Whatcom County, Bellingham Rat Control Situation:
Hello David, I found your website very interesting. It didn't answer all of my questions so maybe you can help me out. I live in a two-story row home in Bellingham WA that is attached to neighboring row homes on both sides. I renovated the house and moved in a few months ago. I have a cat that is an excellent mouser. She has proven herself in my last home but I have not seen evidence of her catching any mice here. In fact, I have not seen any evidence of mice here at all since I have moved in, although there was evidence prior to my renovations. For the past week I have been hearing a lot of scurrying sounds in the ceiling cavity between the first and second floors. It happens mostly at night, but sometimes during the day on the weekends. It could also be happening while I am away at work. The only way I could access this cavity would be by cutting holes in the ceiling from the first floor. For this reason I am tempted to try poisons instead of traps, but I know your website does not recommend this. My neighbors on both sides of me tell me that they have mice in their homes. They are not as fortunate as I to have a good cat. I am not worried about mice in my living spaces. If they do manage to get through the drywall my cat will take care of them in a very short time. I am worried about damage to my wiring in the ceiling, and my wife's peace of mind in regards to the scurrying sounds at night. I believe the mice are using my ceiling cavity as a highway to travel between my neighbors homes. I believe I have sealed up all of the openings on the exterior of my home. I cannot say the same for my neighbors. To make a long question short, what do you recommend?
I am desperate & concerned for my family.I just want the rat problem gone forever. How much would you charge to come out to my house & complete this step by step process to get rid of the rats once and for all. After reading your article, I am convinced my regular Bellingham pest control company cannot completely resolve my problem. They have sealed up obvious points of entry with metal screens, behind which they have placed scent deterrents. You say this is not effective. I would agree as the rats are gnawing on my roof, trying to break back in. My garden is large with natural food sources from plant seeds, but otherwise is clean. I do not leave pet food, garbage or other food sources available. The crawl spaces are clean. How can I keep rodents from wanting to break into my attic? The pest control company says that the scent left by the former residents of my attic is attracting the new rodents. It's their 'scent trail' to tell them where 'home' is. I understand their strong desire to find a place to live. I read that fake owls and scent deterrents do not work. I do not want to poison the animals. I had agreed to snap trap the ones that were in the attic but only because the service would not live trap them. What now?
Bellingham Rat Control Tip of The Week
What Are The Best Baits To Use To Trap A Rat?
If you have the right kind of bait in place, trapping rats becomes relatively easy. These animals are naturally curious and become fearless when they see eye-catching foods. To remove them from your home, all you have to do is take advantage of this and trap as many rats as you can.
Are you looking for the best bait ideas that will help you trap all the rats in your house? Right here, we will be sharing some for you. But first, there is a particular thing you need to put in place if you want this to be effective. The first thing you need to do is to seal up every possible entry hole into your house to prevent more rats from gaining entrance. Once that is done, you can then go ahead to trap the rats in your house.
When it comes to rat baits, peanut butter is one of the best. This particular bait attracts rats more than any other type of bait. Apart from having a strong smell, it is easy to set on traps that you intend to use to capture the rats.
Other types of baits include pineapple, chocolate, bacon, whole nuts, berries, dried fruit, gumdrops, and many more. Each of these baits will help you to achieve exactly what you want without putting you through the stress of having to replace them over and over again just to help attract rats.
Having realized this, all you have to do is get one of these baits and place it on the trap in a manner that the rats passing will be able to see it and will want to have it.
