Best Rat Baits

Two factors determine the effectiveness of the food bait:

1. The type of bait used, and
2. The location where the bait is placed

Of course, the latter one is already very obvious. It is stupid to put the bait in a place where the rats will not find it, right? So, through common sense, we can already deduce that the baits should be place in the corners of the house, in the garage, in the ceiling (attic) and in the other places in the house where rat activity is most apparent.

The real big deal is actually on the type of bait used. For so long, people are made to think that rats really like cheese, thanks to "Tom and Jerry". But in reality, rats do not like cheese that much; they prefer the sweet stuff like pastries, spreads and cereals. However, it will not be advantageous for the trap setter to put food bait that can be easily carried away by the rat and escape the trap in time. As much as possible, it is better if the rat is made to stay in the trap for as long as possible, so that when it snaps, the rat is definitely swatted. Thus, the best baits are those which are sticky and spreadable. These types of baits can be brushed on the surface of the trap's trigger, ensuring a sure kill.

Since rats fall for sweet foodstuff and it is in the best interest of the trap-setter to use food bait that is sticky and spreadable, it can be said that the best rat bait is the peanut butter. Many rat exterminators use peanut butter for the same reasons. Do-it-yourself fanatics also use peanut butter baits because these are readily available in the kitchen. Of course, other sweet and sticky food items can still be used. In fact, any kind of food item can be used; all that you need to do to make it sticky is to mix it with white glue.

You need to understand that rats are wise rodents. They will eventually realize that the food you intentionally place in some of the corners of you house are meant to lure them into a trap. If you do not use sticky baits, they will just snatch the bait away from the trap and escape death. But if you use sticky baits, then you will "force" the rats to lick the food from the trap itself.

However, if you are not convinced about the efficacy of peanut butter, you can still resort to the expensive rat bait products sold in some fancy pest control shops. Of course, this measure is highly impractical granting that other alternatives are already available.

Poisoned Baits

In terms of being the deadliest, poisoned baits are still the most effective. However, one problem with such baits is that they can also harm non-target animals like your beloved pets or even the children that live with you in your house. Thus, although these baits are very efficient in eradicating rats, many professionals still do not recommend these products because of the harms associated to it.

If you really want to play safe and avoid as much problems as possible, I suggest that you simply use rat traps and improve their efficiency by the use of the homemade baits mentioned in this article. You can also read through some blogs and participate in some forums to get the best ideas as to how you are going to solve your problems with the rat infestation in your place. There are so many materials online too which you can use as reference.