Rat Traps

They are not the answer to permanent rat control

Rat traps are intended to catch rats, but trapping individual rats doesn’t address the real problem — why the rats are able to enter the building in the first place. In reality, rat traps are far less effective than people expect, typically catching only a small proportion of the population. Rats are highly adapted to their environments, extremely sensitive to change, and capable of detecting and avoiding traps with remarkable accuracy. As a result, traps often remove a few rats while the infestation continues, hidden and unresolved.

Effective rat control is achieved by prevention, not trapping. Rats infest properties because there are defects in the building fabric — above or below ground — that provide access, shelter, and warmth. If those entry points remain, trapped rats are quickly replaced by others. By identifying how rats are getting into a property and permanently blocking those routes, the infestation is stopped at its source. This is the approach Pestology takes: no rat traps, no temporary fixes — just expert investigation, targeted rat-proofing, and long-term solutions that keep properties rat-free for good.

Once you see infra-red video footage of rats weaving in and out of a carpet of rat traps in a pitch black roof void with pin point accuracy, you start to see that these creatures perceive their environment in a completely different way to us

Humans are visionary creatures, we look for things in the life that may cause us harm and our eyes are our primary resource to do this as we tend to be out and about in the day

Rats are olfractory – they ‘see’ their world through smell and touch and the visionary side of things really isn’t in their ‘picture’ which works well for them in pitch black drains or at night in roof voids especially when avoiding a carpet of rat traps.

Their level of sensitivity to their environment is incredible and its this that ultimately ensures their survival – they are immediately aware of any changes that occur to it or any objects introduced to it and know to stay well away, such as a carpet of rat traps in a roof void!

And what is trapping rats on its own going to achieve anyway? Rats don’t randomly infest buildings – the rats are there because there are issues within the building fabric below and above ground that allow the rats to get in because the building fabric offers shelter and warmth.

If these environmental factors which allowed the rats to occupy the area in the first place are still in place, then more rats will simply replace those rats trapped as all rats out there will be facilitated to do this in the same way and for the same reason.