Attic pest solution

[abbadon]

Got these rodents that think they are smarter thank the traps and poison and bait and glue etc. and just run to a corner up in the attic and stand and stare like "what you gonna do" and my first thought was let grab my 22 colibri and "be seeing you" soon through the reticle. But then I reconsider, maybe 38 cal shot shells or snake shot, dont want to miss and penetrate the soft plywood (humid/moldy/wooodrot who knows) before the roof is replaced. Should I break down and go pellet gun instead?

Read More

 

[arakboss]

Got these rodents that think they are smarter thank the traps and poison and bait and glue etc. and just run to a corner up in the attic and stand and stare like "what you gonna do" and my first thought was let grab my 22 colibri and "be seeing you" soon through the reticle. But then I reconsider, maybe 38 cal shot shells or snake shot, dont want to miss and penetrate the soft plywood (humid/moldy/wooodrot who knows) before the roof is replaced. Should I break down and go pellet gun instead?

What type of rodents?

 

[PiratePast40]

Ratinator. because dead animals in your attic are not a good idea.

 

[ATCclears]

+1 for the Ratinator. I had one for the barn and it worked well. One rat would go in, and others would follow thinking their buddy had discovered something good.

 

[Stomper]

I say you light the attic on fire... that'll get rid of them permanently!

 

[arakboss]

I could loan you my neighbors cat. Let it live up there for as long as you want. No hurry to return it.

 

[TTSX]

Your first thought is to shoot your house?

 

[tkdguy]

LEAF BLOWER AND CLOSE THE HOUSE UP AND MAYBE PUT TRAPS IN THERE?

 

[Nosferatu]

You need a snake.

 

[1775usmc]

Hand grenades are the correct answer.

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

Sounds like squirrels. What time are the sounds up there active? Early morning thru early evening or are you hearing things at night?

I'm leaning towards squirrels.. while rats can be tricky, bait shyness isn't super common amongst them.. they'll feed on that fairly well.. I just prefer to trap as to not have something die in an area I cannot access. They should be feeding if it's standard block type bait or even that green meal type bait. Don't waste your time with the stuff that looks like compressed wood pellets.. I see a lot of people use that type of bait.. while some rodents "may" feed on it and it may not be a secondary poison "bait" it's garbage. The acceptance rate with that bait is so low it's worthless compared to the standard type bait blocks, Standard bait blocks just work better. Take peanut butter and smear it on the blocks to expedite the feeding/acceptance process.

HOWEVER, if you have squirrels they are neophobic when it comes to new food sources and they won't really touch that stuff regardless. Building them out and sealing the entry point is sometimes an easier approach. Plus they are fairly hardy so they can take a wack from a trap and live (large rats can as well.. but squirrels are a level above rats).

If they have got around traps, bait and glue boards.. it does sound like squirrel activity to me. I've had a few tricky rats before but bait always works if I cannot trap them due to trap-shyness occurring.

Is the attic accessible
(as in can you get around up there)
or is the roof on the exterior accessible
(as in can you get to the entry point to seal it?)
Seal with metal, if you use wood or if there is a slight gap they can gnaw their way back in (squirrels I mean) they will. Metal or really seal up the area with a solid amount of wood. It really depends on the entry point.. but metal works best (hardware cloth or sheet metal cut to size with tin snips).

Rats can chew back in too, but if it's enough work, they can give up unless the sealing job is sub par.
Simple expandable foam is not enough. Metal works or using so much wood that it would take too much effort to chew through will work as well.. but any media they can chew through may not stop the problem.. thus I go with metal.

However, if it's rats with some time you can reprogram them to not be trap-shy but it will take a little while.

Curious to hear more about the details. PM if you have any questions. I run into this a lot.

Within your attic, if accessible enough you could just hang out up there during the active timeframe you typically hear him and just pop him that way with a pellet gun. Being your house.. that is a possibility. Obviously, be safe, but that may be a quick and dirty solution.. but if the attic isn't accessible then back to square one with building it out/baiting.

 

[abbadon]

What type of rodents?

Have only seen mice but signs of larger rats.

Ratinator. because dead animals in your attic are not a good idea.

Now that's something, probably the only thing. I havent tried. I do avoid the poison only so they don't die somewhere I can't get to. It's a relatively small and accessible area closed off from the rest that used to be a storage area before it was varmint apartment.

I've slowly added everything I can think of over the last week or two with no luck, and yeah one of ladies finally said I should buy a cat.

But on the relevant topic, think a powderless colibri has any danger of penetration? I remember using phone books as backstops once upon a time. 8 ft-lbs iirc. I want to say ricochet was more of a problem than penetration with hard backstops, though I'd rather not experiment with the actually wall/or ceiling. On the other hand, it would be a good excuse to explore the world of pellet guns and get myself something fun for christmas.

 

[Black Dog]

If they won't go for peanut butter with sun flower seeds stuck in it on a snap trap you have some really picky critters.

 

[Tlock]

I say you light the attic on fire... that'll get rid of them permanently!

This♤♤♤♤♤

Being in the industry 20 year i approve!!

 

[bcp]

I had squirrels in the attic, but didn't want to seal the hole if some might be inside. I opened the access door in the ceiling and laid a long board as a ramp so the cat could go into the attic at will. The cat loved it. After a few days I no longer heard squirrels, so closed the squirrel hole. The squirrels never tried to return because they knew about the cat.

Bruce

 

[jbett98]

A Hav-A-Hart trap is very good with squirrels and rats.
I place a piece of cardboard with some Jiffy peanut butter smeared on it and then some whole peanuts still in the shells tossed on top for good measure.

 

[Tony617]

My younger sister and BIL had to pay a small fortune to dry wall their home. They had mice inside the drywall and installation in their basement so all of drywall and insulation had to replaced. It was a huge mess. Now they an exterminator that sets outside mousetraps and other things. They live on 1 acre with a lot of trees so that attracts wild life.

 

[albin25]

About a year ago my neighbor located the entrance point, went inside to the attic and sprayed the area with pepper spray. So far the "trespassers" haven't returned. He gave it couple days then fixed the outside hole with a piece of tin.
There wasn't any noticeable odor in the house.

 

[spookshack]

Sounds like squirrels. What time are the sounds up there active? Early morning thru early evening or are you hearing things at night?

I'm leaning towards squirrels.. while rats can be tricky, bait shyness isn't super common amongst them.. they'll feed on that fairly well.. I just prefer to trap as to not have something die in an area I cannot access. They should be feeding if it's standard block type bait or even that green meal type bait. Don't waste your time with the stuff that looks like compressed wood pellets.. I see a lot of people use that type of bait.. while some rodents "may" feed on it and it may not be a secondary poison "bait" it's garbage. The acceptance rate with that bait is so low it's worthless compared to the standard type bait blocks, Standard bait blocks just work better. Take peanut butter and smear it on the blocks to expedite the feeding/acceptance process.

HOWEVER, if you have squirrels they are neophobic when it comes to new food sources and they won't really touch that stuff regardless. Building them out and sealing the entry point is sometimes an easier approach. Plus they are fairly hardy so they can take a wack from a trap and live (large rats can as well.. but squirrels are a level above rats).

If they have got around traps, bait and glue boards.. it does sound like squirrel activity to me. I've had a few tricky rats before but bait always works if I cannot trap them due to trap-shyness occurring.

Is the attic accessible
(as in can you get around up there)
or is the roof on the exterior accessible
(as in can you get to the entry point to seal it?)
Seal with metal, if you use wood or if there is a slight gap they can gnaw their way back in (squirrels I mean) they will. Metal or really seal up the area with a solid amount of wood. It really depends on the entry point.. but metal works best (hardware cloth or sheet metal cut to size with tin snips).

Rats can chew back in too, but if it's enough work, they can give up unless the sealing job is sub par.
Simple expandable foam is not enough. Metal works or using so much wood that it would take too much effort to chew through will work as well.. but any media they can chew through may not stop the problem.. thus I go with metal.

However, if it's rats with some time you can reprogram them to not be trap-shy but it will take a little while.

Curious to hear more about the details. PM if you have any questions. I run into this a lot.

Within your attic, if accessible enough you could just hang out up there during the active timeframe you typically hear him and just pop him that way with a pellet gun. Being your house.. that is a possibility. Obviously, be safe, but that may be a quick and dirty solution.. but if the attic isn't accessible then back to square one with building it out/baiting.

TLDR.

 

[abbadon]

This♤♤♤♤♤

Being in the industry 20 year i approve!!

I'm getting that point!

If they won't go for peanut butter with sun flower seeds stuck in it on a snap trap you have some really picky critters.

They are great at eating it out of trap without setting it off, be it metal bar or plastic teeth and large and small

Sounds like squirrels. What time are the sounds up there active? Early morning thru early evening or are you hearing things at night?

Pretty much anytime, thought its has happened quite a bit during the day time to rule out anything strictly nocturnal, though they have may be been living there for years. I hadn't considered squirrels, that is a good possibility.

I'm leaning towards squirrels.. while rats can be tricky, bait shyness isn't super common amongst them.. they'll feed on that fairly well.. I just prefer to trap as to not have something die in an area I cannot access. They should be feeding if it's standard block type bait or even that green meal type bait. Don't waste your time with the stuff that looks like compressed wood pellets.. I see a lot of people use that type of bait.. while some rodents "may" feed on it and it may not be a secondary poison "bait" it's garbage. The acceptance rate with that bait is so low it's worthless compared to the standard type bait blocks, Standard bait blocks just work better. Take peanut butter and smear it on the blocks to expedite the feeding/acceptance process.

HOWEVER, if you have squirrels they are neophobic when it comes to new food sources and they won't really touch that stuff regardless. Building them out and sealing the entry point is sometimes an easier approach. Plus they are fairly hardy so they can take a wack from a trap and live (large rats can as well.. but squirrels are a level above rats).

If they have got around traps, bait and glue boards.. it does sound like squirrel activity to me. I've had a few tricky rats before but bait always works if I cannot trap them due to trap-shyness occurring.

Is the attic accessible
(as in can you get around up there)
or is the roof on the exterior accessible
(as in can you get to the entry point to seal it?)
Seal with metal, if you use wood or if there is a slight gap they can gnaw their way back in (squirrels I mean) they will. Metal or really seal up the area with a solid amount of wood. It really depends on the entry point.. but metal works best (hardware cloth or sheet metal cut to size with tin snips).

Rats can chew back in too, but if it's enough work, they can give up unless the sealing job is sub par.
Simple expandable foam is not enough. Metal works or using so much wood that it would take too much effort to chew through will work as well.. but any media they can chew through may not stop the problem.. thus I go with metal.

However, if it's rats with some time you can reprogram them to not be trap-shy but it will take a little while.

Curious to hear more about the details. PM if you have any questions. I run into this a lot.

Within your attic, if accessible enough you could just hang out up there during the active timeframe you typically hear him and just pop him that way with a pellet gun. Being your house.. that is a possibility. Obviously, be safe, but that may be a quick and dirty solution.. but if the attic isn't accessible then back to square one with building it out/baiting.

The space is easily accessible. It is what was left over after the attic was converted to a semi-finished office space, and occasionally used for storage until finding humidity, mold, and vermin. The roof is being replaced soon and I am trying to keep things under control until then, and more than once I've found myself, surrounded by various snap and glue traps, staring down a critter at the other end maybe 30ft in a dark corner as i hear the good the bad and ugly in the background

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFa1-kciCb4