As Houston rat control experts, we receive many questions about what it takes to keep a home rat-free. 

After all, Houston is one of the top 5 rat-infested cities in America, so nearly every homeowner you know must address the problem in some form or fashion, regardless of the neighborhood you live in.

Here are answers to the most common questions we receive. 

Will vinegar keep rats out of my home?

Not directly. Vinegar-based cleaners can mask certain food smells that make your home attractive to rats, but vinegar alone isn’t going to be enough to keep rats away. Anything you do to keep your home clean and fresh is helpful in terms of rat control, so long as you have realistic expectations about what it can accomplish.

For example, vinegar won’t do much to control an existing rat problem. While it might send them to your yard to hunt for food instead of to your kitchen, it won’t touch the places where they’re likely to be nesting: in your attic and inside of your walls.

What noises do rats hate?

We’d love to tell you that you can keep rats away by installing the right ultra-sonic doo-dad or that you can scare them away by banging on the walls. Unfortunately, rats are highly adaptable. 

If your home is an otherwise tempting target for them, they’re not going to let a little thing like sound bother them. They’ll quickly acclimate to the repeat sound and will start ignoring it. 

Plus, they’ll hardly notice the sounds at all once they burrow down into your insulation, which will block many of the ultra-sonic sound waves. 

What smells do rats hate?

There’s no such thing as a smell that deters rats. They ignore Vicks Vaporub, mothballs, dryer sheets, Dial soap shavings, and tea bags. Peppermint smells just tell them that you’ve got food somewhere nearby. They might identify some of these smells as not-food, but they’ll walk right past them on the way to the food source they’re looking for.

Stronger smells, like ammonia, work much like vinegar does, with about the same result. They mask food smells and might fool some rats into thinking there’s no food on your property. Nevertheless, an existing rat population is just going to ignore any unpleasant smell. 

Rats are laser-focused on what’s important to them: food, water, and safe breeding locations. They will put up with a great deal of other unpleasantness if they have those things.

Will cats keep rats away? 

Cats will not keep rats out of your home. They may make rats wary about entering the main areas of your home, but they won’t keep them out of the attics or the walls. Most rats feel like they know how to avoid cats.

Plus, most modern domestic cats have neither the inclination nor the skill to chase rats. This is a good thing, as the number of diseases rats carry and the ferocity they can display when cornered could mean losing your cat to a disease or an injury if you try to pit them against your rat population. 

Leave rats to the experts and let your cat play with the laser pointer instead. 

How can I end my rat problem for good?

The only surefire way to end a rat problem is to work with a dedicated rat control company like Elite Wildlife Services. We are experts at eliminating rats and keeping them out of your home for good.

Schedule an inspection today to find out how we can help you end your rat problem!