Where to release a rat?

Rather than looking for more powerful and potentially dangerous ways to kill rats, the only real answer to people’s conflicts with these animals is to alter the habitats in which they choose to live to make them less attractive and acceptable.

Food: Rats will eat anything a human will, and more. But worse damage is done by their urine and feces which are left behind on any uneaten food.

Burrows: Although rats may create damage with their borrowing, it’s usually more superficial than structural.

Chewing: Since their front teeth grow all their lives rats, chew on things to keep them worn down. This can be dangerous when they gnaw on electrical wiring.

Public Health: Rats can carry many diseases that are harmful to people.

Tolerating rats is not something many people want to do. For many reasons people and rats are unlikely to coexist peacefully. But coexist we will, as perhaps more than any other wild animal, rats have adapted to living among humans. That we do not generally tolerate their presence does not mean that we need to use dangerous and inhumane methods to destroy them—or accept a no-holds-barred way to controlling their numbers.

Trapping rats may not address the full problem. The best way to control rats is to discourage them from taking up residence in the first place. Typically, conditions that support high rat populations are left until there is a real crisis at hand. Then the poisons are used or trapping employed to reduce the population, only to leave unaddressed the cause of the problem in the first place. Any effort to limit rat populations must be followed by taking the necessary steps—exclusion and sanitation—to make sure the same problems never happen again.

Burrows may indicate the presence of rats, but could also indicate other burrowing animals such chipmunks. Never attempt to control a wildlife problem without being sure what species of wildlife you are dealing with.

To find out if the burrow is in current use, loosely fill it with soil or leaves and check it in a day or two to see if it has been reopened.

Rats can enter buildings through many openings:

Varpel Rope® is registered as a repellent for mice and rats. The active ingredient is used in making mothballs. No repellent has ever been found to work permanently on rats, so in using any that is sold for that purpose, keep this in mind.

Good sanitation is the best and most economical way to control rats. Follow these steps to keep rats away or to keep their numbers in check:

Where rats continue to be a problem around buildings, you can use an L-shaped barrier of either hardware cloth or concrete to prevent burrowing along foundations long-term. Bury the footer about 12 inches deep and extend it out from the foundation about 12 inches. When a rat tries to dig into the foundation he won’t be able to get past the barrier.

There are no truly humane ways to kill rodents, only methods that are less inhumane. Rats are killed with poisons, snap traps, glue boards, and maze-type traps that drown them. Based on what is known about these methods, the traditional snap trap, and perhaps the newer traps that use an electrical charge to stun and kill, seems to be the least inhumane. This doesn’t mean that rats won’t suffer in these traps—they almost certainly will.

With the use of lethal control, animals will suffer. So keep in mind, the need to control rats is largely the result of a lack of cleanliness in the immediate environment.

Mice and rats are complex, unique beings with the capacity to experience a wide range of emotions. Highly intelligent, they’re natural students who excel at learning and understanding concepts.

Much like humans, mice and rats are very social animals. They become attached to one another, love their families, and enjoy playing, wrestling, and sleeping curled up together.

Mice and rats are fastidiously clean animals who groom themselves several times a day and are less likely than dogs or cats to transmit parasites and viruses.

Did You Know?

Learn more awe-inspiring facts and read more stories about rats, mice, and other animals in the bestselling book Animalkind.

Glue traps and poisons are futile, dangerous to humans, and extremely cruel, as animals often spend days suffering before eventually dying in agony. Poisons are highly toxic to humans and pose risks to companion animals and nontarget wildlife who come into contact with them or with the bodies of poisoned rodents. Glue traps also pose risks to all small animals as well as posing disease risks to humans (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautions against their use). Furthermore, lethal methods never work to keep rodents away in the long run and will actually backfire. This is because when animals are killed or otherwise removed, the resultant spike in the food supply causes accelerated breeding among survivors and newcomers—and this means increased populations!

Effective rodent-control programs are integrative and adaptive and focus on repellents, deterrents, and exclusion. Rodents are attracted to areas with adequate food sources and shelter, both indoors and outdoors. Eliminate access to food by keeping counter surfaces, floors, and cabinets free of crumbs and storing dry food and pet food in chew-proof containers. Seal trash (use bungee cords on lids), pick up your animal companions’ food at night and never feed them outdoors, pick up fallen fruit and vegetables in orchards and gardens if possible, and never feed wildlife. Reduce hiding places by keeping grass and vegetation trimmed back and by storing outdoor furniture, grills and barbecues, and wood piles away from buildings.

Next, determine where the animals are entering and frequenting by using a flashlight to locate entry points such as holes and cracks, gaps around pipes and doors, etc. (Rats can slip into buildings through quarter-size holes, and mice can squeeze into dime-size holes.) Feces and signs of chewing or food storing can also help determine the places that rodents frequent. Repel rodents by using ammonia-soaked rags or cotton balls (animals won’t like the smell and will leave), an indoor/outdoor radio (set to rock music or talk radio), or a strobe light. Once animals have been repelled, seal entry points temporarily using steel wool or insulation. Once you’re sure animals are gone, cover the area with foam sealant, hardware cloth, or metal flashing.

After rodent-proofing the building, any animals who remain can be live-trapped during mild weather and released nearby.

Live cages or box traps are humane so long as they are checked hourly. Mice and rats can die from stress-induced disorders, exposure, or dehydration in just a few short hours. Traps should be scrubbed with a mild bleach solution (to eliminate food smells), disabled, and securely stored when not in use—especially during cold weather and times when they cannot be checked hourly!

Many hardware stores and humane societies—as well as PETA—sell live mousetraps. Havahart Chipmunk Traps #0745 can be used to live-trap rats. Bait traps with peanut butter or Trapper’s Choice Loganberry paste, which can be ordered from U-Spray at 1-800-877-7290. Place a dab of peanut butter underneath the trigger mechanism at the back of the trap (if there is no trigger, place the bait on a small wooden block set at the back of the trap and place a dab of the loganberry paste, if you have it, on top of the peanut butter). The bait must be at the very back of the trap so that the rodent’s tail won’t get caught in the trap door, which can break it. Set the traps against walls in areas frequented by rodents (i.e., places where you’ve seen droppings). Again, the traps must be checked hourly and disabled when this isn’t possible!

In a pinch, you can also make a humane rodent trap by placing dry oatmeal and peanut butter in a small plastic waste basket. Stack bricks or books along one side so that the rodent can climb up and jump into the basket—once inside, the animal won’t be able to climb back out.

Captured mice and rats can be kept calm by placing a towel over the trap. Release them within 100 yards of where they were trapped. (Rodents can also be humanely euthanized by a veterinarian or at a local animal shelter.) Releasing a mouse or rat into a strange area will almost surely result in the animal’s death because relocated animals don’t know where to find adequate food, water, or shelter and often become weak and succumb to predation or foreign parasites or disease against which they lack natural immunity.

Animals will always return to somewhere they know they can find food and shelter, unless there is a better alternative. Therefore, when disposing of a mouse or rat, you need to take them at least a couple of miles away, or they will find their way back.

Stopping further problems means finding the means of entry and food sources and plugging them. Tagging experiments have shown the lengths rodents will go to return to a safe place with a reliable food source. There have been reports of mice and rats covering two miles to return to a property, and you should be sure to take any rodent you have trapped at least this distance away from your home to ensure your houseguest does not return.

Squirrels

Squirrels that have been live trapped are even more of a problem than mice to get rid of. In the UK it is actually illegal to release a grey squirrel that you have caught, so you will find that a pest control company will be called to kill it for you, unless you want to keep it as a pet. Even if you could release it legally, squirrels find it even easier than mice to travel long distances and once they have found a suitable nesting spot they will be unwilling to leave. The only way to dispose of problem squirrels is humane dispatch by a professional pest control company.

Humane Trapping

You should release it away from your home, but in a safe environment. Try to find a wooded area at least a mile away from your property and release it with a bit of food. That way you can be sure you've dealt with your pest in the most humane way possible.