Yes, I am over-posting, I know! But the thing is that there are rat races happening just above my head in my little office (you know, the one I just cleaned out). The pest control man who came over the other day and did several hours of work to eradicate the (possibility of) termites, charged us a small fortune, and told me that the rats might be possums who might be rats, was too nervous to get into our ceiling even though we gave him a ladder.
Tonight I have made a decision. I will buy rat poison and throw it into the ceiling cavity because I cannot stand it anymore. Anthony used to do all of this stuff but he never taught me how, or where, or what – so I flounder with what I am supposed to do. It is a very old house so the electric wires are already old and a bit dangerous which is another thing I have to figure out.
I remember when my beautiful mother at 44 had to suddenly deal with all of the stuff Dad did before he died – all that supposedly manny stuff. She did it with more alacrity than I will ever have and anyway Anthony isn’t dead.
I am going to kill those rats because if I don’t they will fall through the ceiling and swallow me whole.
jmgoyder 
Wow, Julie. This is so powerful. No way can anyone accuse you of over-posting when what you post is so damned good.
I have to get rid of them because they are eating the electrics. When Ants was home he always said they were possums – yeah right!
Would believe more it was rats, as they seem to ADORE electrical wire. Scary when you think about what all that nibbling can do.
Yikes!
Yep. Nasty things.
How big are you talking about? Sounds awful!
I never see them but they sound bigger and bigger. Ming has killed a few outside over the yrs but it’s getting a bit out of control in the ceiling!
Maybe they sound bigger in the ceiling! Rick and I lived in a place once where he placed traps. Every night, snap!snap!snap! He had several catches every night. I could never even look at them, much less release the traps. EEeeeeeeekkkkk! Still can’t.
I’m going to bed now in the hope that the rat olympics are finished for tonight;I definitely had to do something tomorrrow! Thanks Wisdom!
It’s ok if you overpost because your posts are not a 1000 words! The rat situation would have me in a frenzied panic!
They are running around just above me now -argh!
yes, throw plenty of rat poison in the attic, this is always a good thing in the fall and winter as these rodents want a warmer place to live, but unless you are a professional, please call an electrician for any wiring issues. i want no accidents in your home!!!
Here, I’d be thinking squirrels or raccoons, too, but maybe you don’t have those things.
If you have access to the attic, like a trap door, I surely would think about baited traps before just throwing poison up there. Otherwise, be prepared for a very unpleasant period if they eat the poison and die up there. It takes a while for eau de deathe to disappear.
Also, you don’t have to kill them if it’s something other than a rat. The humane traps (wire cages with drop down doors) allow you (or whoever) to relocate the critter.
One thing you should do is figure out how they’re getting in and block up their access. If they’re chewing through wood, metal sometimes helps. And if you don’t hear them at all during the day, they might be out foraging before coming home at night. 😉
I keep forgetting it’s spring there, not fall. In the autumn we always have a fight on our hands as they look for warm places to spend the winter.
No – we don’t have squirrels or racoons – that would be okay. And they’re not possums either. In the past they eat poison and go away. Okay a couple have died in ceiling and the stench is pretty awful but alas
shall I send a white knight your way Julie..?? He will be working over the road tomorrow anyway, he can bring some baits and chuck them up there for you ?
xoxo
Sorry – just saw this. Who is the white knight – husband? It’s okay, Ming’s gonna do it later today!
Oh Rats! How goes the war today?
They are very silent today – odd!
Rascally Rats!
Rats, my god …. Bless you! I really hope you will get them – rat poison isn’t that a risk that any of your wonderful animals will get some inside them ???? Why couldn’t the rang catcher get them ??? Remember when I lived with grandma – and we had a little mouse up on the attic – it was driving us mad – every night was it running around like mad. Grandma got with a piece cheese in the mouse trap one morning. Then I cried like a baby, it was so small and cute. Good luck, with the rat race.
Good luck with your rat battle. My sister’s fighting mice in her ceiling right now too. Hope you win, so that instead of raining cats and dogs, it doesn’t rain rats.
So if the rats or opossums in your attic eat the poison and die there, you change the nature of the problem to smell and carcass management. Maybe you should consider another approach…. A friend of mine had squirrels in her attic and paid a small fee for the squirrels to be live-trapped and removed.
In the past they have tended to eat the poison then vacate the premises – here’s hoping!
Oh, and you should also remove all the ingress/egress routes for your rats/opossums, or it won’t matter what solution you pick – you’ll be dealing with it forever.
I have my exterminator put poison in the attic and cellar in the fall – I get packrats and field mice.
Yes I may need a professional!
You do need to take care that none of your critters can get to the poison or a pest killed by it.
Will do!
Yep throw the packets of rat poison into the ceiling and hopefully they will all die, well heres hoping……………I have had that problem rats/mice in the ceiling and it is so bloody annoying I am not a voilent person but kill the buggers
This is just a symptom of having to face life without the support we’re so used to. If something happens to my husband before me, I’d be at a loss. Younger women strive to be more independent…not a bad thing. Good luck with the critters…
I remember once seeing a rat with a body approx 1 foot long run across the back yard, so I don’t blame you for getting the exterminators in. They can be big & mean critters.
The first part of your comment cracked me up because I thought you meant you saw a rat with a body – like a human body!
We have problems with rats too. Don’t really know if they’re rats or squirrels or moles! They’re small and make nasty scratching and chewing sounds in the walls. Eeek! I feel for you, Julie. We put the poison in out of the way places like under the stairs, the crawlspace under the house. Then a few days later we smell success, unfortunately, sometimes success seems to have gotten stuck in the wall. Good luck, may all your freeloading animals find new habitat! 🙂
Oh dear. Margie
It’s good that you are taking control but remember – you will have to dispose of the bodies because they stink. We had a rat die in the walls and the house stank for months.
Hopefully they will eat the poison and then go away to die – I know that stink!
Oh, how frustrating! That would drive me crazy too.
I was raised by my mother. My parents divorced when I was very young. My mom’ talents and abilities has always amazed me. She was good at fixing things around the house and yard…things that men usually take care of. She even taught me how to do basic maintenance on a car. She is still very independent and I’m very proud of her.
You are doing very well, Julie!
Thanks Fergiemoto – your ma sounds fantastic!
What kind of termite man doesn’t get up in the ceiling? That’s one of the areas they’re supposed to check! What a wimp.
A scaredyman~
Hope you got em all – could you borrow a cat for a day or two? Mind you, ours are too lazy to actually hunt vermin…