Rats are always considered to be a plague of humans all over the world for millennia. They appear anywhere from the farm to the house, from the roof to the ground. Not only do they steal food but they also contaminate food and the air, devastate properties, bring bubonic plagues, and transmit many diseases from insects. Because of the disadvantage rats have, it is important to know how to get rid of rats fast and effectively.
There are 2 main rat species that all annoy homeowners in general and humans in common. They are roof rats that can be found much in the coastal areas and other Norway rats that can be found anywhere throughout the country. While roof rats often eat vegetables and fruits running in attics, Norway rats prefer meats and fishes appearing mainly on the ground levels. On the whole, rats can eat almost any materials at anywhere they determine to drop by and a small is enough for them to get into your home. If you want to protect your family health, removing rats is primarily done as well.
It is time now for Vkool.com to show you 9 tips and ways on how to get rid of rats and mice in your home. All of the suggested ways are effective and quite easy to apply. For those who want to keep their home away from rats, spend a little time reading our article to know more useful ways to get rid of rats effectively.
9 Tips And Ways On How To Get Rid Of Rats And Mice In Your Home
1. Clean House
Cleaning your house well is considered as the first way on how to get rid of rats effectively. This work is really necessary to protect your house from this animal. If you want no rats staying in and traveling around your home, you have to remove the sources of food as well as shelter as much as possible. More clearly, you should cover remained dishes and pet dishes, keep the yard and home clean, tie lids on the garbage cans, and not throw bird feeders out. By these ways, you can restrict rat problem effectively with other pests indeed.
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2. Find Out The Entrance
Rats have the instinct to adapt to any living environment and then adapt to any solution of its removal including bait and traps that are placed in burrows, attics, wall voids, under concrete and porches or other hard-to-touch places. More seriously, rats can include and transmit various diseases, particularly bring disease-carrying parasites into your home, which causes a number of bad conditions & diseases for humans. Let see how you can do to remove rats out of your house.
Dealing the entrance of rats is known as one of the ways on how to get rid of rats effectively. In fact, rats need openings at the size of their head to get into your home, which means an opening at the smallest size of a quarter is enough for an access point of rats. If you are trying to inhibit rats from squeezing in, you should also protect your house from mice, which needs only a 1/4 inch or as a dime size. You should walk around the exterior and find if there are any entry points, particularly the places near the foundation or the opening to crawl spaces, under doors, around vents, and everywhere wiring and plumbing connected to your home.
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3. Block Access
After finding the entrance, blocking it is the next step on how to get rid of rats. In other words, you have to seal these openings off to prevent rats from running into your home. For example, you should caulk the windows and use wool or screen mesh to fill any gaps on the exterior walls. Besides, you should abuse door sweeps and weather stripping to cover spaces under the exterior doors. These materials can be easily found in a hardware store, so you can buy them if they are unavailable. In addition, restricting the connection of trees to your home by trimming tree branches and shrubs is a good way to inhibit rats from squeezing in the upper floors. And always remember to seal any openings near attic off as rats can climb as well as jump well.
4. Trap Rats
After stopping rats from getting in your home, you have to pay attention to those already living there. You may find out where they are living and traveling when cleaning up your home. And areas, where the rats drop or ski along the baseboards, are places to put your traps. Using trap may be the most common way on how to get rid of rats, which also requires a big kill to success thereby preparing plenty of snap traps if necessary.
In common, traps are baited with peanut butter or other foods that do not spoil quickly. These foods are placed along the pathway of rats, usually close to the walls, so the rats can access them easily. However, you shouldn’t set the traps at first and bait the traps a few times so that they feel comfortable to feed off them instead. When finding out the food, the rats are really hesitant whether feed off the traps or not and once a rat is killed, others will certainly give up the bait. After feeding the rats a few days, you can set the traps at these places and wait during night. The method with traps can be used for a long time as your choice.
And once the rats are caught, you have to kill them on your own. You can submerge them in a water bucket or even let them go outside. But it is preferred to kill them to prevent them from entering neighbors.
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5. Poison Rats
Poisoning is another effective way on how to get rid of rats. But these poisons can be dangerous because they may be unluckily ingested by other pets or even your small children. These poisons can’t kill rats immediately and leave the rodent time to see a hiding spot before dying. You may then find them eventually, so don’t worry. You just have to follow the scent of their rotting carcass.
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6. Use Herbs
Besides using chemicals, you can abuse herbs as a way on how to get rid of rats at home. You can plant herbs like mint and wormwood around your home to restrict the appearance of rats. This method bases on the odor of the herbs that can keep rats away from home with an enough amount of herbs. You had better plant these herbs along with your neighbors, which minimizes the number of rats in your area more effectively. And it is advised to rub some peppermint oil or keep fresh mint leaves inside the cabinets or drawers to solve localized rat problems.
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7. Co-Operate With Natural Predators
Raising pets is your favorite and also a way on how to get rid of rats from your home. Although not all of dogs and cats are good rat hunters indeed, they always tend to chase them, which is also a factor to prevent rats from entering your home. Besides, you need to store your pets’ food in thoroughly sealed containers and give them the meals at exact times. And if you do not raise a pet, you can put an owl box around your home to attract this natural predator coming to help you remove your rat problem.
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8. Remove Rats
After trapping or poisoning rats, removing them is the next step on how to get rid of rats. You need to wear latex or rubber gloves to remove the rats. A disinfectant solution that is made up of bleach and water at the ratio 1:4 is necessary to spray the rats’ bodies. You then had better soak them in this solution for 5 minutes then throw them through 2 layers of the plastic bag. You may also want to remove anything contaminated by the rats, such as cardboard boxes, but you can sanitize them well even your attic.
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9. Sanitize Area
Sanitizing the areas contaminated by rats is also important in the procedure on how to get rid of rats. You need to open doors and windows before starting to sanitize then leave this area at least 30 minutes. You don’t have to sweep or vacuum nests or droppings so as not to stir up urine and droppings. Alternatively, use disinfectants like the above mentioned one to spray the area to sanitize for 5 minutes and clean it up with a rag or paper towel. You need to disinfect anything contaminated by the rats such as floors, carpets, countertops, cabinets, furniture, and clothing. For example, carpets and furniture are steam cleaned while clothing is washed in hot water then dried out with heat. After finishing this mission, throw away your gloves, rags, and paper towels and wash up well.
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After reading our article on 9 tips and ways on how to get rid of rats and mice in your home in our main How to page, hope that you can find out more ways to keep your home away from these rodents. Please let us know if you have any question or concern about this topic by leaving comments below and share with us if you know other ways to get rid of rats effectively.
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