Pest Control - Something in my ceiling

Author

Something in my ceiling

BobE

2006-01-26, 10:21 am

I have a two story colonial house in upstate NY. Something is running
around the first floor ceiling, occaisionally scratching. I have mouse
traps and poison all over the cellar. I had a pest control guy in 2
weeks ago. He put some poison in the attic. He told me, which I did,
to cut the outside bushes back from the house. He said if that didn't
do it, he wanted to cut a hole in the living room wall and put a trap
in there.

I have looked around the base of the house and tried to plug any holes.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't want holes in my walls.

Happybattles

2006-01-30, 2:21 pm

Cutting trees back should help.
You may have some power or phone lines running to your roof too.

The best way to take care of rats and mice is to block them from
getting in in the first place. You, someone you know who owes you a
favor or a handyman should get on a ladder and look closely for
openings such as around:

-drain pipes
-bird blocks
-barrel-tiled roofs
-chimneys
-vents

Then go under the house and look for openings around where pipes enter
the home. This may be tough if you have insulation down there.

If you find any openings the size of a dime or larger, they need to be
plugged. I recommend copper wool (or a copper scouring pad), hardware
cloth and maybe even some Liquid Nail. If they can't get in, they
can't get in.

You may, however, trap them inside the house... but you have to start
somewhere.

Cutting holes in your walls is very extreme, but can be a benefit. If
you hear any noises near a bath tub or shower, having access to the
pipes can accomplish two things at once:
1. Allow a place to put a trap.
2. Allow access to plumbers if there's ever a problem.

If he needs to cut a hole there, it shouldn't need to be very big. Ace
Hardware makes a very nice, white cover to go over such holes. They
can be painted to blend-in later. I've used them when treating for
termites around bath tubs and most people just leave them white. I've
used them to make access holes into crawl spaces too.

If you already have an access point at the tubs, ask your pest control
guy to inspect there for any sign of activity and to try traps there
first. Snap traps will be the best as when the critter is caught, you
know where it is and can remove the "stinker".

junk120@rogers.com

2006-02-04, 3:21 pm

It's likely a squirrel. I had the same problem this time of year for a
couple of years. I would not poison them, the squirrel will die and
stink up your house (and maybe has a nest of babies as well). I tried
drilling some holes in the walls and squirting some rodent repellent
(has fox urine in it I think) - this obviously annoyed them, but did
not really fix the issue. I repaired the hole where they were getting
in, and they chewed another one. A year later my neighbour cut down a
large tree, and the squirrels no had easy access to the roof (they were
getting in under the eave), and the problem went away.

If it happened again, I would try trapping the squirrels and driving
them a few miles away. I know your pain - the scratching is annoying
and really freaked the cat out.

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