Dead Rats And Coffee

[DailyDi]

Do I win the "Random Topic Title of the Day" Award?

Had to poison some rats again that come from my redneck neighbors junk yard.... House has smelled of decaying rats for days, nothing has cut it (Fabreeze, candles, air fresheners.) But today I found the answer! Coffee! Got a free 2lb bag of coffee for joining Costco and put a small amount in a little metal bucket (like 4oz maybe) and it totally covers the smell. All I smell is coffee! Have enough to refill my bucket daily for weeks to keep it fresh.

Smells so nice, I might get some flavored coffee next time and stop using chemical fresheners all together!

[sdsddlr]

Ground coffee beans actually absorb odors, in addition to having a strong scent of their own.

[Burp_Cup]

I know they have coffee beans at perfume counters in stores to let a person go from one scent to another without any interference from the previous one. I recently experienced this when my wife was wanting a new perfume, and thought it was interesting. It works!

[Honu]

Dude,

1 - use traps and get rid of the dead rats. While it's more personal than poison, you do get rid of the dead bodies and their potential to stink up the place.

2 - coffee is used to reset the sense of smell at scented candle places in Honolulu. The great smell of coffee isn't going to last long, but the stink of dead rats will.

Good luck!

[fideliuscharm]

glue traps work great, as do the good old fashioned snap-traps - for extra efficiency braze a heavy duty x-acto blade across the swing arm... insta-guilotine

[DailyDi]

they ar in a crawl space too low for me to get in. Trying some DIY tricks this weekend (predator pheromones and a strobe lights.)

[square_duck]

I wholly agree with Honu, use snap traps and dispose of the carcase, its much cleaner and easier. If they are getting into a crawl space, find the access point and stuff coarse steel wool into the hole, and follow that with some expanding spray foam to lock it in place.

I worked for Orkin past control as a field tech for 4 years and traps work far better. and yes, I had many owners ask me about poisons (rodenticides) and I always said no, because how will you find the carcase when it dies and starts to stink....Its much easier using snap traps and remove the body. If it is in a tight spot, tie some string or add a length of wire to the trap so it can be retrieved easily. Push the loaded trap in place with a stick if need be, and have enough string to pull it back out.

using the coffee to mask the odor is nice, but you still have a dead rotting carcase under the house, and more to come....which will become a mess as the bodies pile up *GAG*

Another point is that rats carry diseases and fleas, so you are just harboring all that with the bodies and it doesn't go away, so again, much safer to trap and remove the body.

As for the recommendation of the glue boards, they only work for mice. Roof and Norway rats are far to big and will generally work themselves off the board, leaving a lot of fur behind, I've see that happen. Mice are small enough that they cannot get off the board but the down side (for me anyways) is that rodents generally just starve to death when stuck on a glue board, so I never used them, to inhumane for me, so I always used snap traps.

Just as an FYI: Rodents (Rats and Mice) have very high metabolisms,and are constantly feeding, upwards of 20 times a day, if they cannot eat, they starve very quickly, and for me, thats a terrible thing to subject a living thing to. I would rather use a snap trap and have a quick kill (usually broken neck) than induce any unwanted and unnecessary suffering.....now you know one reason I'm NOT at Orkin anymore

So anyways, snap traps and some string...easy to maintain, and much cleaner.

Just my 2 cents

qwack

[DailyDi]

The feeding is also an issue. We've stopped filling the bird feeder, and are serving the pets only what they will eat so there is no longer food around the outside of the house.

[square_duck]

The feeding is also an issue. We've stopped filling the bird feeder, and are serving the pets only what they will eat so there is no longer food around the outside of the house.

Thatalso works, get rid of any foods that can be an attractant....good job!

[Juliabam]

Thatalso works, get rid of any foods that can be an attractant....good job!

Hah duckie, I know why you like those snap traps, they remind you of the snapping turtles at home in your pond, and they wil qwack the rats neck right?

[Bettypooh]

Ditto on trapping vs poisons Poisons are indiscreet and you might off a cat who finds it's way in trying to help you control the rat population Rats will try to go back to places they like, even digging tunnels under foundations to get there Apparently they like your low crawlspace so keep traps baited and set near the door where you can reach, and check them every couple days. Wire them to a brick if the rats drag them away from the door. If they're so big they drag the bricks around after getting caught (and I've seen that happen ) wire them to a concrete block or the house. Make a hole in the wood for the wire away from the trapped side so the trap still operates. Never directly touch a dead rodent or a used trap, bag them up and dispose of them up the trash or a dumpster, and wash up well afterward. Do not dump them anywhere nearby- some of the diseases they can carry are deadly and doing that can propagate the disease if other rodents contact the corpse

This public service message has been brought to you by Bettypooh, who is still having to type in her emoticons manually

[curiositykilledthecat]

Get a cat and don't feed it, the rats will be gone in a few days or the cat will be anyways.

[spoonchicken]

Mike.....just get a cat. According to an exterminater friend of mine, as soon as the rats smell feline scent, they're gone! An instinctive reaction. The cat could only be a helpless kitten, and the cat scent is still enough to strike fear into the heart of rodents. In the same way that cats are automatically afraid of dogs, rodents are also instinctively afraid of cat scent......"*meow*...

[fluff]

Is it just me or does anyone else prefer the smell of coffee to the taste?

I like coffee, i just like smelling it more.

[babyfett]

Is it just me or does anyone else prefer the smell of coffee to the taste?

I like coffee, i just like smelling it more.

I cannot stand the taste of coffee, but love the smell of it.

[square_duck]

I have come to enjoy both the taste and smell of coffee. A good cup of good coffee is a wonderful thing. Sadly, there is so much crap out there its hard to find a "good cup" let alone a great cup of coffee. Walking into a coffee shop is also a wonderful experience..smell the aroma...YUM!

[Yvhuce]

Lye typically works against decomposing stuff. If it's a particular problem, you may need to call in someone to come and get rid of the rat carcasses. If they're just out of reach or something, you might have luck with a shop vac. In the future, use traps, as they can be placed and baited so's that you can retrieve them once the offenders are dead.

As to a good cup of coffee: Brew it yourself. You can usually buy a can of coffee for less than those fancy coffee places, and fix it the way you like. I prefer strong black coffee with a fair amount of sugar.

[timmyc]

The smell of ground coffee in small doses is ok, but walking into a bookstore with a coffee counter is overpowering and nauseating.

[sarah_ab]

i find coffee to be one of the most deceiving things on the planet, aside from a lawyer or politician, (or my mother)

it smells sooooo friggin good

and tastes like rotten shit!

[square_duck]

i find coffee to be one of the most deceiving things on the planet, aside from a lawyer or politician, (or my mother)

it smells sooooo friggin good

and tastes like rotten shit!

now please tell us how, prey tell do you know what "rotten shit" tastes like???? Been digging around in the trash for kids used diapers??

Inquiring minds want to know....

qwack

[sarah_ab]

now please tell us how, prey tell do you know what "rotten shit" tastes like???? Been digging around in the trash for kids used diapers??

Inquiring minds want to know....

qwack

i asked wetmessy247.

ok sorry that was uncalled for.....

but i had to say it.

[DailyDi]

Lol. It's how you know when it's rotten I don't get.

[Juliabam]

Lol. It's how you know when it's rotten I don't get.

I too wonder, and does it actually taste worse when it's rotten, and does that mean it tastes good when not? and after having tasted it.. is that when you talk about havinga potty mouth?

[sarah_ab]

well i reall ycan't go into details, i've been informed scat and all things related are illegal in the usa and not allowed on this site!

[timmyc]

a long time ago, in a galaxy far away I worked in the pest control business. I had a customer with mice in his attic and I asked if he wanted to use baits or traps. He said better use traps, I don't want any dead mice running around up there.