If you’ve just secured your dream home, then the last thing you want to deal with is rodents – especially rats.
Despite popular opinion, rats are not only drawn to dirty homes. Instead, rats will enter any property they can access in order to gain shelter, warmth and food.
To keep you and your luxury pad safe, we’ve put together a guide on signs to look out for and the issues rats can cause, as well as our top rat control methods.
Signs of Rats
There are a few telltale signs that will signify the presence of a rat in your home. If you think you’re suffering from a rat infestation, keep an eye out for:
Droppings
Wherever they go, rats will leave behind faeces. So look for small, dark brown droppings in remote areas of your home, including cupboards, around pipework and in your attic space.
Bite Marks
As well as leaving their excrement everywhere, rats will also nibble on anything and everything they can get their claws on. So examine your food storage containers, furniture and even electrical cables for tiny little teeth marks.
Smell
It’s not just droppings you need to worry about; rats will also urinate in your home. The pungent smell of urine is unmistakable, and this, combined with droppings, is a nasty yet easy way to identify a rat infestation.
Noise
Rats are most active during the night, which, unfortunately for you, might mean you’re disturbed by the sound of them running about in your walls or attic in the early hours of the morning.
Rat control methods
If you’ve noticed any of these signs in your perfect home, then don’t delay! Time is of the essence when dealing with rat infestations as they breed rapidly, meaning just one or two rats can quickly turn into a big problem.
We’ve put together a list of our top methods for controlling a rat infestation, meaning you can get back to normal in no time at all.
Rat Poisons
The most effective way to deal with a rat infestation in your home is to use rat poison. However, as toxic substances, these chemicals should be used with extreme caution. Misuse of rat poison can cause serious harm and could even be fatal.
One of the safest methods for implementing poison into your home is via the use of bait stations for rats. Forget purchasing a liquid rodenticide and placing it around your home where your children or pets may ingest it…
Instead, you can purchase rat poisons as grains, blocks or sachets and place these inside the rat bait station, thereby preventing access to the poison to all except rats. As well as this, these bait stations can be placed anywhere – even outside! This makes them ideal for both rats in the home and your gardens.
Remove Food Sources
One of the main reasons rats will enter your home is for easy access to food, whether it’s snacks in your cupboards, leftovers overflowing from bins or crumbs on the floor!
By removing these food sources and keeping a clean and tidy home, you can easily send the rats away. If there’s no food available, they will need to look elsewhere for sustenance, thereby leaving your property.
Rat Traps
Rat traps are another popular solution for controlling rat infestations at home. However, they’re not the most effective and can sometimes cause more problems for you in the long run.
Rat traps require the correct baits to entice the rats. As well as this, rats are clever creatures who can easily identify a new item in their environment. As they are neophobic creatures, meaning they fear new things, rats will avoid traps for a long time until they feel comfortable around them.
This can mean that your traps may not be effective for a long time after you place them, a time period in which the number of rats may have multiplied more than once!
If you do decide to use rat traps to control your infestation, be sure to regularly check them as there’s nothing worse than the smell of a dead rat – especially one that’s been lying in your toasty house decomposing for days.
Pest Controllers
If DIY methods are not for you or you’re looking for the most immediate solution, you should contact a pest control professional. This way, you’re not placing yourself in any danger by coming into close contact with the rats.
Pest controllers are experts who will know the best methods for dealing with your unique rat infestation. Be sure you use the services of a registered and licensed pest control company, giving you peace of mind that they will complete the job correctly the first time around.
Act quickly, remove the rat infestation using these methods and keep your luxury home rat-free forever.
