Something is eating my house

Another one, caught last week, and rehoused in an undedicated facility, i.e. a wood on the way to work, under the catch and release Stop the Beasts scheme :smirking_face:. This one was rather fond of the date bait I used. Instead of date nights, I’m thinking of setting up bait nights and see who turns up!

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Lerot? Not rat.

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Commonly known as a “rat fruitier”, albeit it’s a dormouse.

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Pooor little lérot, so sweet and harmless and pretty :heart_eyes::cry:

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And very large poops all over the worktop in the kitchen :face_with_symbols_on_mouth:

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We had rat poop piling up in corners, hidden behind the kitchen units, the washing machine and the dog’s crate, on one of the beds in the spare room, and on the back of a settee. All sunflower and peanuts husks transported from the parrot’s cage. Really quite horrifying. Just too much. It’s not as if there isn’t an acre of field and 6 barns they could freely use.

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Not one rat poop did I find, whereas mouse poo would be everywhere, in fact I think the super clean rat kept the dirty mice away.

Are you sure @SuKe that you don’t have rats, but great big shitty mice? :thinking:

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We had mice, used to catch them at night on the kitchen surface, sweep them into a bin and move them next day 10 k away. Little poops.

These rats are uncatchable, I fear. Chocolate, cheese, peanuts, raisins, chocolate-coated peanuts, chocolate-coated raisins, pieces of apple, irresistible bait, everything I can think of.

The poops are very big, like their manufacturers. No way a mouse could produce anything that size.

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Well done. A little life saved :slightly_smiling_face:

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Not saying that that stuff should not trap them but aren’t they meat eaters?
However they are not daft, as I said above somewhere the enticing tunnel of death lay ignored for several nights before he decided it was safe to go in.

I shouldn’t be giving advice really, I have only ever had the one and only one mouse in several years. In fact so rare that I never checked the humane trap until one day Jules started sniffing at it. There was a mouse inside, stone dead, probably from boredom. But I am not going to push my luck, I have no idea why we aren’t visited, pretty sure the answer is not that Jules catches and eats them before I notice. :roll_eyes:

If they are looking for meat, they’re in the wrong place! We are non-meat eaters.

Since removing the parrot food from the cage at night we are seeing far less activity and no more thumping on the wall where I blocked the hole, but a relatively small fellow did scamper across the kitchen floor yesterday.

I’m awaiting contact from the professionals.

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Sometimes you come across the most likeable and friendly people in the most unlikely places.

This morning it was what we rather unkindly call Ratman. Absolutely charming, amusing, chatty. He told us how much he enjoyed visiting Edinburgh to watch the rugby and enjoy the excellent Scotch whisky, and had a great time in Dublin visiting the Guinness factory. :slight_smile:

If ever we need a smile and a helping hand, it’s off to the local dechetterie, where a cheerful group of men are always ready with helping hands and friendly chatter.

Unfortunately the bin men no longer call, as the system has changed, but they were always whistling and singing and waving.

Ratman confirmed my belief that the rats were coming from next door’s poultry shed. We have never had rats until the new neighbours moved in, and their poultry shed backs right onto the wall of one of our outbuildings. We could see where they have burrowed through the walls and come to us to enjoy our parrot’’s food. The parrot has gone on holiday to a friend until there are no more rats.

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@SuKe

Hi,
Has Ratman been commissioned to de-rat your abode?
If so, did he say what he is going to do?

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Yes, he did it this morning. Found all the entry holes and where they have tunnelled through the wall from next door’s poultry shed. Put ‘medicine’ in every hole indoors, and bait boxes around the house. outside. He will come back in 10 days to check. He doesn’t dislike rats, but has to do what he has to do.. Excellent references from everybody he has worked for.

His next ports of call were two houses in Poitiers with bed bug infestations. I think I’d prefer rats!

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That’s good news. I’ll look forward to a progress report in 10 days. :skull_and_crossbones::rat:

I’ve had some terrible experiences with rats in the UK and with bed bugs in Egypt so I don’t have a preference for either of them! :cockroach::rat::cockroach::rat::cockroach:

Like this:


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Laminated is just how plywood is made though, isn’t it? It’s bent afterwards.

The laminated plywood for tnhe furniture is made that way. Sheets glued together flat (cross ply obviously) and then put in a press to form the shape

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This morning our cat was excited meowing more than usual, she’s been sitting on our & the neighbours compost bins for a couple of days. This morning found dead rat in the court yard.

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The latest news is that we have not seen any sign of visitors for two days now, but the stench in the kitchen and dining room is horrible. And flies everywhere. As the little corpses are tucked into the walls, there is nothing we can do to remove them, but does anybody have any idea of how to deal with the stink until it stops? This heat isn’t helping.