How to Make a Trap to Catch a Pack Rat

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Things You'll Need

  • Trash can

  • PVC pipe

  • Duct tape

  • Peanut butter

  • Cheese

Home-made rat traps will banish pack rats from your property and garden.

Pack rats, which are common throughout eastern and western areas of the United States, are one of the most feared pests to have in or around your home. The image of the rat is that of an unhygienic and disease-spreading creature that eats anything and everything it can get its claws into. But catching and removing these pack rats is a relatively simple task that requires little effort or financial outlay. By using a few easy to find items, you could be catching and removing these rats in no time.

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Step 1

Empty a trash can. Take a PVC pipe, making sure it is at least 1.5 inches in diameter and long enough so that one end touches the floor and the other leads into the trash can at the top at a diagonal angle, and secure to the trash can using duct tape.

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Step 2

Place some peanut butter at the base of the PVC pipe to entice the rat. Put some cheese in the bottom of the trash can so that the rat drops down to get at the cheese after climbing up the pipe.

Step 3

Once the rat has dropped into the trash can it will be trapped. Simply check the can every day and then either release the rats somewhere away from your garden or home, or kill by dropping rat poison into the trash can.

Tip

Place the trap in areas where you have seen (or believe) that rats are living to increase the chances of catching them. Killing them after capture will prevent them from returning.

Warning

Do not let children near the trap or let them handle rat poison.

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