Madison County, Huntsville Rat Control Situation:
Hi David, I found your website online -- very informative for removing rats and squirrels from attics. My problem is the animal(s), which I'm guessing are rats or mice because they only scratch at night, is in the ceiling, but there is no attic or crawl space. The structure is a two story condo and the scratching sound is in the same location for the past 2 - 3 nights: in the ceiling of the small landing between the two upstairs bedrooms. There is a recessed light in that ceiling, and removing the light cover does provide a small access into the ceiling. The actual hole is about 6 - 7" wide, but there is an old-style light can in the hole, which only has a few small openings in it. Last year prior to painting the ceiling we removed the light cover and down came some animal droppings. Even though we weren't hearing any animal noises at that time, we set two Victor mouse traps which we were able to fit inside the small openings. We didn't catch anything so eventually, we just put the light cover back on. Now, there is very active scratching in the ceiling a few inches from the light so there is definately something alive in there. If it's a mouse, we can probably set a trap like we did before and I believe there is enough of an opening to remove the trap with a mouse in it. If it's a larger critter like a rat, we may or may not be able to set the larger trap and/or remove the trap with the dead animal because the opening may be too small. Even if we are successful at trapping and removing the animal, there is little access to remove the droppings or see if they've done any damage in there. Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Nicole in Huntsville AL
Between floors is hard. If you can get a trap inside, great. You still need to Inspect the house and find out how the rodents are getting inside and seal up every single last entry/exit hole and gap with steel.
Huntsville Rat Control Tip of The Week
What Is The Fastest Way To Get Rid Of Rats?
Rats are not animals anyone should have in their homes. These rodents can wreak havoc on your beautiful home when allowed to breed and multiply. If you are lucky enough to realize you have a rat problem quickly, the best thing you can do is to look for the fastest way to get rid of them before they begin to increase in number to something beyond what you can contain.
When it comes to the fastest way to get rid of rats, snap traps are considered one of the fastest. This might seem like a very old method of getting rid of rats, but the fact is that it still works better than many of the newly designed rat removal methods out there.
A snap trap is a trap with a wooden platform and a spring-loaded bar that snaps immediately a rat comes in contact with the bait that was placed on it. In the process of trying to nibble or steal the bait from the trap, it will get caught by the neck and killed immediately.
One of the major reasons why snap traps are considered the fastest way to get rid of rat is that when it traps a rat, it can be reused immediately. Provided you have a good bait in place that can help you to attract rats to the snap trap, you will also be able to trap rats and remove them from your home without wasting too much time.
Also, snap traps are humane, affordable, and easy to use.