I have lived in the same home for 27 yrs. Nothing has changed! There is just furniture in my basement, absolutely no food. The basement is "all of a sudden" infested with rats. I have set 6 traps...I have only one trap left. Now I must find the rats in the other traps. Yuk! Why...all of a sudden? I'm afraid to used poison as I have a dog & a cat. Please, if anyone can help? All nite long they are in the furnace ducting...having a rat party & keeping me awake.
There are sonic devices that are intended to drive away rodents, insects, and spiders... you can get them at a hardware store for $20. They're not going to affect your pets (so long as you don't have pet mice... it'll say on the package what kind of animals will be affected), and you won't have to worry about any of the messy clean-up.
Boy... sounds like you might need some professional help. The methods that are typically used are standard snap traps or rodenticide bait stations. The bait stations are generally placed in locations that pets do not have access to, and by design... they should only permit critters the size of rats and mice to enter the internal chamber that contains the bait. There are many baits that do not cause secondary poisoning (poisoning a dog or cat that eats or chews on a rodent that has ingested bait) but it pays to be careful. Also... using bait can cause rodents to die in areas that are hard to get to for removal of the carcass. I would recommend getting some professional help to control the infestation as well as inspecting and sealing any access points to prevent future trouble.
1. Standard snap traps
2.
Thanks all for your help. I have pdsed;one sonic pestchaser,8 sticky traps & have another 4 snap traps set. Can still hear the partying. I do not know what kind of rats they are. I live on a small island, the only local hardware store told me that we seem to have an infestation on the island. He has never ever sold so many rodent products. The option of professional help is extremely expensive, as I must pay for the people to come on a ferry that leaves the main island at 5:30 am, and they can't leave the island until 6:10 pm. So I would like to exhaust all other possibilities. Does anyone know if this is a cyclic problem? How do they get here? If I eliminate my problem, other than lots & lots of sonic pestchasers, is there a way of being pest free? I have read a wonderful site put out by Seattle/King County Health Dept. & found out they even eat dog feces & come up thru your toilet, & they carry the Hantra disease. Thanx again.
P>S>...I forgot to say that; in B.C. a store must have a "pesticide" license, so no-one has one on the Island, and to make matters even worse, if someone had a license, they must pay dearly to bring products onto Island, as products must come on a '''Dangerous Cargo" ferry that runs 3rd Wed. of every month. It is illegal for even us to transport poisons, fuel, propane...etc in our own vehicles.
If you see any visible holes-stuff them with cheesecloth from the hardware store-they can't chew through it. My friend opened up a business and had to take a health class-this is what the guy told her. He also said rats can squeeze through a hole the size of a quarter.
MissK , I think you meant hardware cloth. It is a steel mesh of 3/8" boxes. It would work too but harder to fit into the hole. Perg, keep using the traps but screw them down or tie off with wire. Little guys love peanut butter and raisens.
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