by adminHow To Get Rid Of Rats
Throughout the UK, rats are a common pest that can cause significant issues for homes and businesses. Rats carry diseases and bacteria, including Leptospirosis, which can turn into Weil’s disease, Hantavirus, Salmonella, E. coli and more, making them a public health risk.
Additionally, rats have front teeth that never stop growing, which means they need to gnaw almost constantly. As a result, they can cause significant property damage, and even pose a fire hazard if they chew through live wires.
Rats prefer busy areas with lots of potential nesting sites, food and water sources, which is why rats are a common sight throughout Bradford, Leeds and West Yorkshire.
Thankfully, Riddex Pest Control offers expert rat control throughout these areas, and has extensive experience controlling rats in a variety of properties. To help you understand how to get rid of rats permanently, we’ve put together this handy guide.
Signs Of A Rat Infestation
Of the two rat species found in the UK, brown rats are the most common and likely to enter your space. Black rats are sleeker and smaller, and live near water. Both species are neophobic, meaning they are scared of new objects, which is why rats are so shy and difficult to see.
If you do see rats, you might mistake them for mice. Sometimes, when they’re living in loft spaces, squirrels are mistaken for rats, but if you see them you’ll be able to distinguish between the two thanks to the bushy tail of squirrels.
Clear signs of rat activity to identify a rat problem include:
- Rat Droppings: Rat droppings are dark brown in colour and 12-18 mm in length, resembling tapered grains of rice and usually found in small clumps.
- Gnaw Marks: Because rats have to keep their incisors down, they gnaw almost constantly, so look for chew marks throughout your home then you might have a rat infestation.
- Scurrying Sounds: Sounds of scurrying, squeaking and thumping from inside wall cavities or attic spaces, particularly at night, could be rats.
- Footprints: Rats have four-toed front feet and five-toed hind feet, and may leave footprints in dust or dirt around your home.
- Greasy Smudges: Rats leave oily marks across ground level surfaces, such as skirting boards, door frames and walls.
- Musty Smell: Large rat infestations can cause a musty smell from rat urine and droppings.
Common Rat Control Techniques
Rat control requires expert skills and a strong understanding of rat behaviour. That’s why it’s always recommended to contact professional rat control providers like Riddex. Some of the strategies we use are listed below.
Remove Potential Food Sources
If you’ve just noticed a few rats in your garden, then the best way to discourage them is to remove potential food and water sources. These might include bird feeders, stored pet food and fallen fruit from trees.
Rats eat almost anything, so try to minimise food sources for them. If you have outdoor bins or compost heaps, consider keeping them sealed or storing them inside sheds, garages or other outbuildings. Also, if you have overgrown vegetation, consider cutting it back to reduce hiding places for rats.
Rat Traps And Bait Stations
If you have a rat infestation in your home or commercial property, you need to get rid of rats. While there are live traps that might seem more humane, rats use pheromone trails to find their way back to shelter, and so they can return even if relocated far away.
Due to the health risks posed by rats, it can often be best to kill rats, but you need to ensure it is done humanely. DIY methods are often ineffective, which is why it’s best to work with an experienced rat control provider.
Professional pest control companies like Riddex are RSPH Level 2 certified, meaning we have access to rodenticides and rat control equipment that aren’t available to the general public. Our team also understand rat behaviour, and can strategically place rat traps and bait stations to ensure success.
Rat Proofing
Once Riddex has removed rats, we always carry out full rodent proofing to ensure that the rat infestation can’t return. As mentioned, rats use pheromone trails to encourage other rats to use their entry points to find shelter and food.
The team at Riddex can carry out full rat proofing, using strong mesh and other products to seal gaps in your home’s facade.
Ratting With Dogs
For large sites, Riddex can carry out ratting with terriers. Trained terriers are natural predators of rats, and can quickly and humanely dispatch rats, ensuring that rats are gone without the need for rat poison that could affect non-target animals on large sites, such as farms.
Small terriers, like the Lakeland Terriers we use and other popular breeds, such as Jack Russels, are small enough to get into rat holes and quickly catch rats in even tiny hiding spaces.
Usually offered as part of our commercial pest control service, where we offer integrated pest management for businesses, we can offer ratting with terriers for homes, large gardens or as a one-off service for large outdoor sites. This natural method is safe and effective, and our team will ensure all dead rats are removed quickly.
How To Prevent Rats
While it’s impossible to fully prevent rats, some simple strategies include:
- Remove Potential Food Sources: As mentioned previously, it’s best to try and stop rats finding food on your property, even food left out for garden birds or pets. You should also try to store food in sealed containers to ensure that if rats get inside your property they can’t contaminate food and find something to eat.
- Rearrange Your Garden Furniture Regularly: Rats are scared of new objects, so rearranging your garden furniture and pot plants can deter rats.
- Seal Gaps: Ensure rats can’t get inside your property by filling in or protecting potential entry points, such as holes in brickwork or plastic air vents.
- Carry Out Regular Drain Maintenance: A lot of rats live in sewers, and if there is damage to your drainage system, such as tree root ingress or displaced joints, rats can gain entry through your pipework, so make sure you are proactive about drain maintenance.
- Plant Strongly-Scented Foliage: Rats dislike peppermint, garlic, onions, mint, lavender and other strongly-scented plants, so consider adding these to your garden. This method isn’t guaranteed, but can be a simple step, and if it doesn’t work you still have nice plants in your garden.
- Let Your Pets Roam: While you should never get a pet just to protect against rats, if you already have a cat or dog, you could consider giving them more time in the garden. Rats are scared of their natural predators, and will avoid their territory.
Book Professional Pest Control To Get Rid Of Rats Fast
When you’re dealing with rats, you need them gone fast. Rat populations are rising throughout the UK, and we’re seeing more and more instances of rats entering homes and businesses across Bradford and West Yorkshire.
While DIY methods might seem more affordable, they’re often ineffective against rats, but can prove toxic to children or pets and cause secondary poisoning to non-target species. Therefore, you may find that you have to pay for professional pest control services in the end, so it’s best to do that from the start.
Because rats are scared of new objects, DIY bait stations and poisons could make them scared and force them to hide, causing more property damage and making rat removal even harder for our team.
So, as soon as you notice signs of rats, you need to contact Riddex. Our experienced pest controllers have extensive experience controlling rodents, so they know how to get rid of rats first time around.
If rats have caused another infestation, such as fleas, or disturbed rubbish bins that attracts foxes, we can remove all your pest problems and reclaim your space for you. For homes with rat problems in the loft, we can also carry out loft clearance to get rid of contaminated loft insulation and decontaminate your property.
To book your rat control appointment, contact us today on 07706 674706 or by emailing info@riddex.co.uk.