How to Get Rid of Rats Permanently

Okay, we admit it: At Rid-A-Critter, we're obsessed with rat control. We make a science out of it. (Really, we do.)

Most rat exterminators kill rats by setting out rat poison, but they skip the more important, non-chemical part of rat control: making your home or building rat proof. The result of using poisons to kill rats without doing the more difficult and important work of rat exclusion is that new rats will move in almost as quickly as the old rats are killed. You'll develop a lifetime relationship with your exterminator because the rat problem will never be solved. Instead, your exterminator will show up every month to set out more poison, and you pay the exterminator every month to do it. Forever.

That's not how we work.

Rid-A-Critter is the largest and most well-established animal control company in North Georgia, and we got that way by doing things differently. Unlike most rat exterminators, we practice non-toxic rat control, as is consistent with our Integrated Pest Management philosophy. We emphasize rat trapping, habitat modification, and rodent exclusion ("rat-proofing") to keep rats out of your home or business, so "new" rats don't move in to replace the rats we catch and remove.

In fact, we complete most rat control jobs without using any poisons at all. That's a good thing. Non-toxic rat control means reduced risk to humans, livestock, and pets, as well as less risk of rats dying inside your house and stinking it up.

When needed, we also utilize high-tech methods, such as motion-activated, infrared cameras, to determine how many rats there are and just how they're getting into your home, as shown in the video on the top right. Using the "Rat Cam" allows us to be absolutely certain that we've found and repaired every hole to be sure that we've sealed the rats out of your house. (Click here and here for more Rat Cam videos.)

Finally, we also clean up and sanitize after the rats, removing their droppings and applying disinfectants or insecticides as needed to kill parasites and germs that the rats left behind. Optionally, we can also replace the contaminated insulation.

More Cutting-Edge Rat Control Technology

We also use thermal imaging to help quickly locate hard-to-find rats' nests, so we can get to the root of the problem and solve it quickly -- and permanently. These pictures illustrate how this works.

The top picture was taken with the sheet rock still on the studs. The bright spot that's circled was the rats' nest. the bottom picture shows what it looked like once we opened it up and found the nest -- exactly where the thermal camera said it would be.

Of course, not every rat extermination job requires such high-tech equipment. But it's good to know we have it for when those tough jobs come along.

Advantages of Non-Toxic Rat Control

In addition to being "green" and environmentally-friendly, non-chemical rat control has many practical benefits:

• Controlling rats without pesticides is safer for pets, livestock, non-target animals, and children.
• Rats killed by pesticides often die in inaccessible areas like walls, ceilings, attics, and crawl spaces. When that happens, they can stink up your house for months. In fact, we do a lot of dead rat removal jobs, picking up carcasses that other rat exterminators left behind.
• Dead rodents create a health hazard. Flies breed in their rotting carcasses and carry germs to areas occupied by humans, domestic animals, or livestock.
• Rat parasites such as ticks, fleas, and mites seek new hosts when the rats they were living on die. These parasites spread a wide variety of arboviral diseases.
• Rat exterminators who don't rat-proof buildings aren't eliminating the problem. There's no sense in killings rats inside a house unless you also prevent new rats from getting in.

Non-toxic rat exclusion and trapping avoid all of these problems and provide the most effective, long-term rat control. Trapped rats don't wander off to die inside walls and structural voids and stink up your house. Instead, they are promptly removed from your home before they start to decompose and stink.

Integrated Pest Management and Rat Control

There are some rat control situations in which the selective and judicious use of rodenticides (rat poisons) makes sense, such as when there is extensive Norway rat burrowing outside a home or commercial building. But even in these situations, finding rat travel routes and using non-chemical control should be the primary rat control method. Rodenticides used only when absolutely needed.

Some situations in which rodenticide use is justified include:

• Some commercial food-processing plants are required by law or industry standards to have exterior bait stations around the building's perimeter.
• Warehouses and other buildings with loading docks often need bait stations because they have to leave the loading doors open for extended periods of time, making rat exclusion impractical as a complete solution.
• There are many situations in which rats outside a building are a problem, even though the rats may not be getting into the building.
• Baiting for rats is sometimes required by government agencies to get a demolition or building permit.
• Wide-area public health rat control programs often require the use of rat baits in sewers, storm drains, and other rat-prone areas.

Rat Control Gallery

Here are some pictures of rat control jobs we've done.

Rid-A-Critter has locally-based rat control specialists living and working throughout North Georgia. We have the tools and personnel to handle any rat control or mouse control job, so please call us today for a professional inspection and consultation.

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Rid-A-Critter provides non-chemical rat extermination in all of North Georgia, including Athens, Atlanta, Alpharetta, Canton, Carrollton, Cartersville, Cumming, Dacula, Doraville, Dunwoody, Ellijay, Flowery Branch, Gainesville, Kennesaw, Jasper, Lawrenceville, Loganville, Macon, Milton, Norcross, Rome, Roswell, Suwanee, Villa Rica, Winston, Woodstock, and everywhere in between.