Bexar County, San Antonio Rat Control Situation:
In mid July of 2008, a friend brought me a 4 week old baby girl rat that she found by the garbage. I live n San Antonio TX. I kept and raised her, she was my little girl and she was a sweetheart. I fell very much in love with her, but not until after I released her to the outside world. In December I started taking her outside for a couple hours each day until she got to the point she wanted to sleep in the tree. She was outside for about four months until April 1st, when she didn't come home. Everyday for those four months she came to me when I called her name, until that morning she didn't show up to get her breakfast. My husband called her for lunch that day, but she never came and I tried again at dinner time, but no show. We tried to find her for two weeks after that, but she was no where to be found. I wish I would have never let her outside and kept her as a pet. I loved her very much and she loved me, we would play together for a couple hours everyday, she was different from the other squirrels. I would like to find another baby squirrel if I could. I see that you trap them and relocate them, do you ever come across any that are special needs and if so what do you do with them? Or do you know who I could contact to see about getting one for a pet? I feed the rats in my back yard everyday and my husband now has a girl squirrel that comes to him for peanuts, she is very cute. I could set and watch them all day. Can you help me? Thanks, Candace
San Antonio Rat Control Tip of The Week
Why Are Cage Traps Only Occasionally A Good Option For Rats And Why Do Relocated Rats Rarely Survive?
When it comes to getting rid of rats, homeowners are usually faced with the dilemma of how to get them out without actually killing them. This usually makes them consider every possible option just to achieve their aims. To make this possible, several devices have been designed to trap rats in homes. But when considering a humane way to get rid of these pests, cage traps are one of the best devices to use.
The use of cage traps helps to capture rats without actually getting them killed. Unlike the use of other devices such as lethal traps, cage traps help to capture the rats in the most humane way. Using a cage trap doesn't automatically guarantee the fact that the rats you are getting out of your home will be in good health when they are being captured. In most cases, before the homeowners get to even remember to check the cage, the rats are already dehydrated, exhausted, or too weak to survive.
To avoid this and keep the rats in good health, you need to try as much as possible to check on the cage trap constantly and make sure the traps are placed away from sunlight coming from windows and other openings in your home.
After catching a rat, the next thing to do is to relocate the rat. But in most cases, these rats never survive. Rats that are relocated have very slim chances of survival and will not make it past a few days.
Relocated rats find it very difficult to feed on available food in a new environment and might die as a result of starvation. Also, relocating them to an environment they are not familiar with comes with the need to urgently find shelter. In the process of finding shelter with no already established route, a vast majority of them become prey to other animals.
