How Do We Get Rid Of Rats Without Killing Them?

Almost all of us do not want a rat loitering around our homes. It is unclean and can spread bacteria that cause diseases. It can gnaw on your clothes, electrical wirings and most of all your food. It scares your children and its bite can give rabies.

We want them eradicated from our homes immediately but our love for nature tells us that they are here to help maintain ecological balance thus we don’t want them totally eradicated from the face of the earth.

There are many who avoid rats by murdering them but of course we don’t want to be added to those murderers. So, the big question is ‘How can we get rid of rats without killing them?’. Here are  few ideas based from our own experiences , from materials we have read and from the experiences of our friends.  

Get A Predator To Scare Them Away.

Cats are known to be predators of rats. To get rid of rats naturally, let a cat live with you at home. You might say that cats kill rats so this is not a valid answer to the question. Yes that is true but it is also a part of the food web and is a natural way of lessening rat’s population.

Rats can smell its predators and runaway.  Once a rat smells your cat it will stay away from your house.  I remember, one time a rat was able to get inside our house thru our back door. It seemed lost and didn’t know the way out.  Our cats upon seeing it wandering chased it immediately.

They were not able to catch it but I never saw the rat again. One day I saw a hole on our window screen and I had a suspicion that it escaped from the claws of our cats thru that hole.

Try Dogs To Guard Your Yard.

We have five cats inside our home and two dogs outside the house but within our yard. Our dogs   run after any creature that gets inside our yard. It runs after cats, lizard, rats and even birds which try to steal their food.

Dogs are good natural deterrent to rats too. Once I was gardening, I remember our two dogs running very fast passing by me to catch a rat entering our fence. The rat turned back and ran away as fast as he could too.

Grow Plants Which Smell Too Bad For Rats.

There are plants that can dissuade rats into entering your property. The smell of these plants are very much unwelcoming for them that when they sense it they just turn back. We listed below plants we know that smells too bad for rats. You can try planting these around your house.

Onion

Oregano

Garlic

Tomato

In our experience we planted oregano around the house when we still didn’t have dogs yet. It was my mother who told me to do this because she said that it deters snakes.  I later knew that it also can deter rats.

Apply Chemicals That Are Deterrent To Rats

Ammonia.

I have read somewhere that ammonia smells like cat’s urine that is why rats upon smelling it would stay away from the place thinking that it is their predator’s territory. Cats mark their territories by urinating around it.

To use ammonia, one can have 2 to 3 cotton balls absorb ammonia and put it in a bottle.  Make 2 to 4 bottles depending on the size of the area.  Place it around where rats are frequently seen. Add more bottles with soaked cotton balls if rats are not being deterred or have a container with wider opening for the smell to spread. Stop doing it when rats do not visit the place for a week or two and repeat only when they return. Take note that too much ammonia is harmful.

Bleach

Bleach may also be used to deter rats. You can start with 70-30 solution of water and bleach and spray it on the walls or floors of the place where rats are visiting. Please take note that bleach can discolor your wall or floor. We suggest you try it in a small area before spraying it all over.  Don’t forget to wear a mask as the smell can affect your health. Please do not spray in the presence of your children as well.

Another way to use bleach is to soak cotton balls to it. Put it in a bottle and place it where the rat is frequenting. 

Naphthalene Balls Or Moth Balls

I remember when I was a child, my mother would put two or three white balls in my closest which I used to play with not knowing that these are dangerous to children especially when swallowed.

Moth balls can also deter rats. You can have 2 or 3 bottles with each containing 3-4 moth balls and place it around the place.  

Mothballs melts in the air. Replace the balls when deterring is still needed.

Cleanliness Is Still The Best Deterrent to Rats.

All the suggestions we provided may not work because of different factors but there is one thing that we believe can really work. That is to maintain cleanliness of the surroundings in and out of your house. Rats will never stay for long where there is no food nor water. Ensuring cleanliness of your place will deprive them of their dietary needs.  Here are some few suggestions on cleaning your surroundings.

1. Keep your trash in a container that rats cannot penetrate.
2.  Always cover your pet’s food. Ensure that rats cannot share with it.
3. As much as possible maintain the surroundings dry and keep your water containers closed at all times. Ensure that rats have nothing to drink within your place.
4. Regularly sweep the yard. Ensure there is no fallen fruits that can be feasted on by rats.
5. Regularly clean your house. Ensure that there is no decaying plants, fruits, meat and anything that can attract rodents.

Rats are truly pestering but please do not forget that they are here for a purpose.  As mentioned above it helps maintain the ecological balance and complement the food web. We do not have to kill them if we do not like them.

What about you? What can you say? We hope you can share your thoughts with us by leaving your comments.

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