What equipment is needed to trap a rat?

There are quite a number of equipment needed to trap and remove a Seattle rat, these include:
- A snap trap or hinged/one-door trap,
- A vacuum cleaner,
- A bait,
- Hand gloves
- Facial masks
- Scrubs and brushes,
- Disposable polythene materials or closed-lid container or cage,
- Disinfectant, and
- Spray container or bottle.



A snap trap or hinged/one-door trap is the most important equipment you need to catch a rat. It can be set in the morning or before dawn when rats are nesting. Rats have poor visibility but they can smell food, thus you may add bait to the snap trap just to entice the Washington rat to the trap.

A vacuum cleaner is only needed to remove the remnants or leftovers of Seattle rats, especially in the attic, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, deck, patio and the living area. Rat feces, foods, fur, and some other solid items are usually found where rats are active, and these must be removed to avoid contamination of the entire home and the environment. Some fecal materials are so small that they can never be removed with scrubs and brushes alone, but can be sucked into a vacuum through forced air-pressure. Scrubs and brushes are needed as mechanical equipment to remove larger left-overs, including furs and feces of Seattle rats from homes.

Disposable Polythene materials or closely-lid containers and cages are used in disposing off the carcass of a Washington rat. Without the use of disposable containers, you may find the carcasses of rats littering the environment and this can cause an epidemic to humans and animals alike. Facial masks and gloves are equipment used as precautionary methods when you come in contact with rats and their feces. You need a facial mask when you access places like the attic where you may accidentally inhale contaminated air through your nose and mouth. A facial gas mask often contains Oxygen that can sustain your breathing for several hours or days.

A disinfectant is normally used to de-contaminate a recently vacuumed region of the house. Once the rats have been removed from an enclosure, you need to vacuum the fecal materials, food and fur and other items used to create nests. Then you need a disinfectant to remove urine and odour left by the Washington rats. A disinfectant may be a detergent or a special sanitizer that can be found at recommended stores. While some disinfectants are sold in spray bottles, others are not, and that means you need to get a spray bottle where you can pour the disinfectant and spray at the affected area of the Seattle house.

Animal control and rehabilitation centers often provide more effective rat-removal equipment they normally use when hired, and to provide a much more effective result.

To learn more about our services, visit the Seattle wildlife removal home page.