# Rats under next doors decking



## sg1 (26 Feb 2008)

Hi all,
Have checked previous threads and not quite found the info I'm lo oking for. Recently found a hole going under fence, did not take too much notice till I found evidence of rat in shed, put down a trap and was clearing out shed when I saw the bugger, cleaned shed thoroughly including disinfectant etc. (also removed dog food, bird seed etc which I had been storing in shed), I also filed in the hole at the fence.  I put poison and trap in shed and over next two weeks or so saw no evidence of the rat. However since then I have seen the rat in the garden and the hole under fence has returned, I put some poison down the hole/burrow and refilled it, house behind us  has decking down so I'm guessing he's living under it. Any suggestions as to what more I can do? It's about ten dasy since I put poison in burrow and hole keeps coming back, I have a dog and neighbours have kids so don't want to leave too much poison lying around. Thanks for any help


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## Tormented (26 Feb 2008)

I believe that a solution may be to install one of those sonic rodent repellant devices.

They should be available in Woodies or Garden center shops.

Worth a try, otherwise a good tough old Tom Cat !


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## Roundy# (26 Feb 2008)

Timber decking and rats seem to be a problem, they go for the warmth and shelter underneath apparently


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## Teabag (26 Feb 2008)

sg1 said:


> Any suggestions as to what more I can do? It's about ten dasy since I put poison in burrow and hole keeps coming back, I have a dog and neighbours have kids so don't want to leave too much poison lying around. Thanks for any help



Be very careful with the poison as little birds are known to eat it too.

Having said that, I once set a bit metal rat trap and came back the next morning to find a magpie in it.


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## tosullivan (26 Feb 2008)

I had a rat under my garden shed and tried poison and the ultra sonic yokes....no luck

Good old fashioned wooden rat trap from woodies that I modified by soldering spikes on the trap mechanism so I could impail the rat when it went for the bait.

First night I set the trap, it triggered and it got away. The spikes would give me the edge of a split second faster to catch it

Placed 3 traps down all 120 degrees in a circle from each other with a diamater of about a foot. Traps facing into teh centre so the rat had to go into teh middle to get the bait.

Placed 3 frankfurters slightly cooked smeared in nutella and nailed in to the trap.

Place the traps on a hair trigger and wait

I had a Strike and hit on the first night.

Persevere with the traps, its the only way. Get rid of them now and tell your neighbour also to do the same as you

My wife thought I was a bit mad when I was putting on the spikes but it worked.  The rat was about twice the size of the biggest trap woodies had so I needed an advantage over it otherwise it would just escape again with the food


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## johnnyg (26 Feb 2008)

Don't automatically assume its the deck, rats like warm, dry locations like under sheds, a deck wouldn't provide shelter that a rat needs, i have heard of this rumour before and i have never come across this as been proven, what i would be concerned about is the presence of a rat in your backgarden and in the neighbours which would imply that there is alot of waste/food around to attract the rat which should be looked at, if the food source was removed the rats would go, you don't want to be in a position where the rat may give birth and increase your problem.

Be very careful with rat poison esp with kids around, rats usually take the bait back to there nest, so if they drop it along the way and is picked up by a child could lead to serious accident....Prevention is better than a cure


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## ice (26 Feb 2008)

If you call the county council they will send someone out to survey the area and lay down traps/poison


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## Vanilla (26 Feb 2008)

Cats are the eco friendly alternative. Our cat ( he's not really ours but he thinks we are his) is an excellent ratter. Unfortunately he is a fairly indiscriminate killer and will also attack my favourite birds the blue tits. But I guess thats nature for you.


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## DavyJones (26 Feb 2008)

ice said:


> If you call the county council they will send someone out to survey the area and lay down traps/poison


 

What county do you live in? They seem nice and helpfull!


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## gally74 (26 Feb 2008)

try STORM its a posion the makes them drink more water than they can hold then end up dying from the water, so they dont die where they live probalby where they get the water, 

be careful with rats if you corner them they could bite. weels disease. tell your neibhours attack on two fronts.


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## Slaphead (26 Feb 2008)

I'd definitely get a cat, i've aterrible phobia for rats


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## Gautama (26 Feb 2008)

Decking is a haven for rats.
Nice and warm and dry underneath.  Ideal for breeding rats.  

It's a shame really, as the upper side of decking tends to be slippery and cold and wet!


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## ice (27 Feb 2008)

DavyJones said:


> What county do you live in? They seem nice and helpfull!


 
Dunlaoire Rathdown county council and yes they were nice and friendly the day they came out to me


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## tosullivan (27 Feb 2008)

what happens if you hate cats?


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## sg1 (27 Feb 2008)

Thanks for all replies, I put down a trap (called supercat!) right next to the burrow yesterday and when I came home this evening the rat was caught in the trap! I reckon it must have been caught last night. I have filled in the burrow and will keep an eye on it but hopefully thats the end of it.  By the way to all who suggested cats, my neighbours on either side of me both have cats who spend most of the day outdoors and were of no use at all!


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## tosullivan (27 Feb 2008)

is this one of those humane traps where the rat crawls in and can't get out or the old style ones that snap its head off?


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## sg1 (27 Feb 2008)

I think it's supposed to be a kindof humane trap, however I think the bait is poisionous (but I might be wrong). It's supposed to trap the rat so it can't escape and then you can empty out the trap and reuse it. The rat it caught for me had the top half of its body trapped in it, I'm not sure if the poison got or if perhaps it broke its neck. I hate rats so I did not have the guts to remove the rat to reuse the trap it so I threw the rat and trap out


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## mildew (27 Feb 2008)

I remember my dear old Grandad back in the late 60's having a "humane" rat trap!
He used to catch the rats that were in his garden..........................





And then Drown them in a big barrel of water,!!!!!   Very humane dont you think?


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## frash (28 Feb 2008)

Teabag said:


> Having said that, I once set a bit metal rat trap and came back the next morning to find a magpie in it.


 
I killed a frog in a rat trap once.


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## lin (28 Feb 2008)

Oh my God the house we are thinking of buying has decking out the back.  That will definately have to go now if we get the house!! I have two small babies and I would just die if I though there were rats there.  Great Thread!!!


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## roadrunner (28 Feb 2008)

the storm sounds like a good idea - hopefully they`d go off and die somewhere else.
I hate rats & even catching a dead one in a trap would turn my stomach!


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## sg1 (28 Feb 2008)

Aparently putting crushed glass under your decking will keep rats away. Not sure if this is a myth or not


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## ramble (28 Feb 2008)

The cats on either side may be your problem.  We got rats in our garden, under the shed.  The county council came out (kildare) and pointed out that all the houses around us had animals (dogs or cats) we were the first house in a run with no animal.  The rats were eating in a garden further down the row where some idiot was throwing out bread for crows (as in by the loaf) then running along the wall behind the houses and under our nice shed.  We got rentokil then a cat. County council had a chat with bird feeder. No more rats.


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## gally74 (28 Feb 2008)

weve used STORM a few times and it does work, you just wont see them anymore


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## SarahMc (29 Feb 2008)

This post breaches the Posting Guidelines and has been removed. We don't allow self-censored expletives.


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## Birroc (1 Mar 2008)

I actually saw Ratatouille last night. Excellent movie. Gave me a whole new perspective on rats alright, for as long as it lasts. I wouldn't let them cook for me all the same.


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## barryl (1 Mar 2008)

a friend of mine was living with his wife and new born baby in a mobile home while building their new house some years back.one evening they heard some strange sounds coming from their bedroom,as they entered the room they saw a rat licking the spit off the infants mouth.


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## ice (2 Mar 2008)

barryl said:


> a friend of mine was living with his wife and new born baby in a mobile home while building their new house some years back.one evening they heard some strange sounds coming from their bedroom,as they entered the room they saw a rat licking the spit off the infants mouth.


 

Good holy god !!!!!

Please tell me you are making this up ??

AHHHHHH


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## Bluebells (3 Mar 2008)

There are Rats everywhere. We just don't see them as they are usually nocturnal. 
Manhattan has a major problem with Rats, they are frequently seen during the day and people are very worried that the city is under attack from a plague of Superrats. However, there are those who say Manhattan and other cities need their rats, because they actually "process" tons of garbage.


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## tosullivan (3 Mar 2008)

ramble said:


> The rats were eating in a garden further down the row where some idiot was throwing out bread for crows (as in by the loaf)


That's actually how I noticed I had a rat.  I put out a couple of heals of bread from a loaf for the starving birds, and 5 mins later saw a rat come out from under my shed and grab the bread and take it back under


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## nialler (3 Mar 2008)

I read somewhere that nobody is ever further than (I think) 10 metres from a rat. I live in the countryside so see them quite regularly - outside! I have a german shepherd dog and he must have caught at least 4 / 5 in the last year. PS: I also have a deck and can confirm that they ARE under there so it's not just a myth.


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## Doireann (10 Mar 2008)

Bit off topic, but has anyone any advice on how to rat-proof a deck as it's being installed?


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## barryl (11 Mar 2008)

ice said:


> Good holy god !!!!!
> 
> Please tell me you are making this up ??
> 
> AHHHHHH


 
Its a true story


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## ice (11 Mar 2008)

barryl said:


> Its a true story


 

AHHHHH 

I was so freaked out by this that I dreamt about it the night I first read it..

Have a serious rat phobia


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## Staples (11 Mar 2008)

sg1 said:


> By the way to all who suggested cats, my neighbours on either side of me both have cats who spend most of the day outdoors and were of no use at all!


 
Works for the neighbours.  The rats are in YOUR garden.


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## Leo (11 Mar 2008)

Doireann said:


> Bit off topic, but has anyone any advice on how to rat-proof a deck as it's being installed?


 
There was a thread here recently about using crushed glass under the deck.


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## cultrixx (4 Apr 2010)

*Solution if you have the stomach!*

Rat Fishing & Killer Rat

Rat Fishing is much like real fishing, Rod/Bait and time to kill, just put bait on a hook and drop down one their holes and wait.  You will have to kill them when you drag them out. (check out Rat Fishing on Youtube)

Killer Rat, rats are cannibals under the right circumstance, hunger!, if you trap two live rats put both in one cage and eventually one will kill the other, once this happens release the survivor and he will attack and kill other rats.
Killer Rats also will do their job when they have no food in the wild, clean food free environments will force larger rats to kill smaller ones to survive.


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## VOR (4 Apr 2010)

Decking really is a haven for rats.  Food falls down between the boards. Some people even brush it down there. You then have a warm, dry environment for rats to flourish.

I would look at putting down large rat traps and see if that works. Then turn to a cat or terrier. The job might be too big for a cat. A terrier won't stop killing when satiated. You really have to admire that. Jack Russells and Border Terriers being the best pets for the job.


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## steph1 (4 Apr 2010)

Definitely agree with the terrier.  I have a jack russell bitch and she is deadly for ratting.  I also have a cat thats good particularly with mice.


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## DGOBS (4 Apr 2010)

Someone told me recently, if you had rat trouble, get a bag of used bedding from a ferret  keeper and spread it where the problem is, as long as there isn't and abundance of food they will leg it as soon as they get the smell of the ferret

I haven't tried it before, but sounds like a good idea to try


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