Tips To Get Rid Of And Keep Rats Out Of Your Yard
During spring clean-up in your yard you might find that you have a new rat infestation on your property. Because you don't want to harbor rats in your yard or allow them to enter your home because of their diseases they carry, it is important to eliminate them from your yard. Here are some recommendations to help you get rid of rats living in your yard and keep them from returning.
Clean Up Your Yard
Rats that congregate in your yard do so because they have found a nice comfortable environment there where they can hide and gain access to food and water. Rats do not like open spaces so they will try to find places they can conceal themselves and remain safe. Then, they will build a nest and reproduce quickly, having as much as one litter of babies each month.
It is important to clean out areas from your yard where they can hide, such as wood piles, overgrown grasses and weeds, wood pallets and other trash you might have stored in your yard. Keep your vegetation trimmed up to prevent a rat home, and close up access to food sources. Some types of food sources for rats include open trash cans, food for dogs, cats, and chickens, and fruit or nuts that may fall from your trees. You need to keep your pet food available for use each day, just be sure to keep it in a sealed container that a rat cannot get into.
Hire Professional Extermination
After you have cleaned up your yard and taken out any food source opportunities for rats, you will need help with a pest control professional to trap and get rid of the rats. A professional pest control company has a variety of methods they can use in your yard to get rid of rats, such as with traps and poisons. If you have other animals in your yard that you don't want to risk getting into the poison, request your extermination professional to use rat traps and non-poisonous methods.
Once your rat extermination professional has trapped and eliminated all the rats from your property, it is a good idea to leave a few traps in place. This will provide additional protection to your yard if any new rats decide to move in. If your yard has rats it is a high probability that your neighbors also have a similar problem, especially if they have a lot of clutter and materials in their yard that create a protection for rats. You can keep an eye on the traps regularly or ask your exterminator professional to return periodically to check them.
