Rats are among the pests that you do not want to be lurking around your home. They are not only seen as signs of dirt and filth but are also considered as disease-carrying pests. These are the reasons why you should learn the best way to trap a rat or rats if an infestation is happening in your home.
If you are still unsure if rats are infesting your home, the following are some of the signs of their presence in your property:
- Dead or live rats
- Droppings especially around trash areas or areas where human and pet food is stored
- Scratching sounds in the dark
- Nests or nesting materials piled in hidden areas
- Gnawed structural wood or wires
- Burrows under your home or around the yard
- Gnawed fruits in your fruit-bearing plants or trees
- Rodent hairs or smudged marks near food, along paths, or in nests.
Take time to find these signs to make sure that you are dealing with rodents and not other types of pests. Make sure that you also check outside your property to have an idea of how serious the infestation is.
Best Way to Trap a Rat in The House
Once you have confirmed that you are dealing with rat problems, it is about time that you learn about the ways you can get rid of the rats and mice on your property. The following are the common pest control solutions that you can try for your rodent problems.
Glue Traps
Though popular, glue boards or traps are not very efficient in rat or mouse control. These are ineffective especially when it comes to larger rodents that can pull themselves from the glue.
Pulling themselves loose is also easier if only a foot or two are caught in the trap. They will simply drag the trap around as it is stuck to a certain body part.
However, for capturing smaller rats or mice you can still use this option. We recommend that you use the Tomcat glue traps or the Predator Glue Traps.
Live Traps
These traps are using the natural tendency of rodents to investigate and wiggle into holes. With these traps, they can easily get in but will never get out. This is usually because of the wind-up mechanism that is triggered by touch.
Once the rodents will go inside the trap, the mechanism will snap on the other side of the trap and capture the pest. You must inspect and empty these traps regularly. Also, captured rodents must be killed humanely or released in a far place where it will not re-enter your property.
Some live traps we recommend are the Big Cheese Rat Cage Trap or the Big Cheese Multi-Catch Rat Cage Trap.
Snap Mouse Traps
Another option is the ever-popular snap traps. These are either made of plastic or wood and among the most effective option to capture and kill rats. Snap traps are also considered the least expensive solution to get rid of these rodents.
To make this solution more effective, you should use a larger trap that is labelled for rat control. Smaller ones will less likely hold or kill a rat. It will most likely injure the rodent inhumanely.
Some products we recommend for you to use are the Tomcat Rat Wood Traps, Victor Power-Kill Rat Trap, and Tomcat Rat Snap Trap.
What is The Best Way to Bait a Rat Trap?
Rats instinctively use fences and walls as their guides. This is the reason why it is unlikely for them to roam in the middle of the yard or room. It is also the main reason why traps work effectively when placed in a low-light setting or along the wall. Traps work well when hidden along the pathways where rats usually pass through.
Increase the chance of catching these pests by placing the traps inside your closets and under any furniture that is positioned along the walls. As you set the traps, you can also consider using bait stations or simply bait the trap.
To effectively decrease the rat population on your property, you should consider using bait that will lure out certain species of rat. This means that you need to figure out the species that you are trying to capture to make the traps more effective.
Whether it is a Norway rat or a roof rat, you need to know the different types of food that these species eat. If unsure, go-to baits that you can always use are food with strong smells, this may include nuts, peanut butter, mouldy cheese, or fish.
Another way to make your traps more effective is by placing them on pathways where these rodents pass through but do not set them. Place baits just to allow the rats to feed off the traps. This way, the rats will get accustomed to these traps and make it a regular item they see every day.
After a day or two, you can bait it again, but you can now set it up. This will catch the next rat that will cross the path where the traps are placed.
Adding a poisoned bait that kills rats instantly can also be considered if you prefer killing the rodents instead of simply capturing them. However, you can always opt for safer options like the use of rat repellents that will keep your home and property rodent-free.
Rat repellers work by emitting piercing oscillations with frequencies that only affects the rodents. This sound will be defeaning to the ears of these rodents and prevent the rats from going around your property.
Rodent repellers that we recommend are Tomcat Ultrasonic Rodent Repeller and Mega-Sonic Pest Repeller.
