This is all so upsetting. I have the exterminator here right now and he says we have roof rats getting into our attic- so we aren’t even talking about mice anymore. I’m freaking out and feeling physically ill to think they’ve been in my kitchen, my daughter’s bedroom (where the attic access is.. there’s a small gap and he found droppings), etc. The poor man is trying to tell me things and show me things and I said- please, I don’t want nightmares- just take care of it. He says this is a very common problem in Southern California. So he’s setting traps in the attic right now. The hub’s at work and I wish he were here to talk with the guy. We might as well have put out the welcome mat for these rats- apparently there are all kinds of entry points and gaps and holes in the attic and garage rafters that lead to the outside. We have a field behind our house so it’s no wonder they’re around. And we have pet food inside the house (guinea pigs) and in the garage (dog food). I’m not the best housekeeper ever (I try, but I live with slobs!), and my kids can be downright sneaky with food (candy wrappers under their beds, etc.) and lazy about putting things away, so the damn things hit the jackpot at our house.
Please send all your rat-killing thoughts our way!! Sorry, I know some of you animal lovers will want me to do things humanely, but I just want them dead and gone. Which just reminded me of my latest iPod acquisition- funny how the brain works:
Filed under: California, Family, Life | Tagged: California, exterminator, Family, home, mice, pest control, ratatouille, rats, rodents |
Books on the Brain 
A friend of mine in Virginia dealt with this problem not long ago and the exterminator was able to take care of it, so I’m sure they’ll get rid of all of yours too.
Rats, ugh. I had a similar problem with cockroaches in my kitchen when we first moved into our house- we couldn’t afford to have the whole thing bombed. I had to make a new habit of cleaning my counters and floor spotless every night, and never leave any dirty dishes out. Haven’t seen a crawly critter in months now. I don’t know which are worse, rats or roaches. I hope yours are all gone, soon! (have you ever thought of getting a cat?)
I had the same problem a couple of years ago with a roof rat. “He” went from the attic to the garage at free will and managed to chew through the inner liner of our washing machine and several other items in our garage, so be careful. We had an extermination company place traps in the attic. Two days later, there was a not so fragrant odor. The man came back out and found one white rat laying outside the sprung trap, DEAD! The good thing is that we have not had a problem since. Good luck or Happy Hunting!
Ew, yucky! I have no advice. I wanted to move when a mouse got in the house, so I’m no help. Just hoping you get them gone!
OK, gathering up my best and most powerful anti-roof-rat thoughts and packaging them to send your way! Would it help that it’s often said, “Look on the bright side – if you have rats, you don’t have roaches!” ??? Don’t know if that’s true but I’ve heard such…
Humane? I am THE WRONG person to talk about that.
I view mice this way: They begin as a toy for my cat, who chases them around like he’s a kitten. Then he picks them up and shakes them and breaks their neck.
That’s their first use.
Their second use comes after I put the body in the freezer until I remember to take it to my township building. Our Recreation director works with a barn owl rehab program at a nearby state park. So the mousicle becomes owl food.
But we’re not done! Nope!
You can take the owl pellets and give them to our kids and let them dig through them like those Owl Puke kits.
Who’d have thought of so many uses for one mouse!
I’m wishing you a fun solution to your rats, my dear. It certainly helps to have something to laugh about!
I’m an animal lover but it does not stretch to rats or mice in the least. I hope they are gone soon!
Get an owl, cat, or coyote, or all three! I agree with you – Ratatouille may have been cute, but cuteness stops at animation!
I’m right there with you! We found them in our attic last weekend when my family and I were moving stuff from the garage to the attic. Yuck!
My cats do the same thing with mice as Susan’s cats. Unfortunately they had a particularly lucrative fall when they were doing construction on the apartment next door to me. I once woke from a nap to find my cat about to lay a mouse down on my comforter. I woke up screaming. Hopefully the exterminator will do the trick.
On a happier note. My little cousin loves Dead and Gone. I have heard it a billion times. She like to do interpretative dance moves to it. I sat here an watched the whole video and now I will go and send her the link.
Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
I’m so sorry that you have to go through this. I grew up in an old farmhouse with mice and rats, and I won’t even tell you any stories because you have enough worries of your own.
Don’t feel like this is your fault! You don’t have to be a terrible housekeeper for this to happen, they basically just have to have a way to get in. So if all of the entry points are blocked off I’m sure your house will be as good as new!
I’ll be praying for peaceful and relaxed times at your house sans rats!
I”m so so so sorry Lisa. I would feel the same way. It’s pretty much one of my worst nightmares.
That’s horrible. I hope the extermination company takes care of them, and in the meantime I’ll be sending all my anti-rat thoughts your way.
I am so sorry. I have only experience with ants for whom the ant hotel works amazingly well. I hope this is taken care of quickly and your exterminator seals up those holes from the outside.
Mice and possums are cue, but rats and roaches are down right nasty (the critters, not you or your house). Good luck getting rid of the creatures.
My thoughts are with you. In fact, now that I’ve read this I have the creepy crawlies too!
Oh, rats, Lisa! I was hoping it was just a few mice.
That’s actually one of my biggest fears! I had a termite inspection done yesterday and the man just casually asked me “you haven’t noticed anything that made you suspect you might have a mice problem have you?” I freaked out and said “NO why do you ask?” and he said he had found a suspcious pellet dropping way in the corner behind the furniture. I started to laugh and said we have a hamster that rolls around in her ball and sometimes her little poops fall out the cracks! He looked relieved too. Then I asked him if that is really what mice droppings looked like and he said “no it looked more like rat droppings because it was bigger” but he hadn’t wanted to say “rat ” since “mice” sounds a little better. Either one would not be good so you have my sympathy. Now I have to wonder…if that really was a hamster dropping or could I have attic rats TOO! Thanks a lot Lisa!
So here I am emailing you to get a cat or whatever, and today a guy working at our house found a pack rat nest outside by the air conditioner unit and the wiring all chewed through, etc. And not an hour before we sat (inside) and watched (outside) a bobcat on the side of our house stalking a bunny rabbit. (And why wasn’t it going after the pack rats?!!!) We’re surrounded! So you’re not alone!!!
My bedroom in my parents house has attic access and the mice sometimes came into my room. I once caught two in the same trap (the kind that snaps their necks). I was home alone so I had to take the trap outside and chuck it into the garden. I didn’t know what else to do! Gross! I am sending those rat killing thoughts your way!!!!
Rodents that invade your home are nothing like pet Rats that you keep like a friend. It’s a wild animal, bearing it’s teeth at you and eating through anything and everything to get what it wants. It’s an invader!
I own a Pest Control company in Santa Clarita, and I just wrote a blog yesterday about Rodent Invasion. Your pest control technician is right – Southern California has definitely become Rodent heaven. But, be careful, and don’t get ripped off! I’ll be posting videos on Rodent Proofing over the next few weeks, but if you need any tips or advice, feel free to call. Over 20 years experience makes a difference.
Oh, and outside bait boxes will do wonders to thin out the population – if installed properly and using the right bait.