Mr (or Mrs) Rat overstepped the boundaries on Thursday night. He (or she) found a way into the under-sink cupboard via the hole that brings the water pipes into the house.
We think it might have been first incursion as there is no evidence of having used the place as a toilet and there is not scent of rodent under the cupboards.
My third trip into town on Saturday was to buy some instant contact wood glue and some expanding foam. Having pulled out the boards under the cupboards I discovered that the floor doesn't quite meet the walls over a distance of a couple of feet, and in addition to the gap around the water pipes, some idiot installed the main stopcock for water into the house right IN the floor level. It has a huge U shaped piece cut out of the floor so that you can turn the lever.
They might as well have put a sign on it "Rodent entry this way➡". I have to build a box to go around it, as well as squirting expanding foam into the gaps either side of it.
Have you ever used expanding foam? Hold the can upside down .... naturally the can is taller than the vertical height available under the cupboards - and the back wall is further way than the length of my arms.
That is going to need some innovative thinking if I am not to spifflicate the kitchen cupboards.
There is actually crawl space under the house (18 inches or so) but no way of getting into it without pulling up some floorboards somewhere (under the stairs perhaps) - not my idea of a fun way to spend a few hours, but I guess I could take the opportunity to install some under floor insulation - the place needs it. That's a few more hours .... No, on considering it further, finding someone with longer arms would be easier and less painful.
It won't be Mr B then.
Where's Tigger when I need him? We never had any of these problems when he patrolled under the cupboards.
Eucalyptus oil has been dripped on cottonwool and placed around under the cupboards while I think about it. There is a fine line between 'thinking about it' and procrastination.
Instead I went out and mowed the lawns and weeded some garden. I was not, during that time, struck by any flashes of inspiration, but the back yard looks a lot tidier.
When I had to concrete up a rat entry I put broken glass in with the concrete....no more rat entry...
ReplyDeleteAll that grass. I would make half of that into a productive vegetable garden. Would you not get another cat?
ReplyDeleteMoving to NZ later this year, to an area where cats are banned. It's the price of living close to our native birdlife I'm afraid.
DeleteAs regards the grass - we have always had an allotment so the lawn was for boules and barbeques, and bees (we let the clover and daisies flower in it....)
DeleteI'm afraid I have no useful insights regarding the rat problem, but I do know the feeling of satisfaction at seeing the results of a good garden tidying session.
ReplyDeleteNobby would be up for the challenge of tackling ratty. Or so he believes...
Cheers, Gail.
Perhaps Nobby would like to try his skills? Mr T would never tackle a rat but he chased them and his presence probably acted as a general deterent.
DeleteOh no I hope and purr that rat problem is solved.
ReplyDeleteI am reminded of an event my cousin had when she moved into her first condo in Maryland.
The condos were built in what was a beautiful farm field. Fast forward to her first day
living there she was so excited to have her first evere dish washer. When she opened the dishwasher lo and behold there was a field mouse sitting on the dishwasher racks staring at her. I don't know who was more frightened. Bothy ran for places unknown. Can't remember if the mouse made a return visit
Hugs Cecilia
Mouseys we don't mind. They get repatriated outdoors somewhere. Rattys indoors require a lifestyle review and overhaul. I donkill them because if you don't change what attracts them another one will simply take its place.
DeleteWhen we had mouse incursions I pushed Brillo pads (steel wool) into the gaps around the pipes. Don't know if that would be possible in your situation...or even stop them?
ReplyDeleteYou and Angela are clearly excellent repositories of proven 'life hacks' (as handy hints seem to be called these days). Steel wool it shall be. I can poke that in with a stick. Problem solved (except for the box round the stopcock.)
DeleteThe rats and or mice chewed through the expanding foam when I used it.
ReplyDeleteAnd elderly lady told be to use steel wool pads and block the holes with those. It worked. They don’t like chewing the thin strips of steel. Don’t use the ones with the soap on them. They like the taste of those. Just plain steel wool pads. And the good thing about those is you can remove them if you need to access anything very easily
Steel wool noted. Your comment stirred my memory banks and I vaguely recall being advised that in some other life. Plain steel wool I have (two uses - stripping varnish and making oak gall ink - and now rat defence works)
DeleteClever creatures, rats, and opportunistic, too. I hope you find someone with the right length arms very soon.
ReplyDeleteHari OM
ReplyDelete...and yet again your post only appears in my reader many hours after you publish... anyhoo - I see others have already suggested the steel wool which was always my mother's go-to for invaders. Garden looks good! YAM xx
It's that gypsy lifestyle you lead - the news has trouble finding you! 😂
DeleteYou are truly a woman for all trades and seasons. Hope Mr Rat keeps his distance till you can turn your home into a fortress
ReplyDeleteIt's quite a sweet rat - if it would only stay outdoors.
Deletenot only was i super entertained by this post, I learned several new things i did not know.. thanks to all for the steel wool tips. do they have rats in NZ where they have birds and not cats? please advise! ha ha
ReplyDeleteIndeed they do have rats (and cats) - but have declared war on both. Domestic cats have a lot of supporters but will find themselves increasingly confined to barracks as the decades roll by. NZ has also declared war on stoats, weasels and ferrets and if you do in internet search you might find an article about half a million NZdollars spent on finding and 'eliminating' one stoat which found its way onto a formerly predator free small sanctuary island where many of our flightless birds species should have been able to nest and raise young without predation by these introduced animals.
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