Considered as one of the rodents that cause problems to people are rats. In many parts of the world rats can be a big head ache to people of all levels of life; from farmers, office workers and the household, rats cause damage wherever it strives. They spread and are the cause of various types of diseases such as leptospirosis that can result and liver damage. Leptospirosis is acquired from the urine of rats which can get into your system through open wounds. Handling or inhalation of scat can also be the cause of contacting this disease. If you are very unfortunate and get bites and scratches from a rat it can result to a rat-bite fever.
Rats are truly harmful to people in many ways. And if you are one who owns your own home there is one particular part of your house where rats can breed and live like they’re part of your household. The attic is the perfect breeding ground and home for rats due to its condition which is very favorable to rats. Being the part of the house which not many people visit rats can easily turn your attic into their home. If your attic has been overtaken by this rodent there are various ways that you can get them out of your attic and your home.
D.I.Y.
If you think that you can handle the problem yourself there’s always a do-it-yourself solution for it. Here are the steps that you need to take to get rid of the rats in your attic for good.
Find out how they get inside your home.
Find every single possible entry point at every nook and corner of your house. Areas such as vents, chimneys, eaves, AC chases, roof joints and plumbing stacks can be entry points for this pest so you have to make sure to check everything from the ground up. When you check your attic, check for the rat trails as they will lead you to their entry points too.
Seal Entry Points
Once you find their entry points you need to seal them up and shut it down. If you wonder why you need to seal the entry points first instead of extraction of the rats that are already inside the reason is simple. Even if you do manage to exterminate all the rats that are already inside more rats will just keep coming in through these entry points.
Extermination
After sealing their entry points you can then proceed to the entrapment operation and removal of the rats. There are three options that you can choose from: standard lethal snap traps, live cage traps or you may install a one-way funnel door exit on their entry and exit points.
Clean Up
Once you have caught the pests you have to decontaminate and deodorize your attic. This is just as important as the previous steps to keep your attic clean and without any bacteria caused by the rats which can cause many health problems.
Get a Professional
As much as it is possible to do the extermination yourself it’s not an easy task to do. Especially if there are already too many rats living in your attic. You need experience to be able to do the job properly. This is when it’s a good idea to contact and hire the experts to do the job. In hiring an exterminator or pest control company, make sure that you do your research before contacting anyone. There are some companies who will just throw out some poison in your attic and get you sign up for a monthly or quarterly contract. So do your homework first!
Modify Your Habitat and Prevention
Sometimes, the reason that your home is infested with rats is that your property is located in the part of the country which is their natural habitat and there’s high rat population. It might also be that your home has qualities that attract rats such as food, water and shelter for them. Just like most mammals, rats like places which are warm, dry and safe where they can easily scavenge food for survival. If these are qualities of your house then it’s time to modify your own home to prevent rats from living there. Take steps such as removing garbage or compost piles around your house, avoid leaving out pet food and always close garbage cans and bins. Bird feeders as well as fruit trees are also things that attract rats.
Poisons
If you are wondering why using poison is in the bottom of our list it is because using this methods is nothing but a temporary solution to the problem. It offers more problems rather than solutions to the issue. Rat poisons are only temporary solutions to the problem because if you don’t do either of the ones listed above rats will just continue to infest your home. You will only end up with rotting dead rat bodies around your house which can cause bigger problems. Using poison is also dangerous especially if you have kids at home. Rat poison is not only capable of poisoning rats it can poison humans too if accidently eaten. And although using poison is one of the most popular methods but it’s not very effective.
Repellants
Rat repellants found in the market contain the same ingredients in all other kinds of animal repellants and needless to say that they are ineffective in repelling rats as well. This is perhaps the most ineffective method but it’s another popular method most people use. Perhaps because it is easy to use but it’s not effective at all.
Go back to the
How to Kill Rats page.
