Avoiding Rat Problems

Rats are very well adapted to various environmental conditions. Because of this adaptation capability, rats can survive in cities as much as they can survive in farms. Unfortunately, this also means that rats will be able to thrive in areas where humans would have wanted to be free from their presence. They will be able to breed incessantly and continue to increase their population until an outbreak happens. Of course, that is a scenario that all property owners should avoid. There are ways to avoid such problems from happening, some of which are:

1. By ensuring that all garbage bins and trash cans are tightly-closed and covered with lids which rats cannot easily remove, the owner of the property will be able to lessen the attractiveness of his/her property to rats because of the "lack" of food (which rats basically get from trash). As much as possible, the owner should keep his/her property free from un-kept rubbish, as well as different piles of items such as wood, boxes and the like. Stacked materials like bricks and wood should not kept elevated from the ground (about 30 centimetres) so that the rats will not use it as a nesting site.

2. One thing that rats love the most is clutter. They would find dirty and cluttered sheds or storage areas very attractive for nesting. If you do not want to invite rats into your place, you must keep these places clean all the time. Schedule a regular clean-up session for these areas so that you will be able to keep them uninviting to rats. Habitually disposing unwanted items can greatly help in making future clean-up operations easier.

3. Rats can also use thick vegetation as their nesting ground. Like what has been said about rats, they like to "conceal" themselves from humans and overgrown grasses, plants and trees are very ideal locations.

4. If you are making compost heaps, avoid using open areas. If possible, use big barrels to keep the compost safe from rats.

5. Routinely inspect and check your property for cracks and crevices which might have come up so that you can immediately repair them and keep rats from using these openings as entry points to your house/building. Make sure that the water tanks that you use at home are tightly covered too.

Chemical-based Rat Control

Sometimes, the measures stated above are insufficient to completely exterminate the rats in one's property. It is during these instances when the use of chemical products is somewhat justifiable. No other method of rat control has been found out to be more effective that the use of chemical products, thus, despite the fact that these things might harm the environment, many people still opt to use them on grounds of effectiveness. The few things which have to be considered when using such products are:

1. The use of chemical products is a short term solution. This means that it can exterminate the current rat population but it cannot stop other rats from coming it. Thus, these products are meant to be used in the onset of the control operation and them immediately followed by the application of the things stated in the early part of this article.

2. Rodenticides or rat poisons can also endanger pets and children. It is important for someone who uses such products to be extra careful in storing the using the product so as not to harm non-target animals and humans.

3. Because such poisons can also harm other animals, food baits mixed with them should be placed in locations where other animals or children will not be able to reach them. For this reason, it is best if the owner of the property would hire a professional exterminator who knows how to handle the task properly.