Even if you love animals and even find rodents rather cute, there’s no question of letting them live in your home. And with good reason!
Vectors of numerous diseases, some of which are dangerous to your health, and the cause of a great deal of property damage and problems, rodents, whether city rats or field rats, are an evil that needs to be eliminated from your home as quickly as possible. So how do you get rid of these little creatures in your home?
Fortunately, there are a number of repellent and curative methods of varying degrees of gentleness available to get rid of rats in the home. When these methods no longer suffice, professional intervention is required.
So, without further ado, here’s an overview of the various methods and tips for getting rid of rats in the home.
How do you detect the presence of rats in your home?
It can happen to anyone: rodents may one day decide to take up residence in your home. Indeed, many rodents see homes as ideal places to set up their nests, reproduce and find food in abundance.
These include rats, mice, field mice, ground squirrels and even gray dormice. Although they are generally very discreet and manage to hide themselves, there is always a way to detect their presence in your home. These are usually :
- Small droppings left in corners or along walls.
- A specific, rather musky odor that lingers after rodents have been in the house.
- Gnawed material such as furniture bases, cables, door bottoms, etc.
- Stale food packages in cupboards.
- Small pieces of shredded cardboard, paper or polystyrene used to make nests.
- Noises coming from inside walls.
- Etc.
Once you’re certain that rodents are present in your home, you need to act quickly. Keep in mind that rodents reproduce very quickly and can cause a massive invasion.
Preventive solutions to avoid a rat infestation at home
Once rodents have settled in, it’s pretty hard to get rid of them. In this case, as in many others, prevention is better than cure.
That’s why we prefer to use preventive methods to prevent rats from taking hold in the first place. There are several ways of doing this.
A few good habits can help to avoid attracting rodents. These include
- Emptying garbage cans more regularly and closing them tightly before placing them in the container.
- Use airtight containers for all foodstuffs, including pet food. Glass, ceramic and stainless steel are ideal, as rodents can’t nibble them.
- Maintain impeccable hygiene throughout the house, especially in the kitchen and laundry.
- Plug all holes and cracks through which rats and mice can enter your home.
- Remember to protect door bottoms where small rodents can easily get in.
- Regularly inspect sensitive areas such as garages, attics and cellars. These are all rooms where rodents often choose to settle, mainly looking for the presence of droppings in your home.
Classic solutions for getting rid of rats in the home
Once the rats have arrived, you’ll have no choice but to declare war on them. To prevent the infestation from spreading, you’ll need to start hostilities without delay. How do you get rid of rats in your home?
Action #1: Block access
To begin with, the first action to be taken is to block all the accesses rats are likely to use to move around the house. Given that rats are fairly large rodents, this technique is highly effective. It would be less effective with mice, which can squeeze through just about anything.
Holes should be filled with materials that rats can’t dig or nibble (metal, stone, etc.).
Action 2: Use chemical poisons or rat poison
The second action is to use chemical poisons or rat poison to try and eradicate the rodents. Be careful with this type of method, however: the food must not be accessible to children or pets.
The aim is to attract rats with contaminated bait, which will then kill them within 48 hours. The bait is usually in the form of pellets or blocks, to be placed strategically and away from all other food sources to ensure that the rat falls into the trap.
Poison is another technique used by professional rat killers. However, products intended for the general public are far less powerful than those used by professionals, and as such can sometimes be less effective. Beware: these products can be very dangerous for your pets.
Action 3: Use mechanical traps
Instead of poison, or to increase your chances of success, you can use mechanical rat traps. There are several different types available:
- Traditional rat traps
- Glue traps
- Metal cage traps
- Tooth traps
In this case, it’s possible to capture the rat dead or alive. Sensitive souls, remember to entrust the task to someone who is not phobic about rodents.
Note that if the animal is captured alive, it can be released back into the wild so you don’t have to kill it.
As a reminder, mechanical traps should always be placed where rodents pass through, to maximise the chances of capturing pests.
Action 4: Call in a pest control expert
If you find that the pest infestation is too serious, and your various actions fail to put an end to the colonization of rodents in your home, it’s high time to call in a professional pest control technician.
It’s the best way to say goodbye to the rats that have settled in your home. Rat removal is a complex task, depending greatly on the scale of the invasion. In many cases, if the homeowner realizes too late that there are rats in the house, calling in a rat eradicator is often the only solution.
With a thorough knowledge of rats, their lifestyle and habits, a rat exterminator will be able to find their nests and eliminate them for good.
Here are a few tips to help you make the right choice:
- Call on a professional with a good reputation in the field.
- The pest control company must be certified and offer treatments in line with legislation.
- Check whether the company belongs to a trade union, which can be a plus.
- Don’t forget to ask for a full estimate to avoid any surprises after the job is done. The estimate should be provided within the same day, for obvious reasons of rapid intervention.
- The pest control company must be able to answer any questions you may have about the process and how it will be carried out. A professional who gives you time and explains his or her plan of action is always preferable.
- And don’t forget to check the opinions of previous customers by doing a little research on the web.
Calling in a company should give you the guarantee that the problem will be managed from A to Z, without the risk of rodents returning after a few days. Your peace of mind is at stake.
What are the solutions for dealing with rats in the home?
In addition to the usual solutions mentioned above, there are several other alternative solutions that can also get rid of rats with varying degrees of effectiveness. Here are the main ones.
1. Invest in an ultrasonic rat killer
Among the most popular methods for getting rid of rodents, and rats in particular, are ultrasonic rat repellents.
Ultrasonic devices are repellent tools designed to keep rats away by placing them in different parts of the home.
The operation of an ultrasonic device is quite simple: it emits sounds whose frequency is only picked up by rodents. As a result, neither the house’s inhabitants nor pets are disturbed.
Depending on the model, protected areas can range from 10 to 90 m3. Prices vary from €25 to €50, depending on brand and model.
2. Adopt a cat to hunt rats
In this case, it’s best to be sure of adopting or rather raising a real hunter, in which case the trick would be totally futile.
However, the cat is still a recognized predator of mice and rats, and having a feline in the house should certainly dissuade pests from taking up residence in yours.
In fact, the mere smell of a cat can scare rodents away. For greater effectiveness, don’t hesitate to let the cat roam all over your house, garden, garage, etc.
3. Use essential oils to repel rats
Many essential oils are said to repel rodents with their powerful odors. Among these, the most effective are the following:
- Mint essential oil
- Peppermint essential oil
- Lemon essential oil
- Eucalyptus essential oil
These are used to scatter essential oils around rats and their hiding places, to scare them away.
The effectiveness of this type of method varies from case to case, but it’s still worth a try.
4. Try quicklime poisoning
Quicklime is a highly effective substance, capable of poisoning and killing rodents. To do this, you need to prepare a solution based on quicklime and sugar, to be applied to the areas where rats pass.
Rats love sugar and will be fooled by the deception. The quicklime will then act as a formidable poison, killing them in a matter of hours.
5. Arsenic to exterminate rats at home
Arsenic is a powerful poison for rodents and humans alike, and must be handled with care. To use it, simply mix it with cheese and place the bait where rodents pass.
6. Use rodenticide
Because they are extremely dangerous, rodenticides are generally sold only to professional pest controllers. However, some are available to the public. When this is the case, it is essential to use them with extreme caution.
How rodenticides work is fairly straightforward: simply disperse them in areas where rats pass, in cracks, along walls and, if possible, in nests.
The aim is for the material to stick to the rats’ hair, so that they end up licking themselves and unknowingly ingesting the poison. The trap then closes and the rat is killed within 3 days.
When solutions such as traps are ineffective, this type of ultimate solution is just the thing.
In conclusion:
The presence of rats in a home is a real problem that must be taken seriously at the very first sign.
If you have any doubts about your ability to eliminate the presence of these pests in your home yourself, by using more or less radical solutions, the rapid intervention of a pest control professional is the best option.
In any case, don’t lose sight of the fact that rodents are vectors of many diseases that can be transmitted to humans, and can also cause a great deal of damage within the home.
