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
The Myth That Poison Makes Rats Thirsty And Die Outside
No, rat poison doesn't make the rat thirsty. Poison doesn't make the rodent go out to drink, and along these lines die outside. Rat poison makes the rat dormant, and it dies any place it happens to be at when the poison takes effect. Since the rats living inside a house or building invest most of their energy inside the structure, they usually die inside that building, not outside.
Will Poison Make A Rat Thirsty And Die? (NO - That's A Myth)
Individuals use poisons since they think it is a protected, viable, hands-off strategy for evacuating pests. They have certain thoughts regarding it, but what amounts of those thoughts are true? One thought many convey is that poison will make rodents thirsty. When they consume the poison, they will out of nowhere have a solid, insatiable thirst. That will lead them outside, looking for water, where they will inevitably die. With this thought, poison appears to be the undeniable answer. It gets the rats out and kills them, getting rid of your concern with few to no drawbacks. The problem is, none of that is valid. Poison won't have this impact on rats or mice, or some other animal so far as that is concerned.
Using poison doesn't prompt thirst. It won't cause the rat(s) to leave the property, and go outside to find water. None of this is true; they are all myths. Poison will kill rats, however, not through thirst. Poisons kill rats in different ways, contingent upon the kind of poison you use. No poison will make the rodent want to leave the property whatsoever.
With each one, there is a higher possibility of the rat dying in your home. Ordinarily, this is going to mean within your dividers. Poisoned rats and mice are likely going to build up inside the dividers, and that is if they all eat the poison. There are various issues with poison, such as its ability to kill other animals, and the pain it inflicts on the rats, which adds to the negatives of it as a solution to pest invasions.
