The local Human Society or Animal Control should be able to help you. They have Have a Heart traps available, and they work very well. You can bait them with an open can of tuna (possums, and many other things will come to that) or peanut butter. Now what you do with the animal after you get it depends on what it is. I have heard of possums and even raccoons moving into attics, so it could easily be something like that.

Good luck!
Marcia

In our city, we have animal control connected with the police. After I have trapped something I call 911 and have animal control come out to pick it up. They do have traps available to borrow, but there is a waiting list for them. I went to HD and bought my own.

Check around the outside of your house to see where it got in at. A neighbor saw a ferral cat push in our soffit once and get in our attic. Dh went up there with the air horn from his boat and let it go a few times and the cat came running out. Then we sealed the soffit.

We had a squirrel in the attic once...he sounded like a heard of elephants.
Here is a story that I found on another forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: Check it out!

Well we checked and found that something had eated a hole through one of the vents in the roof. DH replaced it and we were hoping whatever it was would be left outside....unfortunately it was in the house so now it is trapped. I live in Miami and we called the humane society but they said they don't have traps. So I think we are going to go buy one ourselves too. Thanks for the help. Will let you know what we find. DH will have to do it :-)

Hi NYTG,
Welcome back. What you have in your attic is actually the Florida housesitters. They watch the house for you while you are away. :)
Actually, you may have iguanas. They lived in my attic all summer. They chewed thru the vent and make a home amongst all that insulation. I was too lazy to go up and get them out and frankly, I didn't know how. DH suggested all kind of ways to get rid of them but most were illegal. :)
I guess they got bored cause I haven't heard them in over a month. Someone suggested sprinkling cheyanne pepper up there to deter them but since yours are trapped, I don't think that will help. You may smell something in the near future and you will know that is the end of that. :)

Hi Trini1,

I don't think I would mind too much if it was an iguana....better than a rat or possum..those things scare me :-) My pomerac is doing well :-) We are going to buy a trap and see what happens.....I hope it does not die up there....we had that happen last year (made the mistake of putting out poison)....it smelled for weeks.....a couple months before the wedding...we were scared it would not go away in time. Then came the flies.....we dont want that again....we should go get the trap in the morning.

Hi
Have had rats ,possums,raccoons but so far no iguannas lol. Hope the trap works for you. I had to revert to poison
for the possums. She had 6 offpring and two managed to get into the walls..I keep birds so I bait for animals all the time. Rats have been the worst so I keep traps in the attic.
I replaced all the soffit screen with hardware cloth so far nothing has chewed through that.
Also have not lost a bird in several years.!!!
Good luck with your hunt gary

Did you call to see if you have animal control in your area?

Maybe you should open the hole back up or it might make a new one to get out. You might try the air horn idea. If you see it run out, you could then seal the hole again.

The little bugger ate through the new screen we put in last night.....we think it did it to get out...we haven't heard from it all day so hopefully it is gone.....DH went to the store today and bought another type of screen....he didnt know what hardware cloth was but if this new screen does not work I will make sure he finds out what it is :-)

Hi
Hardware cloth is wire welded into a mesh . You can get several sizes from 1/8 to irregular . You'll want the heavier type 1/2 inch square should be good. Available at any HD. You'll want to combine it with screen also to keep out bugs.
If it's a coon or possum they sleep all day so you'll only hear them at night. Leave a hole open until your sure
they have left. In my case I got the momma out but she left her babies and I put up the wire trapping them. Had to revert to poison.
Rats are really tough because when frightened they just hide. They are also the king of gnawers they can get through some fairly heavy gage wire .1/2 inch with screen has worked for me.
Since i keep an aviary and there's always food around
no matter how well I clean it up I attract lots of critters lol. One solution that has worked for me is a "hide box"
Just a heavy duty box with holes placed on the floor of the aviary. Rats as well as snakes will sleep in it during the day and you can just move them out.
One word of caution . When you open the box to see what you've captured open away from the face .If a rat you'll have one very excited animal lol Great way to see if your heart is working lol gary

We locked it in the attic again...we heard it this morning....I think we are going to have to buy a trap...I don't want it dying in the house. Gary I am so glad I don't have to worry about an aviary....my dad had one and he said a snake came and ate all his birds....he hasn't brought any since....I don't think our little critter can eat through the new thing hubby put up...or at least it didn't last night....we'll see how things go.

Hi
Well in spite of all the problems I love my birds lol
One of the few hobbies that actually gave me a cash return ,though couldn't quite make that vacation home in Hawaii ,I keep finches and nectavores and rats have been the most serious problem ,The hide box has worked well with snakes.
Like sitting inside with a cup of coffee in the early morning and have them land on me .They sing and are endlessly fascinating to watch. Those that I've handfed will really become a pest as they want my hair lol.
Have only three left as Frances tore a big hole in the side and I had a lot of escapes. A rat slaughterd 14 birds in one night.22 total before I caught her.
When I get my shadehouse finished I'll probably add some
in there .So pretty flitting among the plants.
gary

Sure sounds like rats to me. Hard to keep out and they will continue to find a way in. No municipal authorities or non-profits will assist you with this issue...and using poison does pose the problem you stated, they won't always seek water and die outside so your house will be pungent for weeks! Best to bite the bullet and place a rat trap with some peanut butter in it somewhere just inside your crawl space, then check it every few days. Better get it under control quickly or you'll have a heard of them up there soon. If you are successful you can take a large zip-loc and turn it inside out (like a glove) to pick up the dead rats and dispose of them provided you don't want to use the trap again...but my guess is that you're going to catch several of them.

Gary, I love the sound of the birds with the plants. I saw an article once in our paper where a couple turned their screened swimming pool into a fish pond and the entire screen room into a jungle with birds, lizards and frogs. It was heavenly looking. They could sit out there at night, with no mosquitoes and enjoy their jungle creatures and the fish in the BIG pond. (They had painted the pool black and planted it with BIG water plants...lotus, lilies, alligator flag, and the like.)

Your description makes the think of that idea. I would love a walk-in aviary. If I ever had birds again, that's the only way I would do it.

And sorry, nytrinigemini, for hijacking your thread. I do hope you catch your alien invaders soon. It would surely drive ME crazy, too. And Animal Control WILL loan you traps, as I have done that.

Good luck!!

Marcia

Michelle,
Truly Nolan came out and gave me a free inspection. The rats hadn't gotten into the house yet but he showed me where they could get in. Sure enough we put traps and caught 2. We then boarded up the area. He also said to take a can, punch holes into into and place it over the sewer vent pipes on the roof (which I have yet to do)

You can also use hardware cloth with small grids on the sewer vent pipes which you can hardly see. A can might not look very good unless you painted it. We molded the hardware cloth around the vents and secured it with a tie wrap.

Hi
One more suggestion if you use rat traps be sure to get the lagest you can find.. Place them in a corner so the rat
must stick his head into it to get the bait. You want a clean kill. Nothing as bad as catching one by the tail or wounding it . I've done this and had to revert to drowning to finish them off YUCK!!
With poisons, set out a saucer of water as they will want a drink and will hopefully die within reach rather than between the walls.
One other trick I've learned is to keep the poison box
closed. They will gnaw into it so you know it'e time to start the hunt for the body . Obviously, be sure no pets or kids can get to these things .I find rats particularly like the attic and it's very safet to put the stuff there. and count your fingers before setting the traps .WOW does that hurt!!! gary

Gary .....good idea about the rat traps....we actually went to home deptot and brought a Have a Heart trap....I couldn't bear to actually kill something....but we haven't put it up there yet....my brave DH was afraid to go up at night when we brought it and we haven't heard anything since. And so far no bad smell either.... very strange cause hubby brought some kind of AC vent thingy (I think) and put it in place of the mesh....works well...I dont think anything can get in through there. Your aviary does sound nice....I've always been a little afraid of birds...I don't mind them when they are outside...but they freak me out inside.... I always thought it would be nice to have a huge aviary though....where the birds can kind of be in their natural habit...and away from me in trees :-)

Oh and DH swears we have something protecting our sewer vents.

WRF thanks for the recommendation :-)

Progress report?

Believe it or not we went out and bought a Have a HEart trap....we got it at night and DH was afraid to go up and put it in...so that night we heard nothing up there.....DH still has not put the trap up but we have not heard or smelled anything since we brought the thing....maybe they knew we were on to them and decided to go away...I swear the rodents in my yard like to play with me...one day I was out there planting seeds and as I planted them I would put the bag they were in on the ground where I planted the seeds (so that I could write down the ground plan later) Well there was this mouse out there who would jump out of my porter weed and pick up the bags...as soon as I saw him he would drop the bag and run...then wen I turned my back...you guessed it back he would come...I swear I even saw him doing a dance once....

Too funny...must be a "pack-rat" ;-)

Hi:

You need a good cat. I live near the water so rats and mice are in constant supply. I have a champion mouser and I send her into the attic whenever we get new rodents. I've seen my cat kill two in just a few minutes. She sometimes gets bored and plays with them, tosses them in the air, lets them think they can escape, then BAM--the death bite. She tried to teach me but I'm against fur in my teeth. She isn't kind but she's efficient.

Julie in WPB

"pack Rat" ....that's great :-) AS for getting a cat....my dog will have a huge problem with that....she's not very friendly with other animals. Even if she were though DH does not like cats...and I don't particularly like the idea of litter boxes....although I wish I could get over that...i would love it if a cat just kind of hung out in my yard when I wasnt around...but not go to the bathroom there or anything...just hang out and catch rats and snakes.

Okee-doke, you're not a cat person. I like dogs, too. Some are excellent ratters. But, it sounds like you found the solution that fits you and a fine one it is, too. ;-)

BTW, my cat won't use a litter box. She digs a hole and buries her messes outside. She is the lowest maintenence pet I've ever owned and that includes my pet rat snake (which my husband made me give up when we got married).

Julie in WPB

Fl Southpaw....how in the world did you get your cat so well trained. You think I could train my dog to do that....actually right now when she does her poop in a couple of days it is all gone...we have dung beetles in our yard that just devour it and turn it into what looks like really good soil. I never touched it though...just let nature do its work. Which dogs are ratters....right now I have a bulldog....I just love the breed...they are such clowns....but not really good for anything except cuddling from my experience.

And Snoring!!!!!

I love bulldogs!! We had three of them when I was growing up and they were the most amiable dogs I've ever had and they were very funny dogs (though they had a lot of health issues). It's interesting that they were used to catch rats early in their breeding. I think most dogs are good hunters at heart but they've had a lot of that instinct bred out. My cocker spaniel was an excellent ratter but he got a little over-excited. Scary to watch. I think any of the terriers are good ratters.

As for teaching my cat... She came this way. She was a stray when she decided I looked like a soft touch and suggested I adopt her. She has excellent manners and very good instincts, though I don't think she always knows what she's doing. She will bury her food (or try--the tile isn't very cooperative) when she's finished, too. It's kind of fun to watch her scratching at the floor and looking puzzled at her lack of success. The only time I don't appreciate her hunting is when she catches birds. I think we only have fast birds in my neighborhood now. Darwinian evolution at work.

Julie in WPB

Just got back into town a few days ago and came across this thread.

nytrini...how'd ya make out with yer 'house guest'?

I wish I was closer and had seen this post earlier...I have a large Hav-a-Heart trap that I no longer need...I would've given it to you.

Before I left for a family emergency a few weeks ago, I discovered evidence of a rat in one of our two garages.
SHE was building a nest! (spells M O R E rats!)

While snooping around to see what she had chewed, pee'd and pooped on...YUCK!!!...I opened a cardboard box to peek inside.
SHE JUMPED OUT!...LANDED ON MY CHEST!!...GAWD!...and jumped to the ground.
I was doin' the heebie-jeebie dance...LMBO!

I immediately called my pest control company that sprays only the inside of my house, (for bugs)...and they came out, strategically placing 3 bait boxes.

$118.00 later...smelled that unmistakable odor in the garage....tore up everything and wouldn't you know...it was in the very last box...sheesh!

Needless to say...EVERYTHING in that garage that couldn't be washed and salvaged, was thrown out.

For the record...they're supposed to eat the poisoned bait...find water...and die.
According to my pest control guy, it can take several days for this to happen.
He also said they will gravitate away from a nest so as not to harm the babies, of which we had none. (phew!)

...but don't count on'm leaving the area...ours' kicked in the garage.