Is Rat Poison Effective?

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Is Rat Poison Effective At Ridding Your Home of Rats?

If you are dealing with rats in your home, you may be inclined to turn to rat poison to alleviate your problem. But what is rat poison? What is it made of and how does it work? Learn about the different kinds of rat poison, if using it is an effective means of ridding your home of rats, and if there are other means of rat control that may be more effective in the article below.

What Is Rat Poison?

There are three different types of rat poison: calcium releasers, anticoagulants and acute toxins. Acute toxins proved to have a high rate of accidental poisoning and many are no longer available. Only one type of rat poison, bromethalin, is considered safe for use in the home. 

Is Rodenticide Effective?

Rodenticide contains harsh chemicals that can harm your family and pets and has the potential to negatively impact the environment. It can take a long time for the poison to take effect, and this process can be slow, painful and inhumane. And on top of that, it doesn’t always work. You may subject your home and your family to the dangers of rat poison only for it to not eradicate your home’s rat infestation.

Why Is It Bad To Use Rat Poison?

When you use rat poison to kill rats in your home, rats that eat this poison will consequently perish in your home. For you and your home, this means two things: poisoned rats will either die in your walls, attic or crawl spaces, or they will die out in the open. If a rodent dies in your walls, you won’t know until you begin to smell the stench of a decaying body, a smell that can linger for weeks. In the other scenario, a rat will walk out into the open in search of water due to severe dehydration from the poison and perish where you can see it. 

Second-generation rat poisons cause massive internal bleeding and affected rats can bleed out before dying, meaning you might find not only a dead, rat carcass, but a dead rat carcass in a pool of its own diseased blood. 

In either case, you are left with a grim and dangerous mess to clean up. Rats carry several diseases that can be transmitted at various points during this poisoning process. Disposing of carrion in your dumpster can also be an allure to other unwanted pests. No rat poison exists that is not also toxic to people and pets, another factor to take into account before putting down your own rodenticide.

Find A Pest Specialist For Rat Control

If you are concerned about rat control for your home, please give us a call or fill out the form on this page. PestControlExperts.com is a team of experts who are highly qualified to provide the best recommendations for you and your home, no matter which part of the United States you live in.