How to Get Rid of Rats

Rats are quite a destructive and stubborn plague that requires both determination and patience to eradicate. 

Here are a few tips for dealing with rats:

Rat Infestations

Rats can cause massive damage to property, cause huge damage to crops, and carry deadly diseases to humans. In the UK alone, their numbers have exploded to about 70 million and councils have now started to charge households for pest control. It is important to ensure that rats never become a problem for you.

How can you tell that you have got rats?

The simple answer is that you can tell that you have rats if you see them; if you see rats, you most likely have an infestation. Other tell-tale signs like rat runs, droppings, and gnawing of food are other key indicators. The trick is not attracting them in the first place so avoid leaving food accessible in plastic bin bags, putting meat into compost, or even allowing the accumulation of bird table spillages.

How can you eradicate rats?

Getting rid of rats is never easy. Rats are suspicious, ingenious, and usually move at night. However, they still need two things i.e. water and food. If you are able to cut off their supply to both, rats will disappear. Unlike mice, rats depend on a regular supply of water. If this isn’t possible, you will need to kill them.

How can you kill rats?

Poison

Poisoning rats is the most effective way to deal with a rat infestation. You can get rat poison at any garden or farm supply store check here to find out what is the best rat poison to buy. The best way to poison them is to put the poison in a series of rat boxes and place them between their holes and water or food source or where you see signs of droppings.

Rats tend to be suspicious and it could be as long as 1 week before they start accepting the box as part of the environment and begin using it. Check the poison every 3 to 4 days and replace as necessary. It is important that you keep the poison out of the reach of dogs, cats, and other animals.

Rats that take the poison will usually die in their holes, but if you find any dead ones, ensure that you dispose of them, preferably through burning. It is worth taking the poison to rats in some cases and the best way to do that is putting some poison in a ball of cling film, putting it into a hole, and covering the opening with a brick. Rats sometimes become resistant to poison, so try different products over time.

Traps

Traps should be baited for a week because of the suspicious nature of rats, but don’t forget to replace the bait since it is taken before you set the trap. Traps have the benefit of you not ending up with a dead, stinking rat under the floorboards. However, it is usually not a successful method if you are facing a serious infestation.

Other rat removal methods

Get a terrier: Terriers can be incredibly effective especially if used in conjunction with various devices for smoking rats out of their holes.

Get a cat: Cats can kill vermin but if you want to effectively get rid of rats, get a farmyard cat that lives out of the house and ‘works’ for a living.

Electronic Devices

Electronic devices for rat elimination emit electromagnetic waves and/or high-pitched sound waves that are inaudible to humans. It is still not clear as to whether or not they are effective and to what extent, but if you have an infestation, it can be a good idea to try them out. People actually swear by such devices.

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