Here's a trap in place. Note the garbage bag under the trap -- this helps with yucky cleanup. (n.b.: I put a poster under my sink after I had a plumber over and felt bad about how unpleasant it was under there -- it's not for the rats.)
I'm not going to post the pictures I have of caught rodents, because this isn't a "faces of death" post or rat snuff site.
It's made me very sad enough to cry almost every time I've killed an animal (five times now -- three mice in traps, one rat in a trap, and a baby squirrel that my dog caught, broke the neck of, but didn't quite kill off, so I had to drop a big rock on its head -- which got baby squirrel brains on my skirt -- it was just as horrible as it sounds), in spite of what some people may think of me (e.g., this comment or this one -- you'll have to scroll down for each because I'm dumb that way) and it's important for me to me to say that the best way to deal with rats or mice is not to have them in the first place -- prevention in other words. It was under that theory that I fixed my sewer to the tune of $4,000 or what have you (I'm trying to forget exactly how much it cost) instead of setting out poisons in my yard -- it would have been an endless task, and if I can avoid distributing toxins and wanton killing of any kind, I will.
If you're lucky like we are here in Multnomah County, vector control people will happily visit your house and help you identify where the rats may be coming from and what might be attacting them -- bird seed, animal food, general filth. But that's information for someone else to give out.
Assuming the worst, and you've got a rat in your house, you need to get rid of it quickly -- they can really cause a tremendous amount of damage, as I discovered with my first experience (I didn't have my face bit or anything, but I did have to replace my stove), and if you use a live trap, where are you going to put that invasive thing?
So, with all that said: Happy Rat Trapping!
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