Live Traps for Rodents

Your neighbors keep complaining about the family of rats that have just taken residence in their garage and nibbling on the groceries in the pantry.

The worst part is that they seem to be multiplying and have found ways to avoid the family cat during their pillaging. If that wasn’t enough, the people who recently moved in the home adjacent to your residence are just moving out again.

The cause? their real estate agent who recommended the home to them in the first place conveniently failed to mention the family of mice that had already taken up residence before them.

Should you be worried?

Know where the pests that are driven out might end up next? That’s right, your home. This shouldn’t come as a surprise since your abode will be the nearest source of food and shelter for any manner of pest that decides to make a hasty exit from your neighbor’s home.

Fortunately, you do not need to buy gallons of rat poison to get rid of the pests. Live traps work better and offer people a humane way to exterminate them.

What are Live Traps

Live traps are not designed to kill rodents or even harm them in any way. This might seem counterproductive; however, such mechanisms are a welcome relief for animal lovers or people who prefer humane methods of extermination.

Live traps are small boxes that are fitted with trap doors. All you have to do is put some bait in one, set the trap up and wait. Once a rodent sniffs out the bait, it will scurry inside the box. Once it steps on the pressure plate of the box, the lid will close and trap the mouse inside. After that, you can easily lift the box up, take it a few yards away from your home and release the pest.

Other Types of Humane Traps

You will need a lot of live traps if you have a whole family of rodents to contend with. It certainly won’t be an inexpensive option. Fortunately, there are other types of humane traps that you can use for your pest problem –

• Electric Mouse Traps

As the name implies, electric mouse traps are designed to trap rodents and electrocute them. The more high tech variety claims to kill rats off in less than five seconds flat. One of the most convenient aspects of the gadgets is that they conceal their prisoners. This will allow you to dump a rat’s carcass without touching or even seeing it.

• Snap Traps

Be careful about how you use these and where you place them especially if you have children or pets in the house. The spring packs quiet a punch, and it should, considering that it is supposed to instantly kill off any rodents that tries to snatch the attached bait.

Popular cartoons might make you think that cheese would be the best bait for a snap trap but rodents are known to snatch the cheesy bait and run before the trap has the chance to snap. Situations like these call for a smarter solution. Take a piece of cloth and spread some peanut butter on it before wrapping it around the trigger.

The scent should make a rodent linger near the trap and give it the chance to snap shut before the rodent gets wise.

Stop them from Infiltrating your Home

Rodent infestations are a pain. But the pests can’t infest what they cannot enter. Fortunately, there are ways through which you can ensure that the pests never infiltrate your home. Here is what you can do –

Windows and Doors

Rats and other manner of pests like roaches can easily get in a space through small openings. The bottom of your door or a window that doesn’t shut all the way might be just what a pest may need to get inside your home.

You can prevent rodents from crawling inside through the gap under the door if you install a steel threshold beneath it. A door sweep will also help prevent any insects from squeezing through. Inspect the windows for any warping and repair where it is necessary.

Of course, none of your sealing efforts will work if your kids keep forgetting to close the door on their way in or out. A self closing door would be your best bet in cases such as these.

Screens

You don’t have to seal yourself in completely. The atmosphere is bound to get stuffy if your home doesn’t have proper ventilation especially during hot summer days. The season is also the worst time of year for all manner of pests that will try to enter your home.

You can ensure proper ventilation and prevent rodents or any other manner of pests from infiltrating your home.

Not only do rodents create unsanitary conditions wherever they go, some of them are also known to carry diseases. That is not something that you would want in your home. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they deserve a painful demise. They need food and shelter like all living things and are not choosy about where they get it.

You can use humane traps, such as live traps, to ensure that the pests never come near your home and without harming them in the process.