Rats can be tough to catch as they are often quite skittish with the introduction of anything new or different to their environment. Some Animal Damage Control Operators will pre-bait traps to acclimate rats to the sudden appearance of something foreign. like traps. Where mice may be curious, rats can be intimidated by change and may require some time to accept the traps. A pre-baited trap, left unset, will allow rats to lose their fear while feeding for several days, growing accustomed to the traps before they are set.
In this case George Gardner of Columbia County, N.Y. received a call about rats living in a house not far from his home. George began with normal pre-baiting procedures with several of the Comstock 5x5x24, Double Door, Panless, Squirrel Traps. He received a call the following day, informed that the bait was gone. Realizing that these rats were hungry, without any fear of the traps, George re-baited the 4 traps and set them up. Within a few days he had removed 13 rats, including catching doubles a couple of times, but you don’t always know if you have caught them all.
It’s usually not difficult to catch a rat or two at a location, but can be a challenge to take them all. The occupants of the house has since have not heard of seen any sign of rat activity, which means that with the Comstock Squirrel traps and black sunflower seeds, which rodents love, the problem was completely remedied.
