DFW Rats (Dallas: rental, house, school)

[DallasG]

What is the most effective way to get rid of rats? I understand cleaning yard, cutting bushes, not feeding birds, not putting pet food out etc and have read all recipes from pepper to dryer sheets to traps and gum pallets. What really works and is it worth it to pay exterminators or DIY works?

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by DallasG

What is the most effective way to get rid of rats? I understand cleaning yard, cutting bushes, not feeding birds, not putting pet food out etc and have read all recipes from pepper to dryer sheets to traps and gum pallets. What really works and is it worth it to pay exterminators or DIY works?

Any chance you know someone with a Doberman Pinscher or a mini? Dobermans were bred in part to rat homes, barns and stables in Germany - they are rat killing machines.

I've had good luck with the old school spring loaded rat traps but if you have little kids I'd be leery. I set them about unsprung with peanut butter as bait, let the little buggers get used to the food. After a day or two I spring the trap.

[WorldKlas]

Put the rat bait stations around your exterior and keep them filled. They do a great job. I have been using them for years at my personal and rental properties. Also do your best to seal up any places you can find where rats can get in.

EZ Klean Rodent Bait Station + Fastrac Blox Kit

[BigDGeek]

I paid an exterminator, haven't had any issues since. Money well spent.

I also figured out what attracted them onto the property in the first place:

• An old, rotting shed for them to hide under
• Rotting daffodil bulbs in the shed that they were apparently eating
• Birdseed and "fatball" feeders in the yard, garage, and shed
• Dog food improperly stored in the garage

Once I got an exterminator in, stored the dog food in a metal container that rats couldn't get into, stopped feeding the birds, and tore down the shed...no worries.

[ChristieP]

Please make sure if you use poison, it won't "second kill", meaning it won't harm another animal that might eat the dying rat. Owls are particularly vulnerable to regular rat poison.

[WorldKlas]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Please make sure if you use poison, it won't "second kill", meaning it won't harm another animal that might eat the dying rat. Owls are particularly vulnerable to regular rat poison.

it is also extremely important to keep other animals from getting to the poison; and the reason I use bait stations because they are locked and the rat has to crawl in to get the bait so other wildlife and domestic pets cannot access the bait. Also the bait is protected from weather in a waterproof container so it won't deteriorate and flow out to nearby soil.

[DallasG]

Do exterminators come back to empty out traps and dispose dead rodents?

[WorldKlas]

Originally Posted by DallasG

Do exterminators come back to empty out traps and dispose dead rodents?

I found an exterminator that sealed, set baits, and came and reset and disposed of rats -- with a $500 one-time charge and a 3-year guarantee -- in the San Fransisco bay area for a house I was rehabbing and then selling (aka "flipping" hate that term, tho).

But here in the DFW area, the same service was quoted to me at $4K. I was shocked!

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by DallasG

Do exterminators come back to empty out traps and dispose dead rodents?

Mine never even offered, but he did warn me that the rats might stink up the place if they went into the crawlspace, walls, or attic to die. They did, and my house smelled like rotten chicken for a week. Then I had huge flies all over the place for another week. After that, no issues. But yeah, it STANK.

I didn't have any issues with decomposing rat bodies staining the walls or ceilings though, and I DID check thoroughly. I never saw any rat corpses in the attic, but there are probably some in the crawlspace. Didn't check there, don't care.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Please make sure if you use poison, it won't "second kill", meaning it won't harm another animal that might eat the dying rat. Owls are particularly vulnerable to regular rat poison.

Seconded.

ETA - I never use rat poison out of respect for other animals. Any animal that eats carrion is in danger of secondary poisoning from poisoned rats - cats, dogs, coyotes, all manner of birds and of course owls as ChristieP mentioned. I realize some positions are much less prone to secondary poisoning - I simply don't trust them enough to take the risk.

Just don't do it.