Rodent through crack in foundation?

[SpookyPistolero]

Hi folks-

I live in a townhome that's part of an apartment complex. At the rear of the house there's a glass sliding door to a concrete patio. Crappy tan apartment carpet runs all the way to the sliding door. The carpet is not well attached at the edge, it can be lifted up to reveal the concrete slab the house rests on, and the concrete that adjoins the house making the patio.

Well this evening my dog started paying really close attention to the edge of the carpet there! Even tried to pull it up. I sat with her and watched, and heard little 'scratching', like scraping rock/concrete. Then I saw the damn carpet push up a little! I pulled it back and had a flashlight, and there's a ~1" 'hole' in the concrete there, and a bit of a long crack that runs along most of the door. The light showed the nose of a rodent that was backing down the hole. The more I investigated, the more I heard other noises in other parts of the area, always near the edge of the carpet.

So I think there's probably a long 'tunnel' through the ground and concrete that something has made. I don't know if it's a small mole or a mouse (I used to work with mice in research, it looked more like a mole to me, and it was quite afraid of the light). Either way, it was trying to get through my carpet and into my house. Not cool.

I've contacted my apartment management, but they're often slow.

So what would more experienced folks here do about this? Should I put a poison down into the hole, then seal it with something? What do you seal that kind of hole/crack with? Is there like a polyurethane spray foam that a rodent wouldn't/couldn't chew through?

Thanks for any thoughts!

 

[gajinoz]

Rats, fi that's what they are, can and will chew through almost anything. There was a story here recently about a winemaker who discovered that rats had chewed through the metal screw caps of some bottles in his cellar!

If it were me I'd pour a pile of rat poison down the hole and then fill it with some quick set concrete. Downside of this is that if they die in there you might end up with an unpleasant smell for a while.

You really need to get the building people to find out where they're coming from and block up both ends. It's entirely possible that the ground under the building is riddled with small tunnels. Pest exterminators may need to be called in too.

 

[THE PUNISHER]

sorry bout your trouble with poison keep a eye on your pets..........

 

[SpookyPistolero]

Thanks gents... grrr, now I'm on high alert. I'm just glad it wasn't a snake head poking up, headlines would have read, "Local man arrested for shooting at floor with AR15".

 

[gajinoz]

Thanks gents... grrr, now I'm on high alert. I'm just glad it wasn't a snake head poking up, headlines would have read, "Local man arrested for shooting at floor with AR15".

Slight thread drift here ....

When we were out on the farm the wife heard the dogs barking out on the back deck of the house. She looked out to see a Tiger snake (look these up if you want to know how deadly they are) making its way across the deck towards the dogs and the open back door. She wasn't keen on having it in the house or killing the dogs so she grabbed the shotgun and blasted it. Killed it but also blew a small hole right through the wooden floor of the deck. I wasn't sure whether to be mad, glad or just laugh.

 

[robbobus]

I had mice burough through the mortar on the stone foundation of my first house. They totally set up shop, I was going through poison like it was Rice Krispies. Got the foundation sealed up, and spent the next year mouse free. Then they ate through another section where the mortar was dried up, repeat, and mouse free. For Sale, Sold and who knows whats going on back there now. If you're staying, a couple cats make great pets and mice won't move back in if you got a good cat, at least they won't be around for long.

 

[cj65]

They make sonar devices now that you just plug into an outlet, the high pitch sound, not heard by us, drives them away. I am not sure how they rate, but not a bad alternative. I found some rat turds in the garage, and I am old school victor setting for him, but I have not caught him with peanut butter yet. Not sure if the rodent is allergic to peanuts or something. Probably just well fed.