Creatures scurry above ceiling
I rent the 2nd floor apartment of a 4 story brick building in Cobble Hill. In the last few months, I have started to hear scurrying in the ceiling and a bit in the walls as well – I can only presume it’s a rat (or two…or three…). My landlord has rec’d complaints from myself…
I rent the 2nd floor apartment of a 4 story brick building in Cobble Hill. In the last few months, I have started to hear scurrying in the ceiling and a bit in the walls as well – I can only presume it’s a rat (or two…or three…). My landlord has rec’d complaints from myself and others in the building – especially from my neighbor in the 1st floor apartment, who was lucky enough to have a dead rat in her wall stink things up a bit. He has had an exterminator put poison in the basement on a few different occasions. While it appears the entry point is probably the basement, my landlord says he does not know how they are getting in. In addition to the apt on the 1st floor, there is a shop that does not sell food. On either side of us the businesses do not sell food, but two doors down is a deli. How do you get rats to leave their warm homes in my ceiling and get the heck out? Is it only a matter of time before one chews through something and gets into my apartment? Should I wait this out or just get the heck out? Besides for this clear issue, I love the apartment, but I’m wondering if I’m being too optimistic to think this problem can be solved.
if you have mice, then you don’t have rats. the two will not coexist in a building.
so in a way it’s good news to see a mouse. there are probably mice in nearly every building in nyc. but when they begin to invade your space, you should call an exterminator. and plug up holes where they enter your apartment.
I’ve had mice and squirrels in various apartments, and have also had BATS! All are a nuisance (and a potential health hazard) but mice and squirrels are much easier to catch. Continue to contact your landlord about an exterminator and pick up some traps or glue boards for your own apartment.
I once assured a tenant that what she was hearing was a mouse — don’t worry we would get it…. HA, it was a squirrel in the wall, which got in through a hole in part of the soffit on the roof. Rocky got in my apartment and had a field day, actually 2 days. If you hear tapping sounds they are mice but if it is a rackett, you might have squirrels. Get your landlord involved.
Thanks, guys. I appreciate the feedback. I’ve dealt with mice in other apartments, and while I’m sure we have those, too, it doesn’t appear to be beyond the typical NYC problem. The loud scurrying in the ceiling really does seem to be something “bigger.”
its a rat. mice are too quiet.
It’s probably mice. When something is scrabbling around in a wall, it usually sounds much larger than it actually is. Not that you should be thrilled about it either way. It’s easy to blame the landlord, but it sounds like he’s trying to address the problem. I doubt if there’s a building in New York that is rodent proof. Myself and my neighbors get mice every year in the fall and in the spring they head back outdoors, they have cats, I put down traps, it helps, but you still see one once in a while. Annoying little critters and they cause a lot of mischief in a pantry. If I loved the apartment, I’d put up with it, buying some tupperware containers for my food that stays outside like crackers, cookies, etc. but that’s just me.
Your Landlord should be addressing this problem – and obviously beyond simply stating “I dont know where they are coming in”
You/Landlord need a professional exterminator to 1. Look for evidence of rodents, trap and or poison them. 2. Find possible entry points and eliminate them.
If the landlord is unwilling to do this – the problem will never go away on its own.
Who knows what they are….maybe mice. You haven’t seen one yet which is good. I don’t like the poison idea — the results are what your neighbor experienced. The best is for your landlord to get an exterminator go through the house and put down traps in the basement and examine all corners to find out where they can get in.
Exterminators like Guido Amati from Bravo Exterminating, 212-465-7579 can do this. Guido is great.
But for you, I would highly recommend that you go on Amazon.com and buy a Rat Zapper. It is a clean and fast way to trap and kill mice. It is a plastic, box shaped trap — it uses 4 D batteries to electrify a metal plate on the inside bottom of the trap. You put in some bait — it comes with mouse “treats” or you can put peanut butter on a cracker inside. The mouse or rat enters the trap and is “zapped” or electrocuted quickly and you can dump the unfortunate rodent into the garbage without touching it.
I have one and it catches mice which manage to get into my basement from somewhere and from there into my kitchen. I had Rat Zapper which got wet from some rain coming through my kitchen window, which damaged and broke the Rat Zapper. But until then, it worked very well. I got another and it is just great. Talking to your landlord about getting an exterminator and getting a Rat Zapper should get the problem under control. Good luck.