Get Rat Out Of Attic – Humane Wildlife Removal

How to get rid of rats in your attic

There are many places where you can stumble upon an infestation of rats. This is because there are very few species as perfectly built to crawl, scurry, or burrow into unconventional places. Rats are also very good at adapting to these new surroundings. Due to all this, when rats find their way into an attic, they can not only cause tons of problems and annoyances, they can also multiply if left unattended. If there are rats in your attic, a key sign is if you hear scratching coming from said area. Simply put, if you hear scratching from your attic, it’s much more likely that it’s rats than a ghost. However, as with all pests, it is vitally important that you keep yourself safe when trying to deal with the problem.

Identifying the problem

Many creatures can find their way into your attic, especially if there are any large caps or entrances to said attic. These pests can include squirrels, possums, raccoons, and of course rats. Therefore, to ensure that the plan you implement to get rid of your attic living creature is the correct one, you must identify and make sure of what species you’re dealing with.

To do this, make the trip up into your attic with the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). This equipment includes a breathing mask, a pair of goggles, and possibly some durable gloves.

If the creature in your attic is indeed a rat, then you will be looking for and finding numerous brown stains on the walls, support beams, and any other surfaces a rat could conceivably access. These stains aren’t faecal matter but the grease that has been rubbed off the rat’s fur. These stains are not consistent with other animals and are a clear indicator of the presence of rats. Another tell- tale sign is finding small brown pellets of feces around the attic.

Using traps to catch these rodents

When trying to deal with your rat problem you really only have one solution. Traps. After this, you must make sure that the entrance used by said rats to get into your attic is sealed up ensuring that you won’t experience the same problem in the future.
When setting a trap, look for areas of high traffic in the attic and use these locations to set the trap. You can find these locations by searching for a large, concentrated amount of the signs you had previously looked for to identify the animals. When these traps are placed, bait them with the appropriate food and set them in an inconspicuous location.

Can and should you use poison to deal with rats in the attic?

There are many problems associated with using poison to deal with a rat problem. Firstly, using poison is a very inhumane way to deal with the creatures and causes undue pain and suffering as they slowly die from the poison, they don’t simply drop dead without knowing what’s happened. This slow death then causes a second problem. Rats, just like any other wounded animal will instinctively go somewhere they feel safe in the hopes of waiting out whatever ails them. Therefore, they will go somewhere probably quite secret and hard to reach. This means that when they eventually do die, the carcass will be very hard to find and if you don’t find it, there will be a very bad smell that will quickly emit from the carcass. Another issue with using poison is that if the rat leaves the attic and then dies and another animal finds the carcass and eats it, the poison will hurt them also. In short, you should always use traps instead of poison.

Different types of rat traps

The most common rat trap is the tried and true snap trap which is simply a spring-loaded arm attached to a piece of wood and a trigger, this trap then breaks the rats back, killing it quickly and humanely. The second most common trap is the glue trap. This trap is an inhumane option as it functions by sticking the rat into place and simply leaving it there to die of starvation. There are also traps that use gas and electricity which are reusable but quite expensive when compared to the conventional options.

How to Repair Rat Damage

Once you have successfully removed all the rats in your attic, you must ensure that you inspect the attic thoroughly for any holes the rats could use to gain access to your attic. Due to the fact that rats can squeeze through very small holes, you must be very careful to seal them all, even if you think a rat could never fit through. You should also replace any contaminated insulation and spray disinfectant throughout the attic to kill anything left behind by the rats.