Rats are sweeping across Australia. In 2021 alone, rats destroyed $1 billion worth of crops. 

But rats are also making their way into homes and destroying furniture, walls, and floors. If you have rats in your roof void, you need to take several measures to bring the infestation under control. Yet you don’t have to be inhumane while doing so.

What are humane methods of pest control? How can you keep rats from entering your home and spreading into other rooms? What are the natural deterrents and predators of rats? 

Answer these questions and you can take care of your own rat problem. Here is your quick guide.

Seal Your Roof Void

Rats are small enough to squeeze through any hole that you can place two fingers through. You must seal any holes in your walls and ceiling in order to keep rats from entering your house. 

If you can hire a handyman to repair and seal your walls, you should do so. But filling gaps with caulk, cement, and steel wool can be enough. 

Placing bulky furniture in front of the holes is not enough. Rats can still slip past your furniture, and they can use the furniture for shelter.

Check your walls and roof void every week to see if your seals are working. If they are not, you need to hire someone..

You should also prevent rats from leaving your roof void and going to other parts of your house. Keep your doors locked and place strips around your doors so rats cannot slip past them.

Remove Food and Water Sources

Rats can eat any available food source, including crumbs and rotten food. 

Rats also eat small animals like insects and birds. If you have a rodent problem and/or a pest infestation simultaneously, you should call a pest control company right away. 

Most rats get their water from food. But they can consume water out of drains or condensation. 

Take Out Nesting Materials

Outside your house, rats use grasses and weeds as sources of shelter. If you have grasses around your house, trim them so it’s harder for rats to remain out of sight. 

Inside homes, rats can use a number of materials for shelter. They can sneak underneath furniture and chip off wood to build nests, so move any wooden furniture / timber out of the roof space and into a storage unit. 

Rats like roof spaces because they are dark and rarely visited by people, but removing any stored items will make it harder for them to remain in place.

Many rats go inside walls. This makes it very difficult to remove them. Keep your ear out for any noises inside walls, and get help from professionals if you can’t drive them out.

Lay Out Traps

When people think about a poison-free method to end a rodent problem, they often think about rat traps. You can lay out basic traps that will snap around a rat’s neck. You should figure out where to put traps by trying to establish their path of travel.

However, traditional rat traps may only kill one rat at a time. A dead rat can spread bacteria and be unhygienic to remove. Inhumane glue traps can torture rats and be hard to clean.

You can try using cages that can contain multiple rats at once. Lay them out in the corners of your attic and use fruit and nut butter as bait. 

Make sure you remember where your traps are. Take photographs of them or draw yourself a map so you can get to your traps. Check them on a daily basis and remove them once they are full. 

Use Natural Deterrents

If traps don’t work, you can use several natural deterrents to drive rats out of your house. Peppermint oil is disgusting to rats. Dip cotton balls in a jar of peppermint oil and place them on the floors and inside the walls. 

Pepper flakes can make it hard for rats to breathe. Place them around the perimeter of your roof void entrance and underneath your furniture.

If you can’t find pepper flakes, you can use slices of onion and garlic instead. Remove the onion slices after a couple of days so they don’t rot. 

Ammonia can overpower rats, but it can also make it hard for you to breathe. You can create a mixture of water, detergent, and ammonia and spray it in the corners of your roof void. 

Large birds like owls are also predators of rats. If you have rats outside your house, you can build nest boxes to attract birds, and they can kill rodents and destroy exterior nests.

Get Rid of Rats in Your Roof Void

Rats in your roof void require your immediate attention. Seal your doors and walls. Get rid of anything that rodents can use to eat, drink, or build shelters with. 

Use traps and cages to contain your rodents. If you don’t want to hurt the rats, you can use natural deterrents like peppermint oil and ammonia to drive them out. Cats and large birds can kill rats outside your home.

If your methods are not working, you should bring in experienced professionals. Safeguard Pest Control serves Australian homes and businesses. Contact us today.