Ah Rats! – The Pet-Friendly Way to Deal with Rodents

Over the past little while, our household had an unexpected visitor. He showed up uninvited, left a mess, wouldn't leave when asked politely, and was generally just the worst. You bet he was a rat, and not just the metaphorical kind.

This is par for the course when you have a preference for older, charming houses of a certain vintage. Ours apparently dates back over 100 years and has the crooked floors and ancient vents to prove it, so this kind of guest was inevitable. Now, never having battled rats before, we were left feeling at a loss as to how to kick out these varmints. We didn't want to get too inhumane, plus inadvertently poisoning dear old Charles (the dog)* was utterly out of the question. So what were us pet-owning city folk to do?

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Steel Wool
This one's recommended by everyone under the sun, but it's an oldie 'cause it's a goodie. The idea is to stuff any holes or cracks with the stuff to prevent rats or mice from coming through the walls or floorboards – they can't chew through steel wool. It's a good idea to keep a box on hand just in case, as this is really easy to use in a pinch, and can be very effective.

Peppermint Oil
Rats HATE the smell, so it's a good idea to liberally soak a few cotton balls in pure essential oil and leave them hidden in areas of rat detection. It'll just make them back off without causing them any physical harm. As an added bonus, your house will be at a permanent state of low-lying mintiness, and you'll maybe have some leftover oil, which is great for adding to your shampoo when you have an itchy scalp or to rub on your temples when you have a headache.

Disinfecting Solution
You'e going to feel pretty grossed out about your house, so giving everything a wipe down is a pretty good idea. I use those antibacterial wipes, but they're not really the most environmentally friendly or cost-effective solution. You could also use white vinegar cut with water – half and half is pretty good, or even up your solution to three quarters vinegar to a quarter water if you'd like something stronger.

Lots of Chairs
You're going to be jumping up on them a lot, even when there is nothing nearby – you'll just get weirded out and unable to stand on the floor anymore. Don't fight the urge, just get more chairs.

Containers
Everything in our cupboards is in canisters now. We bought a bunch of the stackable Tupperware kind at Honest Ed's and just boxed up anything that could be chewed through, including cardboard and plastic. One day I'll have dedicated containers for bulk items like flour and sugar, but for now, this works  just fine. Anything we didn't have enough space for in containers, I just stuck in the refrigerator, so now my cereal is oh so refreshing. Suck on that, rats.

Patience & Diligence
The most time-consuming part of the solution is pulling everything away from the walls, cleaning up what you find underneath and checking for holes in the walls. Make sure you check under your sink, to the part where the water pipes meet the wall – our hole there was the size of a tennis ball, and they can fit through any space the size of a pencil eraser.

Noisiness
This is your opportunity to get loud. Mice and rats hate loud noises and bright lights, so if you're fighting 'em, don't hesitate to make your presence known. Keep the radio on, the lights up and bang around when you're near where they've been spotted. Seeing rats and being reminded of their general presence is half the problem with them, so keeping them out of your way is a very good thing indeed.

A Healthy Dose of Mind Over Matter
We were having a hard time getting over the general disgustingness of the creatures, but had to find an inner zen to do what needed to be done. Don't dwell on the nasty – think about what you need to do to get past this situation, and only of that. Yes, they're gross, but that's what showers and exfoliant are for.

If you've got any pet-safe rat-fighting tips, please share!

Good luck and happy hunting.

*Note: one thing you do not need is a suck of a dog. Although Charlie is part Schnauzer, which are a ratting breed, he was useless, hiding behind Daniel and I whenever possible. Just know that in this respect, dogs are less reliable than their usual loyalty would suggest. A cat would likely be better suited to the task.

**Note the second: we did think about seeing if someone could take Charlie for a few days so we could set poison and take care of the dicks once for all. We were thinking of doing this for about 5 minutes, until I realized that the rat could track poison elsewhere and we'd have no way of knowing. If you've got a bad enough problem to warrant a poison-based approach***, please make sure to take an extra couple days to thoroughly clean all house surfaces. Your pets will thank you.

***Note the third: we did not have a bad infestation at all. We had, what we suspect, to be one rat that we scared off pretty quick. We found very few droppings and didn't see him at all when going through the house with a fine tooth comb earlier this week. Fingers crossed he stays out!