Hi my name is Brendan Mangnitz, I have been in the Nuisance Wildlife Removal industry now for nearly 6 years since I graduated from College at UF with a background in Entomology and Wildlife Biology. I have seen and controlled just about any wildlife issue you may think of. I have dealt with rats in apartments complex, rat removal from your everyday household, rats in the attic, rats digging up yards, rats in pools, rats stuck in chimneys, and the list goes on and on. I have used several different control and removal methods for rats and that’s what I want to share with you guys on our website here at http://animalcontrol-experts.com.
Rat trapping isn't as easy as you’d think. A lot of customers ask me what's any different from the way that you're going to trap rats or remove the rats from my attic versus me going to the local Home Depot and buying the traps myself and setting them in the attic. My answer is pretty simple I'm an expert, I've got years and years of training as well as I hold degrees in the field of Entomology with background in wildlife biology.
I’m an educated rat trapper! You really have to understand the behavior of rats in order to successfully trap them. Rodents can populate and breed fast, about every 3 weeks a female rodent can give birth. Her litter can have upwards of 10 rat babies. So the rat infestation can go from a mild rat problem to a very severe rat infestation in a matter of three months, so you need to keep up with the trapping and trap the rats very aggressively. Here are my little tips when it comes to successful rat trapping and the removal of the rodents in your attic.
The first thing you want to do is figure out approximately how many rats you think you have in your attic. Let's say you think that you've got five rats based on the amount of feces and urine that you see in the insulation, Multiply that by 3. You want to use 15 traps, so place these traps all throughout the attic, don't be lazy! Don't just put the traps by where the attic access door is. Really get into the attic, find where the boroughs are, find the trails, find the urine and the feces and spread those traps out! Rats are basically blind, they are also scared. So they will hide, you need to find these hiding places and put the traps in these areas to increase your chances of success.
Use the appropriate bait! Slim Jims, peanut butter and jelly works very well, and alternate them. Some traps with peanut butter, some rat traps with slim jims, and the rest of the rat traps with jelly. Then keep the traps up there and don't touch them! You don't want the rats to smell you. If you’ve noticed that you haven't trapped anything, let the rat traps be. It can sometimes take 1 to 2 weeks to catch the rat if they've stored food in the attic they're not going to go to the traps. Wait until their food storage is gone and the only food left is going to be the food on the traps and that will increase your success for rat trapping.
Patience is the key, as well as not being lazy! Go into the attic, find the rats and put the traps where they are, that will increase your chances of success. If you have any questions feel free to call me or we would be more than happy to help you with your rat removal job!
If you think you are having an issue with rat poop or Rats In the Plumbing and want to get an expert opinion, give me a call! My name is Brendan Mangnitz with 24/7 Wildlife Control and I am always available to help identify what kind of feces you have found and would be happy to send one of our technicians out to assist you.
