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Easy Ways to Prevent a Rat Infestation

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Few people relish the thought of attracting rats. Fortunately, preventing them from entering your home is quite a simple task. With a few tips, you can make sure your home remains rat-free.

Tidy up to reduce hiding places

Rats love hiding places, so your first rat control step should be to tidy up. Although you likely keep the inside of your property tidy, allowing rubbish to gather outside sets you at a disadvantage. Make sure you don't leave garden rubbish hanging around for too long and you'll find it easier to keep rats away from your property.

Clean up your crumbs immediately

In addition to looking for places to hide, rats often search for sources of sustenance. Every time you prepare food and leave the crumbs hanging around, you're inviting rats to dine out in your home. Those that are determined will also look for food packets that are loose and easy to access. Because of this, you should store all opened food in tight plastic or glass containers.

Close any points of entry

If there's no point of entry to your property, rats won't find it easy to break in. Any gap that's more than half a centimetre in size needs to be closed. Additionally, make sure you repair any seals that aren't tight and inspect your roof for any loose shingles. When you identify a port of entry, close it off so that rats can't gain access. Depending on the age of your building, you may want to perform regular inspections to look for ports of entry.

Separate your food waste from compost

Although it's still acceptable to have a compost heap, make sure it's compact. Try placing the compost in a container too, as that will reduce the risk of gaps that attract rats. If you're used to adding food to your compost heap, you may want to hold off from doing so. Rats have a strong sense of smell, which means that food is likely to attract them. If you want to compost your food, try keeping it in a separate heap with a tight seal.

Use a rat control service

In the event that rodents do make their way into your home, use a rat control service as soon as you can. You should also clean up any rat droppings and urine that are left over. Unfortunately, the presence of rats attracts more rodents, which makes it important to act quickly.


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