Saint Louis County, St. Louis Rat Control Situation:
Hi David! I have a quick question that I'm hoping you can help me with. My husband and I are hearing noises in the attic and we noticed that the outside vent to the dryer has been pulled away from the house. We have some contraction going on in two rooms and after we put Sheetrock up, the next morning a hole was chewed where the ceiling meets the crawl space between the first and second floors. There were also rat droppings on the floor. We went out and bought snap traps (6) and set 2 in the room with the hole, one in the laundry room, 2 in the main attic, and one in the smaller attic above the room. The next morning half the traps were triggered but nothing caught. We reset all the traps and the next morning all the traps were triggered and empty. The rat had also gotten into the pantry during the night and found a bag of dog treats and tried to pull them out under the door. The reset all the traps, wrapping the trigger with gauze and coating it with peanut butter to make it harder for them to just lick it off. For three weeks now the traps have been untouched. We don't have much activity in the attic either. Last night I took some of the dog treats and put it with the peanut butter as added incentive and we finally caught one... A big one. My question is, is it likely that there are more or that we only had the one? We have two dogs inside and it boggles my mind that rats would be ballsy enough to roam the house when there are dogs around! Should I keep the traps out and see what happens or do you think we got it? Only the one trap with the rat was triggered. Thanks so much for your time, Zui in St. Louis MO
My response: If the traps were triggered with no trap, you were definitely using the wrong traps for the animal you were dealing with. So if it was definitely large rat traps that you were using, then you didn't have a rat - maybe an opossum or something. And if it was rat, then you used the wrong traps - did you you mouse traps, by chance?
St. Louis Rat Control Tip of The Week
How Do Rats Fit In Small Holes, Do They Have Bones?
Rats Can Truly Fit In Small Holes:
A rat needs a space of just about a half an inch to get into an area. Rats have been known to climb through pipes, through areas in the ceiling, and more. Rats can do quite a lot with very little space and this will lead to the chance that they could end up in your home.
Rats Have Joints And Cartilage Like We Do:
The joints and cartilage that rats have can be very similar to the systems that we have. Rats can often work at strengthening their cartilage and joints when they scurry through small spaces. They strengthen their abilities by dashing through small spaces and this ensures that as long as they stay healthy, they can make it through small spaces.
As They Gain Weight They Face Challenges:
As a rat gains weight from staying close to its food source this can lead to the chance that it can no longer fit through holes roughly the size of a quarter. This can make the process of getting into these areas much more challenging. As a rat improves the size of its abdomen, it often loses its ability to fit through tight spaces.
Rats Sense If They Can Fit With Their Whiskers:
Rats are able to fit through areas because their bodies are extremely flexible and cylindrical. The shape of a rat is designed for burrowing and fitting into tight spaces. Rats are able to determine if their body can fit into an area by using their whiskers. This makes every judgment on going through a tight space much easier.
Rats Don't Have Softer Bones:
The skeleton of a rat is just the same as many other rodents. They have hard bones that don't bend and this will often limit the size of the spaces that they can crawl through.
