How to Prevent Rats in Your House: 3 Strategies

Rats are not your friend hence you need to know how to prevent rat nestings in your house before calling a rat exterminator in Toronto. They might have some economic value to the environment but not to your home. Unfortunately, over the years the activities of rats like Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) and roof rats are on the increase. This again could be fatal for humans. Besides the wanton destructions done to your home; rat droppings, urine, saliva, and presence have negative health implications for you.

So many methods and measures to help exterminate these rats have evolved. But not all rat control measures give a guaranteed result; some even fail out-rightly. Therefore, it has become more imperative to understand how to prevent rats in your house with longer-lasting results.

What Rats Do to You and Why You Should Prevent Them

These are the implications of having rats in the home; so you know better how to prevent rats in your house:

• They pollute your food just to have their meals
• They contaminate your environment just to have food
• They weaken your immunity with their activities.
• Rats can make you fall sick or cause your death (Hantavirus and other diseases) through their urine, feces, and saliva.
• Rats destroy your property and can reduce its economic value.
• You could lose precious documents to rat poop, urine and from their chewing.
• The can become a PR nightmare to you.
• Rats could be noisy and all over the place.

Why Do Rats Prefer Hanging out with You

Here are some reasons rats love your home. It should help you understand how to prevent rats in your house:

• Rats require a safe breeding ground and your house could just be one. Do you have enough room for litters of mischief (a group of rat)?
• Rats eat for up to 15 to 20 times in a single day and you have a good supply of anything that could make a juicy meal.
• They need access to water and for so many reasons you have enough supply of what, do you think you can share?
• They need shelter from the cold winter out there and you got hideaways, attic, basement and more, thanks for the shelter.

3 Strategies to Prevent Rats in Your House

There are different methods to help you prevent rats from pestering your home. And here are some measures to adopt:

Rodent-Proof your House

Once rats do not have easy access then it becomes less likely they will be a problem for you. But first, you have work to do preventing rats in your house. Even the tiniest opening or gap of less than half an inch is just the perfect size for rat invasion.

• Use mesh and metal stripping for door opening at the bottom and window lids.
• Seal off crevices, cracks in the wall and holes in the home.
• Locate and close up all burrows around the building to prevent access.
• Wrap pipes with steel wool before your plaster to avoid access between the pipe and the walls.
• Change leaking or broken pipes.
• Keep all vents – attic, soffits, and attics using mesh metal screens.
• Trim your indoor plants nicely to prevent a hiding place for rats.
• Keep plants a few meters from the wall so rats will not find a nesting place or rout to burrow into your home.
• Clear out grass and other weeds from your immediate surroundings to prevent burrowing points for rats.
• Clean your entire house regularly using disinfectant to reduce the attractiveness of the home to rats and other crawling animals or insects.
• Keep the basement, attic, and storage facility organized and clean to avoid breeding ground for rats.
• Fix all broken taps, pipes or hose so rats do not have access to water.
• Seal off broken drains and more to limit water access.

Create a Starvation plan for Rats

Rats have a strong sense of smell and can perceive access to good food even from a distance. But you can prevent their access too.

• Keep all leftovers away by wiping off meals from used dishes.
• Do not leave leftover meals on the sink, gas cooker or floor as it provides quick meals for rats.
• Ensure to cover your meals in the pot, fridge or other locations properly.
• Keep all raw foodstuff in a tightly sealed container.
• Do not leave grilled fish, kitchen, fruits, and vegetables exposed to rats.
• Clean out the kitchen area daily to avoid food crumbs on the floor.
• All food wastes and leftovers should be put in a tightly sealed bag. Place them in the trash can with a tight lid or take them out for waste management offices.
• Do not leave feed for birds and other pest exposed for rats to have a nice meal.

Physical Control Measures

Using traps and other devices can help you get rid of rats. When you notice the slightest sign of rat presence you could use these measures to avoid rat infestation.

Ultrasonic Rat Devices

Ultrasound devices for rat usually work by producing vibrations or offensive sound to the rats. Once the rat comes anywhere near those devices they cannot stand the noise or vibration. The noise is not loud enough to disturb humans. However, with time the rat might get accustomed to the sound.

Rat trap

There are different types of rat traps that could help. Some will kill the rat while others simply keep the rat trapped till you can dispose of the rat nicely. Electronic or snap traps, for instance, can help kill the rat. And they are simple to use. Live traps will hold the rat once the walk over the trap. So the secret for a live trap is to place them in high traffic areas for rats. But be careful not to step on them to avoid injuries. The glue trap is another option. Glue traps are effective for catching rats when you place it in high traffic area for rats.

How to prevent rats in your house is not a one-off event but a lifetime one. With the right measures in place and regular checks, you could win the war against rats and other rodents or creepy crawlers. Other Rat Preventive Measures include home remedies, DIY programs and the use of pesticides to deal with rats. These measures, however, do not always provide lasting solutions to the rat infestation problem. Besides, pesticides might not be advisable where there are kids or pets. But that won’t happen if you avoid facing the battle alone. You need the help of professional Pest Control Toronto Company or Humane Wildlife Removal Company to secure your house from rats and other pests.