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Have lived in this apt. in suburbs of a city for 20 years. Have 2 cats. Had a mouse once in the closet, plugged hole with floam and never a problem again. That was until it started leaking under the sink, created a weakness, and now I SUSPECT a rat, or several. Cats are very curious and they squeak LOUDLY! I was so freaked out, it was almost Christmas and I had to cook and bake. I told myself I would contact pretty much useless Landlord who I have complained to over and over about ground hogs under my apt. So I put duct tape on under kitchen sink cabinets assuring myself they could not get out. Saw little wood shavings under indent of sink cabinet. Thought it was just loosened wood from them tramping around (seriously, they make a lot of noise. I don't think they STAY in there, only come in when its really cold as it has been). OK, I'm dumb... came back from a week away at Christmas. Nothing new, cat acted normal, all was well. STILL afraid to look under sink. Seeriously, I think its the SURPRISE factor! I even had a pet rat for 5 years and LOVED her. But wild rats? Might as well be comparing oranges to.... rats! I am so frightened! If I open the door and one gets loose what can I do? I can't leave! I can't catch it! Landlord useless! Do I call the police? They'll laugh at me! Animal control? 911?
So, dropped a crumpled paper towel on floor by foot of sink. Next morning I noticed the ppr towel was lifted OFF THE FLOOR and stuck on top of lip of runner on floor. IN OTHER WORDS, rats (?) being rats, spotted the ppr towel and wanted it for their nest! They sucked up part of it, heard me, then stopped. I left ppr towel stuck where it was, to see if it would move. Nothing for hours, no movement at all. Fell asleep with TV blaring, all lights on. Fell asleep. Next morning? PPR TOWEL GONE! Obviously it sucked it up and can see/hear/smell whats going on. I think the only thing stopping them is two cats! I had oatmeal on bottom rung of shelf, didn't touch. Bread in garbage, untouched. Nothing touched. HELP!
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 01-11-2015 at 01:36 PM..
Put your request in writing to the landlord or buy some dcon and put it under the sink or call an exterminator who will charge you a lot of money to put dcon under the sink.
Put your request in writing to the landlord or buy some dcon and put it under the sink or call an exterminator who will charge you a lot of money to put dcon under the sink.
If you do that, secure the sink doors, you don't want to poison your cats too.
Recently, a cat I have had for years discovered he could open the kitchen cupboard doors, including the ones under the sink. It's his new favorite thing to do.....snoop in the cupboards.
And no, I couldn't kill them. I would try to stop them from getting in or trap them and let them loose somewhere far away.
Stuff any holes under the sink, like where pipes come through, firmly with steel wool. He's unlikely to chew through it although a rat can chew through a lot of things.
And to answer your question, yes, I could certainly kill a "wild rat" but I draw the line at sticky traps. Just kill it quick. Rats on the mainland carry many diseases and fleas.
I have no problem taking out a rat...set some spring traps. The problem with putting down bait is that he just might end up dying in the wall behind your sink. Ew.
Contact the landlord, but also do the steel wool and set traps.
Some of the rats where I live are HUGE and for decades I've been keeping them under control. As much as I hate killing anything and prefer to relocate mice and rats (done several times with two of my four cats avid hunters) it has to be done. But when one of my cats brought in a tiny baby rat whose eyes weren't even open, all was lost. No heart to do it. To cut a long story short, "Miss Ratatouille" was bottle fed for a week until able to eat on her own, lived in first one luxurious "condo" cage and then another when she outgrew the first one, and lived happily for almost 4 years until she quietly died one night a couple of years ago. All but one of the cats simply ignored her after a while but she and that one developed an oddly amusing relationship and would happily and very gently "box" with each other through the cage bars!
I'd have no problem with it. But I'm from the country I remember once when I was really young, we lived in this farm house in the middle of nowhere. One day my mom was in the kitchen doing something and I was upstairs and I heard a gunshot!!!
My mom saw this rat (it was enormous to me as a 5 year old, had to be almost 2 feet long including the tail) while she was cleaning the kitchen and had grabbed her handgun and shot the thing. Guess mom was a good shot 'cause she nailed it in the head on her first shot.
I also agree with you. I had pet rats and they were cute little guys. But wild rats? Hellll nooooo. Although I don't mind wild mice at all oddly enough. I mean, I don't want them in my house but if I see one I won't scream and run for the hills.
Fortunately for you there are exterminators that will take them out humanely. Look in your lease and see if it's your responsibility or the landlord's responsibility and take care of it now before they have babies.
I had a very healthy mouse living under my kitchen sink....Couldn't figure out where the pee smell was coming from until I opened the cabinet to get the dog brush out one Sunday...Needless to say the dog and the cat are both fired for not being good mousers!
I had maintenance come pull the dishwasher and stove...no mouse. Not sure where it was hiding as I pulled everything out of the cabinet and cleaned.
Set two snap traps with honey peanut and had that sucker the next day!
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I remember once when I was really young, we lived in this farm house in the middle of nowhere. One day my mom was in the kitchen doing something and I was upstairs and I heard a gunshot!!!
