Safe Rodent Control: Real-Life Solutions

Got Rats or Mice?

Don’t turn to toxic, dangerous rodenticides to get rid of rodents. Instead, use exclusion and sanitation tactics to make sure they never enter your home or business in the first place. Sealing entry points helps prevent rodents from accessing buildings, and eliminating food, water, and shelter heads off a full-scale invasion.

Keep reading to learn about safe, cost-effective ways to thwart rodent infestations without using poisons that could hurt your family, your pets, and rare wildlife.

(The tips on this page are specifically for rats and mice, but we also have tons of ideas for rodenticide-free gopher, mole, and vole control.)

The Basics of Rat and Mouse Control

Rats and mice aren’t just a nuisance — they can also damage property and spread diseases. So if you find signs of rodents, you want them gone forever, right? Poisons won’t help with that —you’ll have to keep poisoning rodents (and disposing of their bodies) over and over.

Instead, follow our three guiding principles for maintaining a rodent-free, rodenticide-free home: prevent, identify, treat. Many pest-control companies can help, but make sure they avoid rodenticides.

Prevent	Identify	Treat
Seal entry points to prevent rodents from entering your home or business. Be sure to use 1/4" x 1/4" metal mesh, steel wool, or insulating foam with a bittering agent to seal off existing entry points.	Look for signs of rats and mice: rodent droppings around food, in kitchen corners, inside cabinets, and under sinks; smudges and dark marks near entry points or nests; and chew or bite marks on food, wood, cardboard, or plastic.	Install rodent fertility-control bait stations.   Remove existing rodents with snap or electronic traps.
Remove rodent attractants like consumables and shelter by ensuring that food and water are secure and surroundings are clean.	Also look for nesting material, such as shredded paper or fabric.	Install barn owl nesting boxes to draw owls who’ll control rodents naturally.

 

Prevent

Eliminate Rodent Attractants and Entry Points

To keep rats and mice away permanently, prevent access to the building by sealing all possible entry points. It’s equally important to eliminate rodent attractions like food and water by keeping food tightly sealed and repairing leaks. Periodically do a sweep of the exterior and interior of your building(s) to make sure your property isn’t appealing for rodents.

Outdoor recommendations: 

• Don’t plant ivy — it provides shelter and harbors snails and slugs, a food source for rodents. Ivy on walls can form “rat ladders” to windows, attics, and other interior spaces.
• Keep compost piles as far away from structures as possible and grass cut to no more than 2 inches tall.
• Don’t leave pet food or water out overnight.
• Maintain at least a 2-foot space between bushes, shrubs, fences, and buildings and remove tree limbs within 3 feet of a structure or roof.
• Avoid bird feeders, since they can also provide food for rodents.
• Keep outdoor grills and cooking areas clean.
• Keep firewood off the ground and as far away from structures as possible to mitigate shelter opportunities.
• Use trash bins that close securely to keep out rodents. If a bin is cracked or missing a lid, contact the Department of Sanitation for a replacement.

Indoor recommendations:

• Eliminate food and water sources:
• Food in unsealed containers, like opened bags of chips, rice, cereal, crackers, flour, and other nonperishables
• Pet food left out overnight or in an open bag instead of a secure container
• Fruits or vegetables in bowls left outside of refrigerator
• Leaky pipes or faucets
• Open trash and compost containers
• Opt for garbage bins and compost containers with tops that seal tightly.
• Rinse food and beverage containers before discarding or recycling them.
• Clean your garbage and recycling bins frequently.
• Keep stovetops clean and free of food scraps.
• Maintain attic, crawlspaces, and cabinets near sinks clean and free of moisture.
• Declutter your home of papers, fabric, and other materials that rodents use for nesting.
• Use steel wool, caulk, foam with a bittering agent, or 1/4″ x 1/4″ metal mesh to seal these common entry points:
• Holes near cabinets, closets, or doors leading outside or to crawlspaces and attics.
• Holes around sink or appliance pipes
• Cracked foundations in the basement or unscreened ventilation holes in the attic, especially in older structures
• Gaps or cracks in baseboards
• Holes in and around windows and doors
• Missing screens in vents or crawlspaces under buildings

For even more rodent-deterrent tips, visit Raptors Are the Solution’s Got Rats? webpage and Humane Pest Control’s In Buildings webpage.

Promote Natural Predators

What’s more of a deterrent to rodents than getting eaten?

Wild predators like snakes, hawks, and owls can help control rodent populations by gobbling up rats and mice before they get into your home. Barn owls are especially efficient hunters — a single family of barn owls can eat as many as 3,000 mice every year. To encourage barn owls to nest and hunt in your area, consider installing one or more nesting boxes. Strategic placement of nesting boxes combined with the use of traps and other preventative measures will go a long way toward managing your rodent problems.

For more information on installing and maintaining nesting boxes, visit the Hungry Owl Project. It’s crucial to note that the Hungry Owl Project strongly urges you to use norodent poisons at all, either indoors or outdoors, while encouraging owls to spend time on your property. Rodent poisons could kill an owl who eats a poisoned rodent.

Identify

Look Out for Signs of Rodents

It might take some practice to master prevention methods, and of course sometimes new rodent access points and attractants will pop up before you notice them. Or maybe rodents got into your home before you discovered this webpage.

If any clever rats or mice have already invaded or ever sidestep your deterrent efforts, you’ll know they’ve arrived if you’re observant.

Stay alert to identify rodent stowaways by these telltale signs:

• Droppings, especially near a food source
• Shredded fabric or paper, which rodents use to nest
• Gnaw marks on food packaging or the building structure
• Scratching noises coming from the walls or ceiling, especially at night
• A musty, stale odor
• Greasy marks where rats have rubbed against a wall or doorway
• Unusual pet behavior

Treat

Decide How to Get Rid of Any Existing Rodents

If you do see signs of rats or mice, we recommend a combination of continuing preventative measures and cautiously using the right kinds of traps or other treatment options, like hiring a professional.

Review all your options before deciding on a treatment plan. If you decide to work with a pest control professional, be sure the company is certified by Ecowise or GreenShield and familiar with integrated pest-management techniques. Integrated pest management is an environmentally sensitive approach focusing on long-term solutions by relying on common-sense practices and current, comprehensive information on pests’ lifecycles and how they interact with the environment.

Consider Fertility Control

Rodent fertility control is an effective method to reduce rodent infestations in an environmentally friendly way. In a 2022 study examining the effectiveness of rodent-fertility products in reducing roof rat populations on a California poultry farm, rat activity was reduced by 94% with the incorporation of fertility control into existing integrated pest management. Place rodent birth control stations near locations with rodent infestations to eliminate the prolific reproductive cycle of rodents, which leads to infestations.

Even when using traps, remember: Using a multi-tactic approach to managing rodents — including fertility control — decreases the risk of dealing with future infestations.

Types of Traps

Traps are far from a perfect solution. Still, they’re much better than rodenticides. Besides eliminating the dire threats that rodenticides pose to people, pets, and wildlife (including natural predators), using traps instead of poisons gives you clear confirmation of captured rodents, letting you better gauge treatment effectiveness. Traps also let you dispose of rodents immediately instead of dealing with rotting poisoned rodents who may die in out-of-reach places. For a guide on how to select and place traps, watch this video by the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program and check out our overview below.

Trap	Description
Snap trap	This is the oldest type of trap and uses a spring-loaded bar to kill a rodent on contact. Many modern snap traps prevent risk to children and pets by enclosing the device in a plastic box — which also hide the dead rodent, make for easier rodent disposal, and can be reused. Watch this instructional video on how to safely set a snap trap.
Electronic trap	This battery-powered trap delivers an electric shock that kills rodents quickly. It’s a newer type of trap, and models are available for both rats and mice.
Live animal trap	This catch-and-release system that avoids killing a rat or mouse. Just note that some states prohibit releasing rodents into the wild, and the CDC warns that captured rats or mice might urinate, increasing the risk of disease spread.
Multiple-catch live mouse trap	This is a catch-and-release system that allows for capture of multiple mice. (See our warnings about live animal trap above.)
Glue trap	We don’t recommend glue traps because the adhesive plate they use to capture rodents can also trap birds, baby animals, lizards, and even pets. Plus, these traps cause rodents undue suffering — and while they’re waiting to die, they may also urinate and increase the risk of spreading disease.

Trapping Rodents Safely

It’s still crucial to use traps safely and then properly dispose of dead rodents to reduce the risk of getting sick or spreading disease.

Trap-use tips:

• Always read and follow the label instructions on traps.
• Place traps out of children’s and pets’ reach or inside safety enclosure boxes.

Tips for rodent and nesting-material disposal:

• Use gloves when disposing of dead rodents, nests, or nesting material.
• Spray the dead rodent or nesting material with a disinfectant solution and allow it to soak for 5 minutes before disposing of the rodent or material in a secure plastic bag.
• Spray and wipe up the area surrounding the dead rodent or nesting material with a disinfectant.
• Place the plastic bag with the rodent or nesting material into another plastic bag, along with any wipes or rags you used to sanitize the area.
• Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water when you’re done.

Needs more tips? Check out these step-by-step tips on cleaning up after rodents — dead rodents from traps, rodent urine and droppings, and rodents in old vehicles — from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If You Use Rodenticides Despite the Consequences

Some people choose to use rodenticides despite their massive dangers and drawbacks, including their high risk of causing suffering and death in children and nontarget animals (and the fact that they’ll probably leave dead rodents in your walls). If you or someone you know resort to this option, at least follow these guidelines to reduce the risks of using such potent poisons:

• Always read and follow the label instructions on the pesticide product. The label is the law, and you could be liable for any damage resulting from not following the label instructions.
• Use only products approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that are sold and used with tamper-resistant bait stations to help reduce poisonings of children, pets, and wildlife. Here’s a list of EPA-approved rodenticide bait station products.
• Indoors, only put rodenticide bait stations in places completely inaccessible to children and pets: inside walls, under heavy appliances, or in enclosed crawlspaces.
• To protect wildlife, don’t use any rodenticides containing anticoagulants (brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum, difethialone, diphacinone, warfarin, and chlorophacinone) as active ingredients.
• Once all signs of rodents are gone, remove bait stations promptly by placing them in a secure plastic bag.

More Resources

• Raptors Are the Solution: Got Rats?
• Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides: Controlling Rats Without Poisons
• Poison-Free Malibu: Earth-friendly management techniques so people can make informed decisions about pesticides usage
• University of Florida's IFAS Extension
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Identify and Prevent Rodent Infestations