Do I have a rat problem?

[HotRodKush]

One of my first projects in the new garage is to strip the walls down to the bare sheetrock, repair and repaint. I got to this area today and had an issue.

This is not a structural wall, it was built by the previous owner to hold electrical sockets along the foundation in the garage. I pulled off the fiber board that was covering it and found this inside:

Close up:

Looks like insulation, though there's no insulation anywhere else in the area that I know of.

About 3 feet from the top photos, at the exterior wall next to the garage door:

Not sure if that's related, but it's close enough to the area in question that I thought it might be relevant.

Does this look like mice/rats to you?

 

[ZRX61]

Time to scatter mothballs all over, even put a few inside the walls...Smell of Naptha drives em away.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Probably mice. Seal that crack, it's wide enough to be a superhighway for the little buggers.

 

[Phuckin' Jim]

Looks like mice to me. I don't see how they got into that cavity, though.

 

[HotRodKush]

Here's a pic of the bottom of the board after I took it out. Looks like there was some moisture there and they ate their way through:

He had nailed a 1x6 to the bottom of the wall there, presumably to block off access to the hole. I can't determine if that solved the problem and he just never bothered to repair the damage, or if there are still mice living there. Either way I'm cleaning it up and mounting some new drywall, but if there are mice hanging around I'd like to get rid of them.

 

[srmofo]

mice can damn near fit through a slot as thick as a matchbook.

 

[Bull]

I have heard of the mothball trick, but have not tried it.

Do you have a cat? A temporary assignment of a few days in the garage might solve the problem. I had something leaving huge pieces of **** in my barn and burrowing into my new insulation. Put a cat out there and within 24 hours there was a pool of blood and a mangled rodent corpse.

 

[HOTFR8]

Rats also hate cleaning fluids. Pine-O-Clean (disenfectant) or similar on a timber floor will keep them away. A cake of soap is also good to leave about as they eat it and die, as long as they do not die inside your walls.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Here's my $.02: NOTHING works on rats except exclusion. If you can't block opening and keep 'em out, then everything else is temporary...well, except for the rats you kill. It's permanent to them!

I've had plenty of rats in my garage because our neighborhood is full of established fruit trees. I've used a lot of snap traps and they kill them just fine, but others will come back if there are nesting materials of any kind. Poison is not a great idea if they die in the wall or crawl space where you can't reach them.

 

[rikmeister]

bubble gum kills them and they love it. they alsolike peanut butter.

 

[ddawg16]

Get in touch with your local environmental health department or health authority they have legal powers to make sure they get the infestation controlled or at least close the place down till it is safe again.

Make sure any cats they use are union members....

If they use any mouse traps.....they need to be ADA compliant.

You might want to put in a call to the EPA to make sure there are no hazardous materials in there like dirt.

To be on the safe side....call the police right now....have them tape off the who neighborhood.....you never know, there might still be a live mouse around somewhere.

To the OP....were there ANY rat dropings? Rats poop everywhere....if no dropings then something else was causing it.

 

[Bigpigdave]

Looks like mice to me. Rats need a pretty large opening but mice can fit through the tiniest of openings. Wear gloves and a mask when you clean, mice can carry disease. I found that keeping the outside of my shop clear of "stuff" (wood piles, weeds, overgrown grass, trash, etc...) has greatly helped my mouse problem. Good luck!!
Thanks, Dave

 

[hetkind]

Make sure any cats they use are union members....

I have a cat who acts like a Union rep, doesn't do any work, bosses the other cats around, appears to have "connections". Plus he is twice the size of a normal cat (23 lbs) and always at the food bowl.

And, one day, he actually chased a rat INTO my garage...

One last thought, how do you tell when a cat is on strike? does their productivity change at all?

 

[HoosierBuddy]

I have a cat who acts like a Union rep, doesn't do any work, bosses the other cats around, appears to have "connections". Plus he is twice the size of a normal cat (23 lbs) and always at the food bowl.

And, one day, he actually chased a rat INTO my garage...

One last thought, how do you tell when a cat is on strike? does their productivity change at all?

LMAO!

We should introduce your cat to my dog. He has evidently signed a non-aggression pact with the moles in our yard. They don't bother him so he doesn't bother them.

Phil

 

[AndrewHR]

One last thought, how do you tell when a cat is on strike? does their productivity change at all?[/QUOTE]

the only way to tell is when they 'paws' for thought

 

[cowboyjosh]

Billy the Exterminator on A&E swears by using cashews on snap traps for rats as the best bait. Don't use poison like Decon, they die where you can't find em and then you'll have a stink issue.

 

[mad57]

this has been talked about before in an earlier post ...i suggest you use a snake shedding that keeps rats and mice away and you can get it from any pet shop for free works for all my project cars.

 

[51rider]

You sir have mice!
Stuff some wire wool into the gap & secure with expanding foam. They cannot chew through it.
Clear up the nest & wear gloves & a mask whilst you do.

Block up any gap the size of a pencil as the little buggers will get through it if you don't.

Keep a regular check & you should be fine.

 

[frank_c]

Time to scatter mothballs all over, even put a few inside the walls...Smell of Naptha drives em away.

i've read that peppermint oil works too.

 

[Strouty]

The local unions here always cause problems when it comes to rats, I would definitely check with your local union. The cat would be a good solution, but most unions want you to pay way too much for their services. You usually have to provide a catnap every ten or fifteen minutes, discounts on catnip, and regular litter box changing. After all that, they aren't even allowed to kill them, they can only chase them off for a while, that way when the rats come back, they have more union work.

 

[HotRodKush]

lol thanks for all of the great replies!

I'll give a bunch of your guys' suggestions a try, hopefully within the week I'll have the issue taken care of. After that's done, it's time for drywall and paint

 

[James E]

Ddawg is right. If it's a rat or mouse nest, it will smell like pee and be surrounded by poo. They are not particular about where they leave their droppings. The more activity, the more droppings and there's LOTS of activity around nests.