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Encountering a rat problem outside your house is never a great experience. Luckily, there are best way to get rid of rats outside your house, be it a Norway rat or Brown Rats, these methods will surely prevent them from invading your garden, lawn, or garage.
It is definitely bad to see rats in your garden and lawn not only because it is disgusting, but is also harmful to you and your family members. If you have kids and pet at your house, then it is your responsibility to make sure that you keep those rats from building a home outside your house. On the off chance your dog killed a rat, it is harmful to him. Worse, it can kill him.
In this article, we will provide some tips on the best way to get rid of rats outside your house. If properly do these methods, there is a higher chance that no rats will want to invade your garden or lawn. Also, we will discuss the possible signs of rat infestation. This is for you to regularly check and prevent in advance their proliferation. You do want to discover the rat infestation too late, right? Keep on reading to find out more.
Best Way to Get Rid of Rats Outside: Signs that there are rat activity
Unlike other small insects and pets that are hard to spot, looking for possible signs of rat activity outside your house is not that hard. However, to make sure that you will detect rat activity early, you must be able to check the outside of your house regularly. For possible signs of rat activity, look for the following:
*Burrows
You probably know that rats love to dig holes right? This will serve as their hiding their place that will also keep their warm during the season. Aside from that, they also look for place that will grow their young and keep their food. When looking for some signs of rat activity, look for burrows that are about 4 inches wide. You can find burrows on the garage, near the trash bin, porches, and under the decks.
If after looking for several hours you do not find any burrows, then it might be because the burrow is too small. Try looking again consider looking for even the tiniest holes. Rats will do everything that they can to pass through the smallest holes.
*Chewed Holes
While chewed holes are often found inside the house, you can also find some of these outside your house. It is possible for you to find some of these in the garage, door, pet food storage bag, garbage can and other similar places. Look through the places that has foods or somewhere near the trash can.
*Droppings
Aside from holes and burrows, you must also look for rat droppings. Rat droppings are normally 3/4 inch in length. If the droppings are fresh, they are color black and shiny. On the other hand, they grey or lighter in color when they are old. Look everywhere outside your house when checking for droppings. But look carefully in the yard, near the garbage can, patio, door, pet food storage, and several similar places.
What are Possible Factors that contribute to rat activity?
There are several factors that contribute to rat activity. Before we move on to the best way to get rid of rats outside your house, it is important to know these factors so you can prevent them from coming back. Keep on reading and you will be surprised to know that you are guilty to some of these:
*Food
Of course you probably already know this. In order to survive, rats must keep on looking for food for themselves and their young. If you there are pet food in your house and they are not properly stores, rats will know that and they will do their best to have a bite of those foods. That being said, you should make sure that dog foods are stores securely in a container. Do not store them in a box because it is so much easier for the rats to ruin it.
Aside from pet foods, garbage bins that are not fully covered contribute in rat activity. This is most likely the case you put your food waste on that uncovered bin. Since it is open, you are somehow attracting the rats to explore the garbage to look for food waste. If you have garbage gan in your garage, do make sure that it is fully covered. Also, the bin should be made from plastic or at least metal. This is to make sure that the rats will not be able to make a hole in it.
In addition to that, rats are sucker for peanut, dog food, dog waste. Yes, dog waste. Since they eat any type of wood, they will even eat digested food as long as it will help them survive. Eliminating these kinds of food is also a great way to keep them from your house.
*Hiding places
Aside from food, another possible factor that contributes to rat activity is hiding places outside your house. Once the rats found a perfect hiding place outside your house to build a nest, they will not hesitate to grab the spot.
Normally, the perfect hiding place for rats are beneath the structure and trash piles. It is because this is the place where they feel safest. It is hidden and it is possible to easily find these places. Also it is in these places where they will store their foods. You have to be extra careful though, once they run out of food, they will make their way inside your house.
*Water
Of course, rats are living creatures too who need water to survive. In fact they can even survive for several days without food as long as they have supply of water. You are probably wondering, why would a rat infest your house when there is no water? Well, you are most likely mistaken. Double-check for possible leaks. Also, if the location of your house is near bodies of water, you might want regularly check the outside of your house.
Preventing Rodent Activity
There are plenty of ways to prevent rat activity outside your house:
- Do not feed your pet outside your house. If your pet is used to eating outside your house, make sure to clean his bowl and get rid of food waste. Dispose the food waste on a covered trash bin.
- As mentioned earlier, do keep garbage cans securely covered
- Do not make feeding birds and squirrels a habit. Remember that birdseed will attract rats as they are also fond of that food.
- If you have standing water outside your house, it would be best to eliminate it
- Check for possible holes that will allow the rats to enter your house. Cover even the holes that are 1/2 inch in size because rats can pass through it. Furthermore, cover basement floor drains with secured lids.
- Do allow food waste, trash, and other junks pile up in your garage or shed.
Best Way to Get Rid of Rats Outside your House
*Keep your Garden Sanitized
One of the best way to get rid of rats outside your house is by sanitizing your garden regularly. Keep in mind that rats are most likely to invade untidy places. If you always keep your garden or lawn clean, it will not attract the rats because they are not comfortable to stay in tidy places. They are more likely to y in unopen places. That being said, the fewer garbage and junks you have outside your house, the better and the less likely for the rats to find a perfect place to hide and nest.
In addition to that, you should always trim your grass because rats are more likely to hide in tall grasses. This is because they will not easily get noticed. Also, eliminate piles of wood, cardboard, and other stuff that must be put in the garbage can.
If you have garbage cans outside your house, which is highly likely, make sure that they are properly closed. There must be no gaps or hole that will allow the rats to make their way inside the storage cans or bins. Keep in mind that rodents only need small spaces and holes, so carefully check for holes that are at least half an inch in size.
*Get Rid of Existing Rat Population
Before you make sure that there will be no rats invading your yard, you must completely get rid of the existing rat population. If you failed to eradicate all of them, the remaining hidden rats will just reproduce and then you will face the same problem again.
To make sure that there are no rats outside your house, there are several effective products online that you can buy. You can also look for pesticides on the nearest garden store. Normally, the products that will get rid of rats fall in to two types: traps and poison baits.
A lot of people find poison as an inhumane way to get rid of rats because such product allows the rat to experience the y of pain that will lead to death. Some people believe that rats are living creatures too and they do not deserve to be killed that way. This is why most people use mechanical traps instead.
When you use traps to get rid of rats, it will not necessarily kill them. These days, there are several kinds of traps, trap and release, snap trap, and live trap. The trap and release allows you to trap the rat and release him somewhere else. As for the live trap, it is trap that will let you catch a rat and watch him grow inside while giving him food. It would be inhumane to trap a rat in a live trap and wait for it to die. Another problem with this type of trap is that they are usually small so the rat will also find it uncomfortable to live in the trap and they will eventually die.
*Rat-Proof Your Garden and Lawn
After you get rid of the rats outside, you must make sure that they do not infest your yard. Look for any large cracks, leaks, and holes and repair them. There are always hole and cracks in building structure and yard gates. Do not allow the rats to crawl by painting it high gloss paint. Aside from that, you can also spray a rat repellant outside your house from time to time. This will make sure that rats will deem your yard as a perfect place to hide.
If you are in good terms with your neighbors, it might be a great idea to team up with them especially if the vermin surrounding your house is secured from rats.
With regular sanitizing you will prevent rat infestation outside your house. Als0, once your confirm that there is rat infestation act quickly and do something about it. Do not wait until the situation gets worse. If you think that over the counter pesticide will not get rid of them, you might need to hire pest control professional especially when dealing with pesticides as it is harmful to humans when ingested.
*Use essential oil
Rats are not fond of the smell of essential oils like peppermint and lavender. The scent that they hate the most is essential oil. That being said, it is effective to use peppermint in getting rid of rats outside your house.
To use essential oil, moist a cotton ball with pure peppermint oil and place in some areas in your garden where rat infestation is most likely to happen. You should consider placing near the garbage can, pet food, near the door, and other similar areas. Reapply the oil several times a week.
*Catnip
Another best way to get rid of rat outside your house is by using catnip. You can buy a catnip in a garden store or you can also order online. When placing catnip in your garden, be strategic and look for possible signs of rat activity. For instance, burrows and nests. Make sure to also place them somewhere near those holes and nests.
Final Words
Rat infestation is most likely to occur outside of your house if you do not keep it well-cleaned and if you do not use rat repellants. These are just some of the best way to get rid of rats outside your house. Refer to this article if rat infestation is confirmed and for some tips on how to prevent rat activity from occurring in your garden, garage, and lawn.
