Roof Rats
 

I walk over to the neighbors today for a friendly chat and he said he and his wife
thought they had squirrels on their roof.

Hired a exterminator and he told them they had roof rats in their attic. (goggle it).

Roof rats are the worst rodent pest in the state of Florida and most abundant. The Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) that is familiar to most people is rare in Florida. Roof rats consume and destroy stored animal and human food, attack fruit crops, and take up residence in attics, soffits, hollow walls, and out-buildings.

Anyone have them ?

And if a person did have them what would you do with that information?

Tell them not to have palm trees close to the house and get rid of bird feeders!

Just a friendly question and what people did to get rid of them.

DO NOT use poison. Get a rat trap and secure it to something. Bait it with Doritos (yes they love them). We have had several. All were caught the first night.
If you have tile vs shingle roofs you will have a little more difficulty as they may not be entering your attic but living under the tiles.

I once set a rat trap back for a friend and went over the next day only to find I killed a dove. I then used poison, problem solved.

No poison here.
Buy and bait the enclosed bait boxes from Tractor Supply

They chew on the bait, exit the box, look for water then explode and keel over.

You put it in the wrong spot. Use poison, it dies in you attic your home will smell like hell for weeks, use poison and it dies outside for the hawks or fox to eat and you've killed them as well. Poison isn't what you want to use.

Exploding rats ? Mutual of Boomaha's Wild Kingdom.:boom:

If that starts happening please let us know because I am going to come watch that.

Hmmm, you don’t use poison but instead put out bait that makes them explode? What non poisonous bait causes them to explode and keel over?

It is interest man has been trying to get rid of mice, rats and cocker roaches. Like forever.
Here in Florida we got rid of cockeroaches by naming them water bugs.

Someone suggested doretos as bait. Only in the villages do the rats prefer a branded product. Might be interesting to see if the generic brand works as well? TV ads our no name corn chips out perform the name brand in rat traps.

Far as I know we do not have any rats or mice. Based on past experience. Peanut butter works best.

The poison is warfarin. Same chemical used as a blood thinner in humans. It works because rats and mice cannot throw up. It causes them to bleed internally and die.
That is why they seek water-loss of body fluids. I don't think it will kill birds of prey. They will simply throw up the poisoned rodent

Not very kind? Glue traps are not kind either.

Old cheap solutions. Fast cook rice. They eat it, it absorbs water in the body and they die.
Hum could have been saved by exlax?

I use plug in Ultrasonic Pest Repellers near every sink and they seem to work. Not sure if they would help with attic rats though.

He could put trail cams up and video it then put it on YouTube and make money...
:a040::popcorn::popcorn:

No… do not have them but have heard about them and was informed to put
Moth Balls up in your attic… ever since I have been here in THE VILLAGES, I have put them in our attic and have had NO PROBLEM…..

Pest Repellers
 

I use the ultrasonic Pest Repellers at my other home in NH and I have never seen any mice when I return in the spring. I agree with you in that I don’t know if they work for roof rats

Your poison could then kill Bald Eagles, Owls, Hawks..... Bobcats, Coyotes, pets, wild animals.....

When you use poison, and a rodent eats it.... anything that eats that rodent will die too.

"No poison here"? What do you think is in that bait box?

When they exit the box and predator that see them, and eats them, dies too.

Yes, have had them. Just poisoning them is temporary. Need to plug all the entry points on the house so they can’t continue to come in. Even if you don’t have palm trees, they’ll come from neighbor’s trees. If you hire an animal control company it’s not cheap. But it’s done!

glue traps nor kind
 

Glue traps and a BB gun works fine
a branded product. Might be interesting to see if the generic brand works as well? TV ads our no name corn chips out perform the name brand in rat traps.

Far as I know we do not have any rats or mice. Based on past experience. Peanut butter works best.

The poison is warfarin. Same chemical used as a blood thinner in humans. It works because rats and mice cannot throw up. It causes them to bleed internally and die.
That is why they seek water-loss of body fluids. I don't think it will kill birds of prey. They will simply throw up the poisoned rodent

Not very kind? Glue traps are not kind either.[/QUOTE]

Don't put moth balls in your attic! Your house will smell like moth balls for a long time!!!!

Keep them out!!!
 

Round roof vents come with flimsy screens that will NOT stop critters from entering your crawl space.
Steel screen is needed to stop them….see pic
Can possibly help put up steel screens if you suspect a problem

Mentos, and Coca Cola?

Not an option if you have a dog that can also hear the Ultrasonic frequency.

Wow...someone needs a "nice" pill.

Yes. A direct answer to your question, which is unusual here.

I had them in a state neighboring Florida. I did four things to get rid of them:

1: eliminate the food source (bird feeder or citrus)

2. Spread rat poison in attic. It is orderless and contains warafin, the blood thinner. The vermin exit the attic to get water and die outside.

3. Set rat traps in the attic. Removal was particularly disgusting, but easy to locate by smell.

4. Patch all means of access to the attic particularly the valleys of the roof

Problem solved.

Roof Rats
 

We have friends who live a few blocks north of road 42. They told us their neighbors had roof rats in their attic. They called an exterminator to get rid of them.

I'd enjoy that too

They are only attracted to palm for the fruits. Cut out seed pods before the turn into fruits.

Any rat will take residents in attic’s if they can get in, this also includes squirrels (rats with long furry tails) along with any member of rodent family.

yes... not a big deal... if you live on a golf course you got them. its a given. However, you can have a roofer, cover the vent openings with the proper caps to prevent rodents from entering the inside of your roof... cheap to add and still lets the air in and out. been there done that.

Used to see them OFTEN... way too often...around our postal box station. Have the feeling too many people complained and "something" was done ! Some time ago now, we found a dead one under a bush when we were working on our yard. Later neighbor said he was cleaning his gas grill each time as exterminator told him they are drawn to the outdoor grill's grease and residue. Sure enough, he found exactly how they got in and out of the lanai and the holes they even made in the SCREENS in the corners !

My exterminator put in a one way door. I came home one day and saw the door had been put in. I never met the man, but he would climb up there to check every day or two. The rat could leave but could not get back in. Finally, he made sure that no one else had lived there and he took out the one way door. He used something stronger than stucco to patch the hole and did both sides. He said they would not be able to get through this new kind of patch. He matched the color and you can't tell where the big hole had been from that large man eating rat.

My last house had rats and droppings in the attic. Climbed a tree on the side of my house so people here need to know that trees next to your house may provide rat highways

I don't know where you heard that. My buddies also have them in their house and their dog is fine with them.

Walking I noticed there is someone on Palo Alto Avenue, by the power lines/golf course street that is putting vegetables in the Curb to feed the rats! I don’t live in that area. So PLEASE everyone watch your curbs to see who is trying to be nice to the rats. I can’t believe anyone would do this, but obviously some people just don’t think of consequences.

Yes, and you need to act fast to rid yourself. We had put poison up there to keep them away. mistake. one died up there and stunk up the whole house. Removal and buttoning up All possible entries cost us a lot of money. We had called several in the Village area, all refused or did nod crutter proof. So, we found the only reliabe, experience and willing to deal with the dead critter was in Orlando, travel adding to the cost.

Roof/tree rats
 

Tree/roof rats are real and can be a huge problem. Make sure you don't plant any trees, palms, bushes etc too close to your house where they can climb up them and them jump onto your roof. Also buy some gutter guard screens that are put at your down spots that keep them and other critters from climbing up your gutters to get to your roof.

At least we don't have to worry about rug rats too much here in TV Land.

Just older ones…..:duck: