Is it ok to poison a rat?

There are many widespread species of rodents around the world and it is no surprise that sooner or later we might find some of them in our home. Infestations can be a serious problem, rat activity in the attic and the byproducts of their activities in your house can pose a health risk, not to mention the terrible smell that will mark their territory. Logically, the first thing that comes to the mind of a person that is having rat problems is to use some effective method to remove them as quickly as possible and with as little effort as possible.



The immediate reaction is to use a poison and different chemicals to spread around the house and the rodent’s habitat in order to kill them, but this is one of the worst ways to kill a rat and there are several very good reasons why you should never use poison. Firstly, you should be aware that not all rats are going to be vulnerable to the type of poison you plan on using, in addition to the method having a large chance of failure from the very start, you should also consider the consequence it will have in your entire household and other animals, such as pets that you might have around. Some rats may simply not even come near the poison you spread around, and even if they do, the resulting death can be very long and agonizing for them, which is pure torture for the animal, needless to say that they can wonder about and can become a target for your dog to play with, thus putting it at risk as well.

However, the most important reason why you should never use rat poison is simply because even if the rats do ingest it and they do in fact die, they will most likely do so in a place so well secluded in your house, some corner of the attic that is not accessible and you won’t be able to remove the carcasses properly. This can lead to the spread of awful stench of decomposing bodies, but what is worse is the amount of flies that will most likely spread from the dead rat. The carcass will become a breeding ground for blowflies, those big, green and noisy flies will quickly amount to thousands from the body of just one rat and that is where you will have a lot bigger problem on your hands. A real swarm can infest your house and they can be tremendously difficult to remove as future generations will keep on spawning, not to mention the unsanitary environment as they will be everywhere, from your kitchen, to the bedroom. Think carefully when choosing a method to remove rats, and for these reasons, never use poison, but rather resort to some more humane methods of removal for the best results.

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