How to get rid of rats
Rats have been coexisting with humans for thousands of years. Despite man’s actions to get rid of them, they continue to thrive. This shows their resilience, intelligence, and strong survival instincts. Although rats live for about 2 to 3 years in the wild, a breeding pair can produce 6,000 descendants within that duration.
These nasty critters are notorious for the damage of wooden structures and electrical wires, contamination of food supply, and the spread of diseases. Rats are known to spread more than 35 diseases, including hantavirus, leptospirosis, rat-bite fever, Tularemia, and Salmonella.
If you’re looking for ways to solve your rat problem permanently, you’ve come to the right place!
Understanding Why They’re There
There are two primary motivations for the rats in your property; either there’s an abundant food supply or a comfy shelter for them to reside and raise their litter. That’s why rats typically live no more than 122 meters from a primary food source. Here’s what you should do:
Remove all potential food sources from your house
Rats are omnivores and can virtually feast on a wide array of food. While they feed on fruit plants and seeds in the wild, city rats do like garbage and meat. Therefore:
- Store all your food supplies in rat-resistant containers.
- Ensure that you sweep the area under your birdfeeder to remove seeds lying around.
- Properly secure your trashcans to prevent access.
- Keep all compost and trash as far as possible from your home.
- Do not leave your pet food outside, especially overnight.
Eliminate hiding spots as well
Rats love to reside in human settlements, especially during the winter, because of the promise of warmth. That’s why you have to eliminate potential shelter and make your home inaccessible. This can be accomplished by doing a detailed inspection of the following:
- Seal all potential entry holes. Do you know that rats can get in through holes as small as 1/4-inch (6 mm)? Ensure you use hardware cloth to seal the holes so they won’t be able to chew their way back in.
- Ensure that your yard is clean. Remove all debris, woodpiles, and other objects that they can reside in.
- Trim trees, shrubs, and branches that can give them access to your house.
- Remove dense vegetation since it provides a great hiding place.
- Make sure you have no small holes in your roof. Learn more about roof repair here.
Taking Stringent Measures
Eliminating food sources and shelter will, at least, dramatically cut down the rat population in your property. To get rid of them completely, you should consider:
- Try an organic method
Here are 5 organic techniques for getting rid of unwelcome visitors from your home and garden without resorting to using toxic chemicals.
- Trapping
We recommend using live traps. A live trap allows you to capture the rat alive and then relocate it far away from your house. Appropriate bait to use include peanut butter, bacon, fruits, vegetables, cereals, or meats.
- Skip the poison
While poison can be used to kill rats, it comes with some specific drawbacks. First, it can hurt unintended animals. Moreover, it is an inhumane method because it gradually and painfully kills the rat. Finally, locating a poisoned rat in your house can be challenging, especially if it dies in an inaccessible location. You might have to put up with the decaying smell. That’s why poison isn’t recommended.
- Rodent control expert
If you’re unable to deal with the rat problem on your own, the best option may be to bring in a rodent control expert to help develop and implement an effective removal strategy.
