Rats are digging under the concrete &have chewed through the top of the wavin manhole

Gone with computerman's suggestions, three wavin pipes with three storms tablets in each put into the garden this morning,
War has begun!
 
Glad to help!
Just one thing, 1 tablet broken into 3 or 4 pieces would be enough. You do not want a rat trying to carry one of the big tablets back to the nest and then dropping it in the garden and leaving it behind.
 
Thanks steadyeddie,
I did hear that. The story so far...
Two rats actually ran past me in the garden this morning and down into the hole, they have taken some of the poison so we'll have to wait and see.I won't be able to block up any new holes until the garden thaws out but I was told that I may have a serious problem if I spot any rats during the day. Perhaps it's just the weather that has them out during day light hours..
 
I woke up this morning found a hole in daughters bed room by the door. Also I found a hole in the hall upstairs.

I put glass and fibre glass and poison down.

I walked into kitchen today and there was a rat looking at me.

Any advice I would be ever so grateful.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Had a huge problem with rats in the garden when we moved in to the house first. Cleaned out the the compost bin on a daily basis. Laid poison and couldn't keep it there fast enough. They were eating it by the box. Got a cat and no more rats to be seen and no evidence of them either except for the odd one he brings home. Noboc if they're in the house then I would say put down traps as soon as possible and put them everywhere. Don't use poison in the house or they'll just die and you'll be left trying to find the bodies.
 
Concerning the compost bins in our garden, when I first used the poison blocks I put it in the top of the compost in the bins. And the next day the blocks would be completely gone. Problem solved I thought - but no they still came back! Then I was told about the wavin pipe idea. I was told to make sure that the rats couldn't take the blocks of poison away in one piece, so I tied the blocks to a piece of board and placed the board in the wavin pipes - used 2 lengths of pipe laid beside the wall adjacent to the bins. On checking over the next few days about half of each block would be eaten each time. Replaced each block as they were eaten through (wearing gloves). After about a week they stopped taking the poison and there were no more visits to the bins.
I think rats in a dwelling should be dealt with urgently by a professional pest control company like rentokill (no connection).
 
Hi,
for those who helped me out. I'm losing the battle and have just called in Rentokil. The first batch of poison was taken away by the rats but the second is still there. I cemented up the next hole in the wavin pipe but the buggers are still getting in. I now have three seperate holes in the garden with the rats burrowing under anything I seem to cover the holes up with. Does anybody know is it possible for rats to get up through a downstairs loo?...I heard that they don't like getting their heads wet swimming through the "S" trap but I'm now very concerned.
 
I have had a rat in the garden a couple of times and just put down a rat trap. On both occasions I was rewarded with a dead rat. I found the entry point under the gate and closed it up - no more rats. I would be very cautious laying poison, especially with children around. Of course, take precautions if you lay a trap, as rat traps are pretty lethal things. If you don' t have a cat, borrow one from a neighbour for a few hours and see if she comes up with anything. I wouldn't worry about rats 'biting' children as they are very shy and cautious creatures but I would worry about Weils disease and the risk of poison.

As I said, you should have used traps - thats how I controlled the problem on two separate occasions.
 
Thank you for the "I told you so" but do you see the irony in having to use the traps twice though?
 
Apologies Ophelia,
I think I'm just more up the walls than I hope the rats will ever be, thank you for your suggestions.
 
If you have one rat in your dwelling and you know its "run", a trap or two will do.

As an added protection you can put down the "stickeys", the problem with this is the rat can chew off its leg to get away.

Outside poison is your only man. There are "high tech" traps which electrocute the rat as it enters the trap, otherwise prolong the use of poison. As I said the pellets have to be small. Where possible block off any scource of food (as has already been stated eg bins, compost etc etc).

In the UK they can use pellet guns to kill the rodents, here we are limited to the points discussed.

Wino let us know how you got on with the pest control co.
 
Get a piece of 4" wavin, cut a 12 " length, get double sided tape (carpet tape is best) and put in center of the pipe. On the tape put 1/2 a tab of STORM. Put a large screw at either end of the pipe about an inch in. (screw it through the wall of the pipe), This will stop a larger animal (cat or dog) getting at the poison.

Place the pipe against a wall near the hole where the rats are comming from and partially cover. The kids should not see it.

Check on the poison after a few days.

Do not block the hole for a couple of days. You want the rats to take the poison home with them.

+ 1. Done this a few years ago. Keep replacing the poison each morning untill they stop taking it. You can put out a few short pipes next to/on rat pads / runs, and secure the pipes with conc. blocks etc. Both ends of the pipe must be open or the rat may not enter. The pipes are great for keeping the poison away from curious kids / pets. We had a real bad rat problem, and I went through 20 blocks in a few weeks, but then that was it, never had rats here in years since. One block will kill one rat. Block all holes you can find. They can get in the smallest of holes. They can even come in through your ESB and Eircom ducts, make sure where the ducts enter your ESB and Eircom boxes are blocked with expanding foam. They have even been known to be able to cling to overhead wires coming into houses and getting onto / into roofs that way. Happy hunting.
 
Hi, happy New year to one and all,
the rat story so far. Rentokil have called twice and traps and poisons are still down, one more visit is paid for ..242 up front!. Up untill two days ago I thought the problem was solved. As instructed the access hole has been left open but there now seems to be more activity. Rats came up through it last night with a small sign that they have nibbled some of the poison put down by Rentokil.
They aren't touching the broken up storm tablets that I have in the wavin pipes. I'm wondering at this stage should I seal the hole up with cement and also put a metal lid down inside the sewer inspection hole to prevent accesss or exit from these cursed rats and see how that works. Garden is still out of bonds for my kids.
 
I've had friends who got a few cats and just left them outside (except for food water etc). They eventually got all of the rodents, mice, rats, etc.
 
For about 5 years now we've had a rat problem - living in dublin. They keep returning to our garden. WE keep finding new holes and they keep taking the poison we put out. We have a deck adn they seem to live under it. Have had rat babies wandering around our deck on one occasion. Foudn a few dead rats in garden.

CoCo have put down poison, we're always putting down Storm, nothing seems to get rid of them. Don't know how to even check where they are coming in.

I'm terrified they'd get into house somehow - I've gotten used to them being in the garden and being paranoid about the kids being out there but I'd lose the plot if they got into the house.

BTW Rentokil and similar companies were useless, they said all they can do is do what we're doing - put down poison and check it occasionally.

Whats the best way to stop them coming into house?

And BTW re coming up thru toilet, I'm convinced I head rat noises in the toilet pipes one night, flushed and it stopped. Not sure if they'd come up thru the water but I keep lids closed as much as possible.
 
Crikey, I thought I had problems Toby. Talking to neighbours it does seem that decking does seem to encourage the rats to stay. In regards to the toilets I was told by a builder that he knew first hand that they could get up but that was in Australia. My downstairs loo comes vertically up from the foundations and I can't see how they could get up and out through the waterlogged S trap but I do agree with you in that I'm finding myself puting the seat cover now. I'm not too impressed either with Rentokil, they do seem to be doing exactly what I'm doing. I will give it another week, get them in for their last visiit and take it from there.
 
Back
Top