How to get rid of rats in the house and garden.

Leather jackets for rats and horsetail weeds.

This will take a while to read.Understanding how rats come into your house and garden is important.It makes sense of the methods outlined in the article to get rid of them.

Rats are always close to our homes.We have a source of food and shelter.If you have recently seen one in or near your home or garden, it is likely to be living nearby and looking for food, access and shelter.Rats live in extended family groups.

We provide access for rats to get into our home and garden, what food rats eat, and the type of shelter rats need.How to get rid of rats.

Rats choose to live in a place that is dry and offers protection from cats and dogs.

Shelter alone won't attract rats, a shed in the middle of a field will, whereas the same shed on a farm will.Simple isn't it.The rats have access to food.

Rats make up for their poor climbing skills with clever ways into your home.Climbing up and in using ivy and similar climbers, even using a down pipe as a back rest to climb between the wall and the pipe.Rats can squeeze through a gap.

Rats are attracted to your home because they want a safe place to live and breed, protected from predators and with plenty of food.It is possible to get rid of rats by blocking access to food and shelter.You can put your mind at rest by following these tips.

Rats will only feel welcome in your garden and home if you provide food, shelter and easy access.Make them feel like they're not welcome.The best way to make your home inhospitable to rats is to cut out the food.

You probably have rats in your house or garden.I staked out a garden where the householder suspected rats were living and saw about 20 rats running around together.

Rat poison.It can be very effective to poison rats.There can be a problem if children and pets are present.There is no control over where the rat will die.There is a foul smell of a rat carcass in a wall or ceiling.

There are live rat traps.Rats are very wary of anything new, so trapping them is my preferred solution.The traps need to be left for at least a week for the rats to get used to them.You will be left with a live rat to kill if you use the live trapping method.

The traps should be snapped.Over the years, I have found the wooden snap trap to be the most effective method to kill the rat.The correct size kills rats quickly and effectively.Traps are effective until they're sprung, so they can be left in "problem areas" semi-permanently.Sometimes can fail to kill and cause injury and bleeding.If the trap is sprung accidentally, it's possible to hurt yourself.

The best permanent solution to deter rats is to remove or deny access to food and shelter.

Live trapping lets you kill the rat or remove it from your property so you know it's gone.

We have discussed the habits and routines of rats before.The rat takes a route to get to food.You will have a better chance of catching them if you set more traps.

Rats are very wary of new objects and will avoid them at first, be patient and don't move them, an old object becomes a new one if you move it.

bait can be used to lure the rats into the traps.I wouldn't eat meat as you may attract more flies than rats.

When you catch a rat, check the traps at least once a day to make sure you don't hurt it.More information about this trap can be found here.

The snap trap is an effective way to trap rats.When a rat tries to grab a bait, snap traps work by snapping a metal wire over the rat's neck.It is important to choose a trap that is large enough to kill the rats, but small enough that the rat won't die from strangulation.The heavy-duty snap trap is used here.

You think you've seen a rat in the garden, or heard one gnawing on a wall at night, ugh!You now want to kill it.You will need to find out where it is living and how it gets from one place to another.The route may lead to other properties.

You can quietly position yourself at sunset and watch what happens.Rats have regular routines and you can get a good idea of where to put the trap or poison.

Rats will leave droppings in the house and the remains of their food and nest in an area that can help locate them.Don't handle rat droppings because they could contain disease organisms.Wear gloves and wash your hands.

The fluorescent tracking dust featured here is really useful in detecting rat activity, and it is a lot easier and quicker to track rats with it.When it's dark, sprinkle a small amount where you think the rat is active and then use an UV torch to inspect it.Rats are very active during the night.This will confirm the entry points to the house and the garden can be used in dry weather.

Clicking on the picture will reveal more information about using Flourescent tracking dust.

Finding out how rats get into your property can be difficult.The easiest way to record rats is to use fluorescent tracking dust.The powder shows where the rats and mice have been.

If you have an hour to spare, read this online book of the life and experiences of an expert Rat-Catcher named Mr. Ike Mathews who caught rats as a professional for about 25 Years in the 1800s First Published in 1898.