[springfield]

A few days after Irma left, I thought I saw a rat run through our living room. I looked but didn't see anything so I thought I just imagined it. The next day I heard scratches behind our built in tv cabinet. Like I usually do to fix anything, I banged on the cabinet and the noise stopped. Thursday my husband walked into our pantry and met eyes with The Rat. Our Massey man came out yesterday and set a lot of traps, thought problem would
be solved. But it gets better...last night when I started to load the dishwasher I saw what looked like a mouse in the dishwasher. I closed the door, and husband and I had a committee meeting of two to decide how to catch it. I donned my leather gloves and planned to catch it with a towel. When we opened the door it wasn't moving, I guess I killed it when I closed the door. Now the dead mouse was jammed in the hinge of the door. This wasn't one of my finest moments trying to pull dead mouse out.
Our Massey guy said a lot of animals were displaced due to the storm and will seek shelter and food. He said we have two types of rats here, Norway and roof rats. They can squeeze into a very tiny space He said to look for droppings because they "drop" a lot. We still haven't caught The Rat, we are hoping he has moved on and not started a family. Bottom line, keep an eye out for evidence...and be careful when you close the dishwasher

[Madelaine Amee]

Originally Posted by springfield

A few days after Irma left, I thought I saw a rat run through our living room. I looked but didn't see anything so I thought I just imagined it. The next day I heard scratches behind our built in tv cabinet. Like I usually do to fix anything, I banged on the cabinet and the noise stopped. Thursday my husband walked into our pantry and met eyes with The Rat. Our Massey man came out yesterday and set a lot of traps, thought problem would
be solved. But it gets better...last night when I started to load the dishwasher I saw what looked like a mouse in the dishwasher. I closed the door, and husband and I had a committee meeting of two to decide how to catch it. I donned my leather gloves and planned to catch it with a towel. When we opened the door it wasn't moving, I guess I killed it when I closed the door. Now the dead mouse was jammed in the hinge of the door. This wasn't one of my finest moments trying to pull dead mouse out.
Our Massey guy said a lot of animals were displaced due to the storm and will seek shelter and food. He said we have two types of rats here, Norway and roof rats. They can squeeze into a very tiny space He said to look for droppings because they "drop" a lot. We still haven't caught The Rat, we are hoping he has moved on and not started a family. Bottom line, keep an eye out for evidence...and be careful when you close the dishwasher

Well I guess Massey must be over the top busy. They had to visit us yesterday because for the first time in goodness knows how many years I have had three roaches in my kitchen since the storm. I have managed to step on and kill them all which, I think, means they must have been dozy coming into the house through the pesticide barrier. Thankfully nothing worse than a roach so far.

[coffeebean]

I was afraid of what this thread was about after reading the title. Yikes!

[perrjojo]

Some folks don't want to believe we have rats in TV ...trust me, we do.

[kstew43]

OMG.....what Village do you live in......?

[Bjeanj]

OMG! You poor thing! I shudder to think of that!

[BogeyBoy]

We've had mice in the house (actually nested in our stove) and rats in the yard. You can buy child/pet safe rat poison traps. I keep two of them loaded in the yard.

[EdFNJ]

There has been a rat hanging out in the shrubs in front of Starbucks at LSL in the mornings, probably waiting for some of those expensive sandwich crumbs. Actually he looked like a hamster with a longer tail. Looked nothing like the infamous NYC PIZZA Rat ...... this on had a tan .... he must be retired and moved down here.


For those who have never seen NYC Pizza Rat:

[graciegirl]

We have a few iddy biddy microscopic pith anth in the bathrooms from the rain.

Gotta remember to call Deans.

[Mrs. Robinson]

Originally Posted by springfield

A few days after Irma left, I thought I saw a rat run through our living room. I looked but didn't see anything so I thought I just imagined it. The next day I heard scratches behind our built in tv cabinet. Like I usually do to fix anything, I banged on the cabinet and the noise stopped. Thursday my husband walked into our pantry and met eyes with The Rat. Our Massey man came out yesterday and set a lot of traps, thought problem would
be solved. But it gets better...last night when I started to load the dishwasher I saw what looked like a mouse in the dishwasher. I closed the door, and husband and I had a committee meeting of two to decide how to catch it. I donned my leather gloves and planned to catch it with a towel. When we opened the door it wasn't moving, I guess I killed it when I closed the door. Now the dead mouse was jammed in the hinge of the door. This wasn't one of my finest moments trying to pull dead mouse out.
Our Massey guy said a lot of animals were displaced due to the storm and will seek shelter and food. He said we have two types of rats here, Norway and roof rats. They can squeeze into a very tiny space He said to look for droppings because they "drop" a lot. We still haven't caught The Rat, we are hoping he has moved on and not started a family. Bottom line, keep an eye out for evidence...and be careful when you close the dishwasher

Most people don't know this, but many oven doors can be removed by lifting them out. That may have made your life a little easier when you had to get the rat out, if you have a removable door.

In the meantime, I admire you for your feat well done! I would have let my husband do it!!!

[Mrs. Robinson]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

We have a few iddy biddy microscopic pith anth in the bathrooms from the rain.

Gotta remember to call Deans.

And you called an exterminator for a "few iddy biddy microscopic" ants?

An ant trap or terro would have solved the problem without the use of contaminating chemicals that never dissipate.

[rubicon]

There was a recent thread on this same subject . It does not matter what village you live in. "The Villages" as a community has a rat problem and one can quickly calculate the reasons it does.

It also has a major mouse problem and of course palmetto bugs are ubiquitous.

A pest guy will tell you palmetto bug will last only 72 hours in a home and my reply was its 72 hours too long.
If you can slide a credit card between a door ,etc then the roach can get in. they come from the sink, the vents in your ceiling, etc. the best defense is to have the pest guy treat for them .

I had my pest guy place two bait boxes on my property . A bait box a day keeps the critters away. I had the pest guy inspect my attic even though I never heard a sound.

Those who claim they do not have a problem in my view define the term "known unknowns"

If you are seeing this sort of problem in daylight then be very aware its a big problem

I was told, earlier years when the rat populations exploded The Villages had a campaign to treat palm trees in various villages. I suspect we have grown too large for such an effort now?

The weather, the growing population creates a perfect storm for pest problem and I would consider myself foolish to believe I can handle the situation without a professional especially here in Florida

Personal Best Regards:

[John_W]

I saw a mouse about 4 years ago when I lifted the top to the grill, he was so quick I wasn't sure at first what I had seen. I immediately put a D-Con mouse bait in the bottom of the grill and within a couple of days there were droppings by the bait and the green pellets were disappearing. Ever since then I keep one inside the grill and I have not seen another mouse since. These are sold in a 4 pack for about $5 at Walmart. Inside the grill is good because the trace of food attracts the mouse and inside the gril the cardboard box doesn't get wet in the rain.

[Carla B]

A few years ago I saw a mouse scurry from the living room through the kitchen to the laundry room. I think he squeezed under the dryer. I rolled up a rug under the kitchen/laundry room door to block his way. The next morning all the weather stripping under the door to the garage was chewed up, but he wasn't able to squeeze through. My husband put a trap by the garbage drawer under the kitchen sink and that's where we caught him.

We had to remove the door to the garage and reinstall the weather stripping. That door must weigh a hundred pounds!

I hate reading rat stories! I thought I saw one in the yard yesterday, right after we saw a big alligator in "our" pond for the first time. Good luck Springfield. Hopefully no more rats come to call.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by Carla B

.......right after we saw a big alligator in "our" pond for the first time.

What pond is that?