Rats are a menace to humans, properties, and other animals. Their proximity to human habitation further exacerbates the situation because they can easily spread illnesses and pests like an epidemic. This leaves you with no other option than to find the most effective ways to kill rats promptly. In this article, you’ll learn more about what kills rats instantly.
5 Ways to Kill Rats Instantly
Before you think about killing rats in your house instantly, make sure you know their hideout. This is important because if you only eliminate the rats in your house and ignore the ones outside your house, it will be an exercise in futility.
So, even as you look for effective ways to get rid of these rodents, make sure you eliminate them from the source. Here are the ways you can use to kill rats instantly.
1. Set Traps
For many years, traps have remained the most effective way to kill rats instantly. These traps come in different designs and sizes. Please note that these traps use bait to lure the rodents in.
So, as you look for the best rat trap, make sure you find an effective bait to draw the rats to the trap. You also need to identify the right place to place the trap for effectiveness. Since rats use fences, walls, and rails as their guide, place your traps along these fittings and switch off the lights.
Moreover, identify the most frequented rat trails in your house. Your rat taps will only be effective when placed along the paths that rats are likely to use. Rats also like to hide in concealed spaces like kitchen cabinets and closets. So, make sure you have enough traps placed in these areas.
You will also find rats hiding underneath your couches, bed, fridge, and other fittings in your house. These are the perfect areas to set up your traps. Another clever way to kill rats with a trap in your house is to cut holes in the sides of several shoeboxes and place them along their suspected paths with traps inside.
Don’t forget to place baits inside the shoeboxes to draw rats into the boxes. Rats will be curious to find what’s inside the box, and once they enter the box they won’t come out alive. When you are choosing bait, consider the rat’s preferred diet.
Since the rat has already destroyed a few food items in your house, you can easily tell which items it’s drawn to easily. Use those food items as bait to lure the rats to the traps. Understand that different species of rats love different types of foods. So, choose your bait accordingly.
For example, black rats are known to be herbivorous rodents, while brown rats are omnivorous. Therefore, black rats can easily be baited with peanut butter because it has a strong aroma that will draw rats from their hideouts. If you are dealing with brown rats, tempt them with a piece of flavorful cheese.
Whether your home is infested with herbivorous or omnivorous rats, your bait should have a strong smell to lure them from far and wide. These food items include nuts, moldy cheese, fish, etc. As you set up rat traps, make sure rats can trust them. Rats are very inquisitive and shrewd.
They can easily make out a trap even in the dark. So, try to disguise your traps so that rats can comfortably crawl onto them. Don’t set up your traps out in the open and expect to catch any rats.
You should choose the right trap for your house. The type of rat trap you choose depends on the size of the rat. For example, if you have a house rat, which grows up to 4 inches long, with an extra 4 inches for its tail, your trap has to be much larger than the rat to be effective.
2. Hire Professional Pest Management Services
If your house has walls with open spaces inside, they’ll serve as a perfect hideout for the critters. Getting them out of your walls isn’t easy because you might end up tearing down the entire wall. In this case, you should hire professional pest control and management services to remove them for you.
These service providers have the necessary tools and skills to eliminate the rodents hidden in your walls and other hard-to-reach areas without causing major damage to your house. They can easily find entry points, food storage areas, and nesting locations. Furthermore, these professionals will identify the main causes of rats in your house and advise you on the most effective steps to take to prevent the infestation.
Most professional rodent control and management service providers will help you to clean up your house and remove their hiding places. For instance, they’ll clean up the mess in and around your house, remove any fittings and debris from your walls, and show you how to keep all food leftovers and other types of trash in closed garbage bins.
You’ll be advised on how to clean up spilled foods and drinks from your floors and other surfaces in your house and keep all drains and pipes clean.
3. Seal the Entry and Exit Points
If the first two techniques fail, consider sealing the entry and exit points completely. Wait for the rats to enter their hideouts to seal the openings with wire wool, cement, concrete, metal kick plates, or caulk for a permanent solution. If they won’t suffocate, they will die of hunger once their food cache runs dry.
Make sure the openings are sealed completely to prevent the rodents from escaping and the stench from their carcasses from entering the house. If you don’t know how to seal off the open gaps in your house, hire professionals to do it for you.
4. Use Dry Ice
Dry ice emits carbon dioxide, which suffocates rats and kills them immediately. Simply put the dry ice in a plastic bag and set it up in their nest or burrow. You can even block their entry and exit points to limit their access to oxygen. This will kill them within minutes.
Remember that dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide, and when it’s exposed to the air, it is converted into a deadly gas that kills rodents. Please note that this ice is completely safe for people and animals because it doesn’t contain any harmful chemicals. However, wear protective gloves when handling dry ice because it can easily burn your skin.
Make sure the rats come into direct contact with the deadly gas so that none of them survives. The gas should flow freely into the nest or burrow so that no rat escapes.
5. Poison
There are powerful chemicals that you can buy from your local store to kill rats in your house. However, these chemicals should be used carefully so that you don’t end up poisoning yourself or other members of your family. If the chemicals need to be mixed with water or any other solution, strictly follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
In most cases, you should hire a professional rodent controller to prepare the chemicals for you. Experts advise homeowners to use these chemicals to kill rats outside their houses. This is meant to prevent rats and other animals in the house from spreading the poison around the house, making it hazardous for the occupants.
Before you deploy this method, read and understand the state and local laws that prohibit the use of poison to kill rats at home. This will save the trouble of getting prosecuted for contravening the law. You can avoid all this trouble by hiring professionals who understand the current laws and precautionary measures to use when killing rats in your house with poison.