Might be a rat in my room?? what do i do??

[Leisel]

I was laying in bed with my phone flashlight on (for light) but not moving my hands (just reading on my phone) and it was silent and then I just heard this loud chewing/munching sound under my bed. I panicked and froze but then I thought I should move and as soon as I did, and the light from my phone moved, the chewing sound stopped.
Now I will be honest with you I am a bit of a mess. I live in this shelter thing and the owners are always telling me to clean and I rarely do because I’m rarely here, so it’s minimal time, and I don’t have energy to clean, and we’ve never had problems with rats or bugs so I thought it didn’t matter.
I don’t want to seem ridiculous but I am scared of wild rats and any pest big enough to chew that loudly lol. Idk how big it is but it was a very loud sound. It could bite me or something and probably has diseases...
I’m in the living room but the living room has cameras which is triggering for me. I’m usually afraid to be in any room besides mine and right now I’m afraid to be in mine, but bc of the secrecy of the shelter program I’m not allowed to have anybody over (disclose location) so I couldn’t call anyone for help. I’m just alone. Normally I’d leave but it’s cold, I don’t have shoes on, I don’t have anything with me besides my phone........and the one person who works with the company who CAN come over, isn’t coming for probably a few hours.
So clearly I have to deal with this on my own but how????? I feel so stupid for being scared but i really am. the best I can think to do is run into my room, grab shoes, and f*cking high tail it out of here. But also my brain keeps imagining going into my room and seeing a giant f*cking rat. Like something out of Stranger Things. I know it’s unrealistic but I do not want to face that chance so I’m staying in the living room (despite the cameras??)
Am I crazy?? What would someone who was thinking clearly do? Anybody have tips? Lol

I’m so afraid to go back. Every time I’m afrsid of anything I feel like I am back. Someone will jump out. Grab me. Hurt me

 

[Leisel]

Well after calming down..I’ll just chalk this up to emotional dysregulation I guess...

Still a rat or mouse or whatever I’ve literslly done nothing about it but at least I calmed down a little bit I guess? Sorry for panicking lol

 

[Neverthesame]

Removing clutter from the floor would be the first thing you want to do. If you have containers on the floor, such as hope chests, filing cabinets, chest of drawers, bookshelves or writing/computer desks. Pull them away from the wall and look for any holes, new or existing (ie, for wires and cables).
If you find any, they need to be patched or filled in, using either wire mesh, sheet metal or a grommet for cables. Also, check inside for a nest, usually a bunch of chewed up fluff, near a hole.
The holes themselves are quite small. A fully grown Norway Rat, can easily fit through a hole the size of a quarter dollar. Field mice, a hole the size of a dime. Seriously. They really can.

Check the floors along the walls for waste stains. Rodents such as mice, rats and squirrels are incontinent, so they shit and piss at random, wherever they go. Leaving a trail others of their species follow to food sources.

If you find a rodent run, (shit trail along the floor parallel to the wall.) look at what furniture they can get behind (Again they can squeeze through really tiny little spaces) and block them with something they can't chew through, such as metal.
This will force them to travel into the open, which they don't want to do, as we're about the only things in the animal kingdom that don't eat them. But they don't know that so they avoid places they can't find cover in when we're around.

If you want to put a trap in, make sure it's tucked away in a corner nice and hidden or literally somewhere they have to go past or they won't go near it.

You said you're hearing chewing noises under the bed? Get everything out from under there. Make sure nothing is there. If you're still hearing the noise, it's likely translating from a cold air vent. Either way, you want to know where they are.

Under a bed, they're a disease risk. In a wall, they're a fire hazard. Live and let live is great in the wilderness, not good in an urban environment.

Anyways, I hope it turns out to be nothing.

 

[Deleted member 541]

SCREAM and then RUN like hell! !!!!!

 

[Freida]

While I prefer @She Cat s response I think @Neverthesame's is a bit more practical. Plus, doing that kind of cleaning and organizing may make you feel better because it gives you more control over your environment.

and no need to apologize. I think rat chewing under your bed is an excellent reason for a panic attack!

 

[Leisel]

@She Cat basically my original plan
@Neverthesame thank you so much for all that info.... A dime sized hole???? Oh my gosh!! Any tips on what to do if I do ‘encounter’ a rodent or its family?
@Freida thank you!!! I started cleaning after reading that...
I can talk a big game about being fearless and not caring or reacting to that stuff but Hot Dang lol I almost cried. I tried the rest of the internet but every single article I found was basically just ‘why you should get mice and rats as pets’ or ‘why rodents will KILL YOU’ And it was not helpful lmao.
I mean I’m all for rats as pets but not wild ones in my room.....and I did not need to read about disease transmittion right about then......

 

[Leisel]

Phase 1 of cleaning: walked out of my room and returned to find a scorpion in the middle of the floor.....so it’s going pretty great.............

 

[Leisel]

Wikihow says the only way to kill them is to “pierce their exoskeleton” so AWESOME

 

[Leisel]

Best part is knowing it has probably BEEN THERE FOR A WHILE and I’m not even close to done cleaning so who knows ‘who’ else is hiding in there (currently taking a break to hide from them in the living room)

 

[Leisel]

“Alternative methods: install a chicken coop” definitely doing that. time to walk to my local chicken coop store and...buy one for my bedroom

 

[Leisel]

I don’t think I’m cut out for being an adult................

 

[Freida]

I laugh with love but dang that was funny!!! Maybe the scorpion can kill the rat?? Then you can squish the scorpion. Problem solved!!