How To Keep Pack Rats Away?

Pack rats can cause a lot of hassle for homeowners if left unchecked. They start nesting in attics and crawl into spaces humans can’t reach. Pack rats can quickly take over and damage your property.

The habit that makes them the most destructive is chewing on everything. Pack rats chew on everything around your house to keep their teeth sharp, including the garage and swimming pool equipment, irrigation tubes, hot tubs, air conditioners, and automobile seats.

Along with this, they also tend to get inside walls and damage your insulation, damp-proofing layers, and other building materials.

So, let’s dig in and find out how you can make your home sweet home a rat-free zone!

5 Ways To Keep Pack Rats Away From Your Home

Along with being a hygiene violation, pack rats are also known for their hoarding tendencies and the ability to collect and store large amounts of items in their nests. They are known to build elaborate nests with materials they find in their environment, which makes them very resourceful animals.

Pack rats can use anything from twigs and leaves to plastic bottles and cans for building materials. But along with seemingly useless stuff, they are also drawn to shiny items. They can steal coins and jewelry from unsuspecting humans.

Let’s review the steps you can take to keep pack rats out of your house:

1. Decluttering

Clutter can be a significant problem in any home. At times, clutter seems like a very small issue. But if left unattended for a while, it can also lead to an even bigger issue – pack rats infestation.

The bigger the clutter in your house, the more chances there are of pack rat infestation. Pack rats find shelter in the clutter. So if your home is filled with piles of cardboard boxes, clothes, and other items, pack rats will be drawn to it and form a nest.

The ideal way to avoid this problem is by decluttering your home. Get rid of any excess items you don’t need. This will make your house a less attractive place for pack rats and help keep them away for good.

2. Sanitation

After every meal, ensure you sweep the floors to eliminate any food particles. Rats love to snack on leftovers, so don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink overnight. Moreover, never leave food out in the open, and keep all the leftovers in the refrigerator.

Repair any leaks you may have in the house, whether they are in the sink or elsewhere. Rats need constant access to water. If they are deprived, they will resort to other places with easy water access.

3. Set Up Traps

Rodenticide baits do not cut out to be an effective solution when dealing with pack rats. This is because pack rats tend to hoard food rather than consume it immediately. Resorting to rodenticide may help after a while, but setting up traps is an easy and time-effective solution.

You must do what we refer to as “pre-bait” to guarantee that your snap trap treatment is efficient. This involves placing baited traps without setting them.

This is a crucial step, ensuring the rats get used to these baits around in their spaces. Pack rats are clever and tend to avoid new or unfamiliar objects.

Eventually, rats will get used to the trap as a food source when the trap is baited without being set. This also helps us observe whether the trap is set in an appropriate place by monitoring whether the bait is consumed.

Once you have figured out the appropriate spots and gained the trust of these rats, set the traps and keep children and pets away from them.

4. Exclusion

When a pack rat infestation has been cleared, you must take precautions and use exclusion to ensure they don’t return. Due to their small size, pack rats can sneak in through any opening, no matter how small it is.

Water pipes, electric cables, sewer pipes, drain spouts, and vent apertures in the building foundation should all be sealed. Pack rats are excellent climbers, so check for any openings in attic vents, broken roof shingles, or any gaps near the eaves.

Make sure that all the screens, windows, and doors fit properly. When it comes to gaps and holes, choose coarse steel wool, wire mesh, or lightweight sheet metal.

Rats may chomp through a variety of materials, except for copper. Fill your holes with copper mesh and then caulk them shut.

5. Repulse

Peppermint oil, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and cloves are some natural ingredients that act as repellents. These repellents will keep pack rats away from your home.

Spread these ingredients around the house’s exterior to stop the rats from entering the house in the first place. Applying the substances of choice generously along the line between your foundation and the ground also helps tremendously.

Sprinkling crushed pepper near openings and their nest also helps drive them out of your house. This is because crushed pepper will irritate the rat’s noses and airways. Thus discouraging them from reentering your home.

Takeaway

Getting rid of pack rats through traps is a straightforward step. But ensuring they stay out and don’t cause an infestation is a crucial step that must be enforced and kept in check occasionally.

Make sure you declutter your house, sanitize, set up traps, and exclude plus repulse. This will help prevent these little monsters from getting in and nibbling away the peace from your life.