If it’s time for rat extermination in your house, and you wish to do it yourself, here is what to do to start the right way.- Check your firewood stack. Make sure it has not become a rat harborage. It is very common to elevated the rack not less than 18 inches above the ground, with a clear intervening space underneath. Check also the surrounding of the stack : make sure that it’s roughly flat with no debris left.
- Seal your garbage can lids. Indeed, rats are often found in garbage disposals. It is not rare to see people using their streets as their garbage pail. After the sun goes down, rats feast on the garbage thrown on the streets.
If you have a pet, make sure that your house is not surrounded by random food, or it will soon become rat food.
- Check for holes inside and outside of your house. Spaces of less than an inch wide won’t stop rats !
Seal the holes with metal (steel is the best choice). You can use concrete, but rats will chew through.
In the perimeter of your house, if you seal the holes with grass or mulch, the rats will come back. Instead, seal them with rocks or gravel. By doing so, you reduce the need for a future rat extermination.
- Since roof rats are able to climb on power lines, check for holes / openings in your attic.

Rat extermination : tips
Why do we want too get rid of rats ? You might think that the reason for rat extermination is their disgustingness. But here are serious reasons that are a threat to your health : rats, as well as their droppings, carry diseases. Rats have spread “Black Death” (Bubonic Plague). They are very active chewers : they chew through aluminum, glass, cinderblock, lead and wire (fire hazard risk).

How do we get rid of rats ? Not with poison. Surprised ? If you use poison, the rats may die in area of your house that are not reachable. Rats can squeeze through a hole as small as the size of a quarter, even adult ones. And you don’t want to experience the strong stench of a dead rat.

Instead of poison, use bait traps. It’s more efficient for rat extermination. Place the traps next to urine, holes, droppings and gnawing damage. But be aware that you need to take some precautions when manipulating dead rats. Avoid physical contact with the rat : wear gloves or/and use newspapers or plastic bag, and wash your hands after manipulating the dead rat, even if you used gloves.
Don’t forget to clean rat urine and rat feces, and wash your hands afterwards, even if you used gloves.

Rat extermination methods
The most effective method used to control rat expansion in your house is trapping, if you have to deal with only a few rats. Using traps does not need poison, you are certain that the rat is dead once it’s trapped, and you are sure that every dead rat will not remain blocked somewhere in your house. Hence you eliminate odor issues.
But keep in mind that trapping is just part of the overall solution : once you get rid of rats, you need to prevent another infestation. If not, it’s a loss of time.

And last but not least, this method is not expensive. Snap traps can be found very easily in hardware and grocery stores. Here is how to use them : first bait trap with sweet food (dried fruit for instance, peanut butter or even chocolate candy) but also salted one, such as bacon or hot dog. Whatever you use, tie it strongly to the trigger. Make sure that traps are located close to holes, rat droppings, walls, in dark corners : these are places where rat activity has been detected. The position of the trap is important as well. The logic tells you to set the traps so that rats will have no choice but pass directly over the trigger when showing up.