Things You'll Need:
- Rat Traps
- Tape
- A Cat or a Dog
- Cheese
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Step 1
The Glue Traps. First, you must put down at least 6 glue traps in the kitchen, bathrooms and any other suspicious room. Glue traps are just a square sheet of plastic covered with glue. If you place a piece of cheese in the middle of the trap, supposedly the rats will get “glued” to the trap while trying to eat the cheese. Place glue traps under counters, under sinks and under anything else you can think of. You need to place the glue traps underneath something to prevent humans from stepping on the traps. [This just creates a big mess].
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Step 2
The Snap-Traps. I may be imagining things, but over the years Rats and Mice seem to have become more resistant to traps. Combat this resistance by also placing the old-fashioned “snap-traps” around your house. These traps have a pulley system so when the rat or mouse reaches for the cheese you put on the trap, the trap will snap and trap the rat or mouse.
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Step 3
The Holes. Look for holes on the inside and outside of your house. Rats and Mice can crawl into amazingly small spaces. You especially need to check for holes in any areas with potential water damage. Look under drain pipes outside the house, and under sinks, showers, dishwashers, or other devices that use water in your house. For a temporary solution, seal any hole shut with tape. This will prevent the rats and mice from accessing your house in the first place. Frequently rats and mice live in the walls so hopefully you will not trap the mice in the walls when you seal the holes.
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Step 4
4. The Dishwasher. Somehow rats and mice seem to make their way into the dishwasher. Do not leave dirty dishes in the dishwasher overnight. Dirty dishes will attract mice. Instead, run the dishwasher every night to keep the mice and rats away.
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Step 5
The Garbage. Put a solid lid on the garbage can in the kitchen. Make sure that nothing but a human could open the lid.
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Step 6
Food. Restrict eating to only certain parts of the house. For example, you could restrict eating to the kitchen and the dining room or the kitchen and the TV room. Be sure to clean the rooms you eat in frequently and thoroughly. Throw all food scraps away in one garbage can. Rats and mice are attracted to food so if you eat in every room you are attracting the rats and mice to every room. Do you really want rats in your bedroom?
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Step 7
The Garage. The garage can be a great place for rats and mice to hang out. If your garage is attached to your house, be sure to keep the garage extra clean. If you do not allow your garage to become a junk-storage pile, the rats will have no place to hide. Rats and mice in the garage can be bad news for your car as well. Do you really want rats in your car chewing the wires? [This really can happen].
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Step 8
The Windows. Rats can crawl through an open window very easily. Put screens on all the windows that you open. You don’t really want a rat crawling through your open bedroom window in the middle of the night, do you?
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Step 9
The Cats and Dogs. If you have a cat or a dog that keeps leaving you “presents” or dead animals at your door step, then use this animal to catch the rats or mice in your house. Better yet, borrow a neighbors pet as well. Put the pets in the house before dinner and let nature run its course. Before allowing your pets to do this, make sure your animals have all necessary shots. Also, do not send your de-clawed indoor cat into the house to catch the rats and mice.
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Step 10
The Neighbors. Unfortunately, if you live in an apartment complex, you need your neighbor’s apartment to be rat free to guarantee that your apartment will stay rat free. Give your neighbors this article and plead with them to get rid of their rodents as well.
Comments
wanderinghobo said
on 8/11/2009 Have used most types of traps. Neighbor used glue traps and squsshed the critters caught with his foot. You have to place a piece of paper or cardboard over the critter as your foot will stick to the glue. Sounds cruel huh? I tried the nice bag of poison. The mice made a real mess, died and worms crawled out of their bodies. Ewwww!!!! And who knows just where they will drop dead, like in your walls? Never again that method! Tried multiple snap traps, some mice are smart, ate the peanut butter clean without setting off the trapz. The catch and release method is useless as the smart critters will just reenter your apt/home through the same opening they did in the first place. One of the best ideas is to find out how they are getting in and out of the premises. In my house where i first encountered a problem after living there for around 10yrs.... they ate their way through the dry...
cbcbcb said
on 4/23/2009 This is horrible, poorly informed advice. First off, glue traps are completely inhumane. The animal either starves to death or tries to chew its own limbs off. Please, do not ever use these. Besides - do you really want to deal with a live, angry creature flailing around on a glue trap? Secondly, I am surprised the author fails to even mention live traps. This is really the only humane method, and wouldn't you rather deal with an animal neatly contained in a box than a completely traumatized one with its leg broken in a trap?
abigail said
on 5/17/2007 Funny story about the peanut butter... You're absolutely right, it works great - MOST of the time...hehe. We've got a mouse in our garage that is so clever he keeps managing to completely clean the peanut butter off of the trap without getting caught! At this point, we're just about to name him and let him stay!
weeokwan said
on 5/9/2007 I find peanut butter works excellently in attracting these rascally vermin! I put peanut butter in the middle of those sticky pads (which by the way need to be folded to look like a pipe) I also put them on the old standard mouse and rat traps however, it seems they know what those ones are. I actually seen mice avoid these traps at all costs!