You might be startled to learn that rats frequently live close to humans—much closer than you would think—and that they do so rather frequently. A small rat community may have taken up residence in one of your property’s crawl spaces, basements, or attics.
Rats are not only disgusting to look at but also transmit a wide variety of diseases, making them a potential threat to the health of your family. For this reason, we should all work together to eradicate them once and for all.
The good news is that there are a few things you can do to get rid of rats for good, such as conducting a thorough inspection of both the interior and exterior of your home, filling in any holes, cracks, and gaps in the structure, eliminating any food sources that are easily accessible, and reducing the number of potential habitats around your property.
You might also try utilizing rat traps, with either bait or poison, or you could call in the experts if nothing else works.
Why Do We Have Rats In Our House?
Rats can get inside your home for a variety of different reasons. The most important ones are to get access to food, water, and shelter. After establishing themselves and ensuring that they will not be disturbed in their new home, they start the process of reproduction.
People frequently believe, incorrectly, that rats in and around your home subsist entirely on the scraps that are left behind by humans, but this is not the case. When it comes to rats, the structure in which they are now staying is typically only a harborage spot for them.
When you have mice in your house, apartment, or townhouse, it’s like having guests at an all-inclusive resort since they stay there the whole time.
Rodents are drawn to open food sources, such as those provided by your rubbish areas, and it’s only natural that they would do so. We strongly suggest that you clean and organize your waste cans to the best of your ability.
What Should You Use: Traps Or Poison
Know When To Use Rodenticides And Traps.
- Rats can be caught alive. Catch-and-release traps are a popular DIY option. The problem with the no-kill trap is that you have to let the animals go after a few kilometres, usually over water. Don’t release rats next door—they can travel 10 kilometres back to their home. Infestations may require numerous trips to be removed. No fun!
- Most people favour poison, but rodenticides at home have drawbacks. First, they should be used indoors, not outside like rodenticides. Second, dogs and children are a no-no. Don’t let poison go out.
- Third, rodenticides don’t expel rodents. Anticoagulants like rodenticides make you feel sick, and when we’re sick, we want to cuddle up and stay home. If you have rats in your basement, wall voids, or crawlspace, they will stay close and you may end up with a dead rat.
Rat Control: A Long-Term Solution
There are several things you can do to permanently get rid of rats in your home.
1. Look For Possible Entry Points
As a first step, you should look for any obvious access points. We have to be very careful when we look because we can’t miss any possible entryways. We want to look around the remainder of your property for signs of entrance once you’ve checked the attic, garage, and crawl space for rodent traces.
If you have access to a ladder, try looking up high. Mice and rats can climb quite well; therefore, they will likely enter a home or building through a high window or ledge. Rats and squirrels often gain entry to homes through tile roofs, which is another reason to avoid them.
2. Lock And Bar All Doors And Windows
How they are entering and leaving the residence is a constant source of speculation. If you find any holes, gaps, or cracks in the wood, concrete, siding, or even under the roof tiles, make sure you repair them immediately. More than thirty entryways require your attention.
Mice can fit through a hole around 6–8 mm in diameter, but rats and squirrels need a hole about the size of a quarter (23 mm). Finding the access points is the first step towards closing them off. Wire mesh, metal flashing, caulking, and copper wool are all effective exclusion tools that can be used to achieve this.
A one-way door may be useful in some situations. Putting in a one-way door requires knowing where the main doors to and from a house are. The mouse or rat can get out, but it can’t come back in.
3. Remove All Food
Don’t give rats easy food sources—they’re resourceful. Make sure no food is available to them inside or around your home. Avoid crumbs on your flooring by keeping garbage lids closed and not leaving food out. Overnight, clean and remove pet bowls. Cat-and-dog food attracts mice and rats. They’ll eat it to survive.
4. Eliminate Rat-Friendly Areas
Rats can be permanently eliminated by removing their habitats. Rats live in woodpiles, dense foliage, and unorganized gardening debris. Remove trash from your home and store woodpiles and lumber 18 inches above the ground. Trim dense vegetation, tree branches, bushes, and any foliage touching the structure.
5. Rodenticide Bait
We discussed using traps against poison. Rodenticide bait stations kill rats permanently. Keep the bait compact and central to increase your chances of catching a rat. Poisoning edible bait causes many issues. If a rat steals the bait and drags it across the floor, the poison could spread. This can harm bare feet.
6. Multiple Traps
The most effective rodenticide option is trapping. Trapping stations are a great way to get rid of rodents, but they need at least a dozen devices and regular maintenance, which can be hard for homeowners. Electronic rat traps, zapper traps, and CO2 traps are trapping innovations.
Set traps near the walls, both inside and out. With the trigger side toward the wall, traps work best.
The Case for Rat Extermination
It was stated that rat extermination is something that needs to be done because rats are unwanted visitors to your home that you do not want to see. Not only are rats repulsive to look at, but the fact that rodents transmit disease makes them a potential danger to the health of the people you care about.
They can make your food unsafe to eat, damage other things in your home, and even start electrical fires in your home. Both mice and rats carry diseases that, if transmitted to humans, have the potential to make people sick.