I thought I had a rat General Chat

Well it was larger than the tiny field mice, not that I have seen any lately [famous last words?] but not very big. Just knocked things over [biting holes in some things] and biting through the two 2-litre bottles of mineral water that I had on the floor in my spare room.

Nothing drastic but I definitely had a rat. I even saw it. Rather small but definitely a rat.

Hmmm. What to do, what to do.

Bingo - I remembered that I had bought some sticky mats for the mice, not that I ever used them, so put down two next to each other on the shelf where I had seen the ickle rat.



It was not a rat it was two rats.

What did the little Princess think of the ratties

Oh Malka! I have never used the sticky things - were they still alive when you found them?

She knew there was one around somewhere as she had a good sniff once I let her out of her crate in the morning, but never saw it. She was rather useless with the mice that she did sometimes see but they ran and hid faster than she could reach them.

Mice I accept but as I do not keep any food out they do not bother me.

Do not ask. The problem is what else can I use? When I first moved onto the Moshav and found that I had mice [everyone does] I bought some poison. And then I could smell a stink like you do not want to know. A mouse had noshed on some and then died in a corner...

...and melted.

Took days to get rid of the stench.

People have this idea that if you get safe traps, take them and the live mice away somewhere, they will not come back. Hah hah hah. See one mouse and you probably have dozens around.

So. The rats. Well I only thought there was one. I will not use poison because of the previous experience, and also because of Tikva [I did not even have Kat Kattypus when I first had the mouse experience, not that she ever bothered with them after I had moved and had MICE]. She would sit and watch them.

What was I supposed to do? I cannot poison them. Cannot use a supposed safety trap because where do I put it and then what do I do with a live rat in it?

After having disposed of the two small rats this morning I went across to the macolet and bought another dozen of those sticky things. I have put some on the shelves where the first two got cotched, and put others under places that Tikva cannot reach.
Did I kill them? I will not answer that but if they were still alive when I found them, they were not a few minutes later.

Please do not forget that these are/were NOT tame pet rats, they were not. And I do not want rats in my home, knocking over things in the kitchen - fancy cleaning up a 1lb container of Vitamin B enhanced Nutritional Yeast Flakes because the lid fell off when it was knocked from a high shelf onto the floor?

And I will not mention the two bottles of perfume that were knocked off my dressing table - RATS IN MY BEDROOM?

What would you have done? Made pets of them?

Tina might well have done!
I don't like them, and definitely wouldn't want them in my food or belongings. I have never had them indoors, but even outside I worry about them spreading leptospirosis to the dogs. Last year I found a juvenile drowned in a water butt, Ugh! Fortunately we have an area of decking, and OH has cut a couple of trapdoors so we are able to bait safely. The bait does go, but only slowly - mice? - we never see any corpses.

The water thing has always bothered me, which is why once Tikva [and Pereg and Little One before her] went to bed, and now Tikva goes in her crate, the water dish emptied and cleaned. First thing in the morning fresh water is put down and I never put a water dish outside.

No my ratties are fancy rats not sewer or water rats, now if they were young bunnies then yes might had kept them as they are cute just like my fancy rattties xx

Fancy rat going walkies


Sewer/water rat


Totally different rats in appearance

Umm - I think I have another one as this morning when I surfaced I found two broken seasoning bottles on the kitchen floor. Knocked down from a rather high shelf which, of course, had no space for a sticky wotsit.

Booger.

When we got my cat Pooks, we soon found about 7 mice dead around the house. We haven't seen a mouse indoors since (ten years ago!), though she does bring the occasional one to the front door as a classic "present". Hunter cats = NO MICE/RATS. She has lately absolutely DESTROYED the local rabbit population, killing about 8 baby bunnies systematically and leaving mangled corpses on the porch. Poor bunnies. We don't so much mind her killing rats, but we really didn't want her to kill bunnies. Oh, well.

@6JRT's - Having found yet another one on my dressing table about an hour ago, where I had carefully placed another sticky thing, whatever they are they are nothing like the picture you posted of sewer/water rats.

They are darkish grey, not really brown, and more like a large mouse only the mice we get here are tiny field mice.

Guess who is now stocked up on sticky things which I have put everywhere I can.

Do I feel guilty? No I do not.

Have you had heavy rains if so you could have them Norwegian rats, or Rattus Norvegrcus (ship rats) they seem to appear after heavy rains.

Tina - it is full summer and there has not been any proper rain for ages. The odd hour of an unexpected shower a while back but that is all.

Whatever these are, they are bigger than the tiny field mice but much smaller than I would expect a rat to be. I do not know what they are - I do not care what they are. I just do not want them in my home [especially in my bedroom!].

Cotched another one this morning.

What the heck am I supposed to do now?

Do you have pest control over there in Israel, if so it might be worth getting in touch with them, I would check all sewer & drainage points just to make sure they are not damaged.

Or your landlord?

No, no pest control and all sewer and drainage points are OK - I got them checked by Nir when I thought I had a pong. well before the rats appeared.

Pest control? We do not have dog control so mice or rat control - forget it.

I have no choice.. Use the sticky things. grab them and seal them in a plastic bag and chuck it;

As far as I can.

She gets her rent, she does not care. She does not see a a mouse therefore she does not have a mouse and as for a rat?

I KNOW she has mice - I have seen their droppings in her kitchen, but no, she says she does not have mice therefore I can not.

So tell me how come the macolet sells so much of these sticky traps?

Found this on line Malka perhaps your wild rats could be one of these

Israel is home to a large variety of small rodents, from the exotic sounding Bandicoot rat, Cairo spiny mouse, desert jerboa, nutria, and jirds to the more mundane sounding brown rats, mole rats and dormice.

Take your landlady one of the rats you have caught - she can hardly deny that you have them then