Rats are probably the most common pest in the world, but there are still many misconceptions floating around about how to best remove them from the home. This is why infestations often go uncontested despite our best efforts. Let’s take a closer look at these myths and why they are false.
It’s enough to use traps during an infestation
While traps are very effective rat control methods, they are not very good at dealing with large infestations. The problem with traps is that rats are too smart for them. They’re not smart enough to not get caught, but they are smart enough to avoid any object that kills too many other rats. So after a while, they will start avoiding traps, and the infestation goes on. As such, traps can only be used when dealing with a “handful” of rats.
Rats love cheese
Not only do rats not like cheese, they are actually disgusted by the smell, which is funny, because they regularly swim in sewers. Researchers tested a variety of foods to see which rats prefer, and not only did cheese not make the top 10, it was actually in the middle of the list. On the list of what rats preferred you had candies, sausages, meats of all kinds, and at the top – peanut butter.
Poisons are easy to use
While it’s obviously easy to lay down a poison and wait for a rat to nibble on it, there’s a lot more that goes into the entire process. First, you have to make sure that you use the right poison and the risk of secondary poisoning is low. Second, you have to think about the clean up process. When you use poisons, you never know where the rats are going to die. They might die right in the middle of your kitchen, or they might die in some inaccessible area in your void.
DIY efforts are just slightly less effective than professional control
Rats are very smart animals, and outsmarting them takes practice. Often, DIY control efforts fall short, and a rat infestation is not removed completely, which means that the rats will get a chance to repopulate and reinfest the home. When you hire a pro, the rats will be fully exterminated and you won’t have to worry about reinfestation. Contact us today if you have any questions about rats or if you have a rat infestation in your home that needs to be removed.
