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Maximizing The Effectiveness of Mouse and Rat Traps

By Ben Mester

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 01Aug2011
Word count: 519
Viewed: 107 time(s)

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A lot of people suffer from rat and mouse infestations, especially in rural areas. The easiest thing is just to put out mouse and rat traps, but the traps don't always seem to work and it's hard to discourage the pests from setting up shop inside the home. Luckily, there are a few things you can do as a homeowner that can really help boost the effectiveness of your traps. The first thing you have to do is to think like a rodent. Rodents have two main jobs: to find a plentiful source of food, and to build a nest somewhere in a dark secluded spot. Usually they can find both inside of a home.

Keeping them from setting up shop in your home can sometimes be an impossibility. Your house is full of dark little corners where rats and mice can duck in and out, and unless you have a cat on staff, keeping a rat or mouse out that wants in is a daunting task. Sealing things up as tightly as possible is definitely recommended, but it won't always do the trick. Luckily, the second thing you do have control over, their food source. Rats, mice, and other rodents are very adept at finding food. Things that might not seem like rat or mouse food can often be nightly feasts for them. Taking away as much of their normal food supply and shelter as possible is a great way to ensure that the rodent will have no choice but the tempting little treat on your trap. Mouse and rat traps are sometimes ineffective because the rodents already have an ample supply of food elsewhere. They may be getting more than enough food from another source, probably one you haven't thought of yet.

Dog food is the most common feast that rats and mice dive into during the late watches of the night, while everyone else, including the dog, is fast asleep. Most homeowners don't think to clean out their dogs dish every night and make sure there aren't even any crumbs inside the bowl to entice the rodent to hang around. Since dogs generally sleep at night as well, rats and mice have pretty free reign over the house. Cats, on the other hand, are vigilant hunters at night and prowl around in search of prey. But if you leave food in your dog's bowl at night and you have a rat or a mouse in the home, you can be pretty sure that the rodent has found a great food supply that they won't be readily willing to give up. The rat might be only leaving his nest to make a straight run for the dog bowl once a night. He might not even ever stumble onto your trap. But if you take away as much of a rodent's luxuries as possible, the effectiveness of your traps should go up quite a bit. They'll have to go out and explore more for other sources of food, and will probably quickly find your traps.

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