Los Angeles County, Los Angeles Rat Control Situation:
Hi David, I'm in southern California. I have at least one rat in my ceiling, maybe two or more. I've read your website and really appreciate the great insight you're providing. Based on your advice, I've caught 3 rats around the outside my house (over the last 2 months), trimmed trees back (3 days ago), and plugged all the access holes I could identify (3 weeks ago).
Yet I still have at least one rat in my attic. Though I've place several snap traps (baited with peanut butter and bird seed) in the attic, I get no nibbles. I also cannot find any evidence of their paths. I've moved the trap several time with no success. From inside the house, I hear them in sections of the attic (about 3:00 am) that are completely inaccessible to me (because of firewalls.)
So I hired a pest extermination company. For $275 they put some poison bait stations outside, and three snap traps in the attic that are baited with a beef jerkey substance. The traps are near the attic access panel - not near the rat noise activity. The guy's reply was that the scent would lure them. He also reviewed my hole-plugging and said it was fine. He didn't get onto my roof. It's been three days and I check the snap traps in the morning and around dusk each night.
My questions are:
1. Is it safe to assume that the rat(s) sleep in my house during the day and at night they are coming and going outside? Does this mean I've missed an access point?
2. Considering the inaccessibility, is it common to drill a hole in the ceiling (like a 4" hole for recessed lighting) to place traps in the attic for those inaccessible places? If I drill a hole, then I can stick a camera up there and take pictures to look for evidence, place the traps, monitor them, etc. But then I've got a hole to deal with.
3. Is it worth parking myself on the roof and patiently waiting to see where the rats are coming and going?
4. Have I given the beef jerkey snap-traps enough time to do their thing? Any other advice? Thanks for your help!
Los Angeles Rat Control Tip of The Week
Why You Should Never Poison A Rat
Whenever people have a rat problem in their house, the first solution that does run through their mind is to poison the rats. Apart from being an inhumane way of getting rid of rats, the use of this method of rat removal has more disadvantages than the quick solution that it offers.
Are you also thinking of poisoning the rats in your home? If yes, you need to take a look at the following reasons why the poisoning of rats is a bad idea.
A Danger To Pets And Non-target Animals
Rats poisons are usually mixed with rat baits or food substances with a strong smell in order to help attract rats. Alongside attracting the rats in your home, this poison will also attract your pet and any other animals. When consumed, this could lead to the unfortunate death of your pets.
Apart from that, when rats are poisoned and improperly disposed of, scavengers like a hawk that feeds on dead rats can also get poisoned when they feed on a poisoned rat.
Danger To Your Home
When you poison rats, never expect them to die where you can easily find them. When rats are feeling unwell, they tend to isolate themselves in places that are hidden. As a result of this, when rats die in your home, you will have to search your house thoroughly before you can find them. And if you can't find them, you will have to cope with the horrible smell of the decomposing rat bodies.
There are even instances where homeowners have to break into the wall of their house just to remove a poisoned rat.
The indiscriminate use of rat poison can also contaminate your food when rats consume the poison and begin to feed on other things in your home as they move around.
Having shared this, you need to consider other ways of removing rats in your home to keep your environment safe.
