rat/squirrel in attic

it appears that we have some critter in our attic. We could hear it chewing /scratching at our a/c-heating duct work the other night. From a quick glance up there I have seen at least one hole I am going to have to fix. I have acquired a small live trap to see if I can catch it but I have also heard that rodents can be repelled by the smell of peppermint. I was told to mix something like 2 tablespoons of peppermint oil to one gallon of water and spray around the area and they would leave. Has anyone else heard, or more importantly had an experience with this? I appreciate your comments, thoughts and suggestions.

 

If you can find their entry way into the attic it would be helpfull. At a house I lived at we had squirrels. There were holes at the eaves where the were entering. I waited until they left during the day, then went up and tacked chikenwire over the holes so then could not get back in. If you want to try and catch them in the have a hart trap then use peanut butter on a cracker. I have had good results. I do not know about the peppermint thing. I heard moth balls are good but never tried it. Like I said the sure fire method is to block thier source of entry.

Mike NJ

 

Scatter mothballs throughout the attic. They can't stand the smell. When they leave, put up your repair materials for the entrances. Just don't block their entrance until you are sure they're gone.

 

I wouldn't put much faith in peppermint. In fact, I used mothballs in a soffit once to repel gray squirrels. When I went to check my traps the next day, I found my mothballs on a pile on the ground beneath the soffit opening. Scattering them like Chandler said would have a better chance of working, as opposed to placing them in one spot like I did.

Closing the holes is a good and necessary idea, but the squirrels have to be out first. This is very important as they will go nuts inside your attic if they can't get out. Don't hesitate to use lethal traps, such as rat traps baited with pnut butter, and a pnut stuck onto the pbutter or tied to the trigger. These guys can get destructive fast.

 

well, caught a rat. The live trap was sprung but empty. Most of the bait was gone so I figured it was something small enough to crawl through the small holes in the trap. Stopped by the store yesterday and picked up some miuse and rat traps. Climbed up in the attic today and found one rat. The mouse traps were sprung but no catches. I guess I will continue to set the traps until I no longer and catching things. Thanks for your replies.