Jackson County, Kansas City Rat Control Situation:
My mother has a medium size varment running around and we have put snap traps out only for it to get away with the peanut butter. waste of good peanut butter! The strange thing is it's eating the philadrium plant taking leaves off. not touching lucky bamboo in water ot the amarilys bad spelling. can you tell me why? Anyway, I've got a dozen traps baited with peanut butter on the obvious trails up there. My question is: should I put traps on top of the insulation (I've got loose blown insulation), on the joists (which aren't quite wide enough), move the insulation out of the way between the joists and put the trap on the ceiling drywall, or something else? I kind of did a mix for this first run, and I guess I'll figure it out eventually through trial and error, but I'd welcome any advice and any other tips would be greatly appericated. gail
I read the articles on your web site. Back in August, I had a new roof, soffit, eavesthrough done. Everything appears fine, the company did a great job, no complaints. About 2 weeks ago, we stated to hear scratching noises in the attic between 2 - 4 am. The noises are in the light to medium range, it does not seems to be a large animal such as a racoon. So, I have no idea what is up there, but I obviously have to deal with it. I walked around the house and up on the roof to see if I could find any entrances. I could not find any. Would you have any idea on what animal would be up there at this time of year. I live in Ontario Canada, about 30 miles west of Toronto. I'm going to start with setting mouse traps. Any advice/suggestions would be helpful.
Kansas City Rat Control Tip of The Week
Do Rats Feel Pain?
Rats are one of the few animals with a developed brain and a sense of empathy. When handled with care, they can be playful and tickled. But when handled without compassion or roughly, they showcase a high level of anxiety and express their pain in a special kind of way. This clearly shows that just like every other animal, rats also feel pain.
When it comes to expression, rats express their pain in a special kind of way. They do this by slightly changing their facial appearance and making a grin that clearly shows that they are in discomfort. Apart from this, rats also show that they are in pain by narrowing their eyes, puffing out their cheeks, flattening their ears, and rhythmically increasing the size of their nose.
If you want to know if a rat is in pain or not, you will have to pay attention to its facial expressions. Since they are inaudible animals, waiting to hear them make excruciating sounds is a no-brainer. But with visual clues shared above, you will be able to know when a rat is in pain and when it is not.
Rats are sensible animals with a high level of empathy. Another way you can know when a rat is in pain without actually studying its facial expressions is when you see another rat showing concern for the isolated rat. This behavior in rats is also exhibited when one rat is wounded or ill. In situations like this, other rats will come around the indisposed rat to show their concern.
Having shared this, you can be certain that rats also feel pain. Therefore, if you notice any rat around exhibiting any of the signs above, the rat may be hurt or ill. Also, you need to understand the fact that rats are major carriers of diseases, hence you should avoid having direct contact with them.