Q&A for How to Trap Rats

We prefer a poison-free, automatic self-resetting rat trap. It's really important not only to control pests, but also to have the smallest impact possible on people and the planet.

Check the outside of your home for holes. If a hole is the size of a dime, it's big enough for a mouse to fit through, and if it's the size of a quarter, a rat can fit through. If the holes are active, you'll likely see grease marks where oil from the rats' fur has rubbed off. You might also see chew marks where the rats have enlarged the hole to fit through.

The trap might have only caught the tail of the rodent, moving the trap when the rat ran away with it. Another possibility is that a larger predator found the rat in the trap dead and took it--trap and all--to another location to eat it, leaving just the trap behind.

Yes, they can. Rats climb better than mice.

Yes, they can and they inevitably will, so you'll have to change up your methods after a while.