Home Remedies To Keep Rats Away

If you are trying to get rid of rats or simply don’t want them coming into your house in the first place, you will be glad to know that this is indeed possible. There are plenty of home remedies you will find suggested online that claim to prevent rats, but the vast majority aren’t very effective. The best home remedy to keep these rodents away is making repairs to physically keep them out and form a barrier. Of course, you are still welcome to try some of the other recommendations you see online, just don’t expect great results.



Making Repairs
As mentioned, the only effective home remedy that will prevent rats from entering your home where they can cause damage and spread disease is to make repairs and prevent them physical access. Thoroughly inspect your house to check for any potential entrance and seal it up using high-quality home repair materials like drywall, steel plating, or heavy-duty mesh. As a bonus, this will also keep out all other unwanted wildlife. When making the repairs, be sure to seal up any gap that you see as rats are capable of fitting in spaces as small as a quarter.

Moth Balls
Now that you have a better idea of the best home remedy for rats, you can take a look at some of the less effective ones. Moth balls are commonly suggested to take care of not only rats, but other wildlife as well. Moth balls are incredibly cheap and many people already have them. Unfortunately, they are actually made of naphthalene, a chemical that can be dangerous. Moth balls are known to poison the planet and are a known carcinogen, meaning they cause cancer in humans. To make matters worse, the rats just don’t care. Wildlife experts can easily tell you stories of homes with pounds and pounds of moth balls and a full pack of rats.

Human Hair
Perhaps the cheapest home remedy recommended for keeping away rats is human hair. The idea is that the hair smells like people and rats should be afraid of us, therefore staying away from the hair. On the bright side, you can easily get discarded hair from your brush to use. The down side, of course, is that this won’t work at all. That makes sense from a logical standpoint. After all, your entire home smells like humans so clearly rats don’t care about the smell. These animals choose to live in urban areas filled with humans.

Predator Urine Or A Pet
Predator urine is an excellent theory for keeping rats away. Theoretically, the rats would smell the urine and assume a dangerous predator is there. Unfortunately for the idea, rats are used to living close to predators and know how to hide from them. Because of this, they won’t leave just because you sprinkled some urine you borrowed from a friend with a dog or cat. The alternative which can work somewhat is to actually adopt a cat. These animals are known for hunting rodents and if you were already thinking about getting a feline, go ahead and do it. Don’t, however, just get a cat in hopes that it will keep rats away. First of all, not all cats like to hunt rodents. Additionally, there is no way your cat will keep rats out of your walls or your attic.

Ammonia
Another strong smell that some claim can deter rats is ammonia, but with similarly poor results. A rat simply isn’t going to leave its safe home and face an uncertain future with nowhere to hide from predators because of a smell they don’t like. To make it worse, you have to deal with the smell yourself. Don’t forget that any home remedy calling for keeping rats away with a scent will also require frequent reapplication as the smell fades.

Herbal Remedies
Perhaps the biggest category of home remedies for keeping rats away is those of an herbal nature. Not only will they not work like the options mentioned above, but they also have to be reapplied. The list of suggestions varies greatly; some say to dip cotton balls in peppermint oil and place them around your home; others say to sprinkle crushed pepper in key areas. You will also notice recommendations including bay leaves or onions.

Other Home Remedies That Don’t Work
A quick internet search is all it takes to find dozens of “effective” home remedies for keeping rats away. Some claim that using baby powder works by intoxicating the rats. Others suggest using toilet cakes, castor oil, instant mashed potatoes, and baking soda.

The common theme among most of the home remedies you find online is that they simply won’t keep rats away. Instead, you have to take steps to physically prevent entry. Home repairs are the only effective solution. While you are at it, you can also discourage rats by taking away any potential food sources or reducing clutter so there is no source of shelter nearby.