This is very humiliating. Please be kind.

[Chris3jam]

This is almost as humiliating as it gets.

We have rats. Dh says it's because we have a dirty pig sty of a house, and it is cluttered. :( (I don't think it's that filthy, really. I've been in houses worse than mine more than once). Ok, so I *know* I have to clean better, and de-clutter. We're also kind of in flux . . . .we're getting ready to put down new floors.

So. . now. How do we take care of the mess that the rats leave behind? We've had traps out for ages, and we only caught 2. We've plugged holes, we've got stuff in bins (another reason it looks so dis-organized), and dh has a few projects around that we can't clean up after since they aren't finished. (I *hate* that, btw).

I hate to sound paranoid, alarmist, and hypochondriac. . . . .but, I *really* have a problem with trying to clean up rat poop. :sick :shiver I don't wanna die (iykwim). :blush :( Rats are filthy horrible mean things and they also carry all kinds of diseases (not domestic rats, taken care of. .. .but these big wharf rats do!). Dh says don't be stupid. There isn't a house around that doesn't have bugs, mice, and rats in it. . . . .just, that you see 'em more in some houses than others. He says it's just fine. He says just vaccuum the stuff up. *shiver* I tell him, "You vaccuum it up!" He says, "I don't want to die, either!", and I retort, "Well, you just said that it was safe and you couldn't die or get sick from it!" So. . . it sits there. Until, apparently, we catch the ones still leaving the spoor, and we can take care of it all at once. :sick

I *really* want to clean it up.

But. . . I'm a weird person. I *hate* cleaning things up one they've gotten really "bad" because I just want to shrink from it because I think it's so bad, ykwim? I know I'm not making too much sense. I'm rambling. :( (I'm trying to not let on that I may be weird, I guess). I mean, I would put on double latex gloves and a nose mask to clean up the bunny cage! :shifty :( I make sure to turn my head and hold my breath and keep at least an arm's length when cleaning the kitty litter box!

How do I clean up after *rats*!?!?! EWWWWWW! And double ICK!

[crunchymum]

i have no idea, but :hugheart :( i'm so sorry, that must be so stressful!!! (we have alley rats.... *shudder* )

[doubleblessings]

:hug2
I have no knowledge, but I didn't want to read without posting.

[mom2threegirls]

Oh, I'm so sorry :( :hugheart. Last year both of our vehicles got infested with rats multiple times and it was awful. :sick

ITU how you're feeling- I really despise cleaning up after them too. We had some luck putting out rat poison- but that might not work for you guys inside depending on kids and pets. I had LOTS of them die 4 years ago when they got in my garden shed and chewed through the leftover Roundup container and drank all of the pesticide up :giggle. Worked way better than actual rat poison! That stuff is NASTY though and you definitely don't want it in the house :no.

:hugs

[diamondintherough]

They're coming in because it's getting colder outside.

I'm sorry you are having to deal with this. I don't know anything about rat poo, but I can't imagine that it would be fun to clean up at all. I hate to say it, but I think I would be so grossed-out that I probably would ignore it, too. Unfortunately, you can't ignore it. Someone needs to take care of it.

Have you considered having a company come in and get rid of them or at least give you some pointers on how to make it so they can't come in any more? That way, once your traps get them, you won't be as likely to get the problem again.

[diamondintherough]

Oh, I'm so sorry :( :hugheart. Last year both of our vehicles got infested with rats multiple times and it was awful. :sick

ITU how you're feeling- I really despise cleaning up after them too. We had some luck putting out rat poison- but that might not work for you guys inside depending on kids and pets. I had LOTS of them die 4 years ago when they got in my garden shed and chewed through the leftover Roundup container and drank all of the pesticide up :giggle. Worked way better than actual rat poison! That stuff is NASTY though and you definitely don't want it in the house :no.

:hugs


Ugh--I vote for traps whenever possible. If a rat eats the poison and dies in the wall of your house, you will have a constant reminder of it's presence :sick It's a smell you will never forget.

[Mama Calidad]

Lysol wipes or the like. I know it's not crunchy, but ewwwww. We had mice and that was what I used. Then, we got a couple cats. There a very green "raticide". Personally, I'd much rather have cats than rats. *shiver*

[Dana Joy]

The poison we used advanced decomp- so we never smelled the dead rats- they haven't come back yet- but I am sure they will at some point- we back up to a big field. :hugheart

[milkmommy]

Wasn't rats but had a horrible infestion of mice on one house right when DD was born :sick It took a combination of getting in professionals and our cat to remedy the problem. Some cleaning might have helped but not like the other things. :hug2 Rats are my #1 icky thing I'm terrified of EWW and more :hugheart

Deanna

[RachamMama]

When dh went to do maintenance on a house we were renting out, he found rats one time. It was pretty gross, the smell of the dead ones and the excrement from the live ones was overwhelming. :sick Anyway, we lived in that house for a while and it was just ratty (for lack of a better term). It bordered a farm and when it got cold, they came in looking for shelter.

Big things to get rid of them and keep them gone were: make sure there are no sources of food or water inside or outside near the house; put poison in your attic if you have one and use the kind that speeds up decomposition, otherwise your house will STINK; spray diluted bleach on the the poop before you clean it up to kill germs and don't suck it up w/ the vacuum or it gets blown into the air; fill in any openings they could use to get inside; and keep the yard and shrubs trimmed really short to discourage them from having hiding spots.

:hug2

[Oliveshoots]

Have you considered having a company come in and get rid of them or at least give you some pointers on how to make it so they can't come in any more? That way, once your traps get them, you won't be as likely to get the problem again.


:yes That is a good idea.

And honestly, I know how you feel about not wanting to clean it up. And with kids around, I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole, literally!!

Could you pay someone to come in and clean it up, after you have gotten rid of the problem?

That is *seriously* what I would do. I'm sure there are companies out there that will come in and clean something like that for you. (Not sure how to go about finding one....but *surely* someone does that for money? :think)

I'm so sorry you're having to deal with that.

FWIW, I went through some boxes that had been stored in my aunt's house dh rented waaaay back before we married. They had a bunch of my Christmas decorations in them and had been nested in by mice. Dh's cat caught all the mice, but as I went through those boxes and salvaged stuff, I had my hands all over where the mice had been. I didn't get sick from it. But maybe mice are different from rats? :shrug It may also depend on where you live. Isn't it the southwestern mice that carry the really bad diseases?

Even *without* the concern of germs/diseases, it's still icky enough to pay some $ to have it done. Way worth the expense, IMO.

:hug

Oh, and what someone said about it being that time of year. Yeah. :yes We are infested with tiny ants right now. Pretty much every night I sweep and mop with bleach water, vacuum the carpet, wipe down the table, and put away all food and clean the kitchen, and I STILL find a trail of them the next morning. The kids and I have gotten ant bites a couple of times, and that's kinda embarassing (I have ants :blush). It's not always your housekeeping skills that cause rodents/insects. Sometimes it really just is the weather, or even something like a neighbor leaving food in an outside trash can for too long. :shrug In our case, I think the neighbors downstairs sprayed for ants (they are all over the sidewalks outside our building) and they came upstairs to us. :/ We haven't sprayed because we don't want the chemicals around the kids. Anyway, don't be too hard on yourself. :heart

[clementine]

It happens :shrug
We have a horrible rat problem here in hilton head (they call them beach rats, which does not make them any nicer, cleaner, or better than garden variety ones!)
They are such a problem here that whole companies exist simply for rats and other undesirables (i.e. they will also remove but not kill and alligator or snake).
We got rats int he garage of the rental we had last year, it had nothing to do with clean or not clean, they just found a way in (we were using the garage for storage of household stuff--not food, or anything). They destroyed so much stuff--chewed into boxes, papers, etc. Thankfully the bulk of our good stuff was in pods storage!
The rental company and homeowners paid about 1500 to have them professionally removed and the property secured against further infestation (they put up some kind of chicken wire stuff, but clear if that makes sense, on all of the roof vents and attics, etc. We lost a ton of stuff.
I don;t think rats care where they go---once they find a way in, they can find something to chew on.
This home is in an exclusive neighborhood--and almost every house there has had a problem, or has paid for preventative maintenance ahead of time, in some areas it is just a fact of life...
I had no interest in finding or destroying these critters myself, so the pros were the way to go--they came out every day for 2 weeks, and every day they removed rats from tehir traps. They came out again once a week for the next month, then once every two weeks, and the rats appeared to be gone.
hope this helps, and good luck with it!

[Chris3jam]

Well, dh *had* to take the dig on the way the house looks. He's always trying to make me feel really bad about it, so I "fix" it, and keep it cleaner and start to de-clutter. :no2 Problem is, he wants all *my* stuff and the kids' stuff out. If I start on his, he throws a hissy fit. :shrug And, it's a pretty big job. . . . .2 adults and 4 (well, 3, now) got it that way over a period of 15 years, and he wants just little ole' me to fix it. Sorry. That's unrealistic.

Thank you for the advice. We need to try something else. The traps were *all* over and we just caught 2, and then they got really, really smart and avoid the traps. Dh talked to a professional exterminator and he has stopped up the holes, etc., and the traps were all the trap that the ext. recommended. They also chewed through a hose on the dishwasher. And the guy that talked to him about that said that *everyone* is having trouble with bugs and rats and mice; because of the drought, they are all moving in the houses and searching for food and, mostly, water (which is why they chewed the hose). So. . .. I try not to take dh's comments to heart. I will ask dh to get the "special" poison and put it in the attic, basement, garage, and other places around the house, but not in the lived-in areas. I think they're coming up from the woods. . . .we have a wooded creek area beyond our backyard, and tend to have problems with snakes and other things, too. We've even had deer in our backyard! :jawdrop We've had raccoons steal the bird seed (I lured him to the door. . . .he was *so*b curious!), I've looked a huge ole' wharf rat in the eye *shudder* (they have mean, mean, evil eyes!) when looking out the window onto our deck, and we've even seen red-tailed hawks perch on our trees and basketball hoop. I mean, really. For a subdivision, we are certainly overrun by wildlife!! I would think that smelling the dog and cat in the house, the mice and rats would at least leave the inside of the house alone!!

And the poop is mostly on the carpet. .. .can I bleach that? Use Lysol on it? What should I do? And what do I do with the canned goods?

Do "maid" services do this kind of thing?

[diamondintherough]

Canned goods are easy--I would wipe the tops off with bleach solution (1:10). Do not use bleach on the carpet--it will take the color right out and sometimes will discinigrate (sp?) the carpet. (ask me how I know :shifty). Do you have a carpet cleaner? Maybe you can get a cheap dust pan and little brush thingy to get the "solids" off (used exclusively for this purpose) and then use a carpet cleaner on any remaining stains. :shrug

[tempus vernum]

Well, we have rats in our yard not our home but. . . . First, let me tell you what we have learned

IT"S NOT ONLY PERSONAL CARE - it's their environment. Here is what I mean. If the rats predators are gone, you are basically "out of luck". FOr us, the coyotes in our field by our house are gone so here come the rats :( I can say this for sure as I have become fairly fastidious about my home. There are not any areas that are currently uncluttered and the only thing I have been putting off on housekeeping is dusting and mopping my upstairs. It is wood floors and we don't eat up there and it has only been since before our vacation (which we left for on October 1st).

SO, do you live by a field? Do you live in the city? Sorry I can't remember :O

They are attracted by animal poops of all sorts. We have to pick up our dog poop and rinse away our bunny poop daily now. They will eat any type of pet food (they got INTO our bunny cage and ate his food :sick). SO dh had to redo the bunny cage witha very fine screen. They can get into any cracks in your home that are the size of their heads. The ribs of all rodents (moles, mice and rats) all contract and they can get into small areas no larger than a 1/2 inch. So dh (who is a carpenter and used to sealing in houses) is actually not very confident that rats can be kept out :sick

YOu can kill them with peanut butter and crushed vitamin d (only vitamin d no calcium). It disrupts the calcium production in their body. It takes 2 to 4 days for them to die and we are praying it transfers to the breastmilk.

You can also buy something that repels them and we need to find it. If I do, I will post and let you know.

We live in the city and actually a neighbor 2 doors down first thought they had moles and started telling everyone, then we SAW the rats in the field and run into our yard :sick Come to find out it is about 6 houses all infected (we suspect -- only 4 neighbors have confirmed it).

Here are our action points as winter is on the way -- outdoor protection.
*seal up ALL cracks on outside of house to prevent some.
*keep bunny cage well sealed (considering bringing bunny back in house for winter - hate to do this cuz he's been an outside bunny for a few years now :think)
*keep all dog poop and bunny poop cleaned away
*no bird feed or squirrel feed until they are gone (they eat this too)
*no feeding any outside animals
*no food outside unless FASTIDIOUS clean up.
*keep putting peanut butter/vitamin d mixture out.

I am so worried that they will come inside because EVERYWINTER the field mice come in our house and we can't figure out where they come from. I guess I need to seriously think about getting a cat that is a mouser. I just am not really ready for another pet right now :sigh but maybe I should reconsider. The kids LOVE cats. The only things I would say is that our neighbor is a cat lady and has rats. I am not sure that a cat could catch some of the rats we've seen :sick - they are enormous -- bigger than a kitten. If one gets in here that is that size, we are out of here until dh can catch it.

I don't know if anything here helps except maybe the peanut butter/vitamin D info but I am so right there with you and so freaked out that they are all going to get into our house :sick :sick :sick

[diamondintherough]

I never heard of the vitamin D trick--putting that in my back pocket, just in case.

Slightly OT, but somewhat related: For those of you considering getting a cat, are you concerned that if someone (say, you or a neighbor) treated their home with poison that if your cat caught a mouse/rat he might be poisoned? I can't help thinking about that.

[tempus vernum]

I never heard of the vitamin D trick--putting that in my back pocket, just in case.

Slightly OT, but somewhat related: For those of you considering getting a cat, are you concerned that if someone (say, you or a neighbor) treated their home with poison that if your cat caught a mouse/rat he might be poisoned? I can't help thinking about that.


good point and TBH I doubt dh would get a cat. so far, I think no one uses poison. The 3 people I have talked to all are organic gardeners and have animals so they don't want the poison used. The vitamin d trick is what we are spreading the word on ;)

[homemommy40]

I have no advice as I have never had to deal with this, and these ladies are giving you some really good ideas. I just wanted to say :hug2 as I can't even imagine how awful this must be for you!!!! I hope that you can get it cleared up soon- hang in there!!

[ArmsOfLove]

your dh is out of line to blame you when he has projects everywhere unfinished :(

vaccuum up the poop. It's less dangerous to clean it up than to live with it. Wipe things down with a good solution for cleaning, put out more traps and poison, call an exterminator and find out how they are getting in and plug it up with steel wool :tu

[Granola_mom]

I mean, I would put on double latex gloves and a nose mask to clean up the bunny cage! :shifty :( I make sure to turn my head and hold my breath and keep at least an arm's length when cleaning the kitty litter box!


I would do and have done the same kinds of things......... I don't blame you for being grossed and nerved out!

[Gretchen]

We have rats. Dh says it's because we have a dirty pig sty of a house, and it is cluttered.

Dh says don't be stupid. There isn't a house around that doesn't have bugs, mice, and rats in it. . . .
Am I the only one that is :doh about these 2 statements together? Everyone has them, but somehow it's your fault? :shrug

Anyhow, huge hugs - that must be so stressful. We have had intermittent mice and everything I have read says not to sweep or vacuum the droppings. Wear gloves and use paper towels or a cloth you will dispose of to pick them up.

I'd be concerned that bleach on the carpeting will discolor it, but some kind of disinfecting solution afterwards would be a good idea.

Gretchen

[Chris3jam]

Gretchen! *Exactly!* I called him on that, too. See, he does what he always does. . . gets in the digs when he can. The first statement was made as a dig about the dirty/cluttered house. The second one was the dig on how stupid I was being so concerned about having these things in our house. :rolleyes2 :shrug3 He blows hot and cold.

[milkmommy]

vaccuum up the poop.
:no2 Don't do this it will blow the ickies from it back into the air sadly the lysol gloves and paper approach is better. :hug2 You are SO NOT causing this.

Deanna

[diamondintherough]

your dh is out of line to blame you when he has projects everywhere unfinished :(


I would add that even if your dh did not have unfinished projects everywhere that he is still out of line to blame you.