If you have a rodent problem in your house, you need to take care of it fast before it grows into a health issue that could affect you and your family. Knowing how to trap rodents properly will help save you from unwarranted diseases.

Rat and Mouse Trapping With Traps

While there is a wide variety of rat and mousetraps to choose from, the basics include live traps, snap traps and glue traps. Live traps are the most humane of the three, since they does not outright kill the rodent.

Instead, you can set the rodent free outside or somewhere else. For a rodent infestation, this may not be the best decision, since the rat or mouse is likely to find its way back into your home to its nesting area. However, if it is a single mouse or rat, it is a much cleaner way to deal with rodents.

For several or more rodents, using traps is safer than hazardous poison baits. You get immediate results and can dispose of the dead rodents easily, avoiding odor problems that will attract insects or other creatures. In order to catch the rodents effectively, you will need to set up “unset” traps first to acclimate the rats with the object. After a few days, bait the trap with something small like chocolate candy or dried fruit.

The biggest problem is that people do not set enough traps. You want to set up many traps to kill off the population before they can repopulate or become wary of the trap. Other traps include glueboards, which are less likely to cause harm but more painful for the rodent.

Rat and Mouse Trapping With Bait

Bait is another trapping method that tends to work when there is more than one mouse or rat, but not an infestation. Place the bait close to walls, at the openings outside of the buildings or in front of doorways where the rodents are likely to scurry.

Mice and rat bait should be set up in small amounts at many locations. Eliminate the source of food as much as possible because if the mouse or rat sees the food source, they are going to ignore the bait. Try buying a bait station that encourages feeding by providing the rats and mice with a sheltered, attractive area to eat. Rodent bait is very poisonous, so be cautious about using it in a home with pets or children.

Squirrel Trapping With Live Traps

Squirrels are rodents, since they can get into attics, walls and more. Keeping squirrels under control means prevention methods in addition to trapping. Remove the source of food, such as birdseed, and trim tree branches to stop attracting the squirrels. Use a single door trap to lock in the squirrel automatically before it can escape.

Lure the squirrels in with fruit or crackers, or leave a trail of seeds into the trap. If you don’t feel comfortable working with live traps, call an exterminator or pest control agency to help you get rid of those annoying critters before they overrun your home.