[photo1902]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I am the poster who has been skeptical of rats. Today we saw one coming out of the foundation planting near Laurel Manor Rec Center. Granted, this is the second rat I have seen in almost ten years here, but it was a ratty looking creature, be it palm rat or whatever. It was at nine in the morning and it scooted from one area of ground cover to the other.

I do not like rats, snakes or alligators. NOPE.

Skeptical? They are located all over The Villages.

[rubicon]

Originally Posted by photo1902

Skeptical? They are located all over The Villages.

I keep telling people that the pest guys agree there is a rat problem in TV. some folks are so enamored with their shang ri la that they rather go into denial then face the truth??????????????????

[New Englander]

Last week in broad daylight I saw a rat run across a street and run straight up a tree and disappear. I was driving my car at the time and don't remember the street. Something needs to be done.

[vintageogauge]

[QUOTE=bbbbbb;1463738]

Originally Posted by vintageogauge

Deans Services does rodent control and they are quick to respond. We use them for everything however we have not had rodents to date. If it is a squirrel, you should see it around your house from time to time during the daylight hours as they go back in at dusk. Rats, I don't know about except they do need a food source, I have heard there are a lot of

Bug and Rodent service. Well, I can tell you something interesting. We have a very nice senior lady next door, and her downspouts were dumping water at her foundation and I was concerned for the possibility of settling at that point in her foundation. So, I picked up an extension and a runoff plate to direct the water to the street. I did this voluntarily just to be a good neighbor. She is out of state a lot for long periods. Well, along comes DEANs Tech. And when he sprays, he steps on and breaks the downspout extensions. So I bought another and now he has broken it too, again. I have called his firm, the office 5, yes five times, about this and it still continues, the office said the supervisor will be out to see me, twice. He has not shown. There is more to this, it is so sloppy of them. So, enough said, if you are going to call Deans, well, I sure would not pay them to do anything.
bbbbbb

Have the owner that is actually paying the bills call them. They have been very responsive even if I see on mud wasp nest they are out within 24 hours to get rid of it. We have only lived here since May but very happy with them to date.

[Boomer]

For the first two years we owned our TV house, I made sure the existing queen palms were well-tended. They required a lot of attention to look good, but, hey, they looked so Florida -- even though they are not native to our TV zone -- too far north.

Those queen palms grew fast and their lowest fronds turned yellow, no matter how much fertilizer I schlepped around for them. I had to hire people to climb up and trim. THEN those fronds got way too close to our roof.

(Notice all those past tense verbs I have been using.)

I evicted those queen palms, and while I was surprised at how much shade those tall trees had provided, I have no regrets. Although I never saw a palm rat, that does not mean they did not see me. (shudder)

And, as much as I like seeing birds, I will never have a bird feeder and I am glad my neighbors don't have bird feeders either.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Boomer

For the first two years we owned our TV house, I made sure the existing queen palms were well-tended.

Those queen palms grew fast and their lowest fronds turned yellow, no matter how much fertilizer I schlepped around for them. I had to hire people to climb up and trim. THEN those fronds got way too close to our roof.

(Notice all those past tense verbs I have been using.)

I evicted those queen palms, and while I was surprised at how much shade those tall trees had provided, I have no regrets. Although I never saw a palm rat, that does not mean they did not see me. (shudder)

And, as much as I like seeing birds, I will never have a bird feeder and I am glad my neighbors don't have bird feeders either.

I applaud your choices.

[bbbbbb]

[QUOTE=Brugi;1461884]I think we may have a problem with either rats or Squirrels in the walls of my home.
Hubby has been hearing scratching but at night time only. He has been up in the attic, can't see or find any signs other than the scratching noises.
I'm deaf, can't hear anything.
He has inspected the outside of the house for possible entry into the attic .

Well, our nice neighbor lady showed me where she found rats. In some plants in the front planter. Yep, the small plants that look like very coarse grass. So, I put paint thinner on the plants for her and also on one we have, they will not bed down in a plant saturated with paint thinner, for sure. We are going to dig out those plants. Actually, they are almost totally dead from the rats eating the tender new shoots. So the thinner will hasten this process until we dig them out. Would you believe the rats chased her small, very small dog??
Luckily, her small dog moves like Lightning.

[swooner]

Originally Posted by Brugi

I think we may have a problem with either rats or Squirrels in the walls of my home.
Hubby has been hearing scratching but at night time only. He has been up in the attic, can't see or find any signs other than the scratching noises.
I'm deaf, can't hear anything.
He has inspected the outside of the house for possible entry into the attic .
Does anyone know who we could call to have the home inspected for verification of these unwanted guests ?
Thanx for your help.

Squirrels are rodents!

[Mrs. Robinson]

Originally Posted by Brugi

I think we may have a problem with either rats or Squirrels in the walls of my home.
Hubby has been hearing scratching but at night time only. He has been up in the attic, can't see or find any signs other than the scratching noises.
I'm deaf, can't hear anything.
He has inspected the outside of the house for possible entry into the attic .
Does anyone know who we could call to have the home inspected for verification of these unwanted guests ?
Thanx for your help.

Originally Posted by swooner

Squirrels are rodents!

Let's get specific since you brought it up.
True -- all squirrels are rodents, BUT . . .

All rodents are not squirrels.

The OP, Brugi, was being specific to give more information to their existing problem.

You were not very helpful.

[rubicon]

[QUOTE=bbbbbb;1464248]

Originally Posted by Brugi

I think we may have a problem with either rats or Squirrels in the walls of my home.
Hubby has been hearing scratching but at night time only. He has been up in the attic, can't see or find any signs other than the scratching noises.
I'm deaf, can't hear anything.
He has inspected the outside of the house for possible entry into the attic .

Well, our nice neighbor lady showed me where she found rats. In some plants in the front planter. Yep, the small plants that look like very coarse grass. So, I put paint thinner on the plants for her and also on one we have, they will not bed down in a plant saturated with paint thinner, for sure. We are going to dig out those plants. Actually, they are almost totally dead from the rats eating the tender new shoots. So the thinner will hasten this process until we dig them out. Would you believe the rats chased her small, very small dog??
Luckily, her small dog moves like Lightning.

Get a pest control guy to investigate.

The pest control manager explained to me that rats live/stay within 100 square yards of a home and/or place in which they forge.

entry for a rodent can be anywhere and may not require any effort on the critter One homeowner built a doggie door and as predictable rats walked in just like their pet.
People leave their garage doors open all day long so its easy access for them

My pest guy also explained that easy access for rodents are downspouts. All my gutter downspouts are connected underground. However I have one downspout on the driveway. I screened the interior of that downspout extension.

I live on a championship golf course and the course has six tall pines behind my home. The first time I saw a rat coming down the trunk of one of those trees I called my pest control guy and asked for a bait box. I now have two bait boxes

In the last year I had activity but of late all is quiet on the western front

Personal Best Regards:

[Brugi]

Massey came out on Saturday, and yup, caught another in the attic.
More traps were laid out, including some larger bait boxes. He will be back out on Monday to check again.
I'm hoping this is it.
After we are sure there are no more up there, then we will check all gutters and downspouts. Most of ours also run underground, but we do have a few that are not. We will make sure these are screened in also.
There is a large empty field in back of our home. I'm thinking this may be where they are coming from. Not sure.
We did not have a problem until after the hurricane came thru.
Thanks to all for your help and suggestions. They are appreciated.