Rabbitch

Get some steel wool too (the very coarsest/thickest kind they have). You can put that in holes and it is very difficult to gnaw through, plus the critters end up with a belly full of steel. It has worked for me! And you can always knit with it if you have any left over (just kidding on that last one).

kim
 

Wadded up aluminum foil can work in a pinch if you don't have steel wool. I grew up a few houses away from a feed mill - always exciting when the weather started to turn cool...
 

I second Kim's steel wool comment. It really, really, really helps. Good luck!!!
 

Steel Wool ... and yes they do travel in pairs or PACKS. Sorry.
 

May we now call you Rodent Rooter?
 

BWAAAAhhahaha Rodent Rooter! My sympathies re: rats. I like to tease and annoy you, but it seems like really you have enough of that going on right now, so instead I'm sending death rays to your rats.
 

Why is it that the person who reinserts himself into your life is NEVER the one who's become rich with a yarn empire and washboard abs, but he (or she, whatever) can't get you out of his mind?
PS - Good luck with the rats. I wonder - can you spin rat hair? Maybe you don't want to get rid of them just yet.
 

I had a rat problem once upon a time when I lived on the Island, and one of the things I learned while researching the hole thing is that the little buggers are so flexible that they can fit through a nickel-sized opening. Unbelievable, but I'm not kidding. I was in a drafty little cottage at the time, so that was a LOT of plugging. I was squeamish and pregnant, and hubby was away at sea, so I hired somebody to do the trapping and body removing. Eventually they stopped coming back, but there were babies in the wall, so I wasn't done until those were old enough to come out and get trapped. Anyway, you have my sympathy - it was horrible - they would pee on the kitchen counters at night, and I lost a whole bunch of yarn to them.
 

this post reminds me of the punchline of one of my favorite jokes..........."RATS, BIG FUCKIN' RATS." you have my sympathies, dealt w/ rats long ago and it still gives me shivers.
 

Insulating foam does a good job plugging up small holes and is way easier than wood and nails. Also, chances of smashing your thumb/fingers with foam is slim to none.

Anything that has that much chemical crap in it is going to make rats sick to dead too.

Oh and people who are reminding you of things you would rather not think about knowing that that is so, need to be bonked on the head with rat carcases.
 

you need poison to go under the house, traps to get what ever's already inside (you already know that peanut butter is the best bait), and expanding foam spray to plug the holes. check any spots where pipes are coming in and out of the house. good luck.
 

We have 6 cats who race around the house following the scurrying noises created by: mice, possibly rats, and probably red squirrels. The cats slam into the furniture as they tear across the room looking up at the ceiling. Or they sit staring at a closed cupboard. Sigh... I have just discovered a container of Ghiardelli cocoa powder that has been mousified. I don't even feel bad that they are probably all dying of cocoa toxicity, hearts hammering. As long as they don't die in the walls, that is.
 

Seriously, if it's wrong, I don't wanna be right....I'm with la.
If I lived in your area I'd come a running, loaded with tons of steel wool, foam crap, and good beers.
Get those nasty ratses on the run.
 

Look for little, tiny holes. My mom had a rat in her house, and the bastard was coming and going through the heating vent on the wall. Go get 'em!
 

You poor critter! I don't know what I would do if I ever had a rat. Last time I had something invade my house, my parents were visiting, and my father took care of it. Disgusting!
Katherine
 

Also with la, and yeah, I know, I'm a newbie here and don't know you all that well... But jeezus jumpin' christ on a silver pogo-stick, what a snollygoster Anonymous is. Although that's probably too complimentary.
 

Rabbitch, my heart goes out to you. Rats in the house, rats from your past...too bad the same thing wont' work on both. But hubby says to tell you that the spray foam in a can works great for plugging up rodent holes. Good luck...and hang in there!
 

But they have such cute little faces!

We had them in our garage a few years back. We trapped more than a dozen over about 2 months. When I was having work done in the garage for my glass stuff, they took down the ceiling and found a huge nest in the rafters. Is your garage-building-barn-thing still around? That might be the source.

I SO owe you an email. Been working 12-hour days and weekends, and dealing with kidlet health stuff - I should get a break soon.
 

oops