Are You Struggling With Rat Control In Del Rio?

When a rat waddles across your yard or scurries along a tree branch, you may see it. If you do, you may have questions. Will that rat get into my home? Has it already gotten into my home? Most importantly, what can you do to get rid of rats in Del Rio and prevent an infestation? Our focus today is on rat control in the yard. We'll tell you how to detect signs of rats, how to safely drive rats away, five natural ways to keep them from returning, and why it is a good idea to do all of these things. If you've been looking for the best way to get rid of rats outside, you've found it. If you already have rats inside your home, Gold Star Exterminators can help address your infestation. Give us a call for rodent pest control in Del Rio. We're happy to help.  

The first step in addressing relentless rats is to track them down and consider whether or not they're getting inside your home. There are a few ways to do this. We'll cover the common warning signs and help you decipher the evidence you find. 

Rats leave their droppings as they explore. But they are far from the only pests that leave droppings around New Braunfels homes, so you'll need to know how to identify rat droppings. 

• Rat droppings range in size from ½ to ¾ of an inch in length. That puts them at twice the size of mouse droppings and only slightly larger than squirrel or bat droppings. Of course, the size of the droppings is relative to the size of the animal. Some are larger than average. But these are the general parameters.
• Rat droppings are black and shiny when fresh. If you find old droppings, they will appear grey. The pellets will also break apart when crushed. Wear a mask and protective gloves if you crush rat droppings, as their waste is a disease source.

Rats chew holes in building materials. If you have rats in your home, you may see the entry point they created. There are a few facts to consider.

• A rat hole doesn't have to be large. While rats are big rodents, they can fit through a gap the width of a quarter, and a hole only slightly larger than a quarter.
• A rat hole can appear high up on your exterior wall. Rats are extraordinary climbers and can scale many exteriors.
• Rats can chew and claw on gaps around pipes and wires, making them large enough to fit through.

Rats create nests when they establish themselves on a property. You may find their nests under your back deck, in a crawl space, under a shed, or in some other secluded place. You may find Norway rats living under a pile of junk or a large object stored in your yard. Look for the entrance to its ground burrow. Keep in mind that other pests in New Braunfels create tunnels in the ground.

If you detect warning signs or actually catch a glimpse of a rodent, the next step is to take steps to drive those rats away. There are a few all-natural methods that work well on rats in New Braunfels. Let's take a look at our best suggestions.     

The Safe And Effective Way To Get Rid Of Rats

When you detect rats, but they haven't gotten into your home yet, there are safe and effective ways to drive them away. The trick is to remove the conditions that attract rats and allow them to live on your property. On the top of the list is food.

• There are many natural foods a rat may eat in your yard, such as seeds, nuts, fruit, or vegetables. Guard these food sources by installing fencing material or by raking them up as frequently as possible.
• Rats will eat pet food. If you have a dog or cat that eats from a dish outside, consider putting food down only during mealtimes and refrain from allowing food to sit overnight. Rats are nocturnal.
• Rats get into trash and feed on decaying human food. Make sure to keep your trash receptacles covered.
• Rats love to get into landscaping. If they are currently exploring your landscaping, you can drive them out by trimming shrubs, removing weeds, and clearing out leaves. Make your landscaping open, neat, and free of clutter. Rats won't like it. 
• Rats hide underneath decks and stairs or find their way into crawlspaces. Closely inspect these to see if there are nests in these places. If not, apply hardware cloth material to keep rats out. Use hardware cloth that is made to prevent rodent pests. 

The most effective way to get rid of rats is to use a bait solution. For assistance with a bait program, contact Gold Star Exterminators. Our technicians have the training to apply bait appropriately, following all safety guidelines.

Five Natural Ways To Keep Rats From Returning

Once the rats are gone, you want to keep them gone, right? We have some ideas to help you do this. These five natural tips touch on some of the principles we already covered, but we'll look at them as a rat would look at them when returning to your yard.

1. Make it harder for rats to cross your yard.

When a rat leaves your yard, it will use ground clutter on its way off your property. Remove that clutter and it will have a hard time coming back. Why? Because rats use their whiskers and body hair to help them navigate. This is one reason why they run along walls. They're constantly feeling the objects around them. They don't like open spaces. When a rat gets the bright idea to return to your property and finds a big, open, and uncluttered space, it may change its mind.

2. Remove the smells that rats may detect from a distance.

When a rat comes back to the edge of your property, remembering that it once dined on succulent morsels in your trash, it may enter when it catches the scent of garbage in the air. While it is essential to cover your trash, it is equally important to keep your receptacles free of that decaying organic smell. Rats can detect smells from a great distance. 

3. Removing hiding places in your yard.

When a rat enters your yard, it doesn't just want to find small objects for navigation. It wants to run from hiding place to hiding place. A pile of lumber, stacked branches, bricks left over from a construction project, or campfire wood will all do nicely. Remove these to deter rats. 

4. Pick up dog droppings. 

While not a preferred food source, rats will take to eating the waste of domesticated canines. It is one of the first "food" sources it may detect in your yard. If a rat is deciding whether or not to return to your yard, this may be the deciding factor. 

5. Remove drinking water sources. 

As a rat explores other yards, it may remember that yours had a few great watering holes. While rats can derive much of their water requirements from some of the foods they eat, they prefer a yard that has water to drink. Keep gutters in good repair, fix water spigots, repair hoses, and do other things that will prevent puddles. 

You may not need more rat management than what these simple tips provide. If the rat pressures in your yard are unusually high, or you're having trouble staying on top of yard maintenance, consider a bait program to reduce the number of rats and prevent entry. 

The Damage And Dangers Rats Can Create

Why is it important to keep rats away? Because rats present a threat to property and health. We won't spend much time on this one, but it is essential to cover. Many residents don't realize how much of a danger rats present.

• Rats chew on wires, and severed wiring can lead to a house fire. It only takes one rat to do this, and a home isn't likely to have only one rat.
• Rats chew on exterior building materials, which can allow secondary pests to enter. Some of the pests in New Braunfels bite and sting.
• Rats carry ticks and fleas. These pests spread a surprising number of diseases. 
• Rats soil stored furniture with their droppings and urine. 
• Rat feces are a source of hantavirus and other diseases.
• Rats often soak insulation with their feces and urine, which is impossible to clean.
• Rats rip up insulation and pull the stuffing out of pillows, cushions, beds, and box springs. 
• Rats can tear up clothing to use the material for their nests.
• Rats chew holes in food packaging and can contaminate the food, or waste food by causing it to spill out.

It is best to take action to drive rodents away, cull rodent populations, and apply rodent control methods to keep rats from presenting a threat to your health and property. If you need assistance with any of these in New Braunfels, contact Gold Star Exterminators for assistance. We'll help you find the right solution.  

Gold Star has been spraying our house for a few years now and I can't express how much it has helped.  I was spraying Demon WD myself and barely made an impact on the scorpions and spiders.  after they started doing it, we have very few sightings now.  Great company.

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