Bleurgh! The stench of rotting rats is ghastly and unforgettable! My neighbour in our last village had the Rat Man in, poisoned the lot of 'em and they died and stank. Her husband crawled through the roof space collecting as many corpses as he could (poor chap!) But there must have been one or two dead 'uns hidden away because that stink hung around for weeks.
We had FIVE cats then (all at once!) and they were superb as rat/mouse controllers and deterrents, until they started bringing in live ones as'toys'. But the poor things were easily removed. I shooshed them out through the open door (having shut all the cats in another room).
It helps if one has no fear of rats/mice (I think they're quite sweet) But if large spiders infested our bungalow I'd be on the next plane to the North Pole!