Buying a property with siblings

Why Isn't Poison Bait Killing Your Rat?

31 January 2019 by Sean Simmmons

When you first noticed a rat running around your home, you may have rushed out and bought poison bait to get rid of the rodent. You put the bait down close to where you saw the rat, added some treats to encourage it to take the bait and waited.

When you check the bait later, you see that your rat has eaten the treat and part of the poison. You breathe a sigh of relief at a job well done. However, you then see the rat running around as usual. It may have eaten poison, but it doesn't seem to have had any effect. What's gone wrong?

The Poison Hasn't Worked Yet

Poison bait doesn't kill a rat immediately. These baits often work by introducing an anticoagulant into the rat's bloodstream. This prevents blood from clotting and, ultimately kills the rat, which bleeds to death internally. However, you may have a bit of a wait ahead of you until this happens. It could take days or even a couple of weeks until the rat is affected by the bait. You may see it around for a while.

The Rat Is Immune to the Bait

Rats are becoming increasingly immune to commercial baits. Some can eat poison that should kill them but survive. They've built up an immunity or have inherited one. This is kind of like antibiotic resistance in humans. Antibiotic overuse has reduced the beneficial effects of these medications on some people. The same thing is happening with rats. They've simply adapted their systems, so they can't be harmed by some poisons. So, the bait you're using may be useless on the rat.

The Rat Has a Family

The fact that you saw one rat in your home doesn't mean that this is the only rat you have. You could have a whole family in there hiding away.

One rat may have taken your bait, but others may have been wary of it. They may take some in the future, but they may not. Rats are wary of things they can't immediately identify; some may refuse to eat the bait at all. You've solved part of your problem but not all of it.

If your rat problem hasn't gone away after some days have passed, then call out a pest controller. If you have multiple rats or if your bait isn't working, then your pest controller can use different poisons or find different ways to solve your problem.

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