Rodent Control
Step 1: Look for evidence
- Look for places where rats live. Most rats live in nests or burrows. Burrows are holes in dirt or concrete from 1 – 4 inches wide, with smooth edges. Burrows can be found under bushes and plants. They will often have an entrance & exit hole.
- Look for droppings. Droppings are often found close to garbage. If they’re moist and dark, it’s a sign that rats are in the area.
- Look for holes and gnaw marks on wood and plastic garbage cans.
- Check walls and grass for signs of runways. Rats run along the same path many times a day, leaving dark greasy track marks along walls and worn-down paths in grass.
Step 2: Clean up
- Wash away droppings and track marks;
- Remove clutter, as clutter gives rats many areas to hide, sleep, nest, reproduce; and Trim overgrown vegetation, as rats can use these weeds, shrubs, compost piles, and bushes to hide in
Step 3: Shut Them Out
- To keep rats out, inexpensive and easy to find materials can be used by the homeowner;
- Seal cracks/ small holes with caulking or screening; Fill larger gaps /holes with mortar or ready to use cement; Use weather stripping on doors; and Use caulking around utility lines.
Step 4: Starve Them
- Rats need only one ounce of food per day. Don’t let your garbage be their food;
- Bring garbage cans & bags to the curb as close to pick up time as possible;
- Use hard plastic or metal cans with tight fitting lids; and
- Don’t put food out for stray cats, pigeons/birds, or squirrels.
Step 5: Wipe Them Out
- Close inactive burrows by filling with soil and tamping down with a shovel;
- Close burrows in cracked or broken asphalt or concrete with patching concrete; and
- Rodent baiting is also an option, but is best handled by a licensed pest management professional to prevent poisoning of non-targets.
Justin Parsons
Director of Protective Services
Town of Bay Roberts
Phone: 1-709-786-2126 ext. 239
jparsons@town.bayroberts.nf.ca