rats under the floor boards ????

[lauramw]

hi i'm new to the site and i wonder if you can help we hear scrating noises under the floor boards ( from downstairs never up ) but only for short periods of time ( 10 secs to 2 mins ) at around 9-10 but not wevery night we do have noisy heating but am starting to worry that its rats as it sounds like scratching and we have seen rats in the garden ( near the bird table have stopped feeding them now ) my husband has had a look un der our bath (where the are large openings for the pipes) and their are no droppings but there were bits of cardboard ( left by plumbers !!) and these had not been chewed so do you think this is rats or heating and ove active imagination please help am going slightly nuts trying to work it out and i have 2 small children so I am understandable nervous. sorry to waffle on thanks for you help x

[healfdan]

Lauramw

I have also been experiencing the same type of scratching noises during the mid evening, which appears to come from within the wall but below floor level. We have also noticed it coming from under the front door, again just below floor level. These occurences are not regular but can always be heard within 30 cm of a radiator. My wife says it is something to do with the central heating as it cools down. Personally I am thinking wood mice, (we have had quite a few,) as they regularly gnaw at wood in order to control the growth of their incisors. We have never had rats, so for me wood mice are likely candidates.
I have to regularly set traps to keep numbers down during the winter, so that might be an option for you. Humane traps or back breakers with chocolate to tempt them works for me. By the way, has this problem only arisen during the past couple of months when wood mice often move into houses during colder weather?

[faz]

put some rat traps down you will soon know ?

pleas dont stop feeding the birds especially at this time with all the cold weather your local birds may depend on the food you put out for them




welcome to WAB

[wizzo]

Hi Laura. Just wondered why you've duplicated your post?

[lauramw]

yeah sorry bout that was an accident oops

[nightshade]

Originally Posted by lauramw

hi i'm new to the site and i wonder if you can help we hear scrating noises under the floor boards ( from downstairs never up ) but only for short periods of time ( 10 secs to 2 mins ) at around 9-10 but not wevery night we do have noisy heating but am starting to worry that its rats as it sounds like scratching and we have seen rats in the garden ( near the bird table have stopped feeding them now ) my husband has had a look un der our bath (where the are large openings for the pipes) and their are no droppings but there were bits of cardboard ( left by plumbers !!) and these had not been chewed so do you think this is rats or heating and ove active imagination please help am going slightly nuts trying to work it out and i have 2 small children so I am understandable nervous. sorry to waffle on thanks for you help x

Check around the outside of your house at groundlevel, are there any damaged air bricks or holes that would allow Rats in?
If there are these will need properly replacing/filling and then any rats under the house removing.
A chap I used to work with got a friend to put his Python under his floor, but it took an awful long time to recapture it as it had a plentiful food supply
Feeding the birds is fine as long as you do not chuck food on the ground and leave it. You must tidy up every evening or the Rats will move in _AND_ BREED.