Get Rid of Mice/Rats Living in Roof

happirt on 04/12/2019 - 10:09
Last edited 04/12/2019 - 10:28

I have mice or rats living in the roof of my house. what is the best way to get rid of them?

I started hearing subtle noise coming from the roof about a year ago, but didn't think much of it. As time went by the noise levels increased. I thought it was a possum and hoped it would move out on its own when it was ready to but lately I've been hearing squeaking sounds much like little baby mice. They always active around midnight. Keeps me up at night now. I cannot live like this. They must be terminated.

They seem to live in a spot where it is hard to get access to. Any suggestions?
My only problem using poison is that the dead carcass will stay there to rot.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Ryanek on 04/12/2019 - 10:15
    +1

    If you're squeamish try live catch mouse traps and peanut butter.

    If you're feeling benevolent you can let them go, otherwise you can drown them in a bucket.

  • Nugs on 04/12/2019 - 10:20

    RATSAK
    .

    • 900dollaridoos on 04/12/2019 - 12:04

      wouldn't that just equal rotting bodies in the roof?

      • KBZ on 04/12/2019 - 12:38
        +6

        negative, this makes rats 'thirsty' so they die outside looking for water.

        • 900dollaridoos on 04/12/2019 - 21:02

          Oh true, I didn't know that. Thanks!

    • Chris Topher on 04/12/2019 - 17:09
      +4

      Ratsak works, no worries. Rats, mice and possums will succumb, and quickly.

      The best part is that the fluids only drip through the ceiling for a day and the bodies will stop smelling in a month or so.

  • Hithere on 04/12/2019 - 10:21
    +1

    Use these.

    I used them when I had mice in my roof and after a few weeks no mice.

    https://www.bunnings.com.au/ratsak-20g-fast-action-throw-pac…

    • happirt on 04/12/2019 - 10:28
      +1

      My only problem using poison is that the dead carcass will stay there to rot.

      • brad1-8tsi on 04/12/2019 - 11:29

        The poison contains a substance that causes the rodent to dehydrate. This has a twofold effect.

        1) The rodent seeks out water so it generally vacates the roof space.

        2) The rodent body dries out quickly and mummifies. Sometimes it smells for a day but it's only a vague odour and not for long.

        My neighbour at my old house had 2000 racing pigeons (max legal number is 120 these days). I had rats in my roof constantly. I used the throw bags; rat traps with peanut butter (you have to tie them to a rafter and check every 2 days) and block baits. All were effective but I found it best to rotate the brand of bait.

        In hindsight i should have given my neighbour the bills for the baits.

        • c64 on 04/12/2019 - 11:33

          i killed several rats earlier this year using rat poison and they stank. they did tend to go out side but i could easily smell the buggers and sometimes finding them was tricky.

          i do have a rat cage which i always try first and relocate them, but some prove very difficult to catch

    • Headless on 04/12/2019 - 10:37

      me too, i opened it a little as the mice nibbled at the packaging and got full from paper or something?
      Aparantly they take it back to where they are living and have a bbq.
      I never had them come back, nor did I get a bad smell - as they simply used the roof space as their playground - especially when trying to sleep :D

      Worked fine for me

  • Master Bates on 04/12/2019 - 10:23

    I have had a 100% success rate with the Nooski trap using Nutella as bait.

    I tried a few different types of humane traps (catch and release) for a few weeks beforehand and they didn't work.

    • shaybisc on 04/12/2019 - 11:12

      I couldn't see how that Nooski thing works until I saw the castrating goats video. Ouch.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bhn049IFNM

    • shaybisc on 04/12/2019 - 11:21

      I used a humane trap placed outside the house. But it was catch and drown with me. Drop the trap in a big bucket of water. Rats drown quickly.

      • John Kimble on 04/12/2019 - 12:05
        +3

        Most land animals drown quickly?

      • Bad Company on 05/12/2019 - 11:16

        I don't understand how drowning is a "humane" thing to do.

        • eyeballz2770 on 05/12/2019 - 13:49
          +1

          He lures them in with a humane trap, to offer a false sense of hope.
          Then, in a plot twist, he drowns the rats.

          The rats assumed humane treatment. And it's rarely safe to assume. :)

    • this is us on 29/03/2020 - 12:12

      I didn't have a good experience with Nooski and peanut butter. The animals never went there, it's like they knew it was a trap… Or maybe they were too large to fit in… After two weeks, it was broken (the plastic was dry, maybe because I kept it outside for a few days… maybe my mistake…).

      I contacted the real estate and a company (Gay something) installed the black boxes with bite inside… The animals are supposed to bite and go home, where they should die… The company used four boxes but I couldn't see any effect (rats were always around, my dog caught three of them)… The bites they used were pet friendly, whatever that means…

      Then I moved out and my problem was solved.

      • Master Bates on 29/03/2020 - 15:38

        Worked for me on 2 mice, not tried the rat version so can’t comment on that.

  • Fergy1987 on 04/12/2019 - 10:32
    +3

    Get a pest treatment, They fill the roof with sh1t that makes them go searching for water and they'll get the F out of there.

  • [Deactivated] on 04/12/2019 - 10:39

    Open up the roof space, place quick kill traps (not bait.)

    Check on them daily and dispose of the vermin. They take about a day to stink up in summer.

    In the mean time, comb through your property for holes. Anything larger than a 10c coin and you will eventually get a reinfestation.

    (Those powerline repellant stuff is crap. Tune into Mouse Trap Mondays on YouTube).

  • Skramit on 04/12/2019 - 10:41

    the dead carcass will stay there to rot.

    The carcasses only rot and smell for a couple of weeks until the carcass has completely dried out.

    • navyskies on 04/12/2019 - 10:59
      +2

      You say it as if that makes it all better lol.

      • Skramit on 04/12/2019 - 11:02
        +1

        I had it happen at our house. Had Peter the Possum man lay rat bait all through the roof. Rat stink for a couple weeks as the carcass was stuck in a wall and we couldn't get to it. We also laid down plenty of the odor absorbing stuff which helped. Then soon after the smell was gone.

  • c64 on 04/12/2019 - 10:42

    be careful using rat poison, you can easily kill other things such as possums, wildlife, your pets, your neighbours pets etc

  • CyberMurning on 04/12/2019 - 10:47
    +3

    I wonder if soon we will see a thread with subject:

    Get Rid of Human Living in the house.
    By: mice family

    • navyskies on 04/12/2019 - 11:00

      probably a post on ratbargain

      • this is us on 29/03/2020 - 12:21

        I tried to access their ratbargain forum but it's invitation only…

  • Cluster on 04/12/2019 - 10:48

    I has a similar problem and found these traps to be effective:

    https://www.bunnings.com.au/gotrap-plastic-clean-touch-mouse…

    You don't want to use traditional wooden traps as the mice steal food without setting off the trap. A plastic trap with food in a little cage inside virtually guarantees a kill. The mice and rats have to leave the roof space to find food eventually.

    I also recommend against poisons, as the rodent could just eat the bait and go into the ceiling and stink up the place for a week.

  • shaybisc on 04/12/2019 - 11:17

    Unless you can work out where they are getting in you will never stop your rodent problem. Eradicating the present tenants may give you 3-6 months of peace but another mob will eventually move in.

    • happirt on 04/12/2019 - 11:43

      It's a double storey house and the rodents are in the high corner of the roof, especially hard to get to.

  • buzymum20 on 04/12/2019 - 11:20

    I read a good hack that cement powder mixed with say peanut butter works well and the bonus is that the cement powder makes a chemical reaction in the mouse where it has to go and seek water (so hopefully out of roof space) and of course once it does-death! So they should die somewhere outside. Haven't had enough of a problem to try it out though, so can not personally recommend. Good luck

  • stirlo on 04/12/2019 - 11:24
    +2

    Get a pet snake.

    Snake will scare off the rats. Bonus points if you let it roam around in the ceiling and catch them for you. Just don't get a venomous one, pythons will do fine and are more safe to live with.

    • brad1-8tsi on 04/12/2019 - 11:36

      We have pythons in a couple of our pump houses. They are great but we have to put signs up warning visitors that there are pythons in the building.

    • dcep on 04/12/2019 - 11:38

      what about cat ?

      • stirlo on 04/12/2019 - 13:00

        Python doesn’t leave hair on your furniture…

        • Ozpit on 05/12/2019 - 09:25
          +1

          … just red marks around your throat as you sleep.

  • outlander on 04/12/2019 - 12:06

    Do you have anything up against the side of the house?

    I had the same problem, and it was because I had a wood pile on one side of the house, and a garden on the opposite side. The rats lived in the woodpile, fed on the garden, and used the roofspace to travel between them. Once I got rid of the woodpile and moved the garden.. no more noise.

  • RockyRaccoon on 04/12/2019 - 12:11
    +4

    I set up a stobe light in the roof, this is powered by a remote timer switch, ever since I havent had any vermin problem in the roof. The Rats/Possums can't stand the flashing light and move out.

    Now if only this would work on neighbours teenage sons playing their drums. But i think that would just excite them more.

    BTW a Googled article talks about it here

    https://ratcontrolreviews.com/squirrel-evictor-strobe-light-…

    Mine isnt anything like that brand I got it from Aliexpress with a local power pack (for safety)

    • [Deactivated] on 04/12/2019 - 13:16

      Do the rats get photoepilepsy?

  • Daniel Plainview on 04/12/2019 - 14:06

    FWIW I live rural and after buying our property had to clean up a lot of rodent issues.

    1. Secure your roof space (STOP them getting into the roof) - you should easily be able to locate how they're getting in.

    2. Buy some poison that uses Brodifacoum as it's active ingredient (it's the most lethal poison they use and AVOID old 1st gen poison's like Warfarin - as may rodents aren't affected by it anymore).
      eg. https://www.bunnings.com.au/the-big-cheese-120g-ultra-power-…

    2a. Cut the blocks up into much smaller bits and scatter some over your roof space every 3-4 days for 2 weeks.

    Brodifacoum takes around 3 days to kill once the rodent ingests a lethal dose, which is VERY little - so they're so greedy they will eat an entire block (usually around 20x whats needed to kill them!) in one sitting - hence you'll use a lot of poison to kill just a few greedy rats - so lots of smaller doses is best -as the poison is accumulative.

    Any smell from dead rodents generally rises, so you're unlikely to smell it much unless you've spaces in your walls and they head down into them - worst case it's a bad smell for 3-4 days and you'll have to put something to 'mask'/cloke it. Consider it a reminder not to allow rodents in your roof in the first place. :-)

    PS And as always be cautious going up into your roof space - lots of hazards there.

  • brendanm on 04/12/2019 - 14:51
    +1

    Put a cat in the roof

    • Euphemistic on 04/12/2019 - 18:37
      +2

      Then when you have a cat problem get a dog.

  • Euphemistic on 04/12/2019 - 18:40

    Had rodents in the roof previously. Thought they were rats with the amount of noise. Put up a rat trap, tied it down etc and caught a tiny mouse. Seems the noises were from mice. three or four trappings later, checked every couple of days or after hearing the trap go off and all was good. I just placed the trap near the manhole so I didn’t have to go crawling all through the roof.

    Later, different house, a pest man chucked those red baits around and we never had any issues that we knew of.

  • try2bhelpful on 04/12/2019 - 19:54

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNaXguD7tFM

    Thought you might like this.

  • Stewardo on 04/12/2019 - 19:59

    Ratsak
    Remove trees and shrubs that are near the house roof
    Clean roof gutters.
    Remove outdoor food sources dog/cat biscuits, bird seed. Remove palm tree dates
    Keep inside of the house clean and remove any access to food stuffs.

  • original15 on 04/12/2019 - 21:15

    Yeh we used to have noises in our roof and drove me crazy, hated it. Even if you get rid of the current ones there is obviously an easy way they’re getting in. Inspect your roof and look for gaps. We had our roof restored/completely fixed and finished and have not had a problem or noise since. Post above with tips on keeping yard and gutters clear also worth following

  • OzHunterNSW on 05/12/2019 - 10:03

    Get a pest controller.

    Have you got trees overhanging the roof — trim them back.

  • Bargainbeth on 05/12/2019 - 18:32

    Do you feed any wildlife or pets outside? We have a family member constantly doing this, and the rats eat the birds' food. Leading to keeping the buggers alive and then crawling into the walls or living somewhere in the backyard.

    If you do, this could be exacerbating the problem. Perhaps they'll migrate if there's no food source nearby left.

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