Can't speak to the access they found, but from experience I can strongly encourage engaging a professional to assess the situation and set the appropriate traps. We had this same thing happen in an older home we owned (built in the 20's) and not to be gross, but one of the dang critters died in the wall after we were foolish enough to set out poison in the basement - let's just say as 'nature took its course' we had to move out of the house for 3 weeks due to the awful aroma. We never were able to identify exactly where the critter died or we would have opened up the wall immediately - but it impacted the entire 2200 sq ft living space.

Helen, thanks very much for the feedback. I appreciate it.

This is a friend's house, and I have a feeling he'll need to get a pro involved.

I am a renter and have the pleasure of dealing with rats for the 1st time in my entire life and I DO NOT like this one bit! However, posion pellets have done the trick. Last night was the 4th night it has been quiet in our drop ceilings and walls. I am not sure where these rats have gone to die as we are not smelling a thing as of yet! Does anyone know how long it takes from when the rat dies to when it starts to smell? This has me concerned as to why there is still no smell yet after 4 nights of silence.

Temperature, moisture and body mass will determine rate of decomposition and intensity of the odor. For a mouse in December in a dry space, you may not smell it at all. For a rat in a similar situation, it may take a week or so before you discern any odor and maybe another week to two for that to dissipate. Heat and moisture will accelerate decomp and intensify the odor.

I would discourage anyone from using poison bait or pellets for this reason - you can't easily find or get to the body - and there is always the potential the critter has gotten outside and will then be scavanged by something else which could also be poisoned......like the neighbor's cat or dog. Use snap or live traps only or hire a professional exterminator.

I would love to get an exterminator here to do this work but landlord is totally against it. so there are a ton of legal issues here as well. Thank you for commenting on this. I would have never thought of the rats leaving the house back to the outside after eating the poison. Maybe it is the natural instinct of looking for water or anything else when it knows that it is dying. I do however still hear one up in drop ceiling walking around and scratching. One rat was caught in a snap trap in basement but seem to eat the poison alot more. All exit and entry points still need to be sealed so rats and other rodents will not get into building. Thinking if nothing more drastic is done and done correctly I will have to contact Health Department and of course move out!

Take it from a farm girl, here's how rat poison works /how to make it work most effectively:

- If you know where rats are entering your home, start by placing a bowl of refreshing water OUTSIDE your home near this spot. Give the rats a day or two to enjoy the excellent service you're providing. If you don't know where they're entering, well, too bad. You have to skip this step and take your chances.

- Rats must eat every single day, and they are highly indiscriminate in their eating habits; that is, they will eat anything they find; thus, if you put out rat poison, they will gobble it up. Place your poison in a quiet spot and keep an eye on it; continue to replenish it until it stops disappearing. Even if new rats see old rats die from the poison, they are not smart enough to put 2 + 2 together, and they will continue to eat.

- The poison does something to their insides that makes them thirsty, so they will seek water. Rats are creatures of habit, and they will return to the water you've left for them OUTSIDE the house. The water and the poison don't combine nicely in a rat's belly, and the rats will die. Pretty quickly.

- Rats cannot throw up, so they cannot expel the poison. Rat poison will make other animals (like your dog or cat) sick, but you probably already know that your pets are quite capable of throwing up ... so they will PROBABLY expel the poison; of course, this assumes they don't ingest too much. As I said, I grew up on a farm, and at times we had dozens of "barn cats". I never personally saw a cat who appeared to be ill from poison.

One rat was caught in a snap trap in basement but seem to eat the poison alot more.

Rat traps definitely work, and they're reusable, but they carry a definite "ick factor" because you must dispose of the body.

Also, rats are fairly good at stealing your bait while avoiding the hammer. If your rats are pretty good at stealing bait, put out bait in an UNSET trap for a few days ... feed 'em a little; let them think you're running a nice little rat cafe. Once your rats become complacent and think traps aren't dangerous; well, you know the next step: take advantage of the rats' newfound comfort and (literally) bring down the hammer.

If you go with traps, place them near the wall in quiet areas. Rats don't like to come out into the center of the room; I've always assumed that they feel too exposed in such situations.

I personally suspect your pets have a greater chance of catching /breaking a paw in a rat trap than they do of eating a poisoned rat.

Another option no one's mentioning: Rat trap boxes. Disgustingly enough, we have these in my school.

You can buy them from Amazon, and they're unobtrusive black plastic boxes kind of like a large flat shoebox. You open them up and put in a good smelling rat-treat. The rat enters the hole and pushes himself around-around-around the twists and turns inside the box in an ever-narrowing tunnel until he reaches the treat. Once he's consumed the yummy-yummy, he discovers that he cannot walk out backwards, and he is stuck. You kick the box every day, and if it rattles a little, you know a rat's been caught.

The positive is that you have caught your rat.

The negative is that you have caught your rat. What will you do with him now?

Your dogs and cats cannot fit into the trap box.

Thank you so much Farm Girl for the water information. My manager at work had mentioned this to me yesterday on doing this! In regards to my dog eating this poison is unlikely for a few reasons: I have a baracaide from him going into the kitchen. He has no access to basement, poison is up in the drop ceilings above kitchen and bedroom as well as he is a lazy bones and is with me all the time or sleeping while I am work. so no worries there. But yes, some pellets can fall onto floor while maintenance guy is putting it up in ceiling. I would love to have some information on preventing anymore rats from coming into the apartment house, that I can tell the guy on doing. Is it true more rats will come into the house all winter long? Owner seems to think that the ones that come in are the ones in and no more would enter. To me this seems crazy! they follow the urine trials. In regards to smell..... it has been quiet for 4 nights with the exception of 2 or 3 still roaming above. when will this god awful smell start to happen? As I said anymore and all information on ridding them would be appreciated!