rat under stoop

A large rat had been living under the plywood cover over my metal cellar hatch in the front area. I removed the cover and the rat ran under my stoop. Any ideas on how to get him to leave the area under the stoop and stay away? Incense? Smoke? Peppermint oil?

slimc

in General Discussion 5 years and 1 month ago

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cate | 5 years and 1 month ago

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We had this problem, cleared out and cleaned everything under the stoop, problem appeared to be solved for many months. Then the rat or rats came back. Then we put up metal mesh sweeping under and at the sides of the metal gate under the stoop so the rat couldn’t get in. That seemed to work too for a while. Then we discovered holes under the stoop, into which we’ve put poison and temporarily stopped up with steel wool. Rat doesn’t seem to be getting into the space under the stoop any more, but the rat seems to still be living in its tunnels underground under the stoop.

stevecym | 5 years and 1 month ago

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see if there is a food source. that is the one thing the pros seem to suggest. we had a neighbor feeding pigeons. a rat came a long. the neighbor moved, the rat left. we also had skunks here so i set up a wildlife cam to get some pics of them. we fed them for a little while, so i could show the pics to my son. soon we were picking up a rat on the photos. so we stopped the free lunches and both the skunks and rat found a better deal and moved on. if you are not sure of were he is moving, in and out, try a $30 wildlife cam. we had a lot of fun with ours while it lasted.

slimc | 5 years and 1 month ago

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I trashed the plywood cover I had been using to weather and sound-proof the hatch. I cleaned the area under the stoop with bleach. There is a concrete floor under the stoop and there are no cracks. So now it’s just a matter of killing the rat or making him stay away.

stevecym | 5 years and 1 month ago

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the smoke does not work that well. my uncle used to have an aviary – pheasants and quail and i watched him plug up all the holes and then put the smoke sticks in to fill the nests with smoke and these rats always seemed to have all sorts of emergency exits to run out of. they would be scurrying all over the place and would get away and all it did was annoy my uncle. it was funny to watch though. he resorted to poisons and used to get them at agway (this was eastern long island, this one in southold). see what you can find. in the end, i think the rats only left when he got rid of the birds .

this is going to be a tough battle, me thinks.

slimc | 5 years and 1 month ago

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Thanks!

NeoGrec | 5 years and 1 month ago

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Agree with no-permitz. Tough solutions are the best. You don’t want this problem to persist.

yudashasom | 5 years and 1 month ago

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  ["caps"]=>
  array(1) {
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["cap_key"]=>
  string(15) "wp_capabilities"
  ["roles"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(10) "subscriber"
  }
  ["allcaps"]=>
  array(3) {
    ["read"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["level_0"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

Poison or traps.

But a more permanent solution would be to replace the plywood with a steel hatch and clear any clutter under the stoop. If the floor under the stoop is dirt, you should replace it with concrete. If there is concrete already, inspect for holes and gaps.