The Observation Deck

Anyone know a good exterminator? We think we have a rat and it is spooking my wife and kids to death! I have set traps in a variety of places that I have seen evidence because as of yet there has been no sighting directly. We found rather larger-than-mouse droppings in a couple places (two traps there) and I think the dude is taking my dog's food because I found a couple bits of it in my new bathroom downstairs (where my dog never goes...so a trap there). I have added a couple sticky traps along the walls and under the stove where he would have to run to get places (I am told rats run along walls, not out in the open) but no luck.

I know something has been in the house because a week or so ago I heard crunching/scratching noises in one wall of my basement bathroom. I am told he likes the insulation to chew on to make a nest so that is what I might have heard but I haven't heard anything for a week. No mroe moved food has been found either and the traps remain empty. The not knowing is worse than thinking he is there for as far as we know the dude left and hasn't come back (figured out where he came in and in process of closing it). No closure!

So I wondered if anyone knows a good exterminator who might be able to do a better job laying traps and helping us to figure if the dude is still in there. Peace of mind (and a more equitible sharing of laundry duties) would be worth the cost at this point.

Thanks!!

Phil

Phil,

When I was at the old apartment. We had a rat that loved in our bedroom wall. We would hear him scratching around in there and just kink of hope he could find his way out. Then one day the scratching just stopped. Kind of sad really.

My mother once hired an exterminator and for years would tell us it had been harder to get rid of the exterminator than the vermin; they kept telling her the vermin would come back if she didn't continue a program of treatment.

My wife and I have always had a cat, and never found any indication of four legged vermin in our house. I don't think the cat ever actually caught one, but just her presence apparently made them think they wanted to live somewhere else.

Yah, I think our Dog...as rat-huntingly-useless as she is...has scared the critter away. We had a nice guy from the City come out and inspect the house. We showed him the droppings and locations where we thought we heard the rat (no sightings, thank goodness) and what he found were older signs and not many. He said it usually is a lot more. He dropped some traps in the sewer and we put a new grate on the basement drain and we should be good to go. No scratching for over 2 weeks now, no new droppings and no "walking dog food." Our dog FINALLY started to get a scent of something but I think the cows are gone and the barn door is closed.