My first career was?a?health inspector (Registered Sanitarian is the professional title, but no one?has ever heard of it ) in Sacramento County for nearly ten years.???It is my opinion?that merely laying down poison to address a rat problem is a convient?cop-out and only serves to provide income for the exterminator.?? Rat control is a total program involving several steps.

1) If rats are getting into a home, the first step is to identify their points of entry and repair/seal them.

2) For rats that are inside a structure, poisoning will only cause them to die in some?place?inaccessible?where??they will?smell like the proverbial "dead rat".??Snap rat?traps should be used to catch and kill the rats.? Peanut butter is good bait.?? The traps should?be nailed down so the rat does not crawl off and die?some place inaccessible, creating the dead rat odor problem once more.

3) Like all living things, rats require food and water.? These sources?must be identified?and eliminated.?? Examples of food sources are uneaten pet food left out on a patio, unpicked garden fruit and vegetables left to rot on the ground, overflowing garbage cans, etc.

4) Outside habitat must also be eliminated. Examples of this?includes overgrown shrubbery, ivy, blackberry brambles, etc.

Steps #3 & 4 must be done neighborhood wide or the rats will merely "jump ship" and move to another house.

Further details and information can be obtained by calling your?county health department.
Bill Anderson; Edmonds,?WA. ??