Not much point in this tail really other than to vent my thoughts &
frustration. Perhaps a rant as I am tearing my hair out.
We all live close to rats. I don't like them but have to live with them, a
fact of life.
I live in an early 20C cottage in Berkshire. Have done for 27 years.
Semi-rural area with a stream flowing along the front. Quite idyllic on a
good day.
Built on a 12inch concrete raft with suspended floors on sleeper walls.
The old place has recently suffered a quite severe infestation of rats.
All feed, both animal & human, is kept secure.
From whence they came I know not but they certainly have made merry below
floors.
There are about 2 dozen airbricks around the perimeter just above ground
level, these are all sound. I can see no signs of burrowing but I don't
think rats burrow anyway.
Wife & I keep 3 cats, 2 dogs and 2 goats. Goaties are cleaned daily and all
is composted. Goats are a couple of hundred yards away.

One day about 6 weeks ago we heard some scurrying in a kitchen cupboard.
Open the door and see ratty nonchalantly munching on a block of my
favourite olive oil hand soap, I'm almost sure he winked at me! Close door.
Open door again and scoop all contents onto floor and then most into bin.
Clean whole kitchen (I do mean whole) and put down some poison bait in,
around and about. 3 separate locations all safe from domestic animals. I
don't like using poison but when needs must..........
A few minutes after several hours labour more scurrying from a now freshly
cleaned empty, bar poison, kitchen cupboard.
There's ratty munching on a lump of poison. Close door.
Take unhappy wife to local hostelry for a bit of lunch and a chat with
friends.
On return find bait all gone. Replace all. More scurrying and more bait
gone. That afternoon 7 bait blocks were taken from a single location.
Following morning had the dubious pleasure of seeing a dead rat lying on a
shelf in a kitchen cupboard. Continued to place bait until it was not
taken. Still have some in place but it hasn't been touched in a couple of
weeks.
Have found a couple more carcasses since then, but this must have been a
fairly severe infestation. I presume there will be more carcasses beneath
floors.
The buggers have destroyed wiring beneath the floors. A major problem for
me is that 22 years ago I laid 1.25inch thick pitch pine block flooring
over 2/3rds of the ground floor. Most of the underfloor is now inaccessible
and the whole house needs rewiring. I know its overdue for rewiring but it
would break my heart to rip this wonderful floor up.
Rats!
One little bonus to this sorry affair is that my wife saw a ringed tail
disappear under a unit in our utility area whilst all the above was going
on. She didn't know what it was but said it looked like a raccoon.
I've never seen a raccoon in the flesh but Rocky, as she is now known, is
still with with us and can be seen here~
http://www.flickr.com/photos/95403421@N00/

Rats!

rats live on no evil star
Blimey, that's an old one from my school days 50 odd years ago (read it
backwards).

Rant over and apologies for bothering you kind folk.

"Ray" wrote in message
...
Not much point in this tail really other than to vent my thoughts &
frustration. Perhaps a rant as I am tearing my hair out.
We all live close to rats. I don't like them but have to live with them, a
fact of life.
I live in an early 20C cottage in Berkshire. Have done for 27 years.
Semi-rural area with a stream flowing along the front. Quite idyllic on a
good day.
Built on a 12inch concrete raft with suspended floors on sleeper walls.
The old place has recently suffered a quite severe infestation of rats.
All feed, both animal & human, is kept secure.
From whence they came I know not but they certainly have made merry below
floors.
There are about 2 dozen airbricks around the perimeter just above ground
level, these are all sound. I can see no signs of burrowing but I don't
think rats burrow anyway.
Wife & I keep 3 cats, 2 dogs and 2 goats. Goaties are cleaned daily and
all is composted. Goats are a couple of hundred yards away.

If you have three cats and two dogs you shouldn't have rats.

We only had one cat and he saw to the rats when we came back from holiday to
find them.

Mary

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...

"Ray" wrote in message
...
Not much point in this tail really other than to vent my thoughts &
frustration. Perhaps a rant as I am tearing my hair out.
We all live close to rats. I don't like them but have to live with them,
a fact of life.
I live in an early 20C cottage in Berkshire. Have done for 27 years.
Semi-rural area with a stream flowing along the front. Quite idyllic on
a good day.
Built on a 12inch concrete raft with suspended floors on sleeper walls.
The old place has recently suffered a quite severe infestation of rats.
All feed, both animal & human, is kept secure.
From whence they came I know not but they certainly have made merry
below floors.
There are about 2 dozen airbricks around the perimeter just above ground
level, these are all sound. I can see no signs of burrowing but I don't
think rats burrow anyway.
Wife & I keep 3 cats, 2 dogs and 2 goats. Goaties are cleaned daily and
all is composted. Goats are a couple of hundred yards away.

If you have three cats and two dogs you shouldn't have rats.

We only had one cat and he saw to the rats when we came back from holiday
to find them.

Mary
I agree entirely; neverthless we have suffered a veritable plague of the
wretched creatures.
The cats are probably overfed and can't be bothered. Retriever is sadly a
bit long in tooth and Newfie is so laid back he would just want to mother
them.
Now I need either a VV small person or a robot that can creep in, under and
around dwarf/sleeper walls to lay and tack cables under my house.
Rats!

"Ray" wrote in message
...

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...

"Ray" wrote in message
...
Not much point in this tail really other than to vent my thoughts &
frustration. Perhaps a rant as I am tearing my hair out.
We all live close to rats. I don't like them but have to live with them,
a fact of life.
I live in an early 20C cottage in Berkshire. Have done for 27 years.
Semi-rural area with a stream flowing along the front. Quite idyllic on
a good day.
Built on a 12inch concrete raft with suspended floors on sleeper walls.
The old place has recently suffered a quite severe infestation of rats.
All feed, both animal & human, is kept secure.
From whence they came I know not but they certainly have made merry
below floors.
There are about 2 dozen airbricks around the perimeter just above ground
level, these are all sound. I can see no signs of burrowing but I don't
think rats burrow anyway.
Wife & I keep 3 cats, 2 dogs and 2 goats. Goaties are cleaned daily and
all is composted. Goats are a couple of hundred yards away.

If you have three cats and two dogs you shouldn't have rats.

We only had one cat and he saw to the rats when we came back from holiday
to find them.

Mary
I agree entirely; neverthless we have suffered a veritable plague of the
wretched creatures.
The cats are probably overfed and can't be bothered. Retriever is sadly a
bit long in tooth and Newfie is so laid back he would just want to mother
them.
Now I need either a VV small person or a robot that can creep in, under
and around dwarf/sleeper walls to lay and tack cables under my house.
Rats!

Get a Squirrel trap.
Bait it
Catch Rat(s)
Release in the local neighbourhood aggravating morons back garden.

or

Shoot the buggers

These are expensive, but absolutely the bees knees (or the rodents
graveyard):
http://www.ratzapper.com/

Available on ebay for around 30 quid.

And/or get some Jack Russels.

Some serious government advice:
http://www.csl.gov.uk/prodserv/cons/...Guidelines.pdf

Ray wrote:

The buggers have destroyed wiring beneath the floors. A major problem for
me is that 22 years ago I laid 1.25inch thick pitch pine block flooring
over 2/3rds of the ground floor. Most of the underfloor is now inaccessible
and the whole house needs rewiring. I know its overdue for rewiring but it
would break my heart to rip this wonderful floor up.

Just a thought (I don't know how this will square with wiring regs), how
about routing a channel in the flooring, a short distance from each
wall? Lay the wiring in the channel and cap with strips of wood. These
strips could either be a close colour match or even a contrasting colour
and be made to look as if part of the original design. If you want the
floor level, the strips could be glued into the channel and planed
level. If you want future access, you could screw down a strip that is
wider than the channel.

--
Howard Neil

"Ray" wrote in message
...


....

Wife & I keep 3 cats, 2 dogs and 2 goats. Goaties are cleaned daily and
all is composted. Goats are a couple of hundred yards away.

If you have three cats and two dogs you shouldn't have rats.

We only had one cat and he saw to the rats when we came back from holiday
to find them.

Mary
I agree entirely; neverthless we have suffered a veritable plague of the
wretched creatures.
The cats are probably overfed and can't be bothered. Retriever is sadly a
bit long in tooth and Newfie is so laid back he would just want to mother
them.
Now I need either a VV small person or a robot that can creep in, under
and around dwarf/sleeper walls to lay and tack cables under my house.
Rats!

LOL!

Mary

In message , Ray
writes
Not much point in this tail really other than to vent my thoughts &
frustration. Perhaps a rant as I am tearing my hair out.
We all live close to rats. I don't like them but have to live with them, a
fact of life.
I live in an early 20C cottage in Berkshire. Have done for 27 years.
Semi-rural area with a stream flowing along the front. Quite idyllic on a
good day.

Excellent living conditions for rats. Especially if visitors bring food
for ducks etc.

Rats do burrow and climb. Sachets of bait a good solution but slow as
boss rat gets first pick and so on, down the hierarchy.

Look for other possible access points, unsealed drains, wall cavity,
soffit, etc.

On the electrical front, you could get the system tested which might
provide some reassurance. Exposed copper is not good but there must be
hundreds of thousands of similar situations but where the householder
and insurers are unaware.

The *Racoon* sounds like an American Mink. They eat rats and are
supposed to be having a major impact on Water Voles.

regards


Built on a 12inch concrete raft with suspended floors on sleeper walls.
The old place has recently suffered a quite severe infestation of rats.
All feed, both animal & human, is kept secure.
From whence they came I know not but they certainly have made merry below
floors.
There are about 2 dozen airbricks around the perimeter just above ground
level, these are all sound. I can see no signs of burrowing but I don't
think rats burrow anyway.
Wife & I keep 3 cats, 2 dogs and 2 goats. Goaties are cleaned daily and all
is composted. Goats are a couple of hundred yards away.

One day about 6 weeks ago we heard some scurrying in a kitchen cupboard.
Open the door and see ratty nonchalantly munching on a block of my
favourite olive oil hand soap, I'm almost sure he winked at me! Close door.
Open door again and scoop all contents onto floor and then most into bin.
Clean whole kitchen (I do mean whole) and put down some poison bait in,
around and about. 3 separate locations all safe from domestic animals. I
don't like using poison but when needs must..........
A few minutes after several hours labour more scurrying from a now freshly
cleaned empty, bar poison, kitchen cupboard.
There's ratty munching on a lump of poison. Close door.
Take unhappy wife to local hostelry for a bit of lunch and a chat with
friends.
On return find bait all gone. Replace all. More scurrying and more bait
gone. That afternoon 7 bait blocks were taken from a single location.
Following morning had the dubious pleasure of seeing a dead rat lying on a
shelf in a kitchen cupboard. Continued to place bait until it was not
taken. Still have some in place but it hasn't been touched in a couple of
weeks.
Have found a couple more carcasses since then, but this must have been a
fairly severe infestation. I presume there will be more carcasses beneath
floors.
The buggers have destroyed wiring beneath the floors. A major problem for
me is that 22 years ago I laid 1.25inch thick pitch pine block flooring
over 2/3rds of the ground floor. Most of the underfloor is now inaccessible
and the whole house needs rewiring. I know its overdue for rewiring but it
would break my heart to rip this wonderful floor up.
Rats!
One little bonus to this sorry affair is that my wife saw a ringed tail
disappear under a unit in our utility area whilst all the above was going
on. She didn't know what it was but said it looked like a raccoon.
I've never seen a raccoon in the flesh but Rocky, as she is now known, is
still with with us and can be seen here~
http://www.flickr.com/photos/95403421@N00/

Rats!

rats live on no evil star
Blimey, that's an old one from my school days 50 odd years ago (read it
backwards).

Rant over and apologies for bothering you kind folk.






--
Tim Lamb

wrote in message
oups.com...
These are expensive, but absolutely the bees knees (or the rodents
graveyard):
http://www.ratzapper.com/

I'll second that. But they only get one at a time.

Before anyone questions it, we don't have a cat any more and because we have
chickens we occasionally see a rat in the gardenn. Mrs Next Door isn't fond
of rodents (I'll put it no more strongly than that) so we like to deal with
them if we suspect they're there.

Mary

Call the environmentl health depeartment of your local council. Many provide
a fre service for curing rat infestations.

Peter Crosland

"Peter Crosland" wrote in message
...
Call the environmentl health depeartment of your local council. Many
provide a fre service for curing rat infestations.

Peter Crosland


"i" or "e" missing?
A council that provided a f(i)re service for curing rat infestations would
soon have the F(i)r(e) Brigades' Union hammering on the door to the Mayor's
Parlour!
On the other hand; a council that provides a fre(e) service might have
problems from the rat(e) payers come next election.

--

Brian

Ray wrote:

The old place has recently suffered a quite severe infestation of rats.

The buggers have destroyed wiring beneath the floors. A major problem for
me is that 22 years ago I laid 1.25inch thick pitch pine block flooring
over 2/3rds of the ground floor. Most of the underfloor is now inaccessible
and the whole house needs rewiring. I know its overdue for rewiring but it
would break my heart to rip this wonderful floor up.
Rats!

I cant think of any need to pull the floor up to rewire. Wires can go
in walls, in skirting board if capped, and so on. Keep your floors. If
the damaged wiring still conducts it can be left there, the ends of
each cable clearly marked to avoid confusion, and is available for
future use for low voltage uses, phones, or more likely nothing.


NT

Call the environmentl health depeartment of your local council. Many
provide a fre service for curing rat infestations.

Peter Crosland


"i" or "e" missing?
A council that provided a f(i)re service for curing rat infestations
would soon have the F(i)r(e) Brigades' Union hammering on the door to
the Mayor's Parlour!
On the other hand; a council that provides a fre(e) service might have
problems from the rat(e) payers come next election.

Of course I should have typed free. Many local authorities DO provide a free
service to eliminate rats because they pose a serious public health problem.


Peter Crosland

Ray wrote:
We all live close to rats. I don't like them but have to live with them, a
fact of life.

Broken drains?
I've seen them excavating under a concrete floor, presumably accessed
from redundant drains that had served a long-gone outside toilet.

You can apparently plug the open vents on the drains & drop a
smoke-bomb into the inspection chamber/manhole to locate broken drain
pipes; I've never done it though.

The message
from "Brian Sharrock" contains these words:

On the other hand; a council that provides a fre(e) service might have
problems from the rat(e) payers come next election.

Many councils provide a free rodent control service.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

"Guy King" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Brian Sharrock" contains these words:

On the other hand; a council that provides a fre(e) service might have
problems from the rat(e) payers come next election.

Many councils provide a free rodent control service.


Thank you for your erudite contribution bringing to our attention the steps
taken by caring councils in the extremely important mater of environmental
and/or public health1


But do those councils have rat-payers ?
[The original poster seems to have 'e'ezed away from the thread.

.....

leaving just the pedants ...

--

Brian

"Tim Lamb" wrote in message
...
In message , Ray
writes

The *Racoon* sounds like an American Mink. They eat rats and are supposed
to be having a major impact on Water Voles.

From the picture conveniently supplied by the OP it looks much more like a
kitten !
--
Dave Baker
www.pumaracing.co.uk
Usenet - a collection of people who only open their mouth to change feet.

"Ray" wrote in message
...
Not much point in this tail really other than to vent my thoughts &
frustration. Perhaps a rant as I am tearing my hair out.
We all live close to rats. I don't like them but have to live with them, a
fact of life.
I live in an early 20C cottage in Berkshire. Have done for 27 years.
Semi-rural area with a stream flowing along the front. Quite idyllic on a
good day.
Built on a 12inch concrete raft with suspended floors on sleeper walls.
The old place has recently suffered a quite severe infestation of rats.
All feed, both animal & human, is kept secure.
From whence they came I know not but they certainly have made merry below
floors.
There are about 2 dozen airbricks around the perimeter just above ground
level, these are all sound. I can see no signs of burrowing but I don't
think rats burrow anyway.

Look again because there must be an access point somewhere. If you can find
that and block it the problem should go away. Rats can climb, burrow and
jump better than you might think. My pet ferret's favourite sleeping place
is in the cupboard under the sink snoozing comfortably under the dusters
that were kept there. Took me a while to work out how she got into a
supposedly closed cupboard. She goes down the side of the fridge, gets
behind the kitchen units, climbs up the back of them by bracing her back
against the units and her legs against the adjacent brick wall like a
mountain climber in a 'pipe', does a 180 degree flip in mid air and then
enters the cupboard through the hole at the top where the sink waste pipe
comes out. Jumps down onto the top shelf from the waste pipe and then down
onto the floor of the cupboard. I'm sure any self respecting rat could
achieve the same level of agility.

I was so impressed I've removed the manky old polish impregnated dusters and
all nasty chemicals and put a clean old sweater in there for her to sleep
in.
--
Dave Baker
www.pumaracing.co.uk
Usenet - a collection of people who only open their mouth to change feet.

"Dave Baker" wrote in message
...

My pet ferret's favourite sleeping place is in the cupboard under the sink
snoozing comfortably under the dusters that were kept there. Took me a
while to work out how she got into a supposedly closed cupboard. She goes
down the side of the fridge, gets behind the kitchen units, climbs up the
back of them by bracing her back against the units and her legs against
the adjacent brick wall like a mountain climber in a 'pipe', does a 180
degree flip in mid air and then enters the cupboard through the hole at
the top where the sink waste pipe comes out. Jumps down onto the top shelf
from the waste pipe and then down onto the floor of the cupboard. I'm sure
any self respecting rat could achieve the same level of agility.

Could you though?. There was a time when I'd have tried ... :-(

I was so impressed I've removed the manky old polish impregnated dusters
and all nasty chemicals and put a clean old sweater in there for her to
sleep in.

a) wot's a duster?

b) what's polish?
--
Dave Baker
www.pumaracing.co.uk
Usenet - a collection of people who only open their mouth to change feet.

Oy! That's my line ...

Mary

"Ray" wrote in message
...
The old place has recently suffered a quite severe infestation of rats.
All feed, both animal & human, is kept secure.
From whence they came I know not but they certainly have made merry below
floors.

Talking to people in the local shop today and was surprised to hear that
more than a few have had problems with rats over recent weeks. The local
vicar has recently had a pest control company out to eradicate the problem
at the vicarage. The pest control person informed him that this probably
occurred as a result of a major water pipe burst about a mile away as the
crow flies (or the rat runs).
See:
http://www.thameswater.co.uk/UK/regi...omepage_000431

This burst occurred 3 months ago and I first noticed the problem about six
weeks ago, so the timing could be correct. The site of the original burst
is still closed and a temporary road has been created over adjacent fields
Have spoken with the council who 'are not aware of any widespread problem
and do not offer a free pest control service' but they are kindly sending
me a list of approved pest control companies in the area.
I'm fairly sure that I am now rid of the creatures at least for the time
being.

My house has lost 2/3rds of its electrical circuits. The remaining 1/3rd is
fortunately much more modern, an entirely separate system with its own cu
and goes upwards rather than underfloor. The place is a mess of extension
leads at present to keep essentials running.

Fortunately a lifelong friend and qualified (up to date) electrician is
coming to start rewiring next Monday. This will give me the weekend to
clear 25 years worth of accumulated clutter from the loft, 2 bedrooms,
kitchen, bathroom and conservatory/utility area.

What joy !!

On a brighter note, the old place is long overdue for a rewire anyway and a
good opportunity to update the place a bit

Rats!

"Ray" wrote in message
...


....

... This will give me the weekend to
clear 25 years worth of accumulated clutter from the loft, 2 bedrooms,
kitchen, bathroom and conservatory/utility area.

What joy !!

It's cathartic! Look on it as an opportunity. Once the stuff's gone it's
gone, no more despairing about it.

I promise, it happened to me!

On a brighter note, the old place is long overdue for a rewire anyway and
a
good opportunity to update the place a bit

Indeed.

Rats!

Everything has a purpose :-)

Mary

Ray wrote:
Not much point in this tail really other than to vent my thoughts &
frustration. Perhaps a rant as I am tearing my hair out.
We all live close to rats. I don't like them but have to live with
them, a fact of life.
I live in an early 20C cottage in Berkshire. Have done for 27 years.
Semi-rural area with a stream flowing along the front. Quite idyllic
on a good day.
Built on a 12inch concrete raft with suspended floors on sleeper
walls. The old place has recently suffered a quite severe infestation
of rats. All feed, both animal & human, is kept secure.
From whence they came I know not but they certainly have made merry
below floors.
There are about 2 dozen airbricks around the perimeter just above
ground level, these are all sound. I can see no signs of burrowing
but I don't think rats burrow anyway.

This is where you are mistaken, they burrowed under an 18 inch deep by 2 ft
concrete footing into my greenhouse (and before anyone remarks about the
overkill WRT footings, they were already there, we just demolished a shed
and built a GH on top)
So I dug down to the bottom of the concrete and inserted (with a large
hammer) roofing slates stood on their end to make the total; burrowing depth
about 2ft, they got in the following night.


Wife & I keep 3 cats, 2 dogs and 2 goats. Goaties are cleaned daily
and all is composted. Goats are a couple of hundred yards away.

One day about 6 weeks ago we heard some scurrying in a kitchen
cupboard. Open the door and see ratty nonchalantly munching on a
block of my favourite olive oil hand soap, I'm almost sure he winked
at me! Close door. Open door again and scoop all contents onto floor
and then most into bin. Clean whole kitchen (I do mean whole) and put
down some poison bait in, around and about. 3 separate locations all
safe from domestic animals. I don't like using poison but when needs
must.......... A few minutes after several hours labour more scurrying
from a now
freshly cleaned empty, bar poison, kitchen cupboard.
There's ratty munching on a lump of poison. Close door.
Take unhappy wife to local hostelry for a bit of lunch and a chat with
friends.
On return find bait all gone. Replace all. More scurrying and more
bait gone. That afternoon 7 bait blocks were taken from a single


The council 'ratman' came and put down 3kgs of poison blocks down (around
75) in both our greenhouses this spring, they were all gone within 4 hours.

location. Following morning had the dubious pleasure of seeing a dead
rat lying on a shelf in a kitchen cupboard. Continued to place bait
until it was not taken. Still have some in place but it hasn't been
touched in a couple of weeks.
Have found a couple more carcasses since then, but this must have
been a fairly severe infestation. I presume there will be more
carcasses beneath floors.

It's almost a certainty

The buggers have destroyed wiring beneath the floors. A major problem
for me is that 22 years ago I laid 1.25inch thick pitch pine block
flooring over 2/3rds of the ground floor. Most of the underfloor is
now inaccessible and the whole house needs rewiring. I know its
overdue for rewiring but it would break my heart to rip this
wonderful floor up. Rats!
One little bonus to this sorry affair is that my wife saw a ringed
tail disappear under a unit in our utility area whilst all the above
was going on. She didn't know what it was but said it looked like a
raccoon. I've never seen a raccoon in the flesh but Rocky, as she is now
known, is still with with us and can be seen here~
http://www.flickr.com/photos/95403421@N00/

Rats!

rats live on no evil star
Blimey, that's an old one from my school days 50 odd years ago (read
it backwards).

Rant over and apologies for bothering you kind folk.

Rats ar harder to eradicate than many people think...for starters, they
become resistant to poisons quite easily, they are far too clever to walk
into a trap (you may get one, but after that you may as well throw the trap
in the bin) and they won't go into somewhere unless there's a way out other
than where they came in - that is to say, if they dig under your floor, the
first thing they will do is dig another tunnel out in another location, then
another, then another.
You need to find out where they are coming in, and I do mean *IN*, if you
look aroun the banks of the stream, or along a hedge or some other overgrown
area within say 10 yards of your property, you will see their 'entrance',
this needs to be blocked *pronto*, it's usually best to shove a hosepipe
down it and leave it running for 20 minutes or so, this will make the
interior like mud, and I have found that mud keeps them out, theyu cannot
dig in it and also any pups or adults down there stand a good chance of
being drowned, when the hose is running, take a long stick and keep ramming
it down the hole, this will help cave in the sides and also wash away their
smells, which obviously act as a beacon for other rats to take up
residence....you may find that there are half a dozen holes, they will all
be interlinked and they all need the same treatment.

Ray wrote:

The buggers have destroyed wiring beneath the floors. A major problem for
me is that 22 years ago I laid 1.25inch thick pitch pine block flooring
over 2/3rds of the ground floor. Most of the underfloor is now inaccessible
and the whole house needs rewiring. I know its overdue for rewiring but it
would break my heart to rip this wonderful floor up.
Rats!

You could simply abandon the wiring under the floor and do all the new
wiring under the first floor ceiling, with drops down the walls in
chases to the downstairs sockets. Much the same as most modern places
with concrete ground floors are wired.



--
Cheers,

John.

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