Greene County, Springfield Rat Control Situation:
Hi I saw your website and hope u can help. My neighbors with the cold weather the mice have came. This has been ongoing battle for a couple months. My cat has caught almost 11 , poison killed the rest, along with traps, now it seems there are some new ones in my ceiling, they have chewed so far three holes through my ceiling, I can hear them at night running and scratching, I detest rodents but am at my wits end just when I thought I had them beat they are back in the ceiling where I cannot get to them. Should I put out another round of poison and traps or call a professional! Help at this rate I will have holes all over my ceiling and need a lot of drywall patches!! I am at my wits end can u suggest anything?
I found your website and thought you might be able to help me with a problem I've got here. I've had a lot of my stuff in storage for a few years whilst traveling, and have just returned and found that rats got into a fair bit of it. Some of it I was willing to throw away. However, there's some books that I'd like to be able to salvage which have soaked up rat urine. Or if not the urine itself, the odour of it. Do you have any suggestions? You might need to be aware that I live in Australia, so some of the chemicals or products you may recommend may not necessarily be available to me here. But whatever you recommend would be greatly appreciated anyway! My husband and I are experiencing a foul smell in the ceiling closer to our car port area. It smells the worst outside. There was a Possum in the ceiling but fortunately it fell out of the roof siding outside but I think it may have carried something up there and now there are a million flies and a bad smell up there. Can you please help.
Springfield Rat Control Tip of The Week
Using Exclusion Funnels To Get Rid Of Rats Without Killing Them
Rats are probably the second most common species of rodent to be found in our towns and cities after rats, and like their larger relations, they can also often find their way into many different areas of the domestic property. Because rats can carry diseases, and can also transmit them by soiling food and water sources, it is natural to want to get rid of them as soon as possible. Exclusion funnels are one approach that can be used to try and get rid of rats from your home.
How Do The Exclusion Funnels Work?
Ultimately, the funnels are designed so that the rats can easily get in through the wide end of the funnel, and can then push themselves out of the narrow end of the funnel when they are leaving a particular area of your property. However, when they try to get back in the narrow end of the funnel the entrance is too small and cannot be prized open, meaning the rats are not able to get back into the area where they are causing the problem. The key aspect with exclusion funnels is that the rats really do need to be contained in one area of the home.
Preparation Work To Install Your Exclusion Funnels
The first step before you install any exclusion funnels in your property is to carry out a detailed search of where they are active, and then to identify all of the holes the rats are using to get in and out of that area. The reason for this is that you need to be able to deal with each entry point the rats may use so that when you install the funnels, they cannot simply come back in through another entry point. While carrying out this work, it is usually a wise precaution to wear long sleeved clothing and gloves, along with a breathing mask and goggles to protect yourself from any disease transmission.
Where To Place Your Exclusion Funnels
It is usually best to only place one or two exclusion funnels, and then seal the remaining access points that you can find in the area where the rats are nesting. When choosing which entry points to install your exclusion funnels, the best options are usually those that have the heaviest traffic, and should be indicated by a greater buildup of rat droppings and urine stains.
Monitoring The Rat Activity In Your Home
Once you have installed the exclusion funnels, the next step is to monitor the area to see how effective the funnels have been. In some cases, this part of the work can actually prove to be quite trial and error, as the rats will often have other secret entry points that you may not have found on your first search of the area. In this instance you will then have to search the area again, and try and find the other access point the rats are using to get in and out.
The Challenges Of Using Exclusion Funnels To Deal With Rats
One of the key benefits of using exclusion funnels to deal with rats is that it doesn?t kill the animals so you don?t have to dispose of any carcasses. However, this also means that the rats can try and find other ways to get into your home, which means it can take longer to deal with them than if you were to use lethal means to deal with a rat infestation. The other issue with using exclusion funnels for such small animals is that because of their size, it is very difficult and detailed work to actually find all of the holes they are using to get in and out.
