Jefferson County, Louisville Rat Control Situation:
Good morning David. I came across your website and would like to ask you for some advice! I am currently dealing with mice in my ceiling/walls. They have not made it into my house itself but they are driving me nuts and will ultimately cause damage to my house at some point. I have an exterminator that comes to my house every 3 months and that has helped to prevent any mice within my home. The problem with them in my ceiling and wall began in December. I mentioned this to the exterminators and they baited my house... I guess to draw them out. It's been months now and they still are in my ceiling and getting worse... waking me up at night... I can hear them running around and squeaking... yuck. Drives me and my cat nuts to say the least... The big dilemma is that I have an old city row home... it has a flat roof and no attic or access via panel to the ceiling. The exterminators are lacking in their services... I have them coming out on Monday to get on my roof and look for holes etc... Can you provide me with some guidance on how to resolve this major issue... Can they put bait boxes on my roof to draw the mice out... or should I create an access panel to my ceiling so we can bait or set traps? HELP PLEASE! Thank you so very much!
My response: Never use bait boxes or ultrasonic sound machines. Niether help. Inspect the house and find out how the mice are getting inside. Seal up every single last entry/exit hole and gap with steel. Trap, properly trap on rat runways, ALL the mice, and remove them from the house. Clean up the attic space or home once they are all gone for good.
Thank you for responding. My main issue is how to get traps in my ceiling without an access panel? I have all finished ceilings and a flat roof... The exterminators are saying there is no way to get traps in my ceiling... I can inspect and seal all the holes and gaps but all that will do at this point it trap the mice inside my house... I dont know how we are supposed to draw them out of my ceiling and walls... They are not getting into my actual house... just ceiling and walls... Im really at a loss now.
Louisville Rat Control Tip of The Week
How Do Wildlife Rehabilitators Deal With Rats?
Even though rats do cause a nuisance in homes, they also need to be treated humanely when indisposed. In a situation where you find a stray and injured rat in your home, the best thing you can do is to contact a wildlife rehabilitator to help evacuate the rat immediately. While waiting for the rehabilitator, you need to avoid any physical contact with the animal, as rats are often carriers of different kinds of pathogens and diseases.
Wildlife rehabilitators are licensed professionals that help to evacuate animals from people's home, treat them if they have health issues, and release them back into the wild. Unlike other animals, wildlife rehabilitators handle rats specially.
Since stray rats do find it very difficult to survive on their own if relocated into the wild immediately, the first thing wild rehabilitators do is to nurture the rats for days or weeks to ensure that they are in good health. To do this, the rats are introduced into a box filled with woodland debris to make them feel comfortable and are properly fed with good food. This nurturing process continues until the rats can survive on their own without the help of anyone.
After successfully nurturing them, the wildlife rehabilitator can then go ahead and release the rat back into the wild. The release of the rat into the wild is not just done indiscriminately. Wildlife rehabilitators look for areas with a possible place of shelter for the rat with an abundant source of food.
Wildlife rehabilitators make sure evacuated rats stand a chance of living. Therefore, don't hesitate to contact a wildlife rehabilitator if you have stray, injured rats in your home.
