Alternatives to Bait Boxes for Rats--GO!

[bisous]

If you haven't seen the BP, I have a rat in my house right now. I'm calling the pest control place in the morning. They want to sell me bait boxes. I don't want to do anything that will hurt the predators in my area (coyotes, bobcats, red tailed hawks, owls, etc.) but the rats are OUT OF CONTROL. Is there a safe alternative for bait boxes? They were telling me about something that might kill rats but not harm the other animals but I'm highly skeptical. I can't remember the name of it.

Anyway, help me keep the wild creatures safe but also secure my property from rats.

TIA!

[bisous]

Anybody? It looks like from my research my only options are to make our house 100% sealed up from the outside and to use mechanical and electrical traps. I wish I could bus in a herd of predators too. We sure have the population of rats that could support a few bobcats!

[LBW]

Personally, I'd move out and/or blow up the house. UGH. I'm so sorry that you are dealing with this.

I'd probably do everything the pest co. recommends b/c rats horrify me so much. I'd also do some/all of these:
•bring in a handyman/contractor to help find areas to seal off so that the rats can't get into your house
•ask the pest co or a landscaper to help find any places outside where the rats may have nests
•use repellent. I found one called Fresh Cab online. It seems to use essential oils, so you may be able to make your own version (balsam fir, lavender, Spanish rosemary, cedar, orange, and lemon). Maybe plant lots of lavender, etc outside, too.
•get an outdoor cat. I know some rescues have "barn cats" available for adoption.

Good luck!

[BunnyBee]

Are you still renting? Your landlord should make sure the house is sealed. The pest control company can use Havaheart traps that they check daily and remove the trapped rodents. There are also snap traps if the rodents are small enough. Glue traps are more inhumane.

[niccig]

You have to stop then getting into the house by finding all holes bigger than a quarter. Make sure you're dryer vent has a grill on it - it's just plastic so I used wired to secure ours (rat got into dryer through the vent). I stuffed steel wool around pipes that come into the house, made sure all vent openings had wire and gaps between pipes and vent wire. DH sets traps under house and in attic just in case and we haven't caught anything in long time.

Clean up the yard - unfortunate we have very heavily landscaped yard so lots of plants. We live in a canyon and it's rat city because of hills and neighbors ivy front lawn is call rat condos for a reason! They're selling their house, so I hope new neighbors redo the front lawn.

You can't stop them outside. Bait boxes are to control numbers. Pest control for bait boxes is $$, but you can buy own and fill them if you go that route. We did as twice a rat got into my car's engine compartment and chewed wires making a nest - over a thousand dollars in damage. I haven't used the boxes in a long time. We have a cat now, but she's indoors only. There are a few neighborhood cats we see in the yard, so maybe that's helped too.


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[mackmama]

Ok - you will be ok, so take a deep breath and know that this situation is totally gross but you are safe and will get this fixed. So sorry you are dealing with these. BTDT, and it's so not fun. From my unfortunately vast experience with rats, here's what I suggest:

1) All pest companies are NOT made alike when it comes to rats. So find out who the rat whisperer is in your area. Ask on mother's forums, Facebook groups, etc. Get that person or company to your house asap for pest proofing. You want exclusion services where someone will go through your house inside AND out with a fine-toothed comb to seal up any possible entry points. This is why you want the expert rat whisperer because only the best find ALL of the hidey holes. Steel wool and silicone caulking should be used to seal up entry points, not spray foam since rats can chew through the foam to regain entry. (Likely access points are from under your house, dryer vents, plumbing, or the roof.)

2) As to getting the sucker who is running through your kitchen, we had the best success with mechanical traps with a little peanut butter (set and checked by the pest guy, not you... ewwww.) He will likely set the traps in several places such as your attic, basement, closet, etc. then he will come back to check them regularly. When a rat is caught, he will set another trap, then come back a couple days later to check them, until many days go by with empty traps.

3) After the current rat(s) are dealt with, the pest guy may want to spray/smoke to remove the rat scent trail so that other rats aren't attracted. I didn't want this done inside of our home because of the chemicals, so be sure to ask them about toxicity levels if they suggest this.

4) Check your trees. Do you have any trees overhanging your house/roof? Call an arborist and get those cut back immediately. Roof rats gain access to your roof from overhanging trees.

5) Check your vegetation. Do you have any climbing vines, ivy, flowers, etc on your house? Time to whack off those rat ladders.

6) Until the rat is found, keep your kitchen spotless with all food sealed or in fridge so they aren't drawn to your eating areas. Make sure your cupboards have no crumbs, etc.

7) If you find any rat droppings, do NOT vacuum them up. Spray them with Chlorox then wipe them up wearing gloves (or leave them for the pest guy).

Feel free to ask me anymore questions. Again this will be solved, you don't have to move, and it will be ok. How I wish I didn't know so much about rats.

[mackmama]

duplicate

[bisous]

Ok - you will be ok, so take a deep breath and know that this situation is totally gross but you are safe and will get this fixed. So sorry you are dealing with these. BTDT, and it's so not fun. From my unfortunately vast experience with rats, here's what I suggest:

1) All pest companies are NOT made alike when it comes to rats. So find out who the rat whisperer is in your area. Ask on mother's forums, Facebook groups, etc. Get that person or company to your house asap for pest proofing. You want exclusion services where someone will go through your house inside AND out with a fine-toothed comb to seal up any possible entry points. This is why you want the expert rat whisperer because only the best find ALL of the hidey holes. Steel wool and silicone caulking should be used to seal up entry points, not spray foam since rats can chew through the foam to regain entry. (Likely access points are from under your house, dryer vents, plumbing, or the roof.)

2) As to getting the sucker who is running through your kitchen, we had the best success with mechanical traps with a little peanut butter (set and checked by the pest guy, not you... ewwww.) He will likely set the traps in several places such as your attic, basement, closet, etc. then he will come back to check them regularly. When a rat is caught, he will set another trap, then come back a couple days later to check them, until many days go by with empty traps.

3) After the current rat(s) are dealt with, the pest guy may want to spray/smoke to remove the rat scent trail so that other rats aren't attracted. I didn't want this done inside of our home because of the chemicals, so be sure to ask them about toxicity levels if they suggest this.

4) Check your trees. Do you have any trees overhanging your house/roof? Call an arborist and get those cut back immediately. Roof rats gain access to your roof from overhanging trees.

5) Check your vegetation. Do you have any climbing vines, ivy, flowers, etc on your house? Time to whack off those rat ladders.

6) Until the rat is found, keep your kitchen spotless with all food sealed or in fridge so they aren't drawn to your eating areas. Make sure your cupboards have no crumbs, etc.

7) If you find any rat droppings, do NOT vacuum them up. Spray them with Chlorox then wipe them up wearing gloves (or leave them for the pest guy).

Feel free to ask me anymore questions. Again this will be solved, you don't have to move, and it will be ok. How I wish I didn't know so much about rats.

This is extremely helpful. Thank you SO much!

We had the pest control guys come again today, after an initial vent on Friday. We definitely had a breach at the dryer vent and patched up and repaired that on Saturday. The pest control guys think it might just be one rat that got stuck in our house after the repair. They set some sticky traps in the kitchen cabinets (under the boxes) and snap traps behind the laundry. We already caught one and we hope it is the only one!

We're going to try to keep the home impermeable from rats. I love a lot of the suggestions from Mackmama above. We have fruit trees right now that are overhanging our house. We also have vines. I LOVE them but I think they're going to have to go!

[niccig]

Pick up any fruit that falls on the ground and put in trash can. We have vines too on the house and have kept them. We made sure house was secure.


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[dogmom]

Honestly, I would revisit the poison alternative. I've used old fashion Coumadin/warfarin. Yep, that's the same stuff they put people on for a "blood thinner'. It works as an anti-coagulant by blocking absorption of Vit K in the liver and then the body doesn't make clotting factors. It takes several days and the rodents, feeling their blood level dropping, get thirsty and tend to leave the house and die outside looking for a good source of water. Win/win there. I looked into this extensively when I used it for a mouse infestation because I had dogs. Although it is dangerous if ingested directly by the predator, a rat or two won't have enough Coumadin in it's body to cause death in the predator. This is for the old style poison, not the newer ones.