Rats carry deadly diseases and terrorize our homes. They destroy the grains, walls, clothes, and other hard things. Rats have very sharp teeth to cut anything, to dig holes in the walls.
You can get rid of rats by using chemicals (rat poison), but this is not good for other animals living in our homes. Animals like dogs, cats, and squirrels die if they eat the poison. Also, rats want to live somewhere on this earth. Use natural hacks to catch them and leave them somewhere else. Apply the various methods to repel them out of the home. Read article to know the rat-deterring methods:
- Search for the evidence in or near your home
If you want to expel the rats from your home, find evidence of their presence in the home.Search for the holes, scratches, cloths cut, rat waste, and listen to their sound. After checking the evidence inside, check outside of your home. Search for rats drooping, footprints, gnawed things, and strange smells.
- Seal all the possible entry points and holes
If you notice the presence of rats in your surroundings, seal all the possible entry holes. The rats may enter through doors, windows, and holes. Use rat-repelling things to avoid their entry. Moreover, use soil, cement, cloth, and strips to seal the holes. If possible, ask your neighbour to seal all the gaps. In this way, you can avoid the infestation to your home.
- Clean your yard to remove the rats
The rats prefer living under the clutter in your home or yard. If you find clutter in or around your home, clean it up to repel the rats. Clean the food particles, seal the gaps, and spray the strong smell which detracts the rats.
- Use a clean and dry dustbin in the backyard
Clean the bin/trash on a regular basis as it is a food treasure for the rats. Keep the bin empty and covered to stop the infestation. In the absence of food material, they will start moving to a new place. Replace your old Bin with a new one because the rats can gnaw it to eat food inside it.
- Make compost under the wire mesh
Compost contains perishable food material. So, the compost becomes a food hunting place for the rats. To avoid rats’ reach to compost, cover it with a wire mesh. The wired-mesh prevents their entry. Another way is to spray something around the compost that repels the rats.
- Keep food out of reach of rats
Rats come to your home in search of food and shelter. If you have covered food and water, they can’t stay longer without food and water. The rats can feed upon seeds, nuts, berries, pet food, squirrel food, garbage, and dairy products. Keep all this food covered to stop the rats’ infestation.
- Prune the trees and keep them under observation
If you have a garden in your home, prune the plants regularly to stop the infestation of rats. Their population grows fast as a female rat can become pregnant more than seven times in a year. To check infestations in your garden prune the trees and also, observe the rats’ evidence. They feed on different fruits and gnaw the fruits. Don’t eat gnawed fruits. Use a rattrap under the tree to catch them.
- Let your cat and dog roam in the courtyard
We know the rats are afraid of cats and dogs; they move away from the house wherever they find these animals. It is a great way where you do not need to do any manual work to expel the rats from the house. The rats do not make noise if they experience dogs or cats. If they experience a daily presence, they leave the place. Other rats’ predators can also reduce the rats’ population.
- Use a Mousetrap
Using mice and rats trap is a great way to catch them without killing. What do you need to do? , Buy a rat trap cage from the market and keep it near the rats. Keep something edible inside it that attracts the rats. When the rats smell the food inside it, they enter the trap from which they cannot come out. In this way, you can get rid of rats in a few days.
- Use essential oil extracts
Use some essential oils to repel the rats/mice from your home. Essential oils have a good smell but the same detract the rats from your homes. Moreover, use peppermint oil to repel the rats from the house. Most of the homes may have essential oils moreover; these oils are also available online.
- Use onion and garlic
The rats dislike the strong smell of onion and garlic and you can use these to repel the rats from the house. Keep the onion and garlic where the rats live. The pungent smell of onions helps in warding off the rats. But, the onions may be toxic to other pets living there as it rots. So, replace the onions daily.
- Get proper lighting in the house
Rats and mice like dark corners in the house and avoid lighted areas. Maintain proper lighting in the house to repel the rats/mice. Keep windows, doors, and all passages open from where the light comes.
- Use steel wool to cover the hole
Rats can cut the hard plastic, but fail to cut the steel wool. You can use steel wool to seal the holes. Find the holes through which the rats make their entry. Steel wool prevents entry into the home.
- Grow rat-deterring herbs
Homeowners have been growing the herbs that deter the rats from ancient times. Oregano, Sage, Rosemary, Basil, and black pepper are potential herb plants. These plants can deter the rats’ entry into your home. This is one of the proven ways to keep rats away from the home and do pest control easily.
Also Read: How to Decide Where to Live – Moving Guide
Author: Monali Swain is a Senior SEO Executive at DR Infosoft Pvt. Ltd. Currently, she is serving her work for various business oriented websites like transportation, real estate, pest control, health care etc. You can see her potential through her work. Check her profile for more.
