pest control? the rats are back
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Evan Steven in Belmont is real good and local friendly guy... he crawled under my house to rat proof it, and took a discount for cash payment. now usre if he'll go that far south though....how many state lines do you have to cross from belmont to Cupertino?
Unfortunately, rats are very happy around here and extermination seems to help for a bit... but then they come back. I don't know how generally useful this is, but we found a rats' nest under the hood of our Acura MDX a couple of years ago and I was chatting with a friend about it and she had had a similar problem - for two winters in a row, rats had nested in their car (coincidentally? an MDX) and once even chewed through a bunch of wires causing a $1500 repair bill... Anyway, after trying lots of different things, their vet suggested that rats hate the Preventic Tick Collar for Dogs by Virbac (sold online). We put one around the battery in the MDX about 18 months ago and no more rats - even there or in the garage, where they would vacation and leave droppings. Not sure this will help with your problem but worth knowing if you find a spot where they're hanging out or coming in through. My friend lives in Atherton and apparently just about every neighbor in that "rural" area had the same ratmobile problem until the tick collar solution.
Marta thanks for the tip, I'll give it a try. I think we'll need to bring in a pro too ... found at least two spots where they're getting into the crawlspace and attic :(
I called Even Steven .. unfortunately Cupertino is too far for him, and he couldn't recommend anyone... So if anyone else has good leads on rat killing experts, send them on!
Good golly, Roy. Yuck! We use Western Exterminator - pay about $70 every two months for maintenance, and they'll come out if anything pops up in between... I'm pretty sure they dead with vermin, although we haven't (thank goodness) dealt with that in northern hinterlands...
Whatever you do, make sure rat poison which makes rats leave the house or basement is used. If they die while they are in your walls or basement, the smell (and the flies later) will make you wish you had the live rats again.
We had rats several years ago. First they nested in the garage (found the dog food). Then after a while they started coming into the house (greedy for better food). We called the city (Mt. View) and they sent someone out for free. All she did was walk around the house and point out all the places rats could get in and out (e.g. holes in wire mesh over vents, the eaves, a crooked crawl space cover etc.) First we fixed all those, then set rat traps in the garage: the old-school type that go snap - with peanut butter, where no kids could reach them. For kicks we also tried one of those expensive ones that electrocute the rat, but it didn't catch anything. Over the next week or so we caught a handful of rats. Then we were done. They've never come back. We have to remember to keep the garage doors closed starting before dusk. No regular exterminator fee, no poison needed. I recommend no poison of any kind for environmental reasons...
Here's a pic of a special house guest we had a few weeks ago:http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff345/mobspin/rat.jpg See below for the guy who's helping us out...
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