Rats in my kitchen cupboard?
I've been living in a 3rd floor apartment in an old Georgian building since last summer.
Over the last few months, I've been very busy with work and not been at my flat an awful lot. I've also had very little time to do any cleaning.
This means I've sometimes been leaving unwashed dishes in the sink or on the worktops, and my flat in general went a good 6 weeks without getting tidied or cleaned at all!
Over the last couple months (since February) I've started to suspect I may have a rat / mice problem. It started in Feb when one night I heard some rustling in the vicinity of one of my kitchen cupboards, it wasn't amazingly loud and I couldn't see anything in the cupboard so I thought maybe it was my neighbour routing around in one of their cupboards (the walls aren't too thick).
A couple weeks later I heard the same kind of thing again.
Then a few days ago I noticed something quite alarming when I opened my cupboard door, as a loaf of bread looked like it had had a right good 'seeing to' from something. A hole had somehow appeared on the side of the bag and a pile or breadcrumbs was lying on the floor of the cupboard.
Clearly something had been gnawing on it, quite a horrible thought
Ive not noticed any other signs however, such as rodent droppings or squeaking noises… apparently they leave a horrible smell around too, but I've not noticed that either.
Could this be my own fault for not keeping my flat spick & span? Also should I have been keeping foods such as bread and cereal in tupperware boxes as opposed to just in their opened bags that they came in?
I now have a lot more time on my hands and can therefore keep my flat clean again, here is my plan of action:
Does this sound like it should do the trick? Is this something I should tell my landlord about or should I just try and handle it on my own?
Over the last few months, I've been very busy with work and not been at my flat an awful lot. I've also had very little time to do any cleaning.
This means I've sometimes been leaving unwashed dishes in the sink or on the worktops, and my flat in general went a good 6 weeks without getting tidied or cleaned at all!
Over the last couple months (since February) I've started to suspect I may have a rat / mice problem. It started in Feb when one night I heard some rustling in the vicinity of one of my kitchen cupboards, it wasn't amazingly loud and I couldn't see anything in the cupboard so I thought maybe it was my neighbour routing around in one of their cupboards (the walls aren't too thick).
A couple weeks later I heard the same kind of thing again.
Then a few days ago I noticed something quite alarming when I opened my cupboard door, as a loaf of bread looked like it had had a right good 'seeing to' from something. A hole had somehow appeared on the side of the bag and a pile or breadcrumbs was lying on the floor of the cupboard.
Clearly something had been gnawing on it, quite a horrible thought
Ive not noticed any other signs however, such as rodent droppings or squeaking noises… apparently they leave a horrible smell around too, but I've not noticed that either.
Could this be my own fault for not keeping my flat spick & span? Also should I have been keeping foods such as bread and cereal in tupperware boxes as opposed to just in their opened bags that they came in?
I now have a lot more time on my hands and can therefore keep my flat clean again, here is my plan of action:
1.
put cotton wool balls soaked in peppermint oil in kitchen cupboards (I read this can be an effective way to deter / scare away rodents)
2.
give my flat a good clean throughout
3.
bin all the food from my cupboards
4.
keep all food in tupperware boxes from now on (or the fridge)
5.
keep my flat nice and clean!
Does this sound like it should do the trick? Is this something I should tell my landlord about or should I just try and handle it on my own?
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by dannyj88
I've been living in a 3rd floor apartment in an old Georgian building since last summer.
Over the last few months, I've been very busy with work and not been at my flat an awful lot. I've also had very little time to do any cleaning.
This means I've sometimes been leaving unwashed dishes in the sink or on the worktops, and my flat in general went a good 6 weeks without getting tidied or cleaned at all!
Over the last couple months (since February) I've started to suspect I may have a rat / mice problem. It started in Feb when one night I heard some scratching in the vicinity of one of my kitchen cupboards, it wasn't amazingly loud and I couldn't see anything in the cupboard so I thought maybe it was my neighbour routing around in one of their cupboards (the walls aren't too thick).
A couple weeks later I heard the same kind of thing again.
Then a few days ago I noticed something quite alarming when I opened my cupboard door, as a loaf of bread looked like it had had a right good 'seeing to' from something. A hole had somehow appeared on the side of the bag and a pile or breadcrumbs was lying on the floor of the cupboard.
Clearly something had been gnawing on it, quite a horrible thought
Ive not noticed any other signs however, such as rodent droppings or squeaking noises… apparently they leave a horrible smell around too, but I've not noticed that either.
Could this be my own fault for not keeping my flat spick & span? Also should I have been keeping foods such as bread and cereal in tupperware boxes as opposed to just in their opened bags that they came in?
I now have a lot more time on my hands and can therefore keep my flat clean again, here is my plan of action:
Does this sound like it should do the trick? Is this something I should tell my landlord about or should I just try and handle it on my own?
Over the last few months, I've been very busy with work and not been at my flat an awful lot. I've also had very little time to do any cleaning.
This means I've sometimes been leaving unwashed dishes in the sink or on the worktops, and my flat in general went a good 6 weeks without getting tidied or cleaned at all!
Over the last couple months (since February) I've started to suspect I may have a rat / mice problem. It started in Feb when one night I heard some scratching in the vicinity of one of my kitchen cupboards, it wasn't amazingly loud and I couldn't see anything in the cupboard so I thought maybe it was my neighbour routing around in one of their cupboards (the walls aren't too thick).
A couple weeks later I heard the same kind of thing again.
Then a few days ago I noticed something quite alarming when I opened my cupboard door, as a loaf of bread looked like it had had a right good 'seeing to' from something. A hole had somehow appeared on the side of the bag and a pile or breadcrumbs was lying on the floor of the cupboard.
Clearly something had been gnawing on it, quite a horrible thought
Ive not noticed any other signs however, such as rodent droppings or squeaking noises… apparently they leave a horrible smell around too, but I've not noticed that either.
Could this be my own fault for not keeping my flat spick & span? Also should I have been keeping foods such as bread and cereal in tupperware boxes as opposed to just in their opened bags that they came in?
I now have a lot more time on my hands and can therefore keep my flat clean again, here is my plan of action:
1.
put cotton wool balls soaked in peppermint oil in kitchen cupboards (I read this can be an effective way to deter / scare away rodents)
2.
give my flat a good clean throughout
3.
bin all the food from my cupboards
4.
keep all food in tupperware boxes from now on (or the fridge)
5.
keep my flat nice and clean!
Does this sound like it should do the trick? Is this something I should tell my landlord about or should I just try and handle it on my own?
Peppermint balls - ?@!
Just get rat poison - tell your landlord - he should sort it out - it is a health hazard and stop being such a slob. Rats carry diseases
Original post by squeakysquirrel
Peppermint balls - ?@!
Peppermint balls - ?@!
There is a lot of material online to suggest that this works, as rodents apparently cannot stand the smell of peppermint and will therefore stay away from it
Original post by squeakysquirrel
Just get rat poison
Just get rat poison
I'd rather deter rats than have them slowly dying in my kitchen, probably in areas that I can't get to
Original post by squeakysquirrel
tell your landlord - he should sort it out
tell your landlord - he should sort it out
If this were some kind of infestation then sure, but with the mild evidence I have I don't see what they would be willing to do
Original post by squeakysquirrel
stop being such a slob
stop being such a slob
I've barely had time to sleep over the last few months and have hardly even been at my flat... I am not a slob
Original post by squeakysquirrel
Rats carry diseases
Rats carry diseases
That's why I'm looking to get rid of them (if they're even still around)
Just put some poison down or a trap and see if anything bites. When you find whatever it is, get onto your landlord. Make sure you give your apartment a HUGE clean after you've gotten rid of the rat/mice/whatever it is problem. You might want to check around to see if there are any holes anywhere else in the flat where you've noticed possible signs of visitors. We had tons of rats on our allotment when we first recieved it, you can't really deter them, you need to get rid of them asap.
Original post by dannyj88
There is a lot of material online to suggest that this works, as rodents apparently cannot stand the smell of peppermint and will therefore stay away from it
I'd rather deter rats than have them slowly dying in my kitchen, probably in areas that I can't get to
If this were some kind of infestation then sure, but with the mild evidence I have I don't see what they would be willing to do
I've barely had time to sleep over the last few months and have hardly even been at my flat... I am not a slob
That's why I'm looking to get rid of them (if they're even still around)
I'd rather deter rats than have them slowly dying in my kitchen, probably in areas that I can't get to
If this were some kind of infestation then sure, but with the mild evidence I have I don't see what they would be willing to do
I've barely had time to sleep over the last few months and have hardly even been at my flat... I am not a slob
That's why I'm looking to get rid of them (if they're even still around)
Oh for heavens sake grow up. Rats are vermin and they carry diseases
Original post by melinae
Just put some poison down or a trap and see if anything bites. When you find whatever it is, get onto your landlord. Make sure you give your apartment a HUGE clean after you've gotten rid of the rat/mice/whatever it is problem. You might want to check around to see if there are any holes anywhere else in the flat where you've noticed possible signs of visitors. We had tons of rats on our allotment when we first recieved it, you can't really deter them, you need to get rid of them asap.
Thanks, I think I'll give a trap a try and see if anything ends up in it! At least that way it can't hobble off into a small hole and rot there
Original post by Genocidal
You're a slob. I don't care how busy you are. If you're not cleaning your flat for six weeks at one point you're a slob.
You don't know what I've had going on in said 6 weeks, so until then please keep your ignorant opinions to yourself
There's a rat in my kitchen what I'm gonna do
There's a rat in my kitchen what am I gonna do
Ima fix that rat, that's what ima do, ima fix that rat.
No? No one else heard this song ever?
Oh..okay..
There's a rat in my kitchen what am I gonna do
Ima fix that rat, that's what ima do, ima fix that rat.
No? No one else heard this song ever?
Oh..okay..
Probably more likely mice than rats; all your plans are a good start. Also try and tidy stuff so that things are kept off the floor and away from the skirting boards (as they like to stick close to the edges of the room and if there's stuff propped against it/cluttered round them that just gives them more places for them to run around) and try and locate any holes they might be getting through (mice can fit through anything the size of a pencil); you can block them up with wire wool, or foil does the trick quite well I've found.
We had a mouse problem a while back; there were no signs of droppings, just scrabbling noises, and then suddenly we saw two in the space of a day, so we made everything super tidy and clean (and you don't have to really messy to end up with mice; lots of small things will encourage them in just fine) I went round and blocked up any holes I could see (not easy, we live in a flat in an old house and it's full of holes) and got some traps and within a few days there were no more signs of them.
I definitely had them in my room, but I didn't catch any in there-the cultural control (blocking up holes/getting rid of the bags I had on the floor-particularly my knitting bag which was full of wool) was enough to discourage them.
Also, with the weather getting warmer they may also be less inclined to inhabit your house anyway; most house mice in the UK are actually field mice that come inside during the winter.
We had a mouse problem a while back; there were no signs of droppings, just scrabbling noises, and then suddenly we saw two in the space of a day, so we made everything super tidy and clean (and you don't have to really messy to end up with mice; lots of small things will encourage them in just fine) I went round and blocked up any holes I could see (not easy, we live in a flat in an old house and it's full of holes) and got some traps and within a few days there were no more signs of them.
I definitely had them in my room, but I didn't catch any in there-the cultural control (blocking up holes/getting rid of the bags I had on the floor-particularly my knitting bag which was full of wool) was enough to discourage them.
Also, with the weather getting warmer they may also be less inclined to inhabit your house anyway; most house mice in the UK are actually field mice that come inside during the winter.
(edited 10 years ago)
thanks for the tips guys (also nice to see a lot of the pointless contributions by that keyboard warrior 'Genocidal' have been removed... gutted for him).
I've placed a mouse trap in the kitchen cupboard where I heard the noises and found the mound of bread! I've also left a rat trap in the same cupboard just incase, both with peanut butter and bread for bait
My flat is now nice and clean, but as for clearing any clutter away from the edges of the rooms, this could be a little tricky. Even when my flat is clean & tidy, I just generally *own* so much stuff that it seems to be impossible to get clutter-free, as my flat is pretty small
I may try and just stack everything upwards (e.g. 'dvds / books on top of the wardrobe' kinda fashion)
Let's see what happens then! I'm a little uncertain about whether I *do* or *don't* want to find any rodent corpses in my cupboard come to think of it...
I've placed a mouse trap in the kitchen cupboard where I heard the noises and found the mound of bread! I've also left a rat trap in the same cupboard just incase, both with peanut butter and bread for bait
My flat is now nice and clean, but as for clearing any clutter away from the edges of the rooms, this could be a little tricky. Even when my flat is clean & tidy, I just generally *own* so much stuff that it seems to be impossible to get clutter-free, as my flat is pretty small
I may try and just stack everything upwards (e.g. 'dvds / books on top of the wardrobe' kinda fashion)
Let's see what happens then! I'm a little uncertain about whether I *do* or *don't* want to find any rodent corpses in my cupboard come to think of it...
(edited 10 years ago)
okay so it looks like it is mice after all! The reason I know that? Not because I've seen one for myself, but because the lady in the flat nextdoor asked me if I have mice!
She's caught a couple, and apparently those in the flats below have mice too (we need to ask those on the bottom floor though).
Looks like I'll be straight on the phone tomorrow to the landlord, as I imagine it must be a pretty bad infestation for them to be all over the building like this? It is an old building afterall, with holes all over the place.
What should I expect the landlord to do? Call the pest control? Or maybe they need to do some serious work to the building so that mice can't get in so easily?
She's caught a couple, and apparently those in the flats below have mice too (we need to ask those on the bottom floor though).
Looks like I'll be straight on the phone tomorrow to the landlord, as I imagine it must be a pretty bad infestation for them to be all over the building like this? It is an old building afterall, with holes all over the place.
What should I expect the landlord to do? Call the pest control? Or maybe they need to do some serious work to the building so that mice can't get in so easily?
Few month before, I use see a small rat rooming in my house, I brought Rat Kill Throw packs cakes which was suggested to me by rat control sacramento team. I kept whose cakes in all the possible places and when rat eat those cakes, gas produces in their stomach. Then are unable to release the gas and at last they dies. For more refer: stocktonca.pinnaclepest.com/
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