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
Why Do Rats Chew On Wires?
Insulation, wires, straw, cardboard, paper, and different materials assist rodents with survival because they can utilize any of those things to build bigger homes, hone their teeth, and more.
Rats find it a lot simpler to chew wires, cable, wood, and even water warming pipes than most other materials because of their teeth. The chewing of wires and cables by rats has been identified as one of the main sources of blackouts in some homes. Out of these materials, wires appear to be the most attractive to rats and mice.
Why Do They Chew On Wires?
Let's review the most common issues relating to rats chewing on wires that some homeowners face every day:- Rodents don't go around searching for wires to chew on. They happen to get a kick out of the chance to stow away in places where other shrouded things are commonly found, for example, your home electric and security wiring system.
- One thing with wires is that they are all over the place, and rats have a nature to follow anything they can bite to keep their teeth from over developing. If they don't bite on wires, they will, in the long run, bite on everything else: glass, plastic, elastic, wood, aluminum, rock, and even concrete.
- Even though rats can chew anything, they love wire more when it comes to grinding their teeth. They can hold the wire as they chew, giving them more control. As you most likely know, rats and mice have sharp teeth, which keep growing unless they find a way to control the growth. This is why they choose wires.
- Keep in mind that rats and mice don't just chew on house wires. They also chew vehicle wires.