How to Catch a Rat in a House

Rats carry diseases.

Rats are an unwelcome visitor in most houses. Wild rats, which are often called Norway rats, are the most common rats to enter a house. These rodents are known disease carriers. Large fecal droppings and chewed food packages are evidence of rats in the house. Rats tend to stay in the darker recesses of the house, such as under sinks, in walk-in pantries, under floors, and in storage and laundry rooms. Once found, rats are relatively easy to catch using wooden rat traps.

Things You'll Need

• Wooden rat traps
• Raw bacon
• Sewing thread
• Rubber gloves

Instructions

1. Locate where rats are moving in the house, by finding their droppings along their travel routes. Clean up the rat droppings and watch to see if more appear---it can take a rat a couple of days to establish a travel route. After a day or two, if the droppings reappear in the same place, it's time to set a trap on that travel route.

2. Tie a 1-inch-square piece of raw bacon to the trap's trigger pan using sewing thread to tie the bacon on.

3. Set the trap by pulling the square jaw back to the opposite side of the wooden base. Lay the long metal rod over the jaw and hook the end of the rod under the side extension of the trigger pan. Gently let pressure up off the jaw; the pressure of the jaw against the rod and the rod hooked under the pan will keep the trap set.

4. Place the traps along the travel routes of the rats. Set two or three traps in different parts of the house, if needed. Put the side or bait end of the trap against a wall, as rats prefer to follow a wall when moving about.

5. Once you have caught a rat, empty the trap immediately. Wearing rubber gloves, pull back the jaw, drop the rat in a plastic bag and dispose of it, then reset the trap.

Tips & Warnings

• If evidence of rats is found only under one sink, then one trap is all that is needed at that spot. If droppings indicate that rats are moving throughout the house, traps will need to be set at other points along their travel routes; the number of traps is dependent on the different areas where evidence is found.

• Bait the trap before setting it. Do not handle the bait end of the trap after it is set; hold the trap by the sides of the wooden base on the end opposite the bait.

• Rat traps are strong and dangerous. Handle with caution, as snapping the jaw down on your fingers can bruise or even break them.

• Keep set rat traps away from pets and children. If there is a chance that a pet or child could get into the trap, place set traps only in areas that can be locked off, such as under a sink with the cabinet doors tied closed.

References

• Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management: Norway Rats