Cuyahoga County, Cleveland Rat Control Situation:
David, Thanks for the informative site. We live on the meadow, near Cleveland, Ohio. We have rats that have done significant damage to our cars. Our house is well sealed, and have had none inside the house that we are aware of. Below the house we have about 20 traps set with peanut butter, but after 5 days, have not caught a single rat. Some traps have no bait left, a couple have been tripped, but no rats were caught. I understand poison is not a good choice. How do we stop them from damaging our cars? Interestingly, we've lived here for 9 years and never had a problem before this year, can't figure out what changed. Thanks for any advice. Best, Gerry
Hello. I have rodents in the attic/under gutter. When can I have someone come out to remove them and how much is it? Other option is trying to remove them ourselves. Were do we find a trap? We have squirrels entering our attic through the exhaust fan. Although a screen was placed over the fan about six months ago, the squirrels rendered that ineffective. What can we do?! I thought I'd let you know that the device I used worked perfectly, and the squirrels exited the attic, and so far, have not gotten back in. I'm going to give it another day or so, and seal the hole and remove the 'cage'. It was much preferable to climbing a ladder daily to release trapped rats. Mitch
Would appreciate your professional advice on: 1) removal and installation of attic insulation; a local pest control company partially removed, sanitized and installed new insulation around 6 years ago but problem persisted; we cannot get rid of bird mites or rat mites in the house; sent specimen to pest control lab who identified pest as bird mites; we've had rats in the attic as well; can removal and installation of new attic insulation solve the problem? can you recommend a company in Cleveland OH to do this? 2) gophers, who have taken over the ravine behind the house; how does one control these pests? gardener has used poison but they keep coming back & multiplying. Thanks for any assistance you may offer.
Cleveland Rat Control Tip of The Week
Using Exclusion Funnels To Get Rid Of Rats Without Killing Them
Rats are probably the second most common species of rodent to be found in our towns and cities after rats, and like their larger relations, they can also often find their way into many different areas of the domestic property. Because rats can carry diseases, and can also transmit them by soiling food and water sources, it is natural to want to get rid of them as soon as possible. Exclusion funnels are one approach that can be used to try and get rid of rats from your home.
How Do The Exclusion Funnels Work?
Ultimately, the funnels are designed so that the rats can easily get in through the wide end of the funnel, and can then push themselves out of the narrow end of the funnel when they are leaving a particular area of your property. However, when they try to get back in the narrow end of the funnel the entrance is too small and cannot be prized open, meaning the rats are not able to get back into the area where they are causing the problem. The key aspect with exclusion funnels is that the rats really do need to be contained in one area of the home.
Preparation Work To Install Your Exclusion Funnels
The first step before you install any exclusion funnels in your property is to carry out a detailed search of where they are active, and then to identify all of the holes the rats are using to get in and out of that area. The reason for this is that you need to be able to deal with each entry point the rats may use so that when you install the funnels, they cannot simply come back in through another entry point. While carrying out this work, it is usually a wise precaution to wear long sleeved clothing and gloves, along with a breathing mask and goggles to protect yourself from any disease transmission.
Where To Place Your Exclusion Funnels
It is usually best to only place one or two exclusion funnels, and then seal the remaining access points that you can find in the area where the rats are nesting. When choosing which entry points to install your exclusion funnels, the best options are usually those that have the heaviest traffic, and should be indicated by a greater buildup of rat droppings and urine stains.
Monitoring The Rat Activity In Your Home
Once you have installed the exclusion funnels, the next step is to monitor the area to see how effective the funnels have been. In some cases, this part of the work can actually prove to be quite trial and error, as the rats will often have other secret entry points that you may not have found on your first search of the area. In this instance you will then have to search the area again, and try and find the other access point the rats are using to get in and out.
The Challenges Of Using Exclusion Funnels To Deal With Rats
One of the key benefits of using exclusion funnels to deal with rats is that it doesn?t kill the animals so you don?t have to dispose of any carcasses. However, this also means that the rats can try and find other ways to get into your home, which means it can take longer to deal with them than if you were to use lethal means to deal with a rat infestation. The other issue with using exclusion funnels for such small animals is that because of their size, it is very difficult and detailed work to actually find all of the holes they are using to get in and out.
