Rats are food-driven We recommend using lures like peanut butter, Nutella, egg mayonnaise, cheese, walnuts, and/or milk chocolate to bait your trap. If you're using a Victor or T-rex rat trap, you should refresh your lure every two weeks.
Plants that grow fruit and vegetables will attract rats since they provide an excellent source of food for them. Typically, rats and mice feed on a variety of fruits; for example, oranges, avocados, peaches, lemons, and figs. They are also very fond of walnuts and almonds.
Tip 2: Bait Traps According to a Rat's Diet
Black rats, which scale trees and enter homes through coin-sized holes in attics, find peanut butter irresistible. Brown rats, which typically rummage through garbage and snake their way inside homes via tiny cracks, can be tempted with smelly cheese.
Rats are most attracted to high protein foods. When trapping rats, opt for baits such as peanut butter, hazelnut spread, bacon, dried fruits, or cereal. Snap traps should be placed perpendicular to the wall near signs of rodent activity (to find out where your area of high activity is, please see Diagnose Your Home).
Situations like these can be very frustrating and prompt you to wonder if traps work or if rats can learn to avoid traps. Rats can learn to avoid traps. Studies have shown that rats are neophobic and highly intelligent. This means they are cautious of new items and tend to avoid them.
This means it might be time to disrupt their food sources: store your food waste in a separate bin away from your existing compost bin for a few weeks, clean up pet food bowls at night and pick up fallen fruit and nuts from off the ground. This will force the rats to search for new foods like the lure in your trap.
Try smearing peanut butter on the mesh at the front of the safety box and place a blob just inside the entrance. A taster of free bait with no associated negative consequences will make them much less cautious about entering the box and engaging with the bait in your trap.
Peppermint may be the most pleasant and effective in the rat removal process among the smells that rats hate. Peppermint provides a non-toxic odor that rats will not want to stay around.
The Kat Sense Smart Live Capture ventilated rat trap provides a method to catch a rat without killing the rodent. It utilizes bait to lure the rat into the trap and as soon as it does, the door snaps shut. The captured norway rat stays inside the trap until it is released in an open area away from home.
Nuts — All rodents love nuts, from peanuts/peanut butter and walnuts to almonds and hazelnuts. In fact, just about any nut can serve as ample nourishment for rats and mice. As such, these high-protein energy sources are always a favorite.
Brodifacoum - This is probably the 'strongest' poison you are likely to buy. It is a single feed bait, which means that the offending mouse or rat will consume a lethal dose at the first time of feeding. Its relatively fast acting with rats and mice dying within 3/4 days of consuming enough poison.
The best way to get rid of rats or mice is by using traps. If using spring loaded traps for rats, bait three of them in a row without setting them. Bait with dried fruit, peanut butter mixed with oats, or cheese.
Peppermint oil — Essential plant oils like peppermint, rosemary, citronella, sage and lavender have strong botanical scents that rats dislike. One customer successfully repelled a rat by stuffing a peppermint oil soaked tissue into the rat hole chewed into the wall.
Outdoors, rats face a variety of predators. In these environments, large birds of prey — including hawks, falcons and owls — feed regularly on rodents. Owls are particularly formidable predators, as their nocturnal behavior ensures that they are most active when rats go out in search of food.
Rodent Bait Advice from the Experts at Victor®
As a starter, researchers and trapping experts alike recommend peanut butter bait for several reasons: High sugar levels present in peanut butter are enticing to mice. The appealing odor grabs the attention of mouse invaders.
Electric Traps
These battery-powered traps are easy to set up and deliver a high-voltage shock that's lethal to rats but won't harm humans or larger pets. They step on the metal plate, which delivers enough voltage to kill the rat instantly.
Rats and mice can be wary about new food sources that appear in their area, which can make them careful around baited rat traps. A good way to acclimate rats is to leave the trap baited but unset for a few days. This can help you determine the general area they're in as well as acclimate them to a new food source.
Bury an unset rat trap beneath the sawdust. Place an enticing food trail leading to the box, and place the food on top of the sawdust including directly over the trigger. Once the rat has habituated to the box and is actively taking the food, install only one food piece directly to the trap trigger and set the trap.
Famously, birds of prey feed on mice and rats. Raptors, including hawks, owls, eagles, and falcons, are common rat predators.
Rodents do not like the sharp scent of vinegar, so it's believed that it can be an effective rodent repellent. Common advice is to soak cotton balls with vinegar and place them near areas where you think rodents are entering your home and to use vinegar as a cleaning solution.
Clap your hands: clapping is sudden, loud and sharp. Should you encounter a rat and feel threatened, clap harshly in their direction and they'll be certain to scuttle away in fear!
Rats are very suspicious of new things.
It works best if you place bait or attractants on an unset trap for a few days to gain the rats' trust. Once they begin eating the bait, you can then set the trap using the same bait.
Leave some food sitting out.
Rats prefer foods with strong odors, which they use to sniff out a meal. For this reason, spoiled items may be more effective for drawing them out than fresh ones.
Can rats climb walls? The answer to this question is yes – rats are efficient climbers if the surface of the wall is rough enough. The roof rat is particularly good at climbing and like to gnaw their way through everything, including electricals.