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All About Rats
Mice and Rat Species

 
 

Rat Control Solutions

Remove
Live catch traps may be used as rat traps to humanely capture and release rats. They should be placed where activity has been seen. Suggested baits for rat traps are cheese, bread, birdseed, peanuts and peanut butter.

Live catch rat trap

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Lethal Control
Victor Electronic Rat Trap is the most innovative rat control solution in the market. Kills in seconds! Place them along walls or behind appliances.

Victor electronic rat trap

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Rodenticides
Rodenticides are a convenient and effective method of rodent control.  Rodent bait packs can be used for indoor and outdoor control and can be placed along walls, by gnawed openings in or beside burrows, in corners or in locations where rodents and their signs have been seen.

Victor rodenticides

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Repel
Ultrasonic devices are an excellent alternative to poisons and trapping. These devices give off an inaudible sound to humans or non-rodent animals, but keeps rats out of your house.

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Exterminate
A good exterminator can also solve your rat problems.

 

 
All About Rats
Norway Rat
There are two basic types of rats – the black or roof rat and the Norway or brown rat. European settlers probably brought the black rat with them as stowaways, while the Norway arrived around 1775 starting their own revolution by killing off their cousin, the black rat. Today, the Norway rat has taken up residency almost continent-wide, while the black rat has chosen the coastal areas of the southern, southeastern and western United States. In comparison, the Norway rat is slightly larger in appearance.

Wherever food and shelter are plentiful, that’s where you’ll find Norway rats. Parks and recreational areas, older industrial areas, rail yards and back alleys are a real breeding ground for both species. Sewers, abandoned warehouses and garbage refuges are also places that rats frequent due to the abundance of food. The Norway rat typically likes to live in burrows underground or inside walls, whereas the black rat loves to climb and can be found in upper levels of buildings more often than Norway rats. Black rats use nests and make their home in trees or vines.

Rats can reproduce young four to six times a year having litters of four to ten. Once they have reached the age of three to six months, they have the ability of reproducing. One female can wean about twenty young a year. Life expectancy for a rat is about nine months.Black Roof Rat

Black and Norway rats will consume many different types of plant and animal foods such as seed that has been spilled from bird feeders or pet food that has been left outdoors. One ounce of food is all that is needed in one day for a rat to survive with some access to water. Norway rats will eat insects, meat refuse, bird eggs, and, given the opportunity, will devour small mammals and mice.

Rat Problems

Contamination of Food
Food contamination by their urine and feces is one of the major problems humans face with rats. Rats contaminate huge percentages of agricultural produce each year and have been known to contaminate food stuffs such as popcorn.

Disease
Rats are enormous carriers of many different diseases, and it has been reported that rats bite more than fifteen thousand people per year involving very young, old or incapacitated. Some of the diseases caused by rats are bubonic plague, salmonella, leptospirosis, hantavirus and tularemia.

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Checking Your Property
The size of a quarter is the size of the hole that is needed for a rat to find its way inside your home or dwelling. Holes of this size should be sealed with heavy-weight material, i.e. heavy-gauge screening, or can be plugged with wire mesh. Caulking or foam sealants can be used, but only in conjunction with screening or wire mesh as rats can eat their way through these sealants.

Avoiding Facilitating Perfect Habitat Conditions
Good sanitation is essential to keep rats away. Keep the grounds near your dwelling free of debris food stuffs need to be kept in sealed “rat proof” containers. Birdseed, lawn clippings and garbage are another attractant for rats. Use tightly closed garbage containers. Do not have your pet’s food outside, but, if your pet resides outside, feed him and collect the food after twenty minutes.

All About Rats
Mice and Rat Species


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Victor® pest control, rodents, mouse traps, rat traps, moles, gophers. A variety of these products are available online on the Victor Pest Store. Victor®, is a registered trademarks of Woodstream Corporation, 69 N. Locust St., Lititz, PA. All other products mentioned are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies.  © 2003 Woodstream Corporation. All rights reserved.

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