Davidson County, Nashville Rat Control Situation:
David, Thank you for your site. Lots of great info there and very thorough. I had rats in my attic. Before I saw your site I called Orkin and they did a decent job with trapping and exclusion. It's hot in Nashville now so we have not had problems recently. Now it's time for cleanup. Wildlife Conrol quoted $4500. We can not and will not be paying that. A friend that does termite work mostly quoted $250. He proposes using his shop-vac to vaccum the droppings. I have ordered the Bac-azap for disinfecting, based on your recommendation and other reviews read online and he will also spray down the attic. Couple questions: I'm concerned about the use of the Shop-vac for the exhaust that will be broadcast while it's on. He says he will look for a Hepa filter, but in your opinion is this acceptable? Many Wildlife Control techs were in the attic many times over a month, without respirators, and to my knowledge no disease contracted (visibly). Is that enough to rule out potential hazards in using a Shop-vac? I'm told the level of droppings is "not that bad" and isolated to a couple areas. That may or may not help you. Second question is if spraying the enzyme will be sufficient, or if a fogger is required? I do have small children which is the concern, but I'm trying to remain reasonable and believe the drastic and expensive techniques proposed by some may be overkill (scare tactics?). Thanks again for your informative site, and thank you in advance for any advice.
I had a pet rat that went missing in early June of this year and just today we discovered it got stuck between my wall and dresser. It looks like a pancake. At first, I thought it was mold but then saw it's eyes and skeleton. I have no idea what to do and the thought of removing it myself is horrifying. How do I remove a rat the has decomposed this far and that is pretty much stuck to my wall and dresser?
Sunday morning woke up to find the rubber threshold to the front door was eaten away. Droppings about ¼ - 3/8" were found throughout the house. Looked like more than one with about 20 droppings. Spent Sunday replacing the threshold, put two TomCat baited traps by the front door and two TomCat baited traps in the house (by front door and next to refrigerator. Also, two mouse traps with peanut butter bait (the kind the mouse goes in and the door shuts behind it). Went to go to work today (Monday), new threshold eaten away, and only about 6 - 7 droppings in the house. All traps not touched. I have read sticky paper is a good way to catch rodents. Based off what I have stated above, is this a rat looking for a new food source to go back and tell his friends?
Hi David. Are you based in the Portland Metro area, or is that Wildlife Control? I have a listing that shows old rat black box traps and has about 12 bags of insulation that's been wrapped up for years. Buyer just had a home inspection and is asking for any and all rats found in the premises and in the crawl space to be removed, the bags removed, all the other contaminated insulation removed, vacuumed, fogged...and then new insulation laid. Would that be a job you can bid on, maybe Monday?
Nashville Rat Control Tip of The Week
Steps To Make A Rat Trap
Catching a rat is a pretty easy job if you have the right tools. Without a doubt, rat traps are one of the oldest and simplest methods that could be used when catching these nasty rodents.
Homemade traps are very effective for catching rats, and making them is really simple. There are infinite options. Below, we will explain all the steps to make a rat trap.
But before doing that, here are some points that you should take into account:- Evaluate your materials: depending on the materials you have, you can make different types of traps. This time, we will make a homemade trap whose main materials are a plastic bottle, newspaper, cardboard, and rat glue.
- Define specific points: there are places in your home that can be very attractive to rats, especially those that provide food or shelter: the kitchen, dining room, or holes in the walls.
- Building the trap is really simple: you can cover the surface on which you will place the trap with newspaper, and you can place a piece of cardboard on which you will put rat glue, leaving a space in the middle to place the bait, -which could be a piece of cheese-. This bait will attract the rat and it will get stuck.
Sounds pretty easy, right? But...
What Happens If The Rat Evades Your Traps?
You may be dealing with a rat that has learned to survive in the most dangerous environments, so they will completely avoid all those things that could be a threat. In this case, you must add poison to the list of materials.
If you use the same technique, it is likely the rats will evade it again. So change the strategy; you can keep the traps with rat glue but poison the food this time.
It is important to note that poisons may have a delay in taking effect, so it is important to locate the rat after it ingested the poison. If not, it might die in places that are difficult to access.
