What Do Exterminators Do To Stop A Rat Problem?

If you have rats in your home it will most likely not go unnoticed.

If you have a rat problem you are likely to see:

large blunt ended droppings (looks like a pill capsule)
places they have chewed on
heard them in your walls running around
In your pantry with evidence of torn open packages

So, what do exterminators do to stop a rat problem? In short, exterminators will do an inspection of your home then they will place rat bait and traps in dwellings, water source areas, and feeding areas to stop them from becoming a larger issue.

In this article, I will cover prevention methods you can do and more about how exterminators stop rat problems so that you may learn to do them yourself.

How Do I Know The Best Placement Of Rat Bait?

This can be determined by the evidence of rat droppings and the areas you find them in. I will say that a dwelling is the best place you can put rat bait. If they have made a hole in the wall or the floor you can put the bait in those areas.

Rule of thumb, if there is an area you don’t want the rats to go in then don’t put bait in those areas.

Water sources are a great place to put rat bait, some examples of this would be:

Water Heater Areas
Behind Washing Machines
Under Dishwashers
Under Sinks
Behind Refrigerators

If you put bait, or a trap in these places make sure that you see the evidence that the rat or rats have visited these areas already. The rats will revisit areas they have already been before they will visit new places. Not to say that they still won’t explore new options.

In other words, don’t put bait out for the sake of doing it. This does become a skill.

In rat harborages, you may see an actual nest made out of random things you have lying around and in your home.

If you see a tattered newspaper, magazines, books, wood, cotton from furniture, clothing, and trinkets all balled up together this is a nest.

So you will want to bait and/or trap these areas properly.

Warning: Make sure you don’t place rat bait in a place where children or pets can get to it. If your child is old enough to know better make sure to tell them the importance of leaving it where you put it.

Keep in mind if the bait gets wet it will be deemed worthless because it will no longer be a desirable treat for a rat.

Once you have things under control inside you may consider a preventative step to keep rodents from entering your home again, read the next bit to see how.

Create A Barrier On The Outside Of Your Home

One thing you can do to help prevent rats and other rodents from entering your home would be to set up rat bait stations outside of your home.

Outside inspection and treatment are a lot easier than the inside one.

Look for holes near the foundation, if you find some fill the bait station with rat bait and place the locked station near the entryway making sure not to block or fill the hole. The station should be butted up against your house.

Once you know the issue has desisted you can fill the holes and patch the house of any damage or existing entry points that rats may use to enter in.

Home Maintenance Will Help With Rat Prevention

Two of the most common rats you will find are the Norway Rat and the Roof Rat. These slippery rodents can squeeze into a hole that is a ½ inch and once they have pushed their head through an opening the rest of their body will follow with ease.

Since this is true of most rats you will want to patch up any holes in flooring or walls that are larger than a dime on the outside and the inside of your home.

On the outside of your home make sure that all the electrical and HVAC hoses and lines are sealed with silicone or foam of some kind.

Every pest also has a water source. You will want to make sure you don’t have water build up in your yard and that your pipes are sealed and not leaking. In fact, most pest issues can be traced back to water source areas that have issues.

Steel wool is one of the best things you can plug a hole with since rats hate the feel of it as it touches their whiskers.

If a rat can’t climb its way to your home it also has the ability to burrow into your crawl space or through areas that are not sealed off.

Proper Waste Disposal and Food Storage To Prevent Rats

It is good practice to use a garbage disposal and to take your trash out regularly. Don’t leave full bags of trash lying around. It is good practice to clean all the trash receptacles, especially if they become dirty.

Don’t leave old food out or seeds and grains. If you feed birds you may want to invest in a rubber or plastic tote to keep the seed in.

Cut Foliage Away From Your Home

Bushes, trees, and vines that touch or hang over your home can create a problem with a rodent infestation, keeping these things well-manicured and cut back from your home will help. Tree removal and

The idea here is that they aren’t able to climb up to the attic through gable vents and fireplace areas if there is no way for them to access these.

A healthy lawn that is well manicured will also help keep rats away.

Snap Traps vs Humane Traps

Upon customer request, you will sometimes get a question about snap traps and the catch and release ones.

The snap traps will provide immediate results whereas if you use a humane trap now you need to check the trap and properly find a new home for the rat you caught which is ok as long as you take them out of a residential setting.

So this will be a matter of personal preference. Since they both work about the same.

Should I Use Rat Bait If I Have Children Or Pets

This will depend on you as a parent and your children and pets. It is never good practice to leave rat bait out in the open unless the area you are placing it can be locked or goes unused or touched by children and pets.

If you have children or pets it is recommended that you place the bait in a bait station as to facilitate the poison safely.

Though the bait will most likely not be lethal for your pet or child it can make them very sick and they will need to vomit the bait out or have their stomach pumped if they have ingested enough.

Summary

An exterminator will come in and do an inspection and ask you questions about the behaviors you have been seeing.

If you want to do this on your own I hope that this article will serve as a resource for you to accomplish that. If you use the poison it will work, however, it can take from 3-4 weeks before you have it all under control.

If you use traps depending on the size nest you have it can take much longer to get rid of them, but you will have your peace of mind that the rats are not dying inside your walls.

If you are diligent in the upkeep of your home lawn and you use these methods you will be able to do what exterminators do to stop a rat problem.

What Do Exterminators Do To Stop A Mouse Problem?

What do exterminators do to stop a mouse problem? Most Pest Applicators use poison to stop a mouse problem. If you are not a pesticide person and you don’t mind disposing of mouse carcasses traps work too. There is, however, a refined technique that should be implemented.