Here's How to Overcome a House Disturbed by Rats According to IPB Experts, Easy to Do!

JURNAL MEDAN - Do you have a problem with rats roaming your house? Don't worry, there is a solution from Dr. Swastiko Priyambodo as a rat expert from IPB University.

According to Swastiko, rats are one of the animals that 'rule' the earth's surface because of their large number.

Swastiko said the animal which has the Latin name Rodentia is the largest type of order and covers 40 percent of the largest number of species.

No wonder, if rats are one of the most common pest animals nesting in homes or culverts and disturbing comfort, because they often damage home furnishings.

Even so, said Swastiko, only nine species of rats are pests. Of the nine species, only Rattus norvegicus (riul rat), Rattus rattus diardii (house mouse) and Mus musculus (house mouse) are cosmopolitan (can live and thrive all over the world).

"It is these three rats that we often encounter at home and often interfere with our activities at home," said Swastiko, summarized from the IPB website quoted by the Jurnal Medan, Monday, June 7, 2021.

As a first step in controlling rats, the IPB University lecturer from the Department of Plant Protection suggested inspecting signs of the presence of rats in the house.

The inspection, he said, can be carried out starting from looking at feces or dirt, the damage caused, rat nests, rat sounds, footprints and rat tails, smear marks or stains, mouse paths, as well as urine and odor excretions, both living and dead. die.

Meanwhile, controlling rats, he continued, can be done by various methods.

In residential or residential areas, Swastiko relies on sanitary, physical-mechanical and chemical techniques to control rats.

1. Don't pile up food waste

Sanitation activities, he said, can be done by cleaning various kinds of triggers for the emergence of rats, especially rat resources. The rat's resources are food and nests which are the main components, because rats will inhabit a habitat because there is food and nest available in that habitat.

“In terms of mechanical control, what we implement effectively is to prevent rats from entering the building. By sealing the gaps in the building with a strong material that rats can't eat, especially metal," said Swastiko.

2. Electromagnetic waves

Another way is to repel mice using electromagnetic waves, ultrasonic sound. The expulsion method using ultrasonic sound, said Swastiko, can take advantage of the sound of crickets.

"If you use sound, rats will try to find the source of the sound and try not to make the sound sound again, while if you use spices, the effectiveness level is not yet 100 percent and can only repel mice for a while," he explained.

3. Use spices

Meanwhile, spices that can be used to repel rats include garlic, pepper, cayenne pepper, and bintaro.

4. Chemical

As for chemical control, the use of rodenticides (materials containing toxic chemical compounds used to kill various types of rodents) is considered more effective.

5. Traps

The use of traps, continued Swastiko, is quite effective in controlling rats, ranging from life traps to dead traps.

When going to be reused, the traps can be washed using soap, hot water or rice washing water to remove pheromone traces so they are not suspected by other rats.

The traps need to use baits that are attractive to rats such as roasted coconut, peanut butter or high-protein foods such as meat.

These traps can be placed in a variety of places and not just focus on one place. Traps can be placed in the path of mice or places that are attractive to mice.***

Article by:

Dedi Hidayat (JURNAL MEDAN)

#DokterTanaman #DokterTanamanIPB #Tikus #urbanpest