Anti-rat screens

Try any hardware store. Aluminum screen will slow them down a little vs. fiberglass screen, but some rats can chew through concrete. Heavier wire mesh may help, but installation will be trickier.

It's possible that the rat in your dresser drawer was already poisoned and was just resting somewhere dark and quiet, waiting to die. That's what poisoned rats do, along with walking around sluggishly in broad daylight with people present, and other anomalous behavior.

A good ol' snap trap may be better. Then you don't have to track down the odor of dead rats later to find and dispose of them. They like to hide in hard-to-reach places.

Thank you! I'll try that

Poison is a bad idea.
Not only does it kill the rat but whatever may feed on carcasses.
As STX Bob mentioned, you then are left to discover where it died when the odour of decay begins, mostly in inaccessible places.

The only you of screen that will work is the type you install to keep your pets from walking thru regular screening. Not very attractive and really disruptive to a view. You can ask at screen shop and have it attached over regular screening.

I use the catch and release traps when possible.
Peanut butter works well as bait.
Take them for a ride and release away from property.
Good luck!

Rats are one thing I don't have, so I haven't tried a Rat Zapper. But even if it doesn't work, at least the article is amusing.

WWLOR -This Means War

A few cats could be a big help.

I tried the zapper, traps, poison, heavy screens (which I hated, as they were a pain plus blocked both view and breeze), plus the rats eventually chewed through them anyway. One day a cat showed up and adopted me. Haven't seen a live rat since.

--Edited to add the note that the rats eventually got through the "rat-proof" screening.

A cat is the best solution...and there are so many at the shelters needing homes!! Island cats also kill centipedes.

I was adopted by two cats about a year ago when they were still kittens. I started to feed them, they came back for more. Finally was able to scoop them up to have them fixed. They hang out in my yard most of the time and I haven't had a mouse or a rat since, despite the fact that they are both crosseyed. (Kris and Kross we call them)
Before they showed up we had a period of time where the rats were coming in the house by chewing through the screens. We used a rat zapper pretty successfully but you had to be around and aware when the thing was on. And the bait we put in it attracted other bugs that we didn't want around.

Poison is a bad idea.
Not only does it kill the rat but whatever may feed on carcasses.
As STX Bob mentioned, you then are left to discover where it died when the odour of decay begins, mostly in inaccessible places.

The only you of screen that will work is the type you install to keep your pets from walking thru regular screening. Not very attractive and really disruptive to a view. You can ask at screen shop and have it attached over regular screening.

I use the catch and release traps when possible.
Peanut butter works well as bait.
Take them for a ride and release away from property.
Good luck!

Just why would you want to release disease ridden vermin back into the environment and maybe soon to be found in someones home?

I release them into the bush, not near homes.
I'd rather do that than use poison and have another critter ingest carcass and also get poisoned.

I have to 2nd getting a cat solution. Our kitties take care of all the mice and rats. Unfortunately our kitties love us so much they bring their kills to us, depositing them in such places like my pillow or computer keyboard or my favorite chair as a gift to show their love and to prove what great warrior providers that they are. I make sure that I praise them and their efforts to protect and provide. I am not quite so enthusiastic, however, when they have a lizard or a bird in their mouths and I scream, drop it, drop it drop it!!!! Usually they do and I am able to save the poor little things. I would probably scream for them to drop the rats as well but I think they only catch them at night while I am sleeping. I did see Ginger kitty with a mouse in her mouth once and I yelled for her to drop it. She did, right inside the house.

I might add that the poison used to kill critters remains in our environment and during heavy rains runs off in our waters and harms sea life and corals so think about that next time you wish to leave poison around. It's a chain reaction of consequences.

I release them into the bush, not near homes.
I'd rather do that than use poison and have another critter ingest carcass and also get poisoned.

I've tried to convince our cats to return the rats they bring in to the wild.

They just don't get it!!!

CD

And here I thought you were talking VI politics!
PT

One of my three felines is a true hunter and only rarely am I able to rescue anything "good" she catches as she darts in with her mouth full to show me and then hares off into the bush with her prize, returning later licking her lips ...

The one boy is a real goof. He doesn't catch to eat but catches to play. When whatever he catches succumbs, he brings it in, drops it on the floor and then sits there on his big bum looking up at me plaintively wailing, "Wha' happen?" Had a family of mice in the house a year or so ago who resisted all humane attempts to get them out. Awakened by a slight noise late one night, found the goof in the bathroom sitting entranced in the middle of the floor watching a tiny mouse running circles around him ...

Loved your story, Tammy!

Joining in on the "Cats are the best solution." I have had at least one cat for the past 20 years or so. In the states, my neighbors had issues with field mice, I didn't. Here on STX, my neighbors have told me about rats on their boats, not me!

Most cats a amazing hunters. Beside rats and mice, they can also be very helpful to avoid a roach infestation. If they see it, they will get it! No poison.

Go to the shelter and adopt a cat or 2.

Don't adopt a cat, however, of you do not plan to give it a forever home and all the care that entails. Please Spay or Neuter any animals you adopt if not from our shelters which are overrun with hundreds of unwanted animals.

There are low cost options for spaying and neutering so there's no excuse not to have this done.

I have the rat zapper and it is my preferred method. Not a fan of cats. I'm a dog person.

I believe in no kill options.