Montgomery County, Montgomery Rat Control Situation:
David, I hope you can help. My wife and two kids bought our dream house a couple hundred yards from the cliff of the Pacifica ocean here in Moss Beach, CA. I started hearing some scratching in the walls, and began a four month battle with rats that I am losing. I went under the house and there were empty poison containers (from previous owners), thousands of rat poos, and about 20 rat carcasses. I cleaned it all up, and over many, many hours sealed what I believe to be every single tiny nook around the house (I caught a couple rats in the act of going into some holes). We've gone several weeks at a time without any rats, then occassionally we'll hear one. I catch one or two now and then under the house with snap traps, glue traps, but they are small rats, and there are hardly any new poos. Our roof is not accessible to any trees, or anything touching the ground except the water drains. We do have a ton of gopher holes and tunnels all around the house, even right next to the foundation (but none that seem to open up under the house) But currently none of us are sleeping because of one (what sounds like) big rat. It runs around and scratches all night between about 10 pm and 6 am. It is above and around our bedroom (below the kitchen) walls. Sometimes I feel like taking my chances with a pick axe, and blowing open the wall like a madman trying to get that rat. What would be your recommendation? Thank you so much, Marc
Montgomery Rat Control Tip of The Week
Different Types Of Rat Snap Traps
Spring traps for big rodents, such as rats or squirrels, are powerful enough to break the animal's neck or spine. They may break human fingers too, while a customary spring-based mousetrap is probably not going to break a human finger. Rat spring traps may not be sufficiently delicate to spring when a mouse takes the bait.
A rat cage trap is a metal enclosure box-shaped gadget that is planned principally to get rats without killing them. Food bait (not poisoned) is placed in the cage trap. When an animal gets into the cage and moves towards the bait, the component triggers and shuts the door. The animal is caught alive and without injury. The animal can be relocated somewhere else or killed subsequently.
Glue traps are non-poisonous sticky glue that are spread over card sheets and kept in places rats visit, which gets them stuck to it when they pass over it. The rat will die from dehydration and suffocation. A bait may likewise be set on the cardboard to attract the rats.
Another type of non-deadly trap is where the wires used in its construction are cut and framed into a funnel shape directed to the cage's body. This design is usually dome-shaped with the funnel at the crown. Rats are very adaptable and can push through the smaller opening into the confine, but can't escape because of the closures of the wires poking them in the face. The advantage of this design is that it can catch more than one rat in a setting.
