Any rodent infestation is a bad experience but rats are particularly bad. While there many options such as snap traps, glue traps, poison, and electronic traps, many animal lovers opt for a humane rat trap such as the live ones made of wire mesh with steel reinforcements which are typically galvanized for maximum resistance to rust. The wooden type of humane rat traps are not ideal because a large rat can chew through the wood quite quickly. Plastic traps are considered by some to be a little too lightweight. Aside from being humane, these traps prevent escapes and stolen bait. The rat is trapped and not killed. The question is what to do with the rat once it is caught.
Peanut butter is effective as bait in such a trap because it lasts for days and is not as easily disturbed as something like pumpkin seeds are. You can poison the humane trap bait if you are not in the mood to deal with a trapped live rat. The problem with these types of traps is that rats are difficult to deal with even in a cage with a secure door.
In addition, it is often difficult to transport a rat to a place where it can be released. It is one thing to release a mouse in your garden. Rats are something else and you might have to take the rat to an animal disposal site. Another important fact about rats is that they are distrustful and smart. They are suspicious of anything new and the suspicion can overcome curiosity.
Poison is not considered the best choice for two reasons. One is that your pets can eat the poisoned food -- and this could happen even in a live cage trap. The other reason is that a rat on the loose can eat poison and then crawl into the framework of the house and die. Its corpse will decompose and smell very bad.
A humane trap is clean and efficient. You have to decide which you prefer to cope with -- a dead rat or an angry live one before you look through the products available. You also need to know if the trap is one that offers an easy set up. A glue trap may not be strong enough to hold the rat and a snap trap might not kill the rat, just maim it. There are products that will do the rat catching for you. You just have to chose the method that best suits you.
Peanut butter is effective as bait in such a trap because it lasts for days and is not as easily disturbed as something like pumpkin seeds are. You can poison the humane trap bait if you are not in the mood to deal with a trapped live rat. The problem with these types of traps is that rats are difficult to deal with even in a cage with a secure door.
In addition, it is often difficult to transport a rat to a place where it can be released. It is one thing to release a mouse in your garden. Rats are something else and you might have to take the rat to an animal disposal site. Another important fact about rats is that they are distrustful and smart. They are suspicious of anything new and the suspicion can overcome curiosity.
Poison is not considered the best choice for two reasons. One is that your pets can eat the poisoned food -- and this could happen even in a live cage trap. The other reason is that a rat on the loose can eat poison and then crawl into the framework of the house and die. Its corpse will decompose and smell very bad.
A humane trap is clean and efficient. You have to decide which you prefer to cope with -- a dead rat or an angry live one before you look through the products available. You also need to know if the trap is one that offers an easy set up. A glue trap may not be strong enough to hold the rat and a snap trap might not kill the rat, just maim it. There are products that will do the rat catching for you. You just have to chose the method that best suits you.