Rat in the bedroom

I didn't realise that, thatbags, oh well, it had to take its chances then. Perhaps better to have had the sort of trap that kills instantly.
It and its family had taken up residence in the garage; we don't have a cat, but DS and SIL are having problems with mice, birds etc, brought in by their cat.

I think they're quite good, Charleygirl. We bought one for DH's workshop because the little blighters were nibbling anything made of leather. It worked!!

I bought a gadget on line which I have permanently plugged into a socket in the kitchen. When I test it, the noise would drive me crazy and that is the sound which the mice would hear but it does not affect my cat.

I only need it because at times, after the mice are brought indoors, Tara loses interest and I hate mice, alive or dead. I have not had a mouse stay since I bought it.

If the mouserat was released outside its own territory, other mouserats will kill it. They are aggressively territorial (many people don't know this) so 'humanely' catching a mouse and releasing it a distance away is not humane in the end. Good traps that kill instantly are humane.

If it was released inside its own territory your cats might bring it in again.

I did persuade DH to buy a humane trap when we had mice in the garage and he released them out in the countryside. But a rat - no, I would have no compassion as they carry disease.

Apparently it was a mouse and not a rat. If you have mice in your house, get a trap!!

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.

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.

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

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

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!

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......

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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!

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.

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

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....

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

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!!

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