IMO, it is a war of attrition. You need to reduce their numbers until they are all gone. I have never dealt with rats, but have eliminated a mouse infestation. Use traps, poison will kill them but who knows exactly where they will expire and decompose - you think you have a smell now ? Having sevral rat carcasses rotting in your crawl will be unbearable.
Yes - it is unpleasant. I still trap the occasional rougue mouse and get the willies when I have to clean up. But to do this effectively you need to deal with it. A proffessional will cost $$ and will not be there every day to empty the traps.
Good Luck.

Seems your landlord should have to hire a pest control company. They will use a poison that makes them not stink as the die....it works well. And they come back every week and remve the problems. Rats travel along the wall and can make a huge mess. You can buy rat traps. Also you can buy sticky traps, don't know if they work with rats though...
Karen L

Go to www.bugspray.com to learn more about rats and rat control. It is the landlord's responsibility to provide you with a safe home. If you have no success with the landlord, contact the local Health Department as well as the Housing Authority. If you can afford to move, do so for the sake of your family's health.

I read about people having rat problems in countryside magazine. All they did was put dry dog food in the bottom of a trash can, and provide a board for them to get into the can. Apparently they fell in and couldn't get out and the guy emptied the can on a daily basis until all rats were caught. Not sure if your crawlspace is tall enough, but hope you control the problem soon.

Sounds to me like you don't need to involve your landlord in anymore than getting an exterminator for possible rodent infestation.

You admit your kids pee wherever they feel like it and flood up your toilet with papers. That's probably where the "reeking smells" come from.

I live in Florida, and during the cold months the ugly rodents (fruit rats) have the nerve to think that the rat poison I put out is their daily buffet and they crap all around my water heater, but never have I smelled anything.

You need to take another look at how you're letting your kids behave in regards to rental units ... if it was yours, would you let them flush papers???

I had rats in my crawl space and tried almost everything to get rid of them. Finally I bought about 5 of those pest chaser ultrasonic noise makers and put them under the house using extension cords. They left that night never to return until one day I thought I didn't need them anymore, within 2 months of unplugging them they were back. I have since sealed every hole I could find and installed permanent outlets under the house to plug the pest chasers into. I have not seen any more signs of the rats.

Hi Mike,

What brand is your ultrasonic pest repeller?

Which ultrasonic device did you get?

How do you put them UNDER the house? I suspect there are rodents getting underneath the house from outside.

Lizsbiz,

I'd try those ultrasonic devices too. They may help your situation. I have a 6 year old girl and a 4 year old boy. I had to laugh to myself when I read about the peeing and flushing of papers. Been there, done that. Kids will be kids. Enjoy every moment with them.

The ultrasonic device worked for me and my mouse problem. Scoff if you will, but results tell.

Mine were in an inaccessible area of the attic. I would hear them in there every night. Traps: They never came out of the enclosed space, so not a solution. Poison: And have a mouse die in the walls? No thanks. Sticky boards: Again, have them stuck and die where I can't get to them. Seal the entrance: We searched and searched to see where they might be coming in from, and never could find it.

The devices need line-of-site in order to work so I wasn't sure how to handle it. Finally, I plugged it into a wall outlet that was ON the wall the mice were IN. Then I crossed my fingers. They returned 3 or 4 times after that, but you could hear them trying like heck to get back out! Then after that, no more mice.

(note: The device hasn't done a darn thing for insects. But in my situation, it sure worked on rodents.)

Mike Murphy and TREKaren,

do you mind sharing the brand of the ultrasonic device. I will really appreciate it. Thanks

Get a CAT! Of course in a rental, you're not supposed to have pets, but you might could squeeze by with one and if the rental owner asks whose cat that is in the yard, smile and lie. As a child, and as an adult, wherever I've lived I've found that when you have cats you don't have mice/rats/snakes about 99% of the time. In fact, in our last house, our neighbor across the street had a mouse problem (understandable if you saw how she lived. YUK!) and when we moved in with our cats, her mice vanished. When we moved out, she begged us to let her have one of our cats but they are like family to us so she had to break down and get her own, which she did. One more tidbit: Get a female (fixed) because they are the hunters. Males just sleep all day and "tomcat" all night, if you know what I mean. And if your female isn't fixed, every tomcat in the area will be after her and you'll soon have more kitties than you know what to do with!! Of course, then your whole neighborhood will be mouse-free!!

Tigerlily

If possible get a cat - they do wonders. We lived by a horse racing track. When the horses left after the season, the rats would migrate over to the homes. Yikes - I saw one once. Got two cats (a female and a male - female was much better hunter) - never saw or heard from rats again.
I am currently battling mice each winter we get one or two. We had good luck with regular old standard "snap" traps baited with peanut butter - so they can't steal the bait, it sticks to the trap. We get them after a night or two. If you have a landlord - let him deal with the problem that is for sure!!! It's his problem and obligation to deal with it in a timely (immediate) manner. It may even be a law. Or just tell him if he doesn't do anything about it - you are getting a cat whether or not they are "banned" from the premises unless he does do something about the problem. It is a total health hazard - not to mention the fact that they can bite.
I just bought an ultrasonic thing - too soon to know how it works. But my neighbors have one and swear by it. Didn't cost much.
Good luck!

Try drugstore.com. The have the Sunbeam brand.

I have one of those things and it works fine as long as I apply boric acid also. :o)

I have them also. I had mice a few years ago and the ultrasonic devices worked great but after the city tore up a field near my house to build a park the rats invaded.
I have had pest control in and they closed up all the places that let them in (supposedly). Took down 4 trees so they could not get on the roof and get in there. I have 4 ultrasonic devices in my kitchen. Traps in the crawl space (they seem to be able to set them off without getting caught). Last fall after 6 months of concerted effort they disappeared. Two weeks ago we found a dropping in the kitchen again. I am also able to hear them in the crawl space. So I had someone in to look at the crawl space from the inside. No one can find the opening. The only advice I have gotten is that they must have burrowed their way in under the foundation.
I have not tried ultrasonic under the house. I will try that next. But if anyone has any other suggestions I am willing to try.

I just watched an episode of one of those flip that house shows and the particular home they were working on was infested badly with rats/mice. They hired a company who used bait stations all over. Had to re-bait them several times but it did the job. I'm sure pest control companies have safe methods to rid your home of rodents.

My problem is weird. I have mice/rats living under the addition that was made to my house. We purchased it after the addition was done. But somehow those rodents are getting under the house and boy does that urine smell. You can hear them at night and i am tired of dealing with this. We had orkin try and get rid of them but they are still here. We also got terminx but they said that as long as they don't come in the house it would be okay. I have a cat so they are not going to come in without meeting him, but that smell is still around. Someone please tell me what to do?

Jeyes515_aol_comdid you ever find a solution to the rats in your crawl space under the addition? I have the exact same problem and battling it for many months now.

One thing my exterminator told me is that rats will burrow under the foundation, so one solution is to remove the dirt (I think he said out 18") from all around the foundation, several inches down. Then replace with rocks, like river rock, heavy enough, 2"- 3" size, that they can't move them to get to the dirt to dig, or else several inches of pea gravel, so it collapses when they try to dig. I'd probably put down river rock then several inches of pea gravel on top, just to be sure, lol. It won't work at my house because I have expensive decking that would all have to be removed in order to access the dirt under it, but so far, he caught one rat under there and no others have shown up.

He also said they will burrow in mole/gopher runs to get under a building, so control those critters, too, so there are no burrows.

$7 solution:. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01FSO3BM6/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1500261283&sr=8-7&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=rat+trap&dpPl=1&dpID=51m4dJmDG%2BL&ref=plSrch

We have had a similar problem with Norway rats, and they Are persistent. We have neighbors who have chickens, and while they have gotten better there still must be a food source there. We have an exterminator but the bait stations have been here forever and the rats are also still here, bait stations don’t seem to reduce their numbers. We have also re-landscaped our yard, installed barriers, put out traps, they are still coming into our crawl space. The extermination company helped us last summer by making regular sweeps under the house, setting traps and removing dead rats, filling holes for about 6 weeks, then said if we wanted to continue it would cost us another $100/mo. We already pay $55/mo. About ready to switch exterminators.

We are very tired, and very frustrated. What is the brand of sonic device that another poster used that worked?