Rats are responsible for millions of dollars worth of damage to property, food and even human health. They can also be one step away from your child’s bedroom! Learn more about the different ways you can keep rats out or kill them before they make it into your home.
Rats are known for their ability to climb high and fast, which is why it’s important to keep them out of your home. Here are 6 ways you can do so.
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Rats are arguably the most vexing pests you’ll encounter on your home. You may have seen rats infiltrating your barn, garage, or even your house.
You may even be perplexed as to how the rats get access to the constructions in the first place. How could the rats sneak in if you took the trouble to block up any holes or possible openings on the ground level?
Some people are left wondering how high rats can climb as a result of this. Is it possible for rats to go through small holes or openings that are high up in the air?
It may surprise you to learn that rats are excellent climbers and jumpers. Rats, in fact, are reported to be able to jump 36 inches into the air and 48 inches horizontally.
Rats can indeed climb trees, and in many circumstances, they will be able to utilize the trees to jump onto your roof. A rodent might climb a tree about four feet away from your home and utilize it to jump over the distance.
These rats are also very durable when it comes to surviving falls, with specialists estimating that they can survive a 50-foot fall with ease. This implies that even if rats miss their leaps, they won’t be afraid to attempt again.
You’re going to want to find out how to keep rats out now that you know how high they can leap. What can you do to keep rats away from your home?
Continue reading to learn more about rats and how to keep them out of your home, shed, or garage. It should be much simpler to take the proper safeguards after you have all of the relevant information.
1 – Fill in the Gaps
Of course, the first step in preventing rats from entering these buildings is to patch up any gaps that allow them to do so easily.
While dealing with holes closer to the ground may be simple, you should also search for breaches in your walls or siding where rats may be able to enter.
Vents may also be a problem since rats can enter via them. Because you’ll be utilizing your vents, sealing them off isn’t a viable option, but you can use certain deterrent tactics that will be discussed later in this article.
Simply block any holes or openings that the rats may utilize to gain access to your home. If you make the correct decisions, you should have significantly fewer rats to deal with.
However, this may not be enough to fix all of your difficulties. Fortunately, there are additional methods available to assist you in your effort to reduce rat problems.
2 – Eliminate Potential Food Sources
Rats will attempt to enter your shed, home, and garage for a variety of reasons, one of which is to obtain food. If you can do a better job of removing food sources, the rats will be less likely to attempt to stay.
You should be more aggressive in removing items from your property that rats may devour. This might apply to picking up the yard to remove items from plants or trees that have fallen to the ground, or it can simply indicate cleaning completely.
Cleaning your house more thoroughly will eliminate items such as crumbs that rats may find attractive. You should also start putting pet food in safe containers and bringing it out just when it’s time to feed your pet.
When rats sense a chance, they will almost likely take your pet’s food. If you minimize the possible food supply for rats, they will no longer find your house, garage, or shed desirable.
3 – Get rid of rat nests
A rat’s nest is another possibility that you’ll come upon. If you come across a rat’s nest in your shed or garage, you’ll want to get rid of it as soon as possible.
Rats will utilize a variety of things to construct rat nests in which they may dwell, procreate, and generally annoy you. If you don’t take the effort to eliminate these rat nests as soon as you see them, you’ll continue to have rat issues.
When dismantling a rat nest, it’s advisable to use gloves, and you may need to acquire some strong cleaning supplies like bleach. Be meticulous while removing rat nests from your property so that you may get rid of this bothersome problem.
Anyone who does not wish to clear rat nests himself will be able to hire professionals to do so. You may always call local exterminators, who will be more than pleased to help you with your problems.
4 – Traps and Glue Boards
When it comes to getting rid of rats, glue boards and other forms of traps may be really useful. There are many various sorts of rat traps to choose from, and which ones you should use will depend on your goals.
For example, if all you want to do is kill the rats, a normal rat trap or mouse trap that slams down on the rodent would suffice. When it comes to killing mice or rats, most people select that famous design, but there are other options.
If you don’t want to kill the rats, you may attempt to locate humane traps, however if you opt to release them, they may come back. This puts you in a bind, as it’s unclear what you should do with the rats after they’ve been apprehended.
Glue boards are a particularly successful sort of trap since they allow you to simply get the rats glued to a piece of paper. If you go to check the glue board trap one day, you could find a rat straining to break free.
Many of these traps will work, but if you don’t want to deal with them, you may hire pros to do it for you. Some individuals hire exterminators who can come out and quickly exterminate rats, as well as examine the buildings on their properties and offer recommendations for necessary repairs.
It’s critical to just use whichever tactics you believe would be most effective in resolving the issue. Some individuals will be alright if they have to get rid of the rats on their own, while others may not.
5 – Poisonous Rats
Some folks choose to just use rat poison to eliminate rodent infestations. It works well since rats will take the poison and die as a result, but it is potentially harmful.
If you have pets on your home, for example, you don’t want your dog to get ill as a result of rat poison. Rat poison has the ability to hurt or kill animals other than rats, which may restrict its use in your circumstance.
In any case, it’s something that may have positive effects and is worth addressing as a possibility. Some individuals have used rat poison near vents and had excellent success in getting rid of a large number of rats.
6 – Obtain a Cat
Getting a cat may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s a tried-and-true method for keeping rodents at away. When you have cats on your property, it’s normal for them to want to hunt mice and rats.
Cats are excellent at tracking down and killing mice and rats that wander into their territory. They seem to like pursuing them, but it’s important to remember that some cats are better at killing mice than others.
You may acquire a cat who is just a little lazy and doesn’t appear to want to do anything, or you could get a cat that enjoys hunting rats or mice. In any case, it’s worth considering if one or two cats might be a suitable fit for your household.
It’s a potentially natural approach to deal with pesky pests, and owning cats is also entertaining. Cat ownership isn’t for everyone, but if you think it’s a good idea, it could be for you.
Take Care of Rats for the Long Run
If you follow the following recommendations, you should be able to get rid of rats permanently. You may want to employ just a few of the suggestions above, or you may want to use the bulk of them.
Just remember that it’s preferable to deal with rat issues as soon as possible. You don’t want things to become any worse, and dealing with a small group of rats is simpler than dealing with a huge rat family.
If you’re having trouble dealing with this on your own, remember that hiring an exterminator is simple. However, if you follow the guidelines to the letter, you should be able to successfully exterminate rats on your own.
Rats are known to climb high places. They can climb on beds and countertops, but they can also climb on the ceiling. Rats should be kept away from places where people sleep or eat because rats are known to carry diseases that humans may not have immunity for. Reference: can rats climb on beds.
