cjsmith: (b&w fancy rob)
cjsmith ([personal profile] cjsmith) wrote2002-02-12 03:59 pm

Rats (Again): The Joys of Home Ownership

The guy came by to look at the rat holes to seal. He crawled in the attic from the garage access point [note: this couldn't be done until now because we had no ladder tall enough] and found the traps full and a nest of 8 live rats (6-8" long) nearby. He called up the Pest Control people and told them to get out here on the double.

He found at least 18 grates on the outside of the house that the rats are using for entry, plus a whole bunch of other problems. Rob says rat fur is stuck in the holes and dust is on the floor where the rats have enlarged the holes in the stucco. Our guy was kind of stunned - said he'd never seen a house with so many access passages. O joy O rapture!

Another problem is how all the trees and bushes have grown next to the house. That makes it easy for the rats to jump on the roof and crawl along the gutters.

So our guy is coming by tomorrow to seal the holes, and will recommend a tree trimmer to deal with the shrubs and the trees.

In an unrelated note, the back fence is sagging and wobbly, and may be about to fall over. O rapture! (The landscaping done by the neighbors behind us might have weakened its support by lowering the dirt level a bit, but to be fair the fence is old and was on its last legs anyway.) Maybe the back neighbor will be willing to split the cost of a new fence with us.

[identity profile] gs.livejournal.com 2002-02-13 01:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Your cats may not be losers; they may simply be wisely cautious. Eight live rats, 6"-8" long? If I was a cat, I'd consider calling in an airstrike to soften up their position before engaging hand-to-hand, or would that be tooth-to-claw?

[identity profile] cjsmith.livejournal.com 2002-02-13 02:46 pm (UTC)(link)
An airstrike would definitely be in order, unless they can lure the enemy out one by one and pick 'em off.

Wish I still had my Dizzy. He took out dozens of rats in our old apartment, sometimes several in a day. One carcass barely fit in a ten inch box for disposal. Fortunately, usually I'd just find the tails. He was unbelievably neat and tidy about it. And poof, no rat problem!