keithhr
Flashlight Enthusiast
I've got a dog that sleeps in the basement, is fed down there and had a garbage can filled with dog food. One day 3 years ago I found that the lid had been eaten through(plastic) by rats. I cleaned out under the house, put her food in a metal can and then proceeded to trap 79 of them over the last 3 years, going for months at a time without seeing any traces of them. Recently there has been more activity with them going up a pipe to under the bath tub and the bathroom wall. I won't bait them, the traps are seeming less effective and the glue traps aren't working any longer. They are getting bigger. My dog is old and her legs are failing and the answer seemed to be putting her down, closing off he basement and getting a cat. The exterminators that I contacted were of little help, one guy offered to set traps and bait saying that baited rats that climb back into walls will only stink for one week. I told him I've been trapping them for 3 years, and the next guy told me he would rat proof my house and I said what about the rats that were already there. Both had no answers or guarantees, each offering to do a specific service with nothing guaranteed or implied and then it hit me. I was out grocery shopping and it occured to me that I could make their little lives miserable. I went and got a large container of Cayenne pepper (red pepper) and sprayed wd40 over pipes and vertical surfaces followed by liberal doses of cayenne everywhere those little suckers had paths of access around the garage and on pipes etc. Well, it's been 6 days and not a sound has been heard (knock on wood). If they sniff or walk on the ground pepper, life becomes real interesting for them. I just had to share this, I may have actually hit on something that works( more knock on wood)