Rats can be problems any time of the year, but they can be especially bothersome in the winter when they keep trying to get in your home for a warm place to snuggle and make their nests. Rat control is a combination of making their habitat uncomfortable, blocking their entry, and eliminating rats that get inside.
However, rats are smart, so controlling them isn't always easy. If you have a rat problem, you may need to hire a rat control professional to get the situation under control before the rats cause your home to stink and before the animals cause damage to your home. Here's a look at ways to eliminate rats that have gotten inside your home.
Put Out Poison
Rat poison is effective at killing rats, but it can also kill your pets or other wildlife. Poison is probably the least desirable way to kill rats, although it might be the easiest. Besides endangering other animals, rats can die from the poison in places where the rats are hard to find. That can cause your home to smell like dead rodents for a long time. Instead, it's best to deal with rats in a way that finding their bodies is easy so you won't have foul odors to contend with.
Use Live Traps
Live traps are a possibility you may want to discuss with the rat control professional if you can't stand the thought of killing animals. However, it's likely the exterminator will just collect the rats and kill them later rather than release them. No one wants rats released on their property, and releasing them in the wild could cause the rats to suffer a prolonged death since they won't know where to hide or find food. Killing the rats quickly and humanely might be a better choice.
Of course, you may want the pest control professional to seal your home so rats can't get back in while you make your yard less friendly to rats by cleaning up clutter and cutting grass short. Then you might consider releasing the rats on your own property, but since rats can chew through almost anything, there's a good chance the rats will come back, especially when the temperatures are cold.
Use Electric Traps
Electric traps are an option if you want to kill rats fast and humanely. The drawback is that the traps are expensive, so you may not want to buy very many, and getting rid of the rats could take a long time. While you may want the rat exterminator to set the traps up in the best way that catches the animals, you can empty the traps yourself and reset them, since you can do that by dumping the dead rats into a trashcan. Electric traps are much easier to use and are a good choice if you're afraid of big snap traps.
Consider Glue Traps
Glue traps can catch mice, rats, and even bugs like spiders. However, glue traps are not a humane way to get rid of rats. Plus, the rats may not be dead when it's time to get rid of the captured ones. If you're afraid to deal with rats, then glue traps are probably not the right choice.
Rely On Snap Traps
Snap traps are probably the best way to approach rat control. Just choose traps that are large enough to be used for catching rats rather than mice. You can even let the rat exterminator set up several traps for you. Since snap traps are not too expensive, the exterminator can set many at the same time and eliminate the infestation quicker.
The rat control professional may even come back every few days to remove deal rats and set new traps. Snap traps often kill rats quickly, so while they aren't always quick and humane, they're effective and one of the better ways to deal with rats that have to be killed.
Contact a local rat control service to learn more.