When dealing with rats in your house, you need to address the root problem first. Make sure to seal any openings that rats use to enter your home. This will prevent new rats from coming in and trap the ones already inside. Once your home is secured, you can introduce the most humane way to kill a rat and deal with the remaining critters.
Rats can be a major nuisance and pose health risks. Therefore, you want to handle them properly and humanely. When choosing a method to deal with captured rats, prioritize humane options. There are several ways to control rats humanely. So, in this post, I will show you the most humane way to kill a rat.
Most Humane Way to Kill a Rat
Put a Rat to Sleep Using CO2 Gas
You need to follow some steps correctly to do this. This method does not cause the rat much pain. You’ll need baking soda and vinegar. When you mix them, they create the gas that puts the rat to sleep without suffering, which explains why it is the most humane way to kill a rat.
Get a plastic container for the rat and a plastic bag. Mix the baking soda and vinegar in the bag, then attach a hose to connect the bag to the container. Make sure there are no leaks in the hose. Slowly pour the vinegar into the bag. It will make carbon dioxide that goes into the container with the rat. The rat will lose consciousness from lack of oxygen and pass away without much pain.
Use Snap Traps
You can use snap traps to quickly catch and kill the rat. A snap trap is generally considered the most humane way to kill a rat. Make sure the traps are strong and powerful enough to kill the rat swiftly, not just injure it. Place the traps where the rat can easily reach them, with fresh bait as a lure. Wait for a while, check the traps regularly, and remember to change the bait to keep it enticing. When you catch and kill the rat, dispose of it safely. I have explained step-by-step how anyone can set a rat trap properly. Also, don’t use a mouse trap; it won’t be effective against rats.
Capture and Eliminate
You can use cage traps. These traps use bait and a pressure-sensitive pad to close the cage door when a rat steps on it. While this method doesn’t kill the rat, it allows you to release it far from your home or dispatch it humanely. However, rats are wary of new things, making this method less effective. Also, if the wire mesh of the cage isn’t fine enough, the rat might escape. You can follow this guide to make your own DIY rat bucket trap.
After you capture the rats, give them a sharp blow of death. You should also thoroughly clean the area where they have been living in your home. This will discourage them from returning once they are released outside.
Shooting the Rat
This can be the most humane way to kill a rat, but there are many factors to consider. For example, if you live in a residential area, shooting a gun might not be the best choice. Besides, if you miss the shot, you could scare the rat away, and it may not return for several days.
If you hit the rat but don’t kill it, it could hide away and either recover or die, which could lead to other problems like maggots or a bad smell.
Electric Traps
Electrocution is one way to kill a rat. This involves using a small metal cage with a live wire connected to it, which will electrocute the rat as soon as it steps inside.
Rodenticide (Last Option)
There are various types of rat poisons available, such as bromethalin, which affects the nervous system and causes seizures and death within 36 hours. Strychnine results in muscular convulsions and a painful death through asphyxiation. Anticoagulants cause internal bleeding, leading to death from shock after a few days. Lastly, ethylene glycol damages tissues and organs, leading to organ failure and death within 24 hours.
While poisoning might seem like an effective solution, it has its downsides, so it is not the go-to, most humane way to kill a rat. Sometimes rats don’t die immediately after consuming the poison and might crawl away to a hidden spot in your home, where they’ll die and rot, causing a terrible smell. Furthermore, rats are cannibalistic, so a dead rat can attract even more rats to your home.
Glue Traps Are Not Humane
Glue traps are a poor and inhumane choice. While they might trap the rat, they won’t kill it right away. This means that the rat suffers a slow and painful death. Glue traps also lose their stickiness over time, especially if they have caught a rat or two or if they’ve been sitting out for a while without catching anything. A larger rat might even be able to free itself, albeit at the cost of losing some fur or even a limb.
