Advice for Getting Rid of Rodents (Anything Religious or Superstitious I Should Be Aware of?)

LUseHerName on 27/12/2018 - 17:26
Last edited 27/12/2018 - 17:36 by 1 other user

Hello.

Our household is having issues with some unwanted house guests (mice, rats or something similar). I haven't seen, only heard the noise they make and estimate there to be no more than 3-4 this instance; we all know rodents are wh*res and multiply rapidly.

So I intend to get rid of them. But before that, are there any superstitions or consequence for taking a life/lives at this point in time? (Right after Christmas, at the end of the year, before/as we are welcoming a new year, etc…) I'm not too superstitious/religious, but I'd rather not putting any bad luck on the rest of my family.

Some notes to add, if relevant: we are East-Asian in background and our family casually follows Buddhism. Being raised in a multicultural environment, we are open others' traditions and customs. So please share if you know anything of relevance before I unwittingly throw my family into x years of misfortune; something religious or cultural belief, or just in general, morals and ethics.

Should I rid of them before the year ends, or wait until after the New Year, during 2019?

Thank you

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Prince K on 27/12/2018 - 17:30
    +15

    Wow that is the definition of overthinking. Unless you are all vegan and practise strict Buddhism just get rid of the rodents already

    • afoveht on 28/12/2018 - 00:13
      +1

      Unless you are all vegan

      Q: Why would you expect vegans to not protect their own interests?

      • TheBilly on 28/12/2018 - 07:41
        -1

        Because vegans usually don't make any sense but try to and fail

        • afoveht on 28/12/2018 - 10:26
          +3

          Imagine being so triggered by people who think the senseless killing of animals is unnecessary that you need to make pointless replies like you just did.

          • TheBilly on 28/12/2018 - 11:39

            @afoveht: Pointless reply to a pointless reply to a pointless reply

  • DarthAntz on 27/12/2018 - 17:31
    +1

    Its bad luck having rodents, so just start and finish there as far as superstition goes.

    I recommend you get some bait/traps from bunnings, something your pets cant get into. I cant help you with the name of the brand, but one of the poisons dehydrates the rodents so they go to a source of water, preferably off the property. I found a rat near a puddle on my water tank a few years ago, so it was easy to find and avoid the smell.

    have an attack plan, watch a few youtube videos, and start the new year with the good luck of successfully removing rodents from your residence.

  • serpserpserp on 27/12/2018 - 18:00
    +7

    Bikies.

  • Diji1 on 27/12/2018 - 18:05
    +8

    I'm not too superstitious/religious

    Er … OK.

    • KBZ on 27/12/2018 - 18:34
      +1

      before I unwittingly throw my family into x years of misfortune

      Lol OP is a weird one.

  • try2bhelpful on 27/12/2018 - 18:19
    +3

    I presume this is a tongue in cheek posting.

    Borrow a cat off someone and the mice will either be captured by the cat or the cat's smell will force them out.

    • terrys on 28/12/2018 - 08:20

      Hmm - after the first few, the cat will go out looking for them to bring them in and attempt to teach its cognitively challenged servants how to hunt them themselves, then complain about the ultra-sonic squeaks the escapee's families make in the walls when it is hard at work trying to sleep…

      • Archi on 28/12/2018 - 08:45
        +1

        That's OK.. @try2bhelpful was suggesting borrowing the cat, so not OP's problem after he gets rid of the vermin.

      • try2bhelpful on 28/12/2018 - 08:49

        yeah, nah. Been my experience that the cat is only willing to share the mouse after it is dead and, preferably, half chewed up. (The other half in parts unknown until you try to put on your shoe). We've had kitties for 30 years and the only time we have seen mice is, the brief, time we were sans cats waiting for our new ones to be old enough to be picked up. You are correct in that they do lose them, every now and again, but they will wait until the mouse reappears.

  • FireRunner on 27/12/2018 - 18:46
    +1

    I can't tell if you're serious or not.

  • gooddealmate on 27/12/2018 - 18:53
    +3

    There is only one safe way, you need to contact the Pied Piper… Just make sure you pay the man 😉

    • FireRunner on 27/12/2018 - 18:56
      +1

      But what if you're sick of your kids.

      • chartparker on 27/12/2018 - 19:08
        +1

        Two rats, one stone?

  • Ace Ventura on 27/12/2018 - 20:39
    +14

    Don't worry bout the negative comments, some people just have no understanding of how bad bad juju can be.
    So first things first.
    You can't poison the rodents as they should be fasting before the rat gods birthday in a few days, tempting them out of their fasting will bring the wrath of the rat god Ratroulk down on your household. Ratroulk is not to be trifled with, I'm even scared to say his name aloud.

    You can get those electrical deterrents that cause rodents to leave the vicinity, however I hear the subsonic pulses and electromagnetic field is hell on poltergeist in the general area, often awakening them from their slumber. Of course they wouldn't be happy to awoken, this usually ends badly. I'm sure you've heard the stories of Amityville, that all begun with one of those electric rodent deterrents.

    That leaves traps, Thankfully the rat god Ratroulk is not known to seek revenge for those who slaughter his minions, but I have heard stories of him being a little vindictive to those who slay any of his chosen brides. Now he only takes 1024 brides each year, so your chances of trapping one of his brides is pretty low, but it is up to you to determine if you should take that risk.

    Personally I would just put up a No Rodents sign and hope they can read.

    • Prince K on 27/12/2018 - 21:02
      +3

      But I heard a no rodent sign can ruin the fung shui of the house? I think the most effective method while avoiding bad juju is to adopt a cat 🐱

      • Ace Ventura on 27/12/2018 - 21:26
        +4

        You've got to be joking, black cats aside, cats are the vessels of demons walking our plane, whilst most don't care for the lives of meager humans, the bad luck that follows in the wake of a demons visit is well documented.

        You have a strong argument about the feng shui though, perhaps it's time for a new house.

  • Stewardo on 27/12/2018 - 21:11
    +1

    I’d remove food sources, dog/cat cat, garbage, food scraps, bird seed, palm tree dates, anything edible. This could be in neighbours yard as well.
    Then remove access to house large holes, overhanging branches, overhanging trees, vines. Then poison them

  • wordplay on 27/12/2018 - 21:16

    adopt a cat from the AWL/RSPCA. then you are giving a life rather than taking any.

  • Gandalf the Thrifty on 27/12/2018 - 21:23

    200 million people in the dark ages didn't like rats and the fleas they carried… lots of superstition around that time.

    • FireRunner on 28/12/2018 - 15:25

      To be fair, they were cause of the black plague

  • Gandalf the Thrifty on 27/12/2018 - 21:27

    Ratsac can work but be ready for an awful smell for couple days if one dies in ceiling or walls.

  • [Deactivated] on 27/12/2018 - 22:03
    +2

    look for access points and block them up. Look gaps around plumbing & electrical pipes outside the house and inside inparticular the kitchen cupboards. Check all your vents and make sure they cannot get through them.

    Fill the gaps with steel wool and then silicone or gap filler.

  • OzBoganYeah on 27/12/2018 - 22:34

    This is the first I've heard of any religious/superstitious angle however I'd aim to get rid of the rodents asap. I unfortunately had an infestation years ago (next door neighbours were big slobs and hoarders, good lord) and I didn't want to use poison (wasn't sure exactly how they worked), so I went with the mice traps.

    It's a bit messy to clean up afterwards but it gets the job done…usually (did have a couple of mice that 'survived' and were still alive wriggling around: freaking out big time. Not good). They breed like crazy.

  • outlander on 27/12/2018 - 23:23
    -1

    Well, in general I believe its bad to kill things without there being a purpose to it. I don't really believe in superstition or divine forces, but I think everyone has a balance sheet attached to them of all the good/evil things they've done, and when that person dies that balance sheet is tallyed up and set in stone.

    The lives of rats aren't worth all that much, but neither is anything by that measure. I wouldn't be spending all that much time trying to avoid killing them (because at some point the time wasted exceeds the value of the rat) but I would be asking if you had to kill it in the first place. There are nokill traps you can get that are fairly effective, and are maybe better than regular traps because you can catch multiple mice with them. Then you can throw them into a field somewhere. They will probably die anyway, as displaced animals rarely survive, but at least you know you gave them a chance.

    Most effective thing to do is follow Stewardo's advice. Rodents cant get inside if their are no holes to allow them in, and they can't grow and breed if there are no easy sources of food. So patch any holes, remove access to any food, and the problem will pretty much take care of itself.

    ps Check that they're even mice/rats. The ones we had briefly where actually Antechinus, a type of native marsupial.

  • Tasmaniac on 28/12/2018 - 00:28

    Easy, buy this and dump them at the closest reserve. No killing required.
    https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/AU-Mouse-Rat-Trap-Cage-Small-Liv…

  • ladybug1 on 28/12/2018 - 00:34

    I did kill a couple of mice with bait but if it's an ongoing issue, try Pestrol, it actually worked for me. YMMV. Yes, I didn't want them to suffer.

  • PJC on 28/12/2018 - 01:20
    +1

    OP in case you consider the Bible relevant, Genesis 1:28 says:-
    Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the
    earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and
    over every living thing that moves on the earth."

  • TheBilly on 28/12/2018 - 07:45

    I would sell the house asap.

  • Archi on 28/12/2018 - 08:49
    +1

    You are east Asian and casual Buddhists, Christmas isn't your region and the new year isn't your calendar.

    Come back to us When you still have this problem towards the end of January

  • zeoko on 28/12/2018 - 09:39

    Appreciate your line of thought! In many scriptures, self preservation for a higher purpose is a principle. So, in case you end up terminating the poor creatures, please use your saved lives for benefitting the humanity.

  • Chickin on 28/12/2018 - 11:15

    We just plugged all of our house ventilation/weeper holes with fly screen mesh (from Bunnings) and haven’t had a problem since. The mice left by themselves through the weeper holes higher off the ground (that we couldn’t reach). Our house has no overhanging tree branches for an alternative source of entry. Good luck and hope it works for you.

  • crabcancer on 28/12/2018 - 17:24

    All I will say is this. If you see the rodent walking on two legs, wears a bathrobe and uses a stick, you better start doing peace offers. Throw in pizzas if you or somebody have lose turtles in the past.

    You might want to take into account your religious observations, check with your abbot/monk. As Buddhism tends to be a pacifist religion, I would then recommend using rodent glue. Should be available at Bunnings. Get a nice size MDF board (at least 50x50cm), apply glue to board, peanut butter bread in the middle and leave somewhere where rodents frequent. They get stuck, you get rid of board.

  • azonki on 28/12/2018 - 17:57

    In all seriousness, you need to take action before they cost you 1000's of dollars.
    And I am speaking from experience.
    Our friendly rats used our roof mounted ducted air conditioning as a means of super fast travel from points A to B.
    And when they wanted to exit, they just gnawed huge holes in the pipework.
    They also snacked on electrical wiring and air cond insulation while they were there.
    I thought they called our roof space "home", but I was wrong. They just used it for a bit of fun and to escape bad weather.
    Consequently, any attempts at direct poisoning were not effective.
    And as the kitty was not allowed out at night, his brave attempts at being the "Rat Ranger" were futile. The rodents multiplied faster than he could catch them.
    What we had to do was use baits in the area we thought they were coming from.
    This was effective, and we have been "rat free" for a few years now.
    We have also had to take the roof off to repair the ducting, remove the rat soiled, stinking insulation and are still having the occasional electrical issue. The electrician was horrified with the state of the wiring and was concerned that it was a fire risk.
    We used Racumin and Talon - you have to give them a change of diet every now and again.
    As an end note, we no longer have our cat. He passed at age 19.
    We now have a healthy native bird population including Kookaburras, Crows and Owls.
    They seem to be stepping up to the job.

  • BertieBrown on 28/12/2018 - 18:20

    Buy some rat bait stations, get some decent poison, Brofidacoum is pretty good, and put the baits in the stations around the place outside, the perimeter of the house is good, as is anywhere that’s secluded and out of the way. Look for raisins (rat poo) as rats like to use existing lines of travel because their eyesight is awful.

    Be very careful when handling Brofidacoum as it’s a next generation anti coagulant, and extremely toxic in only small doses, which is great for controlling rats but dangerous for small people and animals.

    Also check your poison regularly and top up as necessary to ensure you’re controlling the rats.

  • easternculture on 23/08/2023 - 20:35

    Any update.

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