How to Catch a Rat Using a Live Trap
Rats carry diseases, can cause damage to your home and are usually unwanted guests. You can go the more humane route and capture a rat using a live trap. These traps will not hurt the animal, but you will want to be careful where you release the animal. Rats have been living with humans for centuries. During the cold months, we have warm homes with plenty of crumbs and bits of food for easy meals. Here's how to catch a rat using a live trap.
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Instructions
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Buy a live rat trap. These can be found at your local hardware store (see link in Resources).
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Use good bait. The bait that works best is peanut butter. Peanut butter is aromatic and will keep the rat in the trap longer because it takes longer to eat the sticky food.
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Place your bait carefully. These live rat traps have a pressure sensitive plate that will trigger a trap door to close behind them. Place a bowl of peanut butter in front of the pressure plate or smear it on the plate with the idea the rat will sit on this and eat away at the free meal.
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Transport your captive far way. Once you have the rat trapped in the cage, put on leather gloves in case the animal is stressed and in attack mode. These animals can also jump so keep that in mind. Any city you live in should be close to the country, woods or some place that is away from civilization you can release the rat.
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Open the release on the trap. Remember to keep the gloves on in case the rat is stressed and wants to take a bite at you. Most likely, they will just want to get away from you as soon as you open the trap. Walk away from the trap and the rat usually will run out. If you have a rat that wants to stay in the trap, pick it up and shake the rat out.
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Tips & Warnings
Wear leather gloves when handling the trap once you have the rat trapped
Be careful when releasing these pests, they can jump.
