There may be a wild rat in my apartment! (or two?!)

[purinpurin]

I need help. D:

I have no clue what to do!

A few days ago, I saw a dark shadow whisk by my feet while I was cleaning the outside of my rats' CN. I thought it was an animal for a split second, but just brushed it off as seeing my own shadow.

Today, while I was wiping down my room's floor, I saw something white scurry under my heater. I was very, very startled, and my first thought was 'wild rat!'

But, I didn't see it clearly, so I have absolutely NO clue what I saw.

I also have to say that I did hear some 'squeak-y' sounds and rustling in and around my heater for a few days now (the sounds could have been there longer, but I've literally been spending all my time out in the living room because of the heat).

The thing is, I live on the 23rd floor of my apartment. It's the very top floor--as in, there's only a roof above my floor. is it possible for wild rats to live up that high? Also, I was under the impression that wild rats were all either brown or black. Do wild rats also vary in colour??

I've contacted my building manager and they said they'd "investigate" before contacting pest control, but my building management team is notorious for taking months and months to get things done. I don't know when they'll get this "investigation" started and finished.

I haven't let my rats out of their cage all day today, just in case it really IS wild rats that I saw. I'm so scared, I don't know what I can do! I've bleached my entire floor, furniture and the outside of the rats' cage in a bleach/vinegar/water solution. I've also thrown out the opened sack of Harlan Teklad (it was on my shelf). I'm also hoping to get some rat traps (sticky pads) around my heater...

I don't want to let my rats out of their cage until these (whatever they are) are caught, but what if I was just seeing things?? Is there any way to tell??

 

[lilspaz68]

Put down some lab blocks and see if they get eaten, put them near the corner you heard the noises. Start there.

If you do find someone is taking your blocks, then look into getting/borrowing a Havahart live trap and setting it up in the corners. Bait it with smelly things (I have used a smear of PB on a crust) and even a small bottle cap of water.

 

[purinpurin]

Thanks lilspaz, I've spread out 5 lab blocks in front of my heater. ㅠㅠ

I'm also on the Havahart website, and see these traps: http://www.havahart.com/store/live-animal-traps/rat

Which one is the best one? And what if it's not a wild rat, but a wild mouse? Does it matter?


ETA: If given the chance, will these wild rats (assuming they are, in fact, rats) attack mine?

 

[lilspaz68]

if they are wild rats they will attack, mate etc with your rats...I know.

this is the one I have

http://www.havahart.com/store/live-animal-traps/0745

But if you have mice, then I would get this one...the rat one they will slip out of

http://www.havahart.com/store/live-animal-traps/1020

 

[purinpurin]

Thank you so much!!

I'm going to keep watch for a day or two and see if the lab blocks get eaten.

I asked my brother to tear the heater top off, and he did... And now I'm thinking I might have been seeing things!! There's no way under the heater; there's about 0.5 inch of space in one corner (the corner I saw the 'white thing')--can anything fit through that? Can mice?

*dies*

 

[purinpurin]

OMFG A LAB BLOCK IS MISSING. OMFG.

*orders the havahart trap*

 

[mamarat]

You would also find rat droppings around where the wild rats hang out.

 

[SQ]

If it is white, it is likely an abandoned or escaped pet .....
Poor little guy or gal ....

 

[purinpurin]

Oh my goodness!!

D: If it's a boy rat (the white one), would it be safe to keep it? I already have 7 rats in my double CN, but... I mean, if it's an escaped pet, I'd feel so bad about just releasing it into the wild. ㅠㅠ I'm not going to take my chances with the brown/black rat, though.

Do wild rats all have diseases? What are the risks in raising a wild rat along with pet rats? Are they more feral? I mean, if the white rat is getting along with the brown/black one, then it must have been accepted as a... Fellow wild rat, I guess??

Ugh, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore, my head is all over the place. @_@

lilspazz told me where I could get a Havahart trap (Home Hardware), so my mom and I are getting one first thing tomorrow morning! Secrectly, of course. My dad was all right with me keeping rats as long as I could take care of them, but if he found out we had wild rats (or mice??) in the apartment, then he would blame them on my pet rats.

How would I be able to tell if they're mice, or just young rats?

 

[SQ]

brown/black rats or mice might be pets too.

I think wild rats and wild mice usually have a different body shape so post pics and maybe we can help,

 

[purinpurin]

I was thinking that, but there is a higher chance that the brown/black rat will be a wild, rather than domestic, right?

I will definitely post pictures once I catch them! I hope I can catch them both tomorrow. :/ I'm really, really hoping there aren't any more, and that they're the same gender. I'd just about die if either of them were pregnant!

 

[jorats]

There's really pretty big difference in how a wild rat looks than a pet rat. Typically, wild rats are scrawny and their fur arent as soft looking. Also you'll have a really hard time going near a wild rat.

 

[purinpurin]

Update:

No rat (or anything else) in my rat trap yet.

When I look at the hole, it really looks very, very small to me. I remembered this morning that when I first left out the lab blocks to see which one they'd take, they only took the one closest to the hole at the corner of the heater. Diagram:


[center:eqs5kreg]xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
o----------------o---------------------o------------------------oo[/center:eqs5kreg]


x = heater
x = hole at the bottom corner of the heater (where the floor meets the wall)
o = lab block
o = lab block that was taken
o = lab block right beside the one that was taken

*Cough* XD Please excuse the poor diagram!


Only o was taken, and the other ones hadn't been touched... o was literally RIGHT beside o, so I'm wondering if they're too big to squeeze through x, and can only reach out with their arms?

(That still doesn't explain the dark shadow and the white thing I saw scurry into the hole, but assuming that never happened... :/)

I'm getting worried about them because I put peanut butter (mixed with olive oil), toasted bread, grape jam and roasted steak (a very small piece) on the trap, and yet there are no signs of it having been touched! ㅠㅠ What if they starve to death in there?

Shortly after I first discovered o was missing, I saw a dark grey-brown tail, and a dark grey snout (with black eyes and whiskers!) peeking out from under the heater. Judging by the size of the snout, I would say the animal was about 5~6 inches long, not counting the tail (can't be sure how long that is). ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

 

[lilspaz68]

Make a lot of noise tonight, lots of scary banging and moving of furniture if possible...wait 15 mins then block that hole. Could solve everything.

 

[victoria]

It really does sound like a mouse (mice) and not a rat...

 

[jennifervb]

Oh MAN I wish I were there!!!! I would be euphoric to have such an experience and would be right there to help you catch the little freeloader!

I once had a roommate with a cat and BB used to bring Judy live mice. Judy and I had a blast trapping the little snoots and deporting them to the next park! :bunnydance:

Whatever you do, don't freak out. Whoever your little visitor is, he is more afraid of you than you are of him! Rats and mice have a really good sense of smell so I am guessing that your little dude smelled your rats and figured that he could get something to eat too.

The poor little thing! Things like that never freak me out. Call me an idiot, but I would LOVE it if my landlord told me that there is a rat in the house!!!! :love6:

 

[purinpurin]

My mom and I discussed blocking the hole under there with a lot of duct tape, but what I'm afraid of is... What if they dehydrate/starve to death in there, and our apartment start stinkin' up...? :/

Ugh, this is such a big headache.

ㅠㅠ jennifervb, I wish you were here, too! LOL you could help me catch the rat (or mouse). D':

I'm now past the "OMFG EW" stage, and am more worried for the wild rats/mice. I just want them to get into the trap so I can safely let them go in a nearby park. :S (if it were boy rats--and not wild--I'd keep them, too.)

 

[victoria]

Duct tape won't work... you have to find all the holes and fill them with steel wool so the mice won't be able to chew through and get in. The mice will just go to an another apartment that they can access with more ease.

BTW, I doubt you want wild rats or mice in your house. They're very destructive, stink (especially mice), and can carry harm your rats by making them sick, attacking them, or mating with them.

 

[jennifervb]

My mom and I discussed blocking the hole under there with a lot of duct tape, but what I'm afraid of is... What if they dehydrate/starve to death in there, and our apartment start stinkin' up...? :/

Ugh, this is such a big headache.

ㅠㅠ jennifervb, I wish you were here, too! LOL you could help me catch the rat (or mouse). D':

I'm now past the "OMFG EW" stage, and am more worried for the wild rats/mice. I just want them to get into the trap so I can safely let them go in a nearby park. :S (if it were boy rats--and not wild--I'd keep them, too.)

duct tape won't cut it. Rats can get through that with little trouble.... never forget that they have incisors and KNOW how to chew.... it's what they do for a living... :cheeky: :laugh4:

I would suggest trying to find a way to block the hole with the entrance to the have-a-heart trap. Try securing wood blocks around the hole so that they have no choice but to go for the food they smell in the trap.

You have to be creative sweetie. Judy and I used to use books, sheets of plastic, wood, coroplast, you name it, to block off the section of the room we believed the mouse was hiding. Judy would chase the mouse around with a feather duster until it reached an area where I could park a tupperware bowl over it.

You can set up a similar "area" with the trap in the middle of it. The rat/mouse's inability to wander free will help make them enter the trap. Don't leave any food outside the trap.

Like I said, they are more afraid of you than you think and will not venture near you unless they have no other option.

Its a battle of the minds... and you have more options to choose from than the rat does. He thinks you want to kill him. He has absolutely no CLUE that you are on his side. Its the law of nature from the rat's perspective.... he can't know that there are humans who would give ANYTHING to cuddle, kiss and scratch him behind the ears. :love6:

 

[Unepuce]

Just out of curiosity - have you found any droppings in your appartment? That would be a very good indicator of where else they can come out from, besides that tiny hole. From what I understand, you've seen the shadows first and then saw that block disappeared, so you didn't dream what you saw, and it looks to me like they are not trapped into those walls. They probably hang out by that hole because of your rats and their food's smells... Just a thought.