Great Natural Solutions to Control Rodents
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
While there are people who like to have rodents as pets, most people don’t want them in their homes and see them as pests that can carry disease. Putting out traps, getting a cat, or sprinkling poison around their homes are just some of the ways that they use to try to get rid of them. For a lot of people, though, the idea of getting rid of the rodents is coupled with an unease at deliberately and often inhumanely killing them, and people are starting to look for better ways to get them out of and away from their homes that don’t involve harm to the little creatures.
If you want to remove rats and mice from your home and/or discourage them from coming around the good news is that there are natural solutions for rodent control that you can use so you don’t have to kill them. Killing them ‘humanely’ has been another argument that people have made, but what constitutes ‘humane’ killing is certainly arguable, so no real conclusion on that has been reached. There aren’t that many choices for people who don’t want to kill rodents or cause them to suffer but who certainly don’t want them around, but there are two: trapping them humanely and releasing them elsewhere, and using natural methods to keep others away.
Live traps, not the kind that snap, can be used to trap rodents that are in or near your home without hurting them. With live traps the rodent is lured inside and the door closes, so the mouse or rat just remains there until you (or someone else if you’re squeamish) remove the trap to a different location and open the door. Some people think that the catch-and-release method of rodent control doesn’t work because the rodents just come right back, but if they are taken far enough away they generally won’t return to your home, because they’ll find a closer place instead.
Not giving a rodent a reason to come around your house is another great way to get rid of both rats and mice, and you don’t have to take drastic measures in order to do that. Keeping garbage cans closed tightly, not leaving pet food out where rats and mice will get the scent of it, keeping woodpiles away from the house, and keeping other things like compost piles away from your house will help discourage rodents. For a lot of people, keeping mice and rats away is as simple as following those tips, but if that doesn’t work there are other things that you can do.
Companies out there today make special fragrance packets that are designed to keep rodents away, and you can use them if you don’t feel like the effort you’ve already made are enough, or if you’re looking for something quick and effective. These pouches aren’t toxic to you or your family or pets, and you won’t even be able to smell them ” but the mice and rats will. As long as there are rats and mice near your unprotected home they will try to get in for the food and the warmth, but you can use natural products to gently discourage them and you won’t have to feel bad or guilty about killing them.
There are also people who don’t mind killing the rodents but who don’t want to do so with a lot of harsh chemicals that can be bad for the environment and for a lot of other creatures, as well, including family pets. Some people in this position get a small dog or a cat, because these animals are likely to chase away rats and mice, and to catch the ones that they can. Cats usually don’t eat these rodents that they catch, though, so keep in mind that kitty might leave you dead rodent ‘presents’ that you’d rather not receive.
No matter what rodent control method you choose, the best thing you can do is to know the facts about whichever treatment you choose, because you don’t want to use something that you thought was safe only to find out that it wasn’t. This is especially true if you have small children or if you have pets that could potentially get into any rodent poison that you might put out. You don’t want to take a chance with your family’s health by putting out dangerous chemicals, but you certainly don’t want them to be exposed to rats and mice in your home, either.
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