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Roof Rat Control Tips

All of a sudden, you start to notice signs of a roof rat infestation in your home. This is never a welcome occurrence, since roof rats carry disease and cause damage to the home. Soon enough, you start to hatch a plan to control the population. Should you call a specialist right away? Well, first, you might want to try out some DIY trapping methods. Here are some tips that can help you out:

The right positioning

Rats will travel along walls and fences in order to stay safe. This means that placing traps in the center of a room or area is counterproductive. The rats are simply too afraid to be that far out in the open. As such, in order to be effective, you will need to position your traps near walls in areas with low-lighting. If you can hide a trap along paths commonly taken by the rats, you will have a much higher success rate. You can also place the traps inside closets or any other furniture that is alongside the walls, since the rats are likely to explore these areas.

Using the right baits

Different rat species will enjoy different baits. For example, the roof rat is a herbivorous rodent, and it goes crazy for peanut butter. However, any bait that has a strong smell will attract the rats’ attention. You can use moldy cheese, fish and nuts to lure the rats into your traps.

Gaining the rats’ trust

Rats are very paranoid creatures. They face death at every corner, so they have learned to be weary of any change in their environment. This is why even if you perfectly position your traps, you may not initially see any results. As such, it’s important to get the rats acclimated to the trap. In order to do this, you want to bait the traps without setting them for a couple of days. The rats will start to believe that the trap is just a regular food source and let their guard down.

Using poison-free bait

Sometimes, a rat will be able to set off the trap and not be caught in it. In these cases, it might seem like a good idea to lace the trap with poisoned bait. However, the problem here is that the rat may die somewhere in the walls or other hard to reach areas and then rot in there, causing some serious health concerns. To avoid this, make sure that you stick with poison-free bait.

If you need any help with trapping roof rats or getting rid of an infestation, we can help you out. Contact us today to set up an inspection.