How To Get Rid Of Norway Rats
Eliminating Norway rats (also known as brown rats or sewer rats) on your own can be challenging due to the intelligence, adaptability, and rapid breeding cycle of these rats. However, with persistence, thoroughness, and proper techniques, it is possible to reduce or even eliminate an infestation of these rodents. Here’s how a home or business owner can get rid of Norway rats on their own:
Identify the Infestation
Look for signs: Droppings (large, capsule-shaped), gnaw marks, greasy rub marks along walls, burrows outdoors, and noises in walls or basements at night.
Find nesting sites: Norway rats typically nest in ground burrows, under debris, behind walls, or in crawl spaces.
Locate entry points: Inspect foundations, crawl space vents, door thresholds, utility penetrations, and gaps around pipes. Norway rats can squeeze through openings as small as ½ inch.
Eliminate Food and Water Sources
Food storage: Store all food (including pet food and bird seed) in metal or heavy plastic sealed containers.
Clean thoroughly: Remove crumbs, spills, and grease buildup in kitchens, breakrooms, and trash areas.
Trash control: Keep garbage in tightly sealed bins; empty them regularly.
Remove outdoor attractants: Pick up fallen fruit, keep compost covered, and clean up pet waste.
Address water sources: Fix leaks, eliminate standing water, and ensure outdoor drains are functioning properly.
Seal Entry Points
Inspect at ground level: Norway rats usually burrow and enter at or below ground level.
Seal with durable materials: Use steel wool combined with caulk, concrete patch, or metal flashing. Avoid foam sealant alone—it’s easily chewed through.
Install door sweeps and weather stripping: This helps eliminate access gaps around doors and garage areas.
Use Trapping Methods
Snap traps: The most effective DIY control method. Use sturdy rat-sized snap traps placed along runways (edges of walls, behind objects, near burrows).
Bait selection: Use peanut butter, nuts, bacon, or dried fruit as bait. Pre-bait traps (unarmed) for a few days to build rat confidence, then set them.
Multiple traps: Set numerous traps simultaneously—rats are wary, and a large coordinated effort increases success.
Placement: Place traps perpendicular to walls with the bait side facing the wall.
Avoid or Carefully Use Rodenticides
Caution: Rodenticides can cause secondary poisoning, unpleasant odors from dead rats in walls, and pose risks to pets, children, and non-target wildlife.
If used: Place bait only in secure, tamper-resistant bait stations and follow all label instructions precisely.
Prefer non-chemical control: Trapping allows you to confirm when rats have been caught and monitor progress safely.
Eliminate Outdoor Burrows
Collapse burrows: After ensuring they’re inactive, fill burrows with soil, gravel, or steel wool mixed with expanding foam.
Remove clutter: Eliminate wood piles, debris, and thick vegetation near the building’s foundation.
Maintain landscaping: Keep grass trimmed and shrubs away from structures to reduce cover.
Maintain Long-Term Prevention
Routine inspections: Check for new burrows, droppings, or gnaw marks every few weeks.
Ongoing sanitation: Keep all food sources secured and storage areas clean.
Structural maintenance: Repair foundation cracks and gaps promptly.
Monitor with traps: Keep a few unset traps or monitoring stations to detect early activity.
DIY control can manage minor Norway rat problems, but for moderate to severe infestations—or if rats are nesting within walls, attics, or commercial spaces—our professional pest control is strongly recommended. Our experts use advanced exclusion techniques, tracking tools, and safe, targeted treatments that ensure complete eradication and prevention of re-infestation.
The Best Way To Get Rid Of Norway Rats
Our professional pest control is the most effective and reliable way to eliminate Norway rats because we combine specialized knowledge, advanced tools, and strategic long-term prevention methods that far exceed what most property owners can achieve on their own. Norway rats are highly intelligent, social, and adaptive rodents capable of avoiding amateur control methods and reproducing rapidly, so our professional intervention ensures that the problem is handled safely, thoroughly, and permanently. Here’s why hiring our professionals is the best approach:
Expert Identification and Inspection
Our licensed pest control professionals are trained to identify Norway rats accurately and distinguish them from other species such as roof rats or deer mice, which require different strategies. They perform detailed inspections to locate entry points, active runways, nesting sites, and feeding zones. This targeted knowledge allows them to develop a customized control plan that eliminates both visible and hidden infestations.
Strategic, Science-Based Control Methods
Our professionals apply a combination of proven strategies—known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM)—to remove rats effectively and sustainably. This includes precise trapping, baiting with regulated rodenticides, exclusion (sealing entry points), and habitat modification. IPM ensures results are achieved efficiently while minimizing risks to people, pets, and non-target wildlife.
Access to Professional-Grade Tools and Products
Consumer-grade traps and baits are often weak compared to professional materials. Our pest control experts have access to high-quality, EPA-approved rodenticides, tamper-resistant bait stations, and industrial-grade snap traps that are more effective and safer for use around homes and businesses. These materials are strategically placed based on rat behavior patterns and environmental conditions for maximum success.
Comprehensive Exclusion and Sanitation Planning
Eliminating rats without sealing entry points is only a temporary fix. Our professional technicians identify and seal structural vulnerabilities that allow rats to enter—such as gaps in foundations, pipe openings, and cracks near doors or vents. We also advise on sanitation improvements, waste management, and landscape modifications to reduce the property’s long-term attractiveness to rodents.
Faster, Safer, and More Efficient Results
DIY attempts often take weeks or months, during which time rats continue breeding, spreading pathogens, and damaging property. Our professionals can eradicate the infestation much faster using coordinated multi-point treatment methods. We also ensure that rodenticides are applied in compliance with safety regulations, protecting occupants, pets, and the environment.
Prevention of Reinfestation
Rats are persistent and will often return if preventive measures aren’t maintained. Our professional pest control services provide ongoing monitoring, follow-up inspections, and maintenance plans to ensure that rats stay out for good. This long-term oversight dramatically reduces the risk of future infestations.
Health and Property Protection
Norway rats can transmit serious diseases such as leptospirosis, salmonellosis, and rat-bite fever, and their gnawing can cause costly structural and electrical damage. Our professionals help safeguard your property and health by ensuring that all contaminated areas are properly treated, cleaned, and monitored, significantly reducing the risk of disease exposure and secondary damage.
Guaranteed Peace of Mind
Perhaps the most valuable benefit of our professional pest control is confidence. We stand behind our work with a re-treatment warranty - if Norway rats return in between regularly scheduled services, so will we. Homeowners and business owners can rest assured knowing that our experts are handling the problem effectively and responsibly.
While it’s possible to manage a small rat problem independently, our professional pest control delivers a far more thorough, efficient, and lasting solution. Our experts not only eliminate current infestations but also implement preventive strategies that protect your property from future rodent invasions. Our professional services turn what could be an ongoing, costly, and hazardous problem into a clean, secure, and rat-free environment.
Get Rid Of Norway Rats With Miche Pest Control
Hiring our team of professionals at Miche Pest Control is an investment in long-term protection, expertise, and peace of mind. Here’s why:
- Personalized Service and Local Expertise: We know the specific pest pressures in the area—such as seasonal rodent activity, regional ant species, or local termite threats. Our technicians understand the environment, climate, and building types common to the area, allowing them to provide targeted, effective treatments.
- High-Quality, Comprehensive Solutions: As a full-service provider, we doe’t just treat surface problems; we address the root causes. From inspections and prevention to exclusion and ongoing maintenance, we deliver complete, integrated pest management (IPM) programs designed to both eliminate infestations and prevent future ones.
- Accountability and Reliability: We live and die by our reputation. We rely on trust, referrals, and repeat business, meaning we're committed to doing the job right the first time and providing exceptional customer care.
- Faster Response Times: We respond quickly to emergencies and schedule services sooner than large, national chains. Especially when you’re dealing with urgent pest issues like rodents or wasps, that speed matters.
- Customized Treatment Plans: We tailor our services to your property’s specific needs instead of using one-size-fits-all chemical treatments. This results in safer, more effective pest control that minimizes environmental impact and reduces unnecessary pesticide use.
- Highly Trained, Experienced Technicians: We invest in training, certification, and continuing education for our technicians. We stay current on the latest pest biology, control techniques, and safety standards.
- Long-Term Prevention and Value: Our focus on providing quality service means fewer callbacks, longer-lasting protection, and better value over time. Instead of repeated, temporary fixes, you get strategic solutions that protect your home or business for the long run and provide better peace of mind.
Hiring our team means you get expertise you can trust, faster service, safer and more effective treatments, and long-term results that protect both your property and your peace of mind. Contact us today!