I recommend using peanut butter for bait on snap traps. The trick is to tie a little string around the trigger mechanism for the trap. Smear that with peanut butter. This ensures the trap will go off as the rat or mouse pulls on the tied string.
Otherwise you often end up with a still set trap that’s had the bait licked clean off of it and it never went off.
I set many traps, all right together. I’ve never had to deal with rats, but it works great on mice. The concept should scale up without a problem.
Standard chlorine bleach cleanup should work just fine. Bleach containers normally have instructions on how to dilute/mix up an appropriate solution. Wear rubber gloves.
The biggest problems 1) getting bitten by a live rat (if that happens save the rat carcass if possible, but in any case consult a doctor ASAP) and 2) fleas from rats. Fortunately, they are not the disease vector they were in medieval Europe and in most cases this won’t be a problem but if you live in an area where rat-borne diseases are endemic be on the look out for symptoms.
As a general rule, if there is no direct contact between you and the rat(s) you should be OK. If you do get sick with something go see a doctor. The odds of it being of rat origin is low by why take chances?
I’ve lived in situations a few times with a need for rat extermination, and certainly mice. No illnesses so far.
We need to get you together with MeanOldLady so you two can compare notes and drive up your blood pressure together. Better yet, when you do capture your rat, package it up and mail it to MeanOld Lady and ask her opinion on disposal. Sure, she’ll have a conniption fit but it’s all worth it for the entertainment value!
::d&r::
This. I had to deal with roof rats a few years ago and the solution was to spend some time sealing up all their entry points. Check with your county vector (disease) control office, they may have a service where they send an inspector out to your house to help you identify how the critters are getting in.
I patched some holes, trimmed back some vegetation and no more problems. Plus, no traps to bust a finger or paw, poison that accidentally gets somebody’s pet and no stinking corpses to find and dispose of.
Read your lease to see if rodents are specifically your responsibility. If not and barring other exclusionary language in the lease, why not bring the issue to the landlord pointing out the obvious points of exterior/interior entry and see if the landlord will take action to correct the issue in order to maintain a habitable dwelling.
Rodents do not like Peppermint , get some x tract and through it around, plant it out side, if you use a trap I used cheese then put a match to it a bit for smell.I know a fella who does this for a living and he uses Sardines ,You need to clean up the rat poo. the dust off it is deadly.I.ve used a vacuum.
When I moved in my current home 3 yrs ago, the previous folks had lots of mice traps in random areas.
oddly enough, just last night, I got up to get a drink from the fridge, and I heard my cats making a new sound. They had cornered a mouse under a kitchen roll cart. My first rodent in 3 years! They(cats) were very smart, and used teamwork to trap the mouse. They chased it left and right about 20 times, while it was under the cart. It finally made a run for it behind one of those wire racks you hang on walls to hold dinner plates, that I had on the floor awaiting installation. Again, they covered both ends. the mouse actually cried in frustration. I got my Crossman variable pump BB gun and pumped it 2 times (7 is max) which planted a BB in his butt without a mess. I knew not to use my Beeman 1200 fps pellet gun, as it shoots a pellet faster than the speed of sound, and would ricochet like a .22.
I had always read that mice or rats will not enter a house with cat(s). This one entered on the lowest of 3 floors, when I left the French doors open to air out the house.
I have baited traps hidden in the same places as the previous owners, and in 3 years no mice.
So, get some cats, and a variable pump BB gun. Be sure to wear safety glasses.
Rats burrow into the ground, as do mice. So you may want to borrow someones Rat Terrier, and buy one of those high amperage prongs you force into the ground, then dump massive wattage in their cottage.
If they are in your walls, you will need an infrared camera to see them, which some fire departments have, as do the US military. Other than turning loose some black rat snakes in the attic.
I would rather sleep in a house with black rat snakes in the walls / attic, than rats in the pantry or chewing on me in bed. Black rat snakes will not harm a human, unless provoked & cornered. Remember the black plague and Bubonic Plague? they were caused by black (not brown) rats.
PS last year, a man in Oregon was confirmed to have contracted Black Death plague from a mouset:
Last, call Terminix. I have a yearly contract with them, for everything from ants, spiders to rats. They come out every month. If you don’t want long term coverage, just have them out for 3-4 months.
I wouldn’t use poison. Takes too long to kill them. They will have plenty of time to watch over your shoulders as you watch Ratman Returns, then they die in the wall. Good luck finding the source of the stench even with an infrared cam. Also, their heat seeking fleas will abandon their cold bodies in favor of yours.
My sister just moved into an old house with bats in the basement. I offered to turn loose some black snakes to eat the bats, and she freaked out.
I would rather have non venomous snakes in my attic and basement, than rats in my walls and bats in my belfry
Another vote for snap trap, my variation is to tie a piece of Ritz cracker to the trigger (broken off to the correct size, then cover with peanut butter, but I may try the Jelly Belly trick next time, sounds much easier. I’m thinking about buying my son a good pellet gun and declaring open season on the squirrels who strip my fruit trees.
Peanut butter is irresistible to mice, and unlike some loose bait like crackers, where they can remove the bait without triggering the trap, peanut butter encourages them to gnaw and trip the trigger. Don’t know about PB & rats; I haven’t encountered any yet, but that’s the first thing I would try.
I used stuff called, “Just one bite”(I had to order off the internet) I had to secure the bait/poison to a solid object to keep the rat from dragging it off somewhere but it worked well, one rat died in the house and was quickly disposed of and the area throughly saturated with bleach cleaner. the other(s) left the premises never to be heard of again. One place they were getting in was around the window unit air conditioners.
I do not have pets or children around my house. i used 3 of the bait/poison things and I wire them to a paperback book that I can throw away after I am done with it.