[Dolly]

I think we've got a rat hiding somewhere behind the washing machine.
I've looked at various videos of the best way to catch one and also which traps are the best (spring/glue/bottle etc)
I want something that will kill it but not cause a mess which I then have to clean up


So.. what has anyone else used and what has worked ?

[tomtom]

Poison. It will then get very thirsty and go somewhere else to die.

If you put some down don't be surprised if none goes in the first night - rats and mice test new food. So they'll have a little on the first night - find they're alright - then fill their boots the next night. (Poison is designed to work that way).

Only downside is if it decides to die somewhere inside the house - it'll smell as it decomposes. Nice are too small to whiff when they rot.

[tomtom]

Or get a python

[Sloper]

Call your grandmother and give her a fly as a starter followed by a spider, after a few courses she'll be gagging for a rat.

[Muesli]

Jack  Russell 

[northerngreg]

Use a proper break-it's-neck type trap. I had to modify mine as they were very good at taking the food without setting it off - I simply screwed the food down to the bait plate. Biscuits worked the best, crunch creams being a particular favourite of the rats (and mine).

They don't really make a mess, a small trickle of blood maybe. Be prepared though - they can end up trapped by a leg or tail and still be alive. Have a suitable length of wood ready to twat it round the head and finish it right off.

[tomtom]

For mice they preferred the gooey bits of Mars bars.. (Advantage is they stick to the bait thingy too)

[andyd]

Jack  Russell 

Yep, good in a barn, not sure how it'll get under the kitchen units.

I'd take the board off the base of the units, poke it out with a broom, corner it, trap it, then dispose of it.

[tomtom]

If theres one - there will be more than one...

Chemical warfare...

Andy, MrsTT's folks had a squirrel get under their kitchen units (long story) and try as we could to poke the bugger out it wouldnt. In the end it crawled up the gap between the back of the units and the wall and looked stuck :/ or at least refused to come out...

In the end we left a trail of nuts accross the kitchen floor and the window open and it left of its own accord overnight!

[nic mullin]

Use a proper break-it's-neck type trap. I had to modify mine as they were very good at taking the food without setting it off - I simply screwed the food down to the bait plate. Biscuits worked the best, crunch creams being a particular favourite of the rats (and mine).

They don't really make a mess, a small trickle of blood maybe. Be prepared though - they can end up trapped by a leg or tail and still be alive. Have a suitable length of wood ready to twat it round the head and finish it right off.

+1 for proper traps - if you user the bottle method you have to release them miles away or dispatch them by hand, and glue traps seem unnecessaily cruel. I don't know if poison is harmful to cats, carrion eating birds etc that might eat the rat later on, but that was a worry for me.

With mice I found smooth peanut butter worked well as bait - they can't pull a lump off to eat somewhere else so have to put their head in the trap to lick the bait and are killed instantly when it goes off.

Rats might be smarter, quicker or less keen on peanut better though. 

[fatdoc]

Poison. Mice trap poison, it's warfarin. U can buy the traps from the DIY store down from yours, on abbey lane. used them to clear the mice nest in my garage last winter.

[Dolly]

Thanks for all the replies.
Will post back how I get on

[SA Chris]

+1 for proper traps ....With mice I found smooth peanut butter worked well as bait - they can't pull a lump off to eat somewhere else so have to put their head in the trap to lick the bait and are killed instantly when it goes off.

+ 1 as well. Poison and glue seem like horrible way to make it die. There's not a lot of mess left either. We used raisins slid pressed over the bait lever thewn covered in peanut butter. Peanut butter itself is too easy to remove without setting the trap off, and chocolate is too good for them!

[Mike Tyson]

Another vote for peanut butter from me. I've got five mice and counting in my house with traps and peanut butter. Next door to me have had issues with rats (I live in a semi detached house so by default I had the same issue!) They got a proper "rat man" in, he used poison and the problem has been resolved.

I live by myself, and winter can be a lonely time. But I'm more than happy to eliminate mice and rats, they are shite company!

[casa]

[SA Chris]

We used to get an influx coming into the house in springtime when they woke up and harvest time when the fields behind us got harvested. Usually half a dozen at a time. Downside of loft insulation and cavity walls is they make excellent nesting spots.

[webbo]

We also get an influx at harvest time, mainly in bits as presents from the cats.

[Lund]

I would just add to this trail that if it is a rat, stop thinking about it as a mouse.  It might be big, much much bigger than you imagine.

A couple of years ago I lived in a ground floor flat, with a cat, and where the sash window in the bedroom had a low sill that backed onto the back garden with a little wall outside.  It was summer, and hot, and we had the window open a bit.  In the middle of the night the missus heard a noise, but not much of one - and her start woke me up too.  Nothing more happened, so we went back to sleep.  Next morning, showered, breakfasted etc., and the cat wondered in whilst the missus was drying her hair in the bedroom.  It rolled around on the bed a bit, playing with the coverlet and fell off the bed.  As cats do, it kind of landed on all fours.

It froze there, on all fours, staring intently under the wardrobe (right in the corner, by the bed).  There is nothing under there but empty rucksacks and bags and shit, but it's behaviour was odd enough that the missus called me in.

The cat just sat there, crouched low on all fours, staring.

Curious, I started pulling bags out, one at a time.  When I got to the last one, something shot out from under the wardrobe and along the skirting board to the opposite corner.  The missus screamed, and the cat legged it out of the room (scared by the scream I think).

The fucking thing was the size of a rabbit (not including the tail).

It was a true battle to catch the fucking thing, they are FAST, and the screaming noises it made in distress were terrible.

The cat did not want any part of it whatsoever.  I had to catch the cat and trap it in the room with me and the rat, because it was better at spotting the rat than me and would stare at the right corner of the room.  From the opposite one.  The two almost collided at one point in all the action and the cat was definitely not happy.  This cat had half of one ear and a shorted tail and basically was a fucking neighbourhood pitbull.

I would suggest:
* Cat for mice
* A professional for rats indoors (they don't always go outside to die, and a dying rat under floorboards is bad)
* Dog for rats outdoors.

[Dolly]

Set the trap with peanut butter on Friday night. Caught a smallish rat and cobbed it in the bin on Saturday am. Thanks for the replies

[tomtom]

Keep it out Dolly .. Where there's one...