Q - My home was infested with rats after the hurricane. I picked up quite a few dead rats in the house and in the attic. I am concerened about dead decaying rats in the walls and attic insulation. Can you tell me what to do?
A - Removal of the dead rats is the optimum idea. If the baits used were anticoagulants, most of the dead rats will have little odor. The biggest concern will be the potential flea population that can come from them. The house should be treated with a pyrethroid such as Suspend to manage the populations both inside the house and around the yard. Be sure to treat the attic as well. It will probabley be best to make two applications about 14 days apart to get good control. If you have pets, be sure to bathe them and provide some sort of flea control on them. The materials like First Line and Advantage are two that are direct applications to the pet and flea collars are the other type.
-- Dr. Dale Pollet
A -Make certain you change the bait stations often enough to ensure that the bait does not become foul-tasting. Rats and mice will use fresh bait much better than baits damaged by moisture or age. Snap traps and glue boards are two other options you can use if the odors from the poisoned rats do become a problem.
-- Dr. Don Reed