Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK

Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: Gillian Harvey on December 12, 2007, 17:58:52 PM

Title: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Gillian Harvey on December 12, 2007, 17:58:52 PM
Just now I noticed George sitting on the worktop by the boiler and looking up towards the ceiling - he could hear something. I couldnt coz the boiler was running at the time LOL! - but when it turned off, suddenly a couple of the others went rushing over there, and then I could hear something, sort of a scuttling noise - now I thought it was like the noise birds make when they get in the loft - but this is BETWEEN floors!  Then went upstairs and found Ben sitting looking at the same corner in the bedroom thats over the kitchen - what the hec?

(http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb234/scruffyjoe/Cats/Georgelooking.jpg)

(http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb234/scruffyjoe/Cats/Otherslooking.jpg)

(http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb234/scruffyjoe/Cats/Benlooking.jpg)
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Den on December 12, 2007, 18:05:44 PM
 :scared: Sounds like a mouse. Possibly rat?
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: unseeliechylde on December 12, 2007, 18:09:16 PM
 :rofl: :rofl: sorry, I shouldn't laugh - those pics are just too funny! look at them all staring so intently :evillaugh:
Still - scuttling is a worry - dare I say it, mice?  :shocked:
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: blackcat on December 12, 2007, 18:12:38 PM
If it is loud enough to sound like birds, it is more likely a rat - sorry to say ...
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: lucy on December 12, 2007, 18:13:49 PM
houston we have a rodent - sorry!
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Bazsmum on December 12, 2007, 18:15:13 PM
Oh how lucky you are Gillian....your very own wild rat  :evillaugh:
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: carl (billy and baggys dad) on December 12, 2007, 18:15:58 PM
We have bats in the walls here that are really loud.
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: unseeliechylde on December 12, 2007, 18:38:31 PM
That's a thought - my mum thought she had rats in the loft, but it turned out to be bats. Not that this made her feel any better - she hates bats (I think they're quite cute). Best to find out one way or the other if you can, since it's illegal to disturb bats.
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Gillian Harvey on December 12, 2007, 20:04:13 PM
How am I going to know what it is and how do I get to it/them? I can't see how something gets into the ceiling/floor/walls from the outside - solid brick walls! I had bats in the loft where I used to live, they were coming in under the eaves. The 'batman' came to look in the loft and it turned out I had a nursery roost and there were hundreds of 'em! They werent a problem though, and the whole colony left of their own accord the following year.

Now I am a bit worried as, if you remember a few weeks back, Harry deposited a couple of dead rats outside, plus brought one in, and then George came in with one the other day. My neighbour has also just informed me that they have rats in their shed (eaten through 2 shed doors already!!)  :scared:
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Ralph's mum (angie) on December 12, 2007, 20:09:28 PM
will the environmental health dept not come out and lay out stuff if it is rats , great pics though
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Den on December 12, 2007, 20:12:58 PM
Sadly they can get in very easily. Not sure if they go up the drain pipes and enter the house that way (don't quote me on that). We've had 2 cases of them in recent years, one even got into my bedroom  :censored: If it's really loud it's most likely to be rats. In my experiences the mice have been within the walls and rats in the loft  :sick: I don't know what the norm is.
Best ways are to either to find a dead body, see a live animal or find droppings. Rat droppings are plenty big enough to be noticeable. You could phone an exterminator  :scared: or set some traps either humane or not so humane  :scared: (I always do humane).

Peanut butter or healthyfood seems to be the best bait.

What silly rodents entering a house with 11 cats  :-:

BTW it's the perfect time of year for them to enter houses.
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: MBll on December 12, 2007, 21:29:09 PM
The 'batman' came

was robin with him lol
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: hOrZa on December 12, 2007, 21:32:45 PM
Have you read the exorcist? that starts with them hearing what sounds like rats in the loft space :)

just kidding
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Schmew on December 12, 2007, 21:45:08 PM
Ooh crikey.

There are a lot around this year. There was one eating the seed on the bird table the other morning. I suppose they just want to be warm and fed!

The pics are good Gillian, hope you get to the bottom of it, if it is rodents they are taking some chances with all those cats!
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: SpecialRed on December 12, 2007, 21:50:48 PM
We get a sound like that in what seems like the wall, could even be inbetween floors, so maybe I have a rat too!! I have not heard it for a while.
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Gill (sneakiefeline) on December 12, 2007, 22:14:10 PM
Be careful with the environmental protection cos they will put poison that will also kill the cats...................makes me wonder how is Gwynnie now?

I wonder if any of your neighbours have a problem and have been puting down poison?
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Rosella moggy on December 12, 2007, 22:44:50 PM
Clever Gill!   I wonder if that's possible Gillian but I assumed our little girl wasn't allowed "outside" in the true sense of the word?
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Gill (sneakiefeline) on December 12, 2007, 22:49:29 PM
But I wonder if a bird , mouse or other creature could have sorta got contaminated either slightly so it didnt die or just before it did and then if Gwynnie found it and say had a nibble or a lick , whether that could have happened.

Only a thought.
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: JackSpratt on December 13, 2007, 01:13:08 AM
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-x-MOUSE-RAT-RODENT-ULTRASONIC-REPELLER-REPELLENT-V27_W0QQitemZ300180183605QQihZ020QQcategoryZ75581QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Any use, Gillian?
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: DaveD on December 13, 2007, 06:12:57 AM
(http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/DaveD_05/ForumVarious/Georgelooking.jpg)
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: dolcetta46 on December 13, 2007, 10:26:47 AM
OMG it's a ghost!!  Someone has awaken a haunted spirit!! Call an exorcist!!

Sorry I couldn't help... :innocent:  I think Gill has got a good theory... how is Gwynnie doing these days, btw?
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: LeighK on December 13, 2007, 10:50:55 AM
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-x-MOUSE-RAT-RODENT-ULTRASONIC-REPELLER-REPELLENT-V27_W0QQitemZ300180183605QQihZ020QQcategoryZ75581QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Any use, Gillian?

I have my own super-sonic rodent repellants they're sort of cat-shaped blurs with sharp teeth and claws to match  ;D

Cheers

Leigh
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Roz on December 13, 2007, 11:40:36 AM
Hi Gillian,

This defo sounds like a mouse...but with all those cats you are not very likely to see it ha ha.  I had one in my last house which seemed to be in the skirting boards.  My cats used to sit for hours looking at the skirting boards but nothing ever appeared..thank goodness because I wouldn't have wanted them to kill it.

Eventually, it went away...or worse..died.  I hope it didn't die.  My thinking is that if it managed to find its way in it must be able to find its way out. 

Last winter, while I was moving some gear into my new house, long before I moved in, I found the most exquisite little mouse nest inside the garage.  I had stored some boxes and things there so it wasn't empty but I was just preparing to sweep the floor on this particular day...and as I moved one of the boxes aside, I came across a little mound of dried grass and shredded paper....and a few other materials from my garage that the little creature had thought to include in her nest.   It was sooooo beautiful. The little mouse wasn't in it...and I would think was preparing to have babies, but I just left it where it was...It wasn't hurting anything.

It was some time before I actually moved into the house, by which time everything had gone.  I hope, by finding it, I didn't frighten the little creature into abandoning its home....bless.

I think it was just a little field mouse or something...coming in from the cold.

Best wishes,


Roz
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: JackSpratt on December 13, 2007, 11:53:46 AM
Roz, they can hurt things if they get inside your house - wiring being the main thing. I love mice and rats (Wild and domestic!) but know that leaving them running about in your house is not the best move. Unless you don't mind having to replace lots of wiring. Also, little known fact, mice pee a little continually as the walk to mark their scent.  :sick:

Leigh, I'd say I had the same system but one of mine has actually brought a mouse in and then I got up one morning to find another of them watching it drink from their water bowl! :evillaugh:
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Dawn F on December 13, 2007, 14:29:12 PM
its funny you should say that Gill - Oscar came in with a mouse on Monday night and about half an hour later was very, very sick I put it down to too much excitement on a full stomach (and he is fine now) but part of me wondered if the mouse was contaminated with something
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Gillian Harvey on December 13, 2007, 14:35:08 PM
Have you read the exorcist? that starts with them hearing what sounds like rats in the loft space :)

Haha, I keep expecting the cats to turn round and say to me 'they're here'........ :scared:

Gill and Rosella - Its something thats been in the back of my mind too. The one rat that Harry brought in was dead and not obviously mauled and went straight in the bin. The rat that George caught he brought in but then rushed off out with again, and I found it the next morning - very much mauled  :sick: This all happened a few weeks before Gwynnie got sick, BUT then George had a couple of days of throwing up - AND I've since found out that my neighbours HAD been putting poison down! They tried one that the rat man put down, but that didnt work, so they went and got something from the farm up the road!!!! - they assured me that it was poison that WOULDNT affect cats or other animals if they happened to get hold of the rat, or worse, eat it  :sick:

Now I now that when the rat man puts poison down its in enclosed boxes with little entrances that only rats/mice could get into - but of course that doesnt stop a cat then catching and/or eating that rat. Gwynnie does go outside and the safe fenced area of the garden that she can go into freely from the cat flap at nighttime adjoins my neighbours garden and is close to his shed - where the rats seem to have orginated from.
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Gill (sneakiefeline) on December 13, 2007, 14:39:31 PM
I am afraid that a small entrance is room for a small paw or a larger sized one for MIsa and Sasa and no way would a mouse make it to the box with mine around  :rofl: :rofl:

They sit out side in the pouring rain and freezing cold just bloomin watching the places that mice come and go.............sigh
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Den on December 13, 2007, 14:41:25 PM
I don't ever want to cause panic but last year on another site a person lost all 3 of her Border Collies in one day. They had no idea rat poison had been put down in the area until it was too late. All 3 dogs ingested the poison somehow (not sure whether through dead rodent or not), they got incredibly sick and went down hill rapidly. Rat poison is nasty stuff, as a result the dogs had an excruciatingly painful death  :'( :'( :'(
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Roz on December 13, 2007, 15:06:50 PM
I HATE POISONS OF ANY KIND....THERE ARE MUCH MORE HUMANE WAYS OF DISCOURAGING ANIMALS.

WE DO SHARE THIS PLANET WITH OTHER ANIMALS!!!

THAT STORY IS SO SAD, DEN.

.......AND RATS ARE CREATURES WITH FEELINGS TOO. IT IS DEPLORABLE THAT THEY SHOULD BE POISONED IN THE WAY THAT THEY ARE....TO HAEMORRHAGE TO DEATH IN EXCRUTIATING PAIN!!! THEY HAD NO CHOICE IN THEIR BIRTH!

WE HUMANS HAVE A LOT TO ANSWER FOR, DON'T WE? 

SORRY, BUT FEEL VERY STRONGLY ABOUT THIS. >:(

I KNOW NO-ONE ON THIS SITE IS GUILTY OF SUCH CRUELTY BUT I SO WISH IT DIDN'T HAPPEN AND YES, OF COURSE IT GETS IN THE FOOD CHAIN.
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: JackSpratt on December 14, 2007, 16:38:32 PM
Roz, we don't agree with poisoning or those hideous traps that behead rodents either. (Also, those terrible sticky pads - nope the animal doesn't die - well, not immediately. It's just stuck to a square in abject terror.)

When our cats brought in the baby rat I bought these covers that go on tins and have a "mouse flap." The rodent can get in but a lip prevents them from getting back out again.
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: Roz on December 14, 2007, 17:23:07 PM
Hi JS,

My comments were not meant for you or anyone else on here...I was just having a rant about the wicked way in which many wild animals are poisoned. I know you would never do anything like that.

It is heartbreaking to think of the agonising death they endure....just because they are considered 'vermin'

And who is to blame for most of the 'vermin' encroaching on our 'territory'  Us, of course, Because we drop our litter everywhere, leave food all over the place, cause huge landfill sites (what rubbish do animals make?) and deprive animals of their natural habitat.  We cannot even go shopping without stopping for a hamburger....As a veggie the smell of these fast food outlets makes me want to heave.

Notwithstanding all of the above, you would be amazed at how many people ring me in a panic because some bast*** is threatening to poison their cats.

Of course, this is an offence because the cat is considered a 'free roaming animal' and is protected by law, but the poisoning of cats is commonplace in some areas and even though the perpetrators might be known, it is almost impossible to prove.

It is a nightmare and just about as evil as it gets.

That is why I feel so strongly about it.

Rant over!

Best wishes,

Roz
Title: Re: Oh my Gosh! - What can they all hear?
Post by: JackSpratt on December 14, 2007, 20:31:56 PM
It's fine, Roz I didn't take it personally. I just wanted to let you know I felt strongly about it too. Rant all you want! ;D