Rat in the bedroom

Oh dear - there are many things I would do, but sleeping in a room with a rat on the loose is not one of them. Do you know anyone who has a terrier they can lend you for half an hour?

Go to your mum's. Now.

And and

I would lend you my terrier, but she's never caught anything her entire life, and is fifteen years old now.
I wouldn't sleep in a room with a rat. I'd sleep on the sofa in the living room if I had to.
Are you sure the cat left it in your bedroom?

Could you put some food out in the room overnight; at least that way you'll know if the rat is still there.

Oh goodness me go to your Mothers at least for the night , perhaps phone a pest company ?

Try putting some food down in the middle of a large piece of paper then shake plenty of sifted flour all over the rest of the paper. If the rat goes to the food it will leave a trail of floury footprints and you'll be able to see where it's gone. Hopefully not under your bed!!

DH's advice is to go to bed with a torch and an airgun!!

Thank-you everyone. Yes hildajenniJ she went in with it, DS pursued her having been notified by my calm alert screaming she's got something in her mouth, she's going up there then she didn't have it and he and she were in the bedroom so he closed the door.
Wait - one of my friends does have some sort of dog - starts texting....

Our cat is a great hunter and regularly brings us visitors. Usually dead at the top or bottom of the stairs but occasionally he drops a live one and it escapes in the room. If we shut the cat up in the room overnight, the magic happens and there is a dead mouse in the morning.

Luckily for us, any rats he caught were always dead. He managed to clear out the nest under our neighbours decking one spring! So glad that decking has now gone.

I couldn't sleep in a room with a suspect in there and would definitely debunk to the downstairs room. Love Merlot's idea with the flour!
Do let us know the outcome

Starling you need Tara my cat. She has been known to bring home 3 takeaways (mice) one after an other and ond day left a rat on my front doorstep because she could not get it and herself through the cat flap. I also think that she killed one in my neighbour's garden and left it outside his patio doors because she could not negotiate the fencing. I am certainly not admitting to that!

The only problem is that I do not know if she would "work" in a strange house.

I do not like sharing a bedroom with a live mouse because Tara becomes disinterested and leaves my bedroom. You should move out for a night to stay with your mother.

I live alone during the week, and have 1 cat that hunts properly, although so far he hasn't brought a rat in.

I love my bed too much to de-camp, so if it was definitely last seen in the bedroom, I would probably shut myself, both cat's and whatever it was in the bedroom together!

PS Might not actually go to sleep though, until "it" was caught and dispatched.

I take two Jack Russells to bed with me every night so I don't think a rat would dare stop around.

If you haven't seen or heard anything by now, Starling, it's probably dead.

The programme on only last night (or the night before? showed that some cats are reluctant to take on a rat. The late, much lamented Maurice, showed no such qualms, and we therefore had on many occasions to remove his offerings from the front doorstep.

He was not impressed by this, and often looked somewhat disappointed.

I think I may have posted before that I always thought he would have preferred to have the heads stuffed and mounted, displayed in such as way as he could have puffed on his metaphorical pipe whilst saying to the "young 'uns" "Ah yes, I remember that one particularly well! Cornered the blighter just behind the wheelie bin at number 4, put up one hell of a fight, but I stood my ground! Had a slight wound, but only a scratch really. My limp? Ah well, that's another story, did I ever tell you about the weasel in 2002? No? Well, it was a particularly cold day.................

Yes, I know, I'm completely batty

If it's dead, merlot, won't it be even harder to find? Until, of course...oh, it doesn't bear thinking about!

When I was young and free, working in Kenya, one night after a party when I had imbibed perhaps more than was sensible, I was sleeping the sleep of the p****d, but was woken by the cats torturing a rat under my bed. I managed to get them out into the hall, complete with the rat, and fell back into dreamland. In the morning I seriously thought I might have dreamt the whole thing, but my house servant (not as grand as it sounds - we all employed someone to cook and clean) confirmed that he'd found a dead rat in the hall. Needless to say, the cats, by that time, were well into their morning sleep.

Update - it was not found before bedtime so decamped to downstairs - DH had magically cleared the clutter off the bed in that room. Woke up, DH said he had heard it scrambling around in the morning.... so it was still up there and still alive.

Had major nervous breakdown and went to shops. Bought "bait station" and "bait" which I thought was a humane trap but was just poison. DS refused to use (shouldn't have read him all those sentimental books about animals throughout his childhood). DH went to dental appt.

Decamped to shops again and took up residence in café, friend came to chat to me. Finally got phone message that rodent had been humanely captured using some long thin square cardboard box tubes and removed from premises alive. I am being told it was a large mouse.....

Three cats bravely slept on three separate beds throughout, including the newly cleared and freshly linened (?) downstairs bed.

DH has returned with refund for unused purchases. Notice receipt has the items described as RATBAIT STATION and PASTARAT KILLER.

Sound like they should be in some sort of nasty cartoon series......

You have my sympathy Starling. Our 2 ginger menaces once brought in a rat that escaped behind some wood panelling in the kitchen. I'm not afraid of many animals, but rats leave me in a state of terror. Fortunately, rat eventually emerged and was dispatched by our border collie, sadly no longer with us, while our cats watched, smiling benignly and purring the whole time.
I'm glad it was a happy ending for you. Sleep well tonight!

Thank-you nannyfran
(still a bit shaken actually, think have underlying stress issue...)

To think I've missed all the excitement. Could have offered you my dog as he's a great ratter.

Rats are vermin and carry disease - tell him not to be so squeamish and that you are going to poison it! That is what the Council will do.

DS and DIL have a hunter cat, I could not live with one.

I'm with your DS Starling. I would have to find another way to remove the rat humanely (which I see you did). There is nothing wrong with having compassion for animals, even the less cuddly ones.