Oh by the way Pawbah, the best bait for mice in my experience is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. 8D I used to have pet rats, and although peanut butter's not good for them (they can choke on it) they LOVE it. If you don't have luck with other baits I recommend Reese's, as its sweeter, and therefore smells stronger, than straight pb.

(I've had to deal with mouse outbreaks far more often than I'd like to admit! Just about everywhere I've lived, college included, we had mice at one time or another.)

Rats cute?! 8D No that's mice, not rats.

Ugh... I hate rats. We used to have some in our garage. But they're all dead now, that was before we had a cat. We haven't had them since. (Our cat hangs in the garage where her food & litter is)

Heh, I like rats, much more so than mice - obviously I wouldn't want them crawling around my cupboard, but the domesticated variety can make very intelligent and affectionate companions (I've been informed that they're actually a lot more rewarding to keep as pets than the routine hamster, since they don't sleep all day and are much less likely to bite), and the wild variety can provide a lot of amusement value with the various stories you hear about their cheerful defiance (however hard humans strive to stop them, the rats will find a way...). At the very least, you've gotta admire that impressive vitality of theirs.

Besides, I anticipate that rats are going to be very much in vogue this summer, what with the upcoming release of Pixar's Ratatouille.

The only thing that puts me off wanting to keep a pet rat of my own is their typically short lifespan...like most rodents, they only seem to have a very meagre two or three year's worth of life in them, which is too short for me. If I'm ever getting a rodent, then it's going to be something a bit more hard-wearing, like a chinchilla. They can live an average of 10-15 years, so I'm told.

Fortunately we've never had any infestations at my house worse than a handful of common or garden ants (and cat fleas, which are a given). There has been the odd occasion in which my cats have carried live mice into the house and then...misplaced them. In which case, the problem usually rectifies itself.

I agree with you on rats here, since I also find them to be cute, especially when they're young and go through that "gawky" stage like puppies, with too-big feet and ears and not enough of anything else! They're also very intelligent and can be very affectionate. Mice, in contrast, at the MOST will just tolerate being held, and are MUCH smellier and more likely to bite. Both are being bred in a nice variety of coat colors, patterns, and textures, or if you prefer, no coat at all! Still, like you said, they have very short lifespans, and in my case, I'm horribly allergic to their dander(which even the wrinkly hairless rats have in abundance). I started breeding rats years ago as snake food(hey, snakes gotta eat, too), and found that they made wonderful pets, much better rodent pets than hamsters or gerbils, in my opinion. I sold a lot of surplus baby rats as pets. Now, I can't even go in a building with live rats or mice, due to my asthma, and have to buy pre-killed frozen rodents to feed my snakes, and even THOSE cause me some degree of misery.

pitbulllady

I went to work and saw the Ratatouille trailer and started laughing cause of my current situation. If the rat in my Kitchen started cooking then maybe I wouldn't have to get rid of it.

Sparky, Thanks for the Peanut butter tip. I'll keep that in mind.

you could rent a mongoose for a day.

Or (if you live in a rural area) borrow a friend's outdoor cat. They're always bringing me dead rodents as presents.

Mine used to bring home birds but not all of them were dead. :P

I think most rats are a bit too big for the common cat, but cats are good and may spook it.

Poison as mentioned above does work, From what I hear. the poison dehydrates the rat, so they try to find water. So if the rat is traped in the house (sort of speak) then it would get caught in a wall. Typically when poisoned they wind up in the basement. I remember we found a dead 8 inch rat in the kitchen closet when I was a kid.

I would suggest the nonkilling traps, they are like racoon traps but smaller. the only problem with them is where do you put the rat. If you put it outside, It would proboly make its way back in. and then some towns have laws that prohibit transporting wildlife (and rodents). so you may want to give your local animal controle a call to check on the laws and options.

Monty :-/

i pulled a live chickadee outa mine's mouth. Bird flew away.

We have a rat and mouse problem. Though that's nothing compared to the whistle pig problem in the ceiling. Apparently they fight the other rodents for dominance, and then fight each other. Ah, the Wild West.