Rats are quick-to-adapting, well-surviving rodents that reside in our nearby areas. It does not matter what place or what environment you are living in. Rats can reach you at any part of the land and can infested with diseases. You may perceive their presence through several damages in your indoor and outdoor places.
There are commonly three types of rodents that invade our house area, these are – house mice, brown rats, and black rats. Rats and mice are two different species. Both of them require different precautions for extermination . Indoor and outdoor prevention methods are also different. We have researched some remedies for you, and how to get rid of them from your backyard.
Key Takeaways
- It is easy to eradicate rats from our indoor areas but expelling them from our backyard is not an effortless task. Most people take professional services for rat removal.
- Some common symptoms of rats’ existence in your backyard are- a small burrow in the yard, noises, gnaw marks on the tent’s fabric, cable wires, and outdoor wooden furniture, rotten odor in the backyard, damage to the vegetable bed, etc.
- Rat prevention includes- filling burrows with dry ice, cement, rodenticides, and chalk; using baits and poisons; covering the backyard with wire nets, etc.
- We highly encourage you to work with the whole neighborhood community preventing rat infestation. You may be aware that rats can escape from one house to another by crossing the backyard fence.
- We have to trim our backyard shrubs and trees and remove all the wood piles and wastage from our backyard to prevent rat infestation.
- Rats hate fragrant vegetation. You can plant them in the backyard.
How to Keep Backyard Rats Free?
Indoor territories of a house are small thus it is easy to drive away rats by using traps, food poisoning, and other tricks. But the outdoor area is significantly large. Moreover, one house property is adjacent to another. Though you are successful to remove rats from your house, the backyard’s condition will depress you every time, when more rats will come from your neighborhood areas.
There are certain rat-killing ideas we are going to provide you, which are-
We have to stop their reproduction
The rats’ reproduction rate is very high. A female can give birth to 22 offspring in a single time. That is why to prevent their invasion, we have to act very quickly. It is better to spray rodenticides inside the dents of rats; it will kill their offspring too.
We can apply food poison to kill them. For this, we have to mix a small amount of poison with the rat’s favorite foods. Then spread them in the backyard area. Normally, these poisons do not work immediately. That is why, when rats consume these foods they will not die instantly. However, they will bring poisonous foods to their babies and the food will eventually kill them too.
We need to destroy their hiding places and burrows
Rats are quickly adopted in any environment and area. So, we have to search every corner of our surroundings to find out their inhabitants. They usually build nests in grassy and over-vegetated areas but during breeding seasons in winter they dug longer dents to breed.
That is the perfect time to destroy them properly. Some effective rodenticides are available in the market; you can use them. Dry ice is a costly option but it contains carbon monoxide and this chemical can suffocate the rats inside their burrows. Filling the rat dents with chalk and cement is far cheaper than this but a less effective way.
Metal or plastic nets to prevent their entrance
We can kill them easily but then other can enter our area instantaneously. There is no other way that is more effective than covering the backyard and garden areas with nets. Metal net is expensive and plastic net is quite affordable for everyone.
Communal prevention
A single initiative will not refrain rats from coming into your backyard. A neighbor’s house can be a supply house of rats contrary to your initiative. That is why it is better to make everyone conscious of rats’ harmful effects and encourage them to take a combined initiative.
Everyone should start applying rodenticides around their house property altogether. It will expel rats from the whole residential area.
Some steps can Prevent their Entrance into the Backyard
After eradication, we need to apply some supplementary repelling remedies to get rid of rats. It will reduce their entrance and breeding in the backyard. Those preventive steps are:
- We have to cut and clear our backyard’s overgrown vegetation.
- Rats like wastage and scattered arrangements of materials. We have to remove compost piles and debris from our backyard.
- Trees and shrubs are okay in the backyard; we just have to keep an eye on their growth rate and height.
- Sometimes, the overgrown trees need to be trimmed and dead trees need to be cut down.
- We should not make a pile of trash in our backyard, it attracts rats.
- We can apply a natural method to repel the rats from our backyard. Rats do not like citronella fragrance, they try to avoid this scent. Therefore, we can plant such trees in our backyard to discourage them from coming back. Mint and lemongrass also keep them away effectively.
- Whenever we notice any symptoms of rat infestation, we have to contact a city official to take preventive measures.
Why should we Expel Rats?
One good morning, you may find your food in a scattering way, your cable wire sparks when you are on the switch, or maybe your valuable deluxe couch cover is worn away! Be certain, these things are enough to devastate your morning peace. Sometimes, their actions cause great damage to the house owner, even if it can result in a fire!
The rats’ growth rate will make you perplexed if you allow them in your house and backyard. Your kids will lose the freedom to roam the whole yard because of them. Their size will surprise you when you will start to compare them with your pets!
This can be tolerable but if they transmit diseases then the situation will skip away from your hand. They can spread diseases like tularemia, salmonella, LCMV, hantavirus, leptospirosis, etc. Your idleness can bring dangers like these to your family and pets. Moreover, wild rats cause severe damage to our house properties.
Things you should Keep in Mind
You should be cautious about certain aspects when you start poisoning your backyard to get rid of rats. Rodenticides and rat baits are toxic substances; therefore, you should use them while keeping certain things in your mind. They are:
- You should never apply rodenticides and baits inside your house, it can harm your children’s and pets’ health.
- Some rodenticides are soluble in water. For that reason, you have to apply them in the winter or summertime, when there is a little chance to rain. Usually, during the rainy season, these chemicals are washed away by rainwater and contaminate some sources of water like ponds or rivers. So, be careful about their application.
- Rodent traps can be applicable to catch the rats but there are some problems also. You have to use a large number of traps in your backyard to kill a satisfactory number of rats. When you put them in the ground, make sure that your kids and pets do not go towards them. Inadvertence can lead to a serious accident.
You can take a professional help
We can suggest to you some rodent-killing professional companies. They have always done an amazing job to remove rats from your territory. You just need to search their website and follow the given instruction to contact them. they are:
FAQs
1. How can I get rid of rats naturally?
There are rat-repelling plants you will get in a nursery or super shops. Rats hate their fragrance. You can try citronella plant, marigold, or mint plant to repel rats from your backyard.
2. How can I get rid of rats overnight?
You can get rid of rats overnight by taking professional service. There is some company serves people by giving their expert advice and technical service.
3. Which attracts rats most?
Rats are fond of wastage, overgrown weedy areas, and wood piles. They also need a warm and watery environment for their breeding. If your backyard provides one of these elements to them, yes, they will come to your backyard certainly.
4. Which kills rats effectively?
Most rodenticides and rat baits that are available in the markets work effectively to prevent rat infestation. You can try any one of them.
5. Should I use rat-killing baits inside my home?
No, you should not. These poisons can kill your pets.
6. Which plant keeps away rats most?
The citronella plant is the most hated plant of the rats. You can plant them more in your backyard.
Final Thoughts
Most rodent species are harmful to our environment, house property, and our own health. We prevent them for our own well-being. But we have to be careful while we apply these methods. So, we highly suggest you take a professional service to avoid unwanted incidents. Have a healthy life!
I am Donald M. Beyer and I am backyard enthusiasts. I am a homeowner who has been doing DIY projects in and out of my house for many years. From simple backyard lunches to making an old-school pizza oven in my own backyard, I have a lot of experience in turning my backyard into my and my family’s personal playground.
