet; the time for mercy has passed.

[vero]

Try the yellow and blue plastic humane traps, they are really good and not too traumatising from what I see. I used the mouse size one but they come in rat size too.

[SuKe]

After reading DrMarkH’s article, it sounds as if a very quick death is kinder than the stress and fear caused by trapping and relocating a creature. I would never use poison or a glue trap. We have had mice before and always trapped and released them miles away. Now I wonder if that was kind.

[David_Spardo]

I had a whole thread here devoted to the only rat who has dared to live here. I filmed him night after night as he wandered about the counter top eating crumbs and stuff that he could find. I bought an electric rat trap and he ignored it for a couple of nights but then he cautiously entered in. The trailcam filmed in 2 minute sections and it was almost as if it had been edited for tv as the last I saw of him alive was going in. The next video showed him lying immobile inside. I felt guilty for ages afterwards because he never did any damage, never peed or pood and my counter top has never been so clean and tidy since.

[vero]

Poor

[Juliet]

We had the same problem in our previous house. A rat would wander from room to room every night, from the cellar to the children’s bedrooms in the attic; it would run along the walls after squeezing through a tiny gap between the outer wall and the insulation.

The drastic solution was a sturdy board coated in glue, placed in its usual spot.

It died instantly, of a heart attack. Early in the morning, I went out to throw it all away, wearing gloves, holding my breath and with my eyes closed .

[vero]

Glue traps are horrific, how do you know it died instantly? I can’t use kill traps any more (never used glue) since a wretched mouse had half its face removed by a snap trap - I had to kill it myself (broke its neck) and decided that was it, no more lethal traps.
I do see that mice and rats aren’t hygienic etc in the house and they can damage wires etc but I can’t understand fear of them.

[Shiba]

Could be several types of animals from fouines to rats and squirrels. All do a lot of damage too and are attracted to food if they are hungry. We never had any trouble with four or five cats in the house and even a feather floating outside would set them off.