How to Get Rid of Rats in Lawn, Gardens, and the Yard

Having a rat problem with roof rats, Norway rats or brown rats in your home is a horrible experience. However, it is almost as bad if you spot them outside. In the yard or garden, they will not only contaminate and damage your flowers, vegetables, and plants but can also be a danger to your family and pets.

Additionally, in the winter months, rodents will be drawn to enter your house in order to seek warm shelter and food. Rats, like other rodents, are well-known to spread infectious diseases and cause damage to wooden structures and cables. They are also known to reproduce incredibly quickly, having an average of a dozen offspring every month. Acting quickly to avoid an invasion of rats and mice is necessary to protect your home and health.

There are three steps you need to do to protect the outside space of your home to be free from rats.

Keeping your garden or yard clean and tidy is necessary to avoid a rat problem as it stops them from becoming too comfortable with your outdoor space. Rats fear open spaces and, therefore, the fewer overgrown areas full of junk you have, the less likely the rodents will have a place to nest and hide. Keep your grass nicely trimmed and remove piles of wood, cardboard or any other stocked up items that belong in a storage shed or garbage bin. Make sure your storage sheds are closed and do not have small gaps that will allow the rodents to enter. Remember that rats need only half an inch to gain entry so make sure that any cracks to your storage buildings, sheds or garbage bins are sealed. Rats tend to use paper, cardboard, bush or grass clippings to build nests so make sure that they do not have easy access to them.

Eliminate access to any food supply. Clear out fallen fruit, nuts or vegetable produce from the ground. Make sure that your outdoor trash cans are securely closed and empty them frequently. Do not leave pet food out for too long and avoid scattering bird feed on the ground, but instead, use bird feed stations.

If you are unfortunate enough that you have already attracted rats to your yard or garden, there are many effective products sold online to eliminate them. The products fall into two categories: poison baits and mechanical traps.

Many people prefer to use traps rather than poison baits in order to protect other outdoor small animals, pets or curious children from accidentally consuming dangerous chemicals. Bait stations, closed poison bait units that have small entrances for rats, protect children and pets from getting in contact with the poison. But animals that eat rodents may be harmed as the poison in the dead or living rats can kill them as well. Also, poisoned rats may crawl into the walls or other building structures of your home which will make it difficult for you to remove their remains

Considering the well-being of other animals and to avoid dead rats from decomposing in hard-to-reach places of your home and garden, live, snap, electrical or glue traps can be the best solution. Traditional snap traps will work in most situations and they are quite cheap to use.

Live traps are the best way to ensure that no other small animals are harmed and allow us to decide whether to free the rat or another animal to an area far away from the home. Glue traps can also catch the rodent without killing it but are not very reliable as the rodent can escape with the trap being stuck to it.
If capturing a live rat is too much of a daunting task for you, electrical or snap traps will effectively kill the rodents, leaving you only with the obligation to regularly dispose of them.

Whatever product you choose to use read carefully the label instructions and use gloves when handling remains to avoid catching any bacterial infection.

Due to the rapid breeding rate of rats, it is important to place a large number of traps in the garden or yard in order to ensure that they are all captured. Leaving out deactivated traps for the first couple of days is advised to ensure that the traps are positioned in the right places and for the rats to become comfortable to enter and explore them.

Rat-proof the area in order to ensure new rat invasion doesn’t occur. Repair any large cracks or holes that you may find in building structures and garden/yard gates. Make it difficult for rats to climb up pipes and doors by using a high gloss paint. You can also periodically spray the outside of your home with rat repellent, especially in the corners and in secluded niches.

Team up with your neighbors as it will be impossible to get rid of vermin if the surrounding area of your property is not protected as well.

By regularly keeping your garden clean and tidy and acting fast once you spot a rat or any sign of their presence is the best solution to fight possible rat infestation. Remember rats are nocturnal creatures; therefore, if you see rats during the daytime in your garden that is a big sign that the rat invasion is serious and you might be required to contact a licensed pest exterminator to deal with such a large number.