Forum
« Salvage Mobile's 1st Stop on Saturday: Where to Go Ethics-free Parking? »
September 23, 2008
Rats
I've just noticed rats coming into our backyard through our fence. There is no food or garbage in our yard. Our neighbors aren't dirty either, but their garden is more overgrown.
Does anyone have experience with the beginnings of a rat problem, and solutions? I'm all for getting an exterminator, but if they're coming in from neighboring properties, how good is an exterminator going to be?
Comments
Big Cats.
Posted by: Iknow at September 23, 2008 9:03 AM
Until the rats are a problem INSIDE your house, you'd be better off just thinking of them as less cute squirrels. If they do become an indoor problem "Iknow's" solution would work better than anything else.
Posted by: Bob Marvin at September 23, 2008 9:34 AM
They'll be inside soon. Winter's coming!!!!
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 23, 2008 9:47 AM
Hi David, the Salvage Mobile is coming down on Saturday from around 10am until 2 pm. Any thoughts on the first block to stop on? We are looking for one with a few brownstone renovations (or gut jobs) going on. Thanks. Fred
Posted by: Iknow at September 23, 2008 10:03 AM
Hey- I know- what is this salvage mobile thing? Are you buying it or selling it? Sounds very interesting
As for the rats- we had this problem in the east village when people two doors down were renovating. They dug holes in the yard and they also tries to get inside. You need an exterminator. A cat won't help, and unlike Mice- the rats will chew your wirese, plumbing, beams, etc once they get in.
Posted by: Park Place at September 23, 2008 10:17 AM
We do both, but our main reason for coming down to Brookly is for selling. We currently come to Brooklyn Flea once a month and will be there on Oct 5th, but salvage hasn't sold there and many things are large. Since our prices are low compared to NYC prices, there can be significant savings if we have what people need.
Posted by: Iknow at September 23, 2008 10:42 AM
We have cats inside on the first floor, and the tenants have some on the second floor. I do think the rats will move into the basement once the weather changes. I haven't seen signs of them inside yet, but they are coming right up to the storm door.
An exterminator seems like the obvious choice, except I can see them coming from the more overgrown neighbor's yard. So the logical thing would be to work with my neighbors together on this, except that THEIR neighbor also has an overgrown yard. It seems a problem that just setting bait and traps in one or two yards might not fix.
Posted by: corolla at September 23, 2008 11:25 AM
Let the cats in the basement and keep some good ripe kitty litter there as well. Where there is one, there are many and natural preditors are deterrents.
Posted by: Iknow at September 23, 2008 12:01 PM
Yeah... with regard to the cats... make sure their big nasty cats. The average rat is pretty damn big. Is the average cat going to attack and try to eat something half its size? Or bigger?
What about installing a little electric fence? :-)
Posted by: tybur6 at September 23, 2008 12:09 PM
If the rats are not already in the basement, allowing the cats access to the basement may prevent the rats moving in. Rats and mice don't like the smell of cat urine/feces so keeping soiled litter down there is a good idea. If the rats have already moved in, don't send the cats down there because rats will put up a fight and will injure your cats. Cats cannot deal with a significant rat infestation, but they can deal with one or two rats, and will prevent an infestation. I think that you should go around your yard and house and try to block as many points of ingress as possible. If you're getting the exterminator, make sure he knows that you have cats, you don't want to poison your pets, or your tenant's pets.
Posted by: bohuma at September 23, 2008 1:10 PM
There's really no stopping a rat from getting inside, it'll chew through almost anything.
-Try to fence your yard as solid as possible.
-Call the city and they will send an exterminator with real strong poison, they will dig it where the problem is.
-If all elses fails... MOVE.
Posted by: Brooklyns_da_Boro at September 23, 2008 3:41 PM
You really should try and talk with your neighbors about it and put up a collaborative fight. We did this after talking with an exterminator who noticed burrows in the backyards. You can buy the rat poison boxes online (the black triangular looking things) and place them in your yards. Squirrels and other animals cannot access the poison. Word of warning though. You will be dealing with clearing away rat carcasses on a daily basis for a couple of weeks. We were shocked how many there were. Be sure to refill the rat poison.
We had the rat problem about 4 years ago and haven't seen them since. (fingers crossed
Posted by: ilikeslices at September 23, 2008 3:46 PM
really call a professional ASAP. i moved into new construction and discovered that a rat had gotten trapped within the walls. I used Abosolute Death at the time (a couple of years ago), and they simply had solutions that I wouldn't have considered. The rat turned up dead in the mechanical room of the building (it's a condo, so the super handled it). We now have a monthly exterminator come by - he does the whole building - and no more problems. That was an isolated rat though, if you see multiple rats, watch out.
in the short run, go buy those black triangle boxes with the holes in them. do it now.
also, you can tack down rubber strips at the bottom of your exterior doors to prevent vermin from coming in that way.
Posted by: wine lover at September 23, 2008 4:36 PM
Post a comment
Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.