How To Catch A Rat

Summary: Catching rodents takes patience and some brains. Mice are easy to trap, but a full grown rat is intelligent and not easily tricked.

If you ever have to deal with trying to catch an adult rat you will find you are up against a clever adversary. With all the daily inherent dangers that a rodent must face in order to survive, it's no wonder that trying to catch one of these rascals is no easy task.

First, you must understand that rats are very suspicious of new surroundings. 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.

Look for fresh rodent droppings. Usually they will be found under a cluttered area. Let's assume we hope to catch our rat using a common snap trap. Put some fresh, clean food on the trigger mechanism, but do not set the trap to go off. Peanut butter is always a good choice. Then, replace all the clutter as you originally found it.

The next day return to see if any of the food has been eaten and look for fresh rodent droppings. Don't despair 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.

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