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If you’re all about humane rat removal, live
exclusion is the answer for you, and the best way
to approach this method is through one-way
exclusion funnels. You also have the alternative
of a one-way door live exclusion cage, but you’ll
have a better chance with the exclusion funnel.
When using a one-way exclusion funnel for
capturing a rat, you first need to identify and
seal shut any points of access the rats might use
to get in and out, except for a main entrance.
Then, install the exclusion funnel at that main
entrance and exit point. The rat will not be
harmed, it will be able to enter the funnel easily
and, ideally, it won’t be able to get out. You can
then further move on to releasing the rat
somewhere away from your house.
In the interest of being perfectly clear, I do not
recommend, nor do I use one-exclusion funnels when
dealing with rats or mice. I’ve always believed in
and have been an advocate for treating animals
with care and respect, and I practice this belief
also when it comes to rats. That being said, I
feel it’s more humane to use a lethal snap trap
instead of glue traps or poison when talking about
rat removal, and I have a handful of reasons why I
prefer lethal snap traps to one-way exclusion
funnels or cage traps.
First off, exclusion funnels don’t have that big
of a success rate. Rats vary in size depending on
their age, and chances are that they will be able
to escape the funnel. Also, rats are pretty
cautious, and while you have higher chances of
live trapping them in one-way exclusion funnels
than with a one-way door, the odds of catching all
the rats that are causing you trouble are still
kind of high. If you catch a rat with a one-way
exclusion funnel, the next step would be to
release it far away from your home. It’s very
likely that you’re evacuating that rat from the
only habitat it’s known for its entire short life,
thus making that life even shorter by sending the
rat to what will probably turn out to be a painful
and violent death. Yes, the rat will most
certainly die when uprooted from its only known
environment. Factors that guarantee this death are
competition from other rats, predators, and
starvation. Rats reproduce at a ridiculous high
rate, and their natural lifespan is already very
low, few rats living more than a year. So, to
catch a rat without trapping or hurting it is
pretty useless, I would say. I can understand
wanting to have a clear conscience and all that,
but you’re not saving the rat, you’re just sending
it to a rough death instead of doing the humane
thing by killing it instantly.
I strongly suggest you consult my nationwide
directory of vermin control experts before going
ahead and improvising, or before hiring whatever
exterminator company that’s the cheapest, and that
will approach your rat problem with poison or
other ineffective and cruel methods that will not
solve the issue. For more information, you may
want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How much
does rat removal cost? - get the lowdown on
prices.
How
to get rid of rats - my main rat removal
info guide.
Example
rat trapping photographs - get
do-it-yourself ideas.
Rat
job blog - learn from great examples of rat
jobs I've done.