How to keep rats away
Because rats are dangerous disease spreaders as well as highly destructive pests, it is important to make keeping rats away from your home or business a high priority, especially during colder months. When rats have a harder time finding food during winter months, they are more likely to try to come into human-occupied spaces when searching for food sources. Of course, being warm-blooded mammals, they are more likely to seek out sources of warmth and shelter as well during the colder, stormier weather of winter. In order to keep rats away, you can take a number of preventive measures to protect the safety and health of your home and yourself.
Ways you can discourage rats from entering your home:
Use essential oils to repel rats.
Rats have very keen senses of smell, so they are leery of certain strong scents and will avoid areas treated with essential oils. Peppermint is a popular choice for this, and cayenne, eucalyptus, citronella, and tea tree oil are also effective in repelling rats. Many essential oils have been proven by several scientific studies to deter rats. However, they must be used regularly in order to continue having an effect.
Clean your home thoroughly and often.
Rats are also deterred by the smell of chemicals such as bleach and ammonia. Cleaning out your closets, every inch of your baseboards and floors, and all the nooks and crannies of areas such as your kitchen and your pantry are all critical actions to engage in, especially during the winter when rats are most likely to seek to enter your space.
Block any sized openings you can find in your external/internal walls.
Rats are extremely flexible and can squeeze through surprisingly small spaces. They are also destructive and are known for chewing holes and widening spaces for greater ease of access. Monitoring the walls of your space, especially those that face the outside elements, is an important part of preventing rats from entering your home. Block any openings that you find; this can include weather-stripping doors and windows if there are sizable cracks.
Clean up your property of litter and debris.
Be sure that you aren’t hoarding junk and giving rats a place to live at the same time. Not only are piles of trash, old cars, discarded appliances, or brush piles unsightly, they also provide a convenient home for rats to breed and develop large populations before inevitably coming into your home in search of food and warmth. Get rid of any of this junk if you have it, before you have a rat problem on your hands.
Store food and trash properly.
Rats consider your food, your pet’s food, and even your trash to be great reasons to come inside your home. So, storing your food, pet food, food trash such as veggie peelings, and any produce from your garden in proper containers is critical.
West Termite, Pest & Lawn can help you prevent rat problems. Reach out to us today!
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