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
Best Ways To Keep Rats Out Of Your Garbage
The Most Effective Method
Have rats destroyed your garbage, and you are thinking about what to do? Are you in search of the best method to keep rats out of your garbage? You can end your concerns as the solution you are searching for is simply inside this article. There are numerous ways through which you can keep rats out of your garbage. Black and Norway rats consistently love to benefit from foods in the garbage and trashcans. Thus, homeowners regularly have issues of their waste and garbage being eaten by rats.
Ensure You Dispose Of Your Garbage Often
An ideal approach to disincentivize rats from visiting your garbage is to arrange your garbage so that it doesn't consistently sit around. If the rats find that they don't get enough from the garbage, they will quit coming. That essentially means you don't wait until your garbage gets filled to the edge before disposing of it. This technique will assist you with discouraging rats from visiting your garbage and spare yourself from managing a rat infestation.
Spread Ammonia On Your Garbage Bag To Repel Rats
Without a doubt, if you realize that you can't dispose of your garbage as frequently as conceivable to keep rats from visiting it, you can keep them out using ammonia. What you need to do is to spread ammonia on your garbage bag before tossing it inside your dumpster. The smell from the ammonia will keep rats from revisiting your trash or garbage. This technique is exceptionally compelling as it won't kill the rats, rather chase them away without any problem.