How to Catch a Rat on Your Commercial Premises

If you own or run a business office or a restaurant / café, you will need to know how to catch a rat if you ever find one lurking about on the premises! Rats can transmit disease to humans, contaminate food, and gnaw their way through electrical cables – silently wreaking all kinds of havoc in the process.

How to catch a rat using a trap

Old-fashioned rat snap-traps can help deal with the problem. Traps should be placed in areas where there is evidence of rat activity, but away from the colony’s food source. A strategic place might be along the paths where rats travel to and from their food source – such as along walls and skirting boards.

Suggestions for edible trap baits include nuts, dried fruit, small pieces of bacon or fish, pet-food pellets, and peanut butter. Rats are wary creatures, so to get them used to the presence of the traps, you could place edible baits but not set the traps for a couple of nights. If rats take the baits, you should then set all your traps.

Electronic traps provide another option. These traps kill rats with a high-voltage electric shock, and may provide a fast and humane way of eliminating rodents, and of allowing for disposing of the carcass without having to view it. This might be a good option for the more squeamish among us!

How to catch a rat using poisonous baits

Toxic baits or bait stations use blocks, pellets or liquids that contain a rodenticide or a blood anticoagulant. A problem associated with these is that in many instances the rodents may travel to another spot to die, and you end up with a carcass that is hard to locate. This is not the most hygienic or efficient way of eliminating rats, nor is it the most humane treatment. Some poisons are also becoming ineffective as rat immunity to the toxic substance increases.

Prevention is best

Of course in dealing with a rat infestation, it’s vital to get to the cause, or it might just happen all over again! Make sure to seal and put away food overnight, to seek out hidden food particles or scraps, and to clean up spills and grease. You should also take steps to seal up gaps in the building, and repair leaking water pipes.

Calling in the experts

Dealing with a rat infestation yourself can be a time-consuming and messy process. And even then you can’t be sure you have completely dealt with the problem, and you have lost valuable time in the process that could have been spent in your business! To eradicate the problem quickly and safely, a professional pest controller should be called in. 

At A1 Pest Control we use effective and environmentally-safe methods for rodent control. Call us on 0417 251 911 for more information on how to catch a rat using the most effective eradication methods!