Rats are a major nuisance that causes damage to various human commodities at home and crops in fields. In India, they are a major topic of concern especially when it comes to their infestation in crops. They feed on different materials and cause damage to both homes and fields by contamination and spoilage. They damage the harvested crops on-farm and even during post-harvest stages during storage. There are 18 species of rats in India that are pests in the household, agriculture, forestry, horticulture, and rural-urban storage facilities. They are most damaging as they are fast breeders and are very adaptable to any type of environmental factor. At present, it is very important to prevent their infestation and control them by various effective methods.

How To Spot Rat Infestation?

Rats are actively present on your premises and you must continuously look for their presence and their behaviors. You must get rid of them as soon as you spot them as they can be very annoying and risky for your health. You might go through certain things to confirm if you have a rat infestation.

• Have you found any rat burrows or remnants of their nests?
• Look if there are any rat droppings anywhere.
• If you have a pet and they are bringing dead rats.
• Are there any noises coming from corners or cervices in your house?
• Are there any damaged crops or losses of harvest near a certain area in your field?
• See if they are feeding on your kitchen items, newspapers, or any edible thing?
• Are there any signs of rat droppings or their entry into your trash?
• Are there any signs of someone digging in your field?

Rodent Management Methods

Preventive Measures –

• Sanitation – Rat control might be hard but good sanitation is always an option for preventing their infestation at your home. Sanitation also makes it easier to see through signs and increases the effectiveness of traps and baits. If you have any stored food, make sure it is properly packed and try clearing corners and the services of the house. Continuous sanitation is fundamental to avoiding a rat infestation
• In case there is a rat infestation in your field then you must plow deeply to destroy their burrows. It will reduce their numbers as they will migrate to another suitable location.
• If there are any weeds growing in your field or areas near your home, then you must control them too as they are food and shelter for rats, and weed control will help in minimizing rat infestation also.

Curative Measures

Physical / Mechanical Control –

 is very effective in rat control. The traps must be placed in the right numbers and proper position. Even if we are using chemical pest control services, traps are always integrated with those methods for the effective removal of their infestation. There are two types of trap systems present:

1. Live traps – Sherman traps, Box traps, and Wonder traps
2. Kill traps – Glue traps and Snap or break-back traps

Biological Control –

There are many viruses, bacteria, and protozoans that work like microbes, and some arthropods that work as macro-parasites and possess biocontrol potential. These biocontrol measures can be provided by various pest control companies. These are better than chemical pest control as there is less exposure and are organic but do not think of them as less harmful. They can also produce possible health risks to humans and other animals.

Chemical Control –

Different rodenticides are sued to kill rats. These chemicals are registered and can be used by professionals only. If you want to remove or exterminate rats from your home or field completely and want to prevent their future infestation then you will require proper treatment of rats by using these rodenticides.

1. Acute/single dose poison – acute poisons are highly toxic and include some compounds like zinc phosphate, thallium sulfate, barium chloride, etc. and they can show immediate fatal results. These are given with some food as bait to attract rats.
2. Chronic/multiple doses – anticoagulants are used which causes brain hemorrhage in rats. It is given in multiple doses and is harmless which makes them easy to handle. These can either be given as bait directly or can be given with food as bait. It is a time-consuming process that involves killing rats in 6-7 days. The process involves around a month to completely remove the rat infestation from your premises.
3. Fumigation – if the exterminators find multiple rats burrows on your premises, then fumigation is done in them to successfully kill all the rats. Calcium cyanide or phosphine gas is used in fumigation and before it is done the burrows are covered by loose soil so that rats do not escape. After fumigation, the burrows are tightly closed to avoid any leakage of the gas. The burrows are reexamined to ensure that there were no open burrows left for fumigation.

Why Do You Need Professional Help?

• DIY pest control methods are good but they are not much effective in the removal of rats from your home or field as they can breed quickly and are very nocturnal in nature so they hide very easily.
• Professional help is always required for the successful extermination of them from your premises.
• Pest control companies in Noida provide you with services customizable for you and you won’t have to worry about many things.
• Professionals can help you get rid of your problems in easy, fast, and effective ways that you may not do by yourselves.