MeKnows

When trying to catch adult rats you you are up against a very clever adversary. With the every day dangers that a rat must face in order to survive, it’s no wonder that trying to catch them is so difficult. 

First, you must understand that rats are very suspicious of new surroundings (neophobia). If they find their way into your property they will use utmost care when exploring their environment. Even when facing hunger or thirst a rat will not indulge itself on the first food or water it finds. It will approach any new food source with caution, often tasting only a small sample to see if it can be safely digested. With this in mind you need to know how to pre-bait your traps.

To help catch the rat firstly look for fresh droppings. They will usually be found in a cluttered area. If you hope to catch a rat using a common snap trap put some fresh, clean food on the trigger mechanism, but do not set the trap to go off at this point. Peanut butter is always a good choice,rats seem to really enjoy the taste.  When you have put the food on the trap replace all the clutter as you originally found it.

Check again the next day to see if any of the food has been eaten and look again for fresh droppings. Don’t worry if you find fresh droppings but none of the food has been eaten. Remove the old food and replace it with fresh. Rodents will only eat fresh, clean food.

You should find that the rodent is eating the bait and you must continue to repeat this process for another few days until you are sure you have noticed a set pattern of feeding. Then you can you set the trap with the assurance of catching your prey. Attempting a shortcut will result in a prolonged game of hide and seek.