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  • Rats can damage your property and spread disease. If you have noticed rats living under your deck, this most likely means they are ground-dwelling, common brown rats. They eat nearly any type of food, but prefer meat and fresh grain. Getting rid of the rats does not necessarily mean extermination. There are a couple of things you can do to eradicate these pests.

    Tips for Getting Rid of the Rats

    Rats are attracted to cluttered areas, which provide places for the rats to hide. If you have any trash or cluttered areas under you deck, clear them out. Make the area completely vacant to eliminate any hiding places. If you have trash cans under your deck, consider getting lids for them. Rats will live close to food supplies, and an open garbage can certainly qualifies. A good way to get rid of the rats underneath your deck is to trap them. Simple, inexpensive wood-based snap traps are available in many hardware and farm-supply stores. You can also buy wire-cage traps, which tend to be more successful than snap traps. If you have seen a lot of rats running around under your deck, you will need more than one trap. You will need to bait the traps to lure the rats in. Some good baits to use are peanut butter, hot dogs, bacon and nutmeat. You will need to tie the bait securely to the trigger of the trap. Another thing you can do is use repellents. A great repellent is Shake-Away. All you have to do is sprinkle the repellent on the ground around your deck. Other repellents are available at your local hardware and supply stores as well. Overgrown, large landscaping provides perfect places for rats to thrive. Consider trimming any hedges or plants that are underneath or surrounding your deck. Trim the plants until there is a two-foot perimeter of vegetation-free zone around the bottom of your deck. For the remaining plants or landscape, trim so that there is one-foot clearance from the ground. Also, if there is any fruit growing on the plants surrounding your deck, pick it each day. Otherwise, the fruit will provide a tasty treat for the rats.

    Source:

    Integrated Pest Management: Brown-Rat Management

    More Information:

    Shake-Away Animal Repellent: Rats in Your Yard or Garden? Stop Them Now With Shake-Away Rodent Repellent

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