Rats are a nuisance, which is why we do everything and anything to get rid of them. They damage property by chewing through almost anything; plastic, concrete, cables and even pipes. And because poisoning rats is not permitted in many countries, controlling a rat problem has become more and more challenging.

A rat's biology and behaviour makes them difficult to control. Rats learn fast and are very instinctive, so any new environment that they are in is observed cautiously. Besides retrofitting your home, rodent traps can help. Unfortunately you only have to miss one rat for the problem to continue. This is the inspiration for our rat-deterrent flooring. It is a brand-new approach to rodent control. Visit 'hammertechltd.com' to find out about availability. With that in mind, here's some tips on how to use rodent traps both efficiently and effectively to keep your home and car rat free.

Assess the Situation

First, you need to identify where they are located. By sussing out where any rats are hiding and by taking note of where you last spotted one in your home, you can choose which rodent trap will work best for you.

For instance, poison or lethal baits are not effective if a rat is hiding in a small space within the house or its structure. It's also not an ideal method if you have pets or young children. Mouse traps produce the desired result in this case. However in contrast, rat traps don't work so well when rats converge outside your home.

Use the Best Bait

Rats learn fast and using rodent traps doesn't work for long so you need an effective bait to lure them into the trap. Baits with a strong smell are usually the most effective. Examples of effective baits are bacon, chocolate, peanut butter. Cereals, which are a rat's favourite, is effective, too.

Proper Positioning

Having the best bait and trap are useless unless it is positioned properly. Rats have poor eyesight as they don't have cones in their eyes (cones are what give us humans sharp vision) and is why they don't run along walls. Put the rat traps perpendicular to the wall to ensure you catch them. Otherwise, the rat will just go around the trap to get the bait.

Outwit the Rat

You can outplay a rat with some smart solutions. Rats are very intelligent animals and they avoid any areas or traps if they see any of their kinds trapped in certain areas of your house. If this happens, remove the trap and carefully put your bait somewhere else where rat can reach it. Allow the rat to feel comfortable in this new location and refrain from going to that area for a while. Once the rat has become relaxed you can put the mouse trap back to catch it.

Dr Toby Bateson for Hammer Technologies