Berks County, Reading Rat Control Situation:
David, Thanks for having such an informative website. We've recently gotten over our second round of rats in the basement. We have had a pest control group helping us, pretty much with bait throughout the basement. It's certainly worked, but boy is it not fun to follow the smell to the dead guy. It seems we have been free from seeing any droppings for a few weeks or any signs of activity. The strange thing is that in the past week we have had hundreds of house flies that we are dealing with in the basement. I'm assuming the problems are related. We've been going down to vacuum all visible flies (every 4-6 hours). Each time we easily find another 20 to suck down. We aren't smelling the familiar smell of a dead rat, is it possible it's there but beyond the stench phase? Any suggestions? The flies aren't congregating in one spott, they tend to hover around the windows. Any chance you service Reading PA? Could really use someone as yourself to complete the inspection of the basement for possible other entry points and removal of any additional insulation that may be harboring feces. Ok, I appreciate any input you could provide.
We have 5 cats, three are usually indoors all the time. Sometimes they bring in a mouse or rat and it gets away. And then the rodents can live in the house for a long time and the cats don't care one little bit unless the rodent just happens to make a dash across the room in broad daylight - and gets spotted. Otherwise, it's home sweet home for the rodents until I snap-trap them into oblivion. I would add that if you know you have mice or rats, deal with it as soon as you can. We had a mouse get up inside our washer and chew through 7 of the little control wires to the control panel, killing the washer and necessitating a $50.00 replacement part, and later causing a flood from a leaky hose that cost me $200.00 to fix. Had we taken care of him earlier this could have all been avoided. I agree with you about glue boards. Seems needlessly inhumane. Just put yourself in the position of the rat: you want to go out quickly or be stuck on a glue board until you starve to death?
Reading Rat Control Tip of The Week
Where Outside Should I Relocate A Trapped Rat After I Have Sealed The House?
For many homeowners, getting to know that the rats in their homes are finally trapped will come as a big relief. But what to do afterward is usually another challenging phase they will have to face to make sure their rat removal process is finished.
Have you also caught a rat in your home and you are bothered about where you should relocate the rat after you have sealed all their possible entry holes into your home? When it comes to relocating rats, you have to think through the best way to get it done. But first, you have to figure out the best place to relocate it.
A fact about rats is that they are accustomed to their environment and only have a slim chance of surviving in any new environment they are being introduced. Whichever place you choose to relocate the rat you caught, you need to make sure the place is far away from your home to prevent the rat from finding its way back to your property.
Your choice of where to relocate the rat should also depend on the availability of possible shelter and food sources. If the environment you choose to relocate the rat has these factors in place, its chances of survival will increase. While making your choice of where to relocate the rat, you need to also understand the fact that relocating it within a populated area automatically puts other homes close to where it was released at risk. This simply means that you have to choose a remote area that still has the potentials of providing some food and shelter for the rat.
After finding a place to relocate the rat, you need to go back home and disinfect your home properly. The best way to do this is to hire a professional wildlife agent to help you with this process.
