Two years ago our renovation builder placed plasterboard on most of our walls to hide the run of the new electrics and the central heating system. Unfortunately rats keep getting behind it all and run about and generally make a noise and start upsetting our dogs who go mad when they hear them. So off to the DIY store and I come back with a rat trap which is duly installed in the utility room where we know they appear, next day the bait had gone and so had the rat trap, can't find it anywhere! So with this in mind I trundled off to the DIY store once again and bought some rat poison pellets which I put in a Tuppeware dish and guess what . . . they stole the Tupperware dish!!!

What next I ask myself?

Try putting something heavy to hold it down and see what happens? it may not be RATS.

Can't see that Rats are taking these things? perhaps its some other animal ?

stigofthedump wrote:

Can't see that Rats are taking these things? perhaps its some other animal ?

Like what? Any suggestions??

Maybe the 2 legged type

The biggest problem with using poison is that the rats are inclined to die in the gaps you are trying to get rid of them from. We found this out the smelly way, my those small bodies stink when decomposing! We don't use it now, just traps which are in constant use over the kitchen as there is just open loft space at the moment.

Sara

Try and get one of these then you will know what it is?

I had that same problem for a while..fixed the trap with a length of wire to a pipe....and caught a cat! Poison works, but as previously mentioned, the stink is worse than the original problem!

back home on the Isle Of Man, I had a similar problem and in my case it was a RAT,
I did a lot of research on this and found wire wool in the gapes where they can get in but please check if they have gone, then squirt expanding foam in the wire wool is something that they do not like on their teeth and that should fix the problem also keeping the doors shut.

Sorry to hear of your sad loss as we all no how hard it is to get tupperware

paddy wrote:

back home on the Isle Of Man, I had a similar problem and in my case it was a RAT,
I did a lot of research on this and found wire wool in the gapes where they can get in but please check if they have gone, then squirt expanding foam in the wire wool is something that they do not like on their teeth and that should fix the problem also keeping the doors shut.

Sorry to hear of your sad loss as we all no how hard it is to get tupperware

Yes, it is a sad loss and nowhere here to get Tupperware.

If everything goes to plan I will be in Sofia on the 4th March 14 I can try and get you sum just let me know.

just remember if you have any Tupperware left don't give it to the Rats (we call them long tails here) they are just like neighbours they don't give the Tupperware back either.

The scurrying behind the plasterboard seems to have come to a stop and so we assume that all is well with our supposed rat population around the house. Of course as many of you have said a dead or ex rat lying dead behind the plasterboard can give some awful odours in the Summer. A friend told us yesterday that Praktiker sell a plug in that gives off a nasty signal to rats that is inaudible to humans and dogs, but sends the rats running for cover somewhere else in the world. Has anyone any experience of using these and are they a good buy, Praktiker price is 40Leva, so not cheap, but if effective, well worth the cost.

i have had the miss fortune to use then in the past what ive seen of them is they do work ish, if they recommend 1 put 2 in and so on but some of the systems about run on the plug system and use the wire around the house as a fence, the problem you might have is if the plugs are not on the same circuit the unit might not work, it would be better for you to check that first but also will be cheaper in the long run to find out where they are getting in.
if its of use a friend of mine said do you know why their is a step/shelve on a barn going all the way around the barn, i said no being a townie, and he said its because the farmer dont want the rats eating the grain or spuds in the barn so they build this ledge of around a foot out and about 2 foot above the ground all the way around the barn. best of luck.

paddy wrote:

i have had the miss fortune to use then in the past what ive seen of them is they do work ish, if they recommend 1 put 2 in and so on but some of the systems about run on the plug system and use the wire around the house as a fence, the problem you might have is if the plugs are not on the same circuit the unit might not work, it would be better for you to check that first but also will be cheaper in the long run to find out where they are getting in.
if its of use a friend of mine said do you know why their is a step/shelve on a barn going all the way around the barn, i said no being a townie, and he said its because the farmer dont want the rats eating the grain or spuds in the barn so they build this ledge of around a foot out and about 2 foot above the ground all the way around the barn. best of luck.

Many thanks Paddy -

So far our rats have stolen a Tupperware dish, a ceramic dish, a complete rat trap and now the sticky thing that is supposed to glue their feet to the floor has gone as well. No sign of the rat of course!! Last night I placed a normal rat trap and a rat cage in our barn where there was plenty of evidence that they have been playing in an attempt to catch the rat alive and release into the wild or into our dog Ayla's jaws, whichever comes first and guess what . . . this morning I inspected both rat traps and both pieces of bait had gone, the cage door was closed and no sign of ratty. Very frustrating, they are obviously much brighter than the UK rats that get caught in whatever trap you put out for them.