Rats are a severely dangerous infestation that carries with it extensive diseases including the plague which still exists in poorer countries. The rat is so vicious and destructive that it is considered a threat to humanity by the UN who has lost billions in emergency food stores due to rat infestation. Cities around the world were so plagued with rats they would have to treat the sewers with commercial-grade rodenticide. This ended with the 2008 recession and has since caused an explosion in the rat populations of urban and suburban environments. Residential homes rarely had rats pre 2008 but since have been plagued by them. There are places where rats are more common to show up. These places are sources of water, often stagnant like a ravine that fills with water when it rains. If you live near one of these ravines then your fight with rats will be constant and unending. The same situation will occur if you have a non-chlorinated source of water on your property, ponds and fountains are very attractive to rats. Defending your home from rats is not a simple process and can be expensive and time-consuming. Killing rats on the outside can be done with the poison of almost any kind, preferably contained in a bait station. Rats on the inside are not so easy to deal with. Rats have very high water content and when they die inside of a wall because there were poisoned and not caught in a trap they will rot and stink and a stain will come through the wall that will never go away. The smell alone will be enough to tear down the wall to have them removed. That is why it is so important to catch rats on the inside of the house instead of poisoning them. You want to kill them instantly with a deadly trap and then toss them out either with the trap or make sure to clean the smell of a dead rat off of it.
You can use snap traps, capture traps or kill traps like the Zapp trap. The zap trap is a relatively new invention that uses a powerful electric charge to kill a rat. The rat enters the tube-like container and goes to eat whatever bait you placed on the kill plate with is the metal plate that electrocutes the rat when pressure is applied. This is very effective as the rats, unlike old fashioned snap traps, have no clue what they are. They do not have a fear response when entering the device and the death is silent to not alert other rats. Empty the rat as soon as possible and then clean the electric plate, making sure to remove the batteries first. You can then use it again. You can have a whole group of them as they are not very expensive.
If you do not know where to buy one of these snap traps then you are in luck. They are available almost anywhere. From Amazon.com to Walmart and home hardware. Even grocery stores sell them. You can purchase as many as you need, and it is recommended you get lots to deal with the interior issue as quickly as possible. There are many to choose from and thousands of reviews on the internet so do some research and find the rat trap that would work best for you. If you find the infestation is not going away you can add other traps to the mix. There is no end to the types of rat traps available through domestic means.
