Rats and mice are downright annoying. If they don't shred your favorite blouses to pieces, they are busy chewing through electrical wires and multiplying unbelievably. After a few months of sleepless night and being terrorized in your own house by such small creatures, most people go to the shop and buy the most potent rat poison available. While rat poison will definitely kill the mice, it is not the best method to get rid of rodents, and this is why.
Poison Works Slowly
The most popular rat poison is an anticoagulant that slays the rodents mercilessly as they bleed internally for hours until they die. Apart from the tremendous suffering, the rats will go through, the pain will also cause them to hide in dark crawl spaces where they will meet their death and stink up your house for days.
Poison Kills Other Animals Too
If you are lucky enough that the rat does outside instead of your house, they will be picked up by owls, hawks, dogs and all kinds of animals and birds out there. Unfortunately, the poisonous effect of anticoagulants and other toxins doesn't end after killing the rat, so it will affect the bird or the dog as well. While rat poison may kill a lot of rodents, it is not worth killing other beautiful creatures in the process.
Poison Endangers Kids and Pets
There are two ways kids and pets can get into contact with rat poison. One, the baits left around for the rats can also be found by your curious kids and pets while they are playing in those dark areas. The other way is very common because before the rat dies, which takes quite a while, they will come into contact with many things including utensils, toys and other stuff and then the kids will touch them. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, rat poison is the second leading cause of hospitalization in kids.
Poison Doesn't Kill all Rats
Since poison takes more than a few hours to work, there is a chance the rat will survive if it finds some water to drink. Only 60 percent of rats in one area die from poison, and most often than not, infant ones don't even eat the poison. This makes poison ineffective in permanently getting rid of these annoying creatures from your home.
Instead of using poison to get rid of rats, there are many other methods including traps, baits and even bringing in some cats to your home. If you have a considerable rodent infestation, the best solution would be to call a pest management company and let professionals deal with the problem.
Share29 November 2017
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