RATS!!!

[Hangshai]

Ok, so, I live in a sort of suburban/rural area(I asked a buddy how he would describe the place to someone not from here, and he said 'a bedroom community for rednecks'), and they've been building A LOT of houses on the surrounding farm land.  I'm pretty close to the edge of town, and, I've noticed that there aren't many cats in the neighborhood.  Its pretty ghetto, so, LOTS of dogs.  But not many cats.  Which, leads us to my problem.  Rats.

Big fuckers.  They crawl across power lines from roof to roof in this neighborhood, and they've taken a liking to my roof.  I can hear them in the big trees around my house at night squeaking.  Pretty fucking gross.  They've managed to get inside my house twice, once under the sink in the bathroom(plugged that hole since), and once through an air hole in the laundry room.  So, now Ive set traps.  3 by the water heater, that is opposite the wall that has the vent to the laundry room, so there is an enticing hole into the house beset with traps, and then some more in the attic and basement.  It worked really well for a couple weeks.  They stayed away, and now they're back, and they are avoiding the traps(except I catch a little one every now and then).

I am now running out of ideas.  My home is a rental, but it is still MY home.  I really dont care if they stay outside, but when they are living in my attic and getting in the house, they have invaded my space.

So, I need some help.  Any experiences any of you have had that work, please share them with me.  Ive thought about letting a snake loose on my property, but that sounds like an expensive plan that can go wrong in SO many ways, as cool as it would be.  And poison wont work because I have 2 little dogs, and I cant put them in danger.  They are little shits and will eat anything.

So, any ideas?

[Pariah]

Kill one rat and put it's head on a pike. This should serve as a warning to the other rats and should stop them

[AFK]

Or they'll just eat the head, and proceed to chew through everything else. 

[Pariah]

That's why you fill the rat's head with poison.
I know this stuff

[Jenne]

  @ Pariah?

Ok, until and unless you plug alll the fucking holes, they will continue to get in.  Plug the damned holes, and you won't get them coming in anymore.

I had rats GALORE in my garage, traps didn't do shit but kill the damned things, but didn't deter them and keep them out.  Now, the trees still have rats, but my garage doesn't.  And you can't really ever get rid of the rats in the trees unless you get rid of the trees.  I'm workin' on that one, however.

[Pariah]

Ive thought about letting a snake loose on my property, but that sounds like an expensive plan that can go wrong in SO many ways, as cool as it would be. 

Bingo
Seriously nothing can possibly go wrong
If they get too pesky you can just get a pack of mongooses (mongeese?) to hunt them out

[Reginald Ret]

I'd say cover every inch of your walls and floors and ceiling with lead. even if they manage to chew through they'll get lead poisoning.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Ok, so, I live in a sort of suburban/rural area(I asked a buddy how he would describe the place to someone not from here, and he said 'a bedroom community for rednecks'), and they've been building A LOT of houses on the surrounding farm land.  I'm pretty close to the edge of town, and, I've noticed that there aren't many cats in the neighborhood.  Its pretty ghetto, so, LOTS of dogs.  But not many cats.  Which, leads us to my problem.  Rats.

Big fuckers.  They crawl across power lines from roof to roof in this neighborhood, and they've taken a liking to my roof.  I can hear them in the big trees around my house at night squeaking.  Pretty fucking gross.  They've managed to get inside my house twice, once under the sink in the bathroom(plugged that hole since), and once through an air hole in the laundry room.  So, now Ive set traps.  3 by the water heater, that is opposite the wall that has the vent to the laundry room, so there is an enticing hole into the house beset with traps, and then some more in the attic and basement.  It worked really well for a couple weeks.  They stayed away, and now they're back, and they are avoiding the traps(except I catch a little one every now and then).

I am now running out of ideas.  My home is a rental, but it is still MY home.  I really dont care if they stay outside, but when they are living in my attic and getting in the house, they have invaded my space.

So, I need some help.  Any experiences any of you have had that work, please share them with me.  Ive thought about letting a snake loose on my property, but that sounds like an expensive plan that can go wrong in SO many ways, as cool as it would be.  And poison wont work because I have 2 little dogs, and I cant put them in danger.  They are little shits and will eat anything.

So, any ideas?

No cats, traps aren't working, and you can't use poison?  You're fucked.

TGRR,
Is a student of history, and never bets against rats.

[Dysnomia]

block all forms of entry, then put the traps outside (those ones where they walk in and "disappear").  Inside the traps put some cat/dog food with bait mixed in.  This works particularly well with wet food.  


Or I can fedex you the ex boyfriend.  I'm sure he'd love to sit around your house with his airsoft gun and Rambo the fuckers for you.  

[East Coast Hustle]

you want to know the best way to keep wild rats & mice out of your house/apartment/trailer/whatever?

get a male pet rat and make sure to let him run around your house and scent mark the place every so often.

[Reginald Ret]

you want to know the best way to keep wild rats & mice out of your house/apartment/trailer/whatever?

get a male pet rat and make sure to let him run around your house and scent mark the place every so often.

One of those freakishly huge sewer rats.
The kind that kill dobermenn.

[Pariah]

Move.

[Salty]

Watch Willard. You'll know what to do from there.

[P3nT4gR4m]

Yellow rat snakes - they're built for the job. Go python if the rats are really big.

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

If they're outside use a .22 or .17 HMR (a lot more espensive that .22 but OMG accurate and heady explody), if they're inside just lay a fuckton of traps and make sure you keep a clean home. Keep cabinets with food sealed and put some food far away form your home but close enough that the rats will be attracted to it (<100m). Throw some traps outside your house too for good measure.

Additionally, your landlord is probably responsible for pest control but will likely attempt to shirk this responsibility.