Earlier this month, a wildlife specialist for the Oregon State University Extension Service was quoted in an article on OregonLive.com. The article featured some tips on how to prevent rats from getting into your garden or inside your home.
Here are some portions of that article; and you are welcome to click the link to read the entire article:
To help control rats, Sanchez said neighbors should work together to share information and help keep areas clean. Finding collaborative solutions includes working to come up with strategies with city and county vector departments, which are charged with rodent control among other things.
“Rats are very intelligent and resourceful,” Sanchez said. “Simply putting down a trap and expecting a rat to fall into it won’t work. They inspect and avoid things new in the environment. Rats have an amazing ability that once they figure out something has made them sick, they will avoid it in the future.”
Sanchez provides some tips for managing rats:
- Don’t leave uneaten pet food outside. Keep pet food stored in plastic bins.
- Store indoor food properly, in containers if possible. Don’t leave untended food out on counters.
- Thin out dense brush that provides shelter.
- Keep bird seed off the ground by using baffles. Hang bird feeders away from eaves or fences that give rats easy access.
- Use the hot compost process or a contained system. At the very least, keep food scraps out of compost piles.
- Clean up fruit that’s dropped to the ground.
- Repair gaps larger than ¼ inch around doors, windows, crawl space screens, attic vents and any other place where holes may provide access.
- Keep garbage in a plastic bin with a lid.
- Make sure rats don’t have access to chicken feed or chickens, which they can kill. Use a smaller aperture hardware cloth rather than chicken wire. Bury the bottom several inches below ground. Make sure coop is rat proof by closing up any holes bigger than a nickel.
If you are looking for residential or commercial rodent removal and rat birth control services in the Portland area, then you are welcome to visit the town page of interest to you which we serve: