If your one of those folks that like to leave a heap of food around for all critters to enjoy… it can have its consiquences(sp?) 
Recently, I heard a rustle in a trash bag in our basement.. I figured it was a mouse which isnt that uncommon(cat gets one about once a year that tries to get in)… much to my surprise, I carefully shifted the trash bag and a large RAT came shooting out of the bag and shot under the work bench! In 30 years of family owning this house in Minneapolis, we seen one rat 15+ years ago that the dog promptly killed.. rats are not common. Needess to say, I set traps in strategic locations around our basement, the 1st night we got the culprit(so I thought) which was a large, obviously mature rat(yuck) 2 nights ago. Since then, the traps have caught 3 more slightly larger than a mouse(young rats), all about the same size.
Needless to say, we figured a *mom* got in, and had a litter. We investigated further to see where these thigs got into the house and we discovered the floor drain cover had been lifted up in the basement, and this was the same place the 1st one came in many years ago… we re-covered it, and put a 30# chunk of lead on the lid… all taken care of right?
It wasnt long after, my sister went outside to do her usual feeding of the animals.. the next thing we knew she was running through the yard with a lawn ornament(using the spike as a weapon), and a flower pot 
Soon the huntress got her kill… a small RAT 
at the same time, she made claim she seen another one when in pursuit of the 1st. She investigated the area further after baiting an area with fresh bird and squirrel food.. it took 5 minutes to have another small rat come to the offering Th rat ran as soon as it learned of her presence… it didnt go back to the hole in the ground we learned of when it came out by our retaining wall.. it ran into a small crack in the concrete foundation of our porch… jumped about 3′ in the air, and shot right in the tiny hole… it knew that entry well.
Where the rats are coming from outside.. I have no idea. I supected the heart of our problem(in the house) was our floor drain, but now I am not positive.. something lifted up the cover. The rats are obviously attracted to the bird food and squirrel food outside as there is lots of activity out there all of a sudden
We have done all we can do short of hiring an exterminator. We got rid of all the food outside, we will be doing a heavy cleaning of the basement and placing more traps(poison is not an option) although there isnt any food down there to speak of, and I will be heading to Home Depot to come up with stuff to fill any entry point in the house we an find that a mosquito could fit through. There is no food out in the house.. even our bread is in the fridge.
Anybody ever experience these things or know what else we can do besides poison? These critters literally showed up overnight and its not cool! I am hoping with the food source gone, and any burrough(sp?) we can find taken care of, these things will dissapear back to where they came from, or go bother someone else because we have nothing to offer. The neighbors complained that their cat was catching rats just a few days before in their house.. are the neighbors the source of the problem?
I was thinking about it, and I have been seeing rats regulrly at the river anywhere near storm drains the last few years.. this was not very common in the past. Is there a rat infestation going on in our sewers?
That “ratapault” idea gave me a big laugh. I’ve seen videos of people doing that to tree rats with a clay pigeon thrower and water balloon sling shots. 
