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Rat in House - What do Do

HOW DO WE GET RATS OUT OF A HOUSE? The key is to inspect every last portion of your house, inside and out, find out how the rodents are getting in, and seal those areas shut with non-chewable stee. Repairs are a crucial step in the mouse and rat removal process. In all cases, sealing the entry holes shut ensures that no future rodents will ever enter your home. Entry hole repairs are absolutely necessary during the process of removing rats and mice. These vermin usually have many entry holes into a house. It is futile to attempt trapping them until all the entry holes are sealed FIRST. Only then is it effective to trap and remove the rodents inside the house.

100% of the entry holes must be found, and sealed shut, or the job is not complete.
Then all the rats must be trapped and removed. Standard wooden snap traps, placed on the common rat runways (marked by droppings) is the most effective. This is actually easy after all the entry holes are sealed shut.
If the problem persists for more than a week, it means you didn't find all the entry holes. Inspect the house again, and be sure to use steel repairs.

Rats are one of the most feared animals in the modern world because of the diseases that they carry. While many people keep rats as pets or as subjects for research studies, rats are not creatures that you want lurking around in your rafters. Rats are best described as having two large hind legs with smaller front legs, large teeth and eyes and a long hairless tail. They are much larger than mice and can come in almost any color or coat pattern. Rats are scavengers and will do anything, including chewing holes through wood and metal, to get at food that has been left out.

Not only do rats carry diseases and have tics that carry diseases, they can do an enormous amount of damage to your home. Rats are champion chewers and can gnaw their way into your house if they can’t find a hole big enough to squeeze through. Some of the damage caused by rats is holes in your drywall, holes in your pantry or in your food containers and electrical and plumbing issues. Rats will bring in very flammable materials such as twigs, cloth, hair and leaves which can start a house fire if any sparks were to fall on the nest. Rats will contaminate your food and your living areas with their urine and droppings. If you are having issues with rats, try some of these do-it-yourself tips to deal with the situation immediately.

FIND THE ENTRY HOLES:
The first step in getting control of a rat infestation is to identify where the rats are. You can usually tell that you have a rat problem by little holes being chewed in food containers, droppings and scuffling sounds in your walls and ceiling. There will also be urine dribbles and dirt marks dripping from the high traffic areas.

CLEAN HOUSE:
The next thing that you need to do a nice thorough clean of your house from top to bottom. Even though rats can infest even the cleanest of homes, they are really attracted to houses that have clutter and are dirty. Make sure that you sweep your kitchen floors and vacuum the carpets everyday as food particles can get down in there. But to be honest, this doesn't matter nearly as much as cutting off entry holes into your house.

KEEP AWAY FOOD:
To discourage rats from coming into your home, place all of your perishable foods like grains, flour, sugar, etc. into steel containers that have sealed lids. If rats can’t eat, they won’t stick around. But to be honest, this doesn't matter nearly as much as cutting off entry holes into your house.

PREDATORS:
Keeping natural predators around and in your home is an excellent way to deter rats from setting up shop on your property. Having dogs inside your home and in the yard will make rats think twice about coming in. Cats are perhaps the best animals to keep around, but don’t be surprised if they leave you a present on your doorstep. If you don’t mind snakes in your yard, you can release some corn or garter snakes to diminish the rat population. The great thing about releasing snakes into the yard is that they can clear an acre of rodents in a few months and they will move on once the food is gone.

TRAP AND REMOVE:
There are also a variety of live and lethal traps available at most hardware stores or you can even rent some from your local animal control agencies. You will want to place the traps near the entrance holes that they are using to get into your house. Place them along your baseboards and in your pantry. Check the traps everyday and discard the carcasses in a humane way. If you decide to relocate the rats, make sure that you take them into an area that is at least 10 miles away from anyone’s residence. After the rats are gone, patch up all the holes and secure the vents on the exterior of your house to discourage them from coming back.

Go back to the main Rat Removal page for more information about rats in your house. How do you get a rat out of your home? What to do if you have rats in your house.