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Author Topic: Rats in my apartment  (Read 7970 times)

zahc

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Rats in my apartment
« on: December 17, 2009, 01:49:56 PM »
Ok, it's no longer "something alive". It's definitely rats. I set mousetraps out in the darkroom got nothing but grey fur. I switched to rat traps but they haven't come back to the darkroom. 

They had been chewing the molded plastic wall fitting where the water line hooks up behind the fridge, trying to get into the kitchen. That's why it was so loud; the plastic water fitting 'tub' that screws into the drywall was acting as a resonator of sorts. The hole wasn't rat-sized yet...I sealed it with metal flashing and glue.

Last night I was out playing videogames and saw something on top of our kitchen cupboards. Just enough to catch the eye. I climbed up there and saw droppings and a crack into the ceiling. There's a wooden Victor rat trap up there now.

Wife is freaking out and wants to poison them. I think that's a bad idea because they will die and smell.
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AZRedhawk44

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #1 on: December 17, 2009, 01:55:49 PM »
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Last night I was out playing videogames and saw something on top of our kitchen cupboards. Just enough to catch the eye.

Creepy.

My last house I was renting, I got up at night and went out into the kitchen for a glass of water.  My counter was cluttered and something moved amongst the clutter, but I lost it.  I got a glass and the water pitcher and set the glass down on the counter... then saw it.

A 4" bark scorpion, prowling around looking for dinner.

I had so many scorpion problems in that house... I must have killed a hundred and poisoned another several hundred.

That particular one got his tail cut off with my Buck T119 hunter's knife, then the body skewered with the blade, then taken outside and squished.

I think my dog acted mopey at that house because he was getting stung often and I didn't know about it.  He was sick... not mopey.

Good luck with your vermin.
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Nick1911

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2009, 02:00:39 PM »
Make your apartment management deal with it?  Is that an option?

My wife had an apartment in college that flooded in heavy rains once.  The apartment management refused to do anything about it except put a dehumidifier in the living room.  After a few weeks of management inaction, the unit started to smell moldy, so my wife called the health department to see about getting the whole complex condemned.  >:D

Promptly after, the apartment management sent a crew in and got it right squared away.   :angel:
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jackdanson

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2009, 02:28:54 PM »
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Make your apartment management deal with it?  Is that an option?

This.

I don't remedy any problems in my apartment, even easy stuff.  It's one of the advantages of tossing my money away.  The managers here are cool though and almost everything gets remedied promptly and in an acceptable fashion.
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zahc

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #4 on: December 17, 2009, 03:34:35 PM »
The thing is, there's the risk that I might not like the way they choose to 'deal with it'.

I already told them we had rats a couple weeks ago. Came home from work and found a note "checked for rats in walls, didn't find any".
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French G.

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #5 on: December 17, 2009, 03:38:04 PM »
22 pistol and colibris? Have fun with the situation.  =D
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280plus

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #6 on: December 17, 2009, 03:45:02 PM »
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"checked for rats in walls, didn't find any".
That's some mighty fine crew you have there. :laugh:

a .177 air pistol with a scope would be ideal.  =D
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mtnbkr

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #7 on: December 17, 2009, 03:46:04 PM »
Catch a rat with a trap
proceed to nail the rat to the super's door with a copy of their report.

Chris
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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #8 on: December 17, 2009, 03:47:29 PM »
Quote from: 280plus on December 17, 2009, 03:45:02 PM
That's some mighty fine crew you have there. :laugh:

The majority of apartment maintenance guys are illegals, generally supervised by some one only marginally more intelligent and competent. Not hating on maintenance guys, I'm one myself. But that tends to be the low point that collects the least able.
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Tallpine

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2009, 03:48:53 PM »
Quote from: French G. on December 17, 2009, 03:38:04 PM
22 pistol and colibris? Have fun with the situation.  =D

Colt SAA  ;)

You can't serve papers on rat - you either have to kill him or let him be.
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280plus

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2009, 03:52:05 PM »
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RaspberrySurprise

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #11 on: December 17, 2009, 03:53:55 PM »
Quote from: mtnbkr on December 17, 2009, 03:46:04 PM
Catch a rat with a trap
proceed to nail the rat to the super's door with a copy of their report.



Chris
Ninety-nine thesis theses optional.
« Last Edit: December 17, 2009, 04:37:30 PM by RaspberrySurprise »
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Standing Wolf

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #12 on: December 17, 2009, 04:07:22 PM »
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The majority of apartment maintenance guys are illegals, generally supervised by some one only marginally more intelligent and competent.

That was my experience in the People's Republic of California. Nothing got done quickly, and less than that got done right.
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Jocassee

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #13 on: December 17, 2009, 04:08:24 PM »
Quote from: RaspberrySurprise on December 17, 2009, 03:53:55 PM
Ninety-nine thesis optional.

I was was thinking that but I wasn't going to say it.

And it's "theses," plural.
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zahc

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #14 on: December 17, 2009, 04:24:19 PM »
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I had so many scorpion problems in that house... I must have killed a hundred and poisoned another several hundred.

I feel a lot better about my rat situation now. Thank you.
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Chrissy

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #15 on: December 17, 2009, 10:10:34 PM »
How about getting some cats?  If you don't want to own them yourself, maybe you can borrow some friends' cats for a few days. 
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mtnbkr

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #16 on: December 17, 2009, 10:11:14 PM »
Then how would you get rid of the cats?

Chris
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Chrissy

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #17 on: December 17, 2009, 10:13:22 PM »
Get a dog   :laugh:
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zahc

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #18 on: December 17, 2009, 11:44:50 PM »
Cats is not a bad idea. In an apartment complex, you don't have to kill all the rats, just send them to your neighbors'. I'm probably the only one in this building with no cats.

I set up two traps on top of the cupboards today and caught a rat within 2 hours. Wife and I were standing about 12 feet away talking when we heard the SNAP! flop flop shuffle of a rat getting pwned. She is not amused, but my bloodlust is whetted. Now there are traps at all velociraptor rat entry points awaiting more victims.






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jackdanson

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #19 on: December 18, 2009, 12:12:33 AM »
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The majority of apartment maintenance guys are illegals, generally supervised by some one only marginally more intelligent and competent. Not hating on maintenance guys, I'm one myself. But that tends to be the low point that collects the least able.
 

 
Guess I'm lucky, both our maintenance guys are vets who seem pretty on it.  Little "iffy" looking, but they do a good job.  Watching them do jobs in 5 minutes that would take me 30 minutes was impressive.
 
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PTK

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #20 on: December 18, 2009, 01:39:14 AM »
When I worked as a maintenance manager, not one of our 30+ team was an illegal. Fluke?
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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #21 on: December 18, 2009, 01:49:14 AM »
The building next door to my father's lab has been vacant a while, and humongous rats are coming over from it. I swear, some are big enough to drag away the larger traps. We've switched to a caged live trap due to their size. These suckers are not afraid of anything and are rather smart. They also seem to like toothpaste for some reason, but will not eat Church's Chicken.


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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #22 on: December 18, 2009, 01:58:47 AM »
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zahc

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #23 on: December 18, 2009, 08:39:50 AM »
Yeah, I'm definitely covering some of the holes eventually. I already covered some of them with metal flashing. For now though I want to kill them.
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Gewehr98

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Re: Rats in my apartment
« Reply #24 on: December 18, 2009, 09:51:20 AM »
Ain't peanut butter the shiznatt when it comes to baiting traps?   =D
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