Since the days of the famous Hammelnian Pied Piper, who lured all the rats out of the city and mercilessly drowned in the river from the city, much water has flowed under it. But little has changed in the eternal confrontation between humans and malicious rodents. People by means of powerful intelligence and gigantic creativity come up with all the new ingenious means of exterminating pests, and rodents with great fertility and resilience before the blows of fate quickly fill up the losses and again go on the offensive on the human bins. A multi-thousand-year battle without rules turned into a positional war without winners and losers. But the human genius does not give up and is preparing for the pests all new surprises.
Harm from rodents
The well-known female exclamation "mice smell!" - not the saddest consequence of the rodent invasion of the household.
Mice and their larger relatives rats eat everything that is bad in kitchens, warehouses, storerooms, cellars, barns, barns, and other places where food is concentrated, often damaging food stocks, especially in warehouses and rural areas, comparable to fires. Not so rarely do they spoil clothes, shoes and books. 
In addition, rodents, leaving the human excreta, urine and saliva, are carriers of more than 70 infectious diseases. An ominous medieval plague epidemic that wiped out the population of half of Europe was brought by rats on their paws.
And the mere appearance of rats and mice in the female society spoils the ladies nerves and mood for the whole day.
Did you know? According to rough estimates by scientists (since it is impossible to calculate precisely), there are two times fewer people on our planet than rats.
Effective rat traps: 5 ways to catch a rat
The creative thought of modern rat-catchers does not stand still and is finding new ways to use objects familiar to us in order to catch and kill rodents.
Bucket trap
From an improvised means, which is available in any household, it is possible to make a very effective tool for the destruction of pests. 
It is quite simple, and to create it you need:
- In a bucket pour salt solution of strong concentration.
- Top with a thick layer of sunflower seed husks, sawdust or shavings.
- Wait until this layer swells. It will not be able to sink due to the high density of the concentrated brine.
- In the center of the layer put bait with an appetizing smell for rats.
- To rest on the upper edge of the bucket leaning on the ground plate, on which the rodent can climb to the top.
- Having sensed the smell of the bait, the rodent hurries toward it and, having climbed the plank, fearlessly steps on a layer of sawdust or husk that seems to be durable and immediately falls into salty water, from which he has no salvation.
- In the morning, count the number of gray drowned men and dispose of them.
Learn also how to make a mousetrap with your own hands.
How to make a trap from a plastic bottle
Recently, more and more often plastic bottles have been used for pest control because of their cheapness and ease of processing in the manufacture of traps. 
One of the easiest options is as follows:
- For a plastic container of 10–20 l, the upper part with the thread, where the lid is screwed, and the dome-shaped part, which begins at the place where the vertical walls begin to round towards the hole, should be cut off.
- Insert the dome-shaped part tightly into the container with a narrow end to make something like a funnel.
- The edges of this "funnel" strengthened with duct tape.
- Inside the resulting trap throw bait heavier, so that the trap could not easily move from the touch of the animal.
- The very trap lying on its side, put a hole to some small elevation, so that the rodent is easier to get to the coveted bait.
- A rodent that has fallen inside a plastic container will not be able to get back.
Did you know? The entire population of rats on Earth annually eats 168 million tons of food.
Homemade pot trap
An ordinary medium-sized flower pot can also become a formidable weapon against gray pests. 
For this you need:
- The edge of the pot to lift.
- Put the bait deep into the space under the pot.
- Under the raised edge substitute edge coin.
- A rat peering under the pot will certainly break the stability of the structure, and the pot will cover the rodent.
The disadvantage of this method is the possibility that the rodent will touch the coin before it is completely under the pot, and will have time to slip away. To avoid this, apply a more sophisticated way.
Instead of a coin, an ordinary ruler set on an edge is used, to the end of which a thread is attached by means of a loop. At the other end of the thread is attached bait, located under the pot.
Then everything is simple: the animal climbs under the pot, grabs the bait, thereby pulling the thread, the ruler falls - and the rodent is in captivity.
It will also be useful for you to learn how to deal with rodents, how to deal with them at home and in the garden, how to apply rodenticides to kill rodents.
Zürner's Traphead
This time-tested trap acts reliably and is capable of “sheltering” not just one rodent in a night. 
It is made as follows:
- A wooden house is being built in the manner of a birdhouse, but only with a hole not in the front, but with two sides and with a removable lid.
- The bottom of the box and sides from the inside are upholstered with tin.
- Opposite each of the two holes from the inside on the hinges fasten the plates so that they form a kind of bridge leading from the window to the window and interrupted in the middle.
- Each of the plates is supplied with a light spring that supports it in a horizontal position.
- The bait is hung above the planks on a string.
- Access to the holes is facilitated by the access of animals through planks leaning on the outside of their edges.
- Then everything is simple: a rat looks into one of the holes, sees a hanging bait and a convenient bridge leading to it. She walks along the plank, she falls under her weight, and the animal slides into a tin-padded box, and the plank returns to its original position.
- Zürner's rat racetrack is ready to receive the following guests.
How to use an iron barrel as a trap
This is an extremely simple and equally effective way of dealing with rats.
Iron Barrel Trap: video
For this you need:
- Put an iron barrel next to a table or similar surface, slightly pushing the edge of the barrel under the table.
- Pour into a barrel of water.
- Place a plank on a table or other surface in such a way that one of its edges with the bait hangs over the barrel, being in balance with the rest of the plate.
- The rodent, walking along the plank to the bait, breaks the balance and slides right into the metal barrel with water, from which it can no longer get out.
Important! Any contact with a rat, including a dead one, should be carried out exclusively in tight gloves or gloves and appropriate clothing.
Fight against rats: features
Rats are among the most intelligent animals. Therefore, it is so difficult for a person to fight with them. For example, being omnivorous, they, even the hungry, never pounce on an unfamiliar food all together. Just by making sure that nothing happened to the “scouts”, the rest will proceed to unfamiliar food. 
So with the help of toxic chemicals, even the most modern, the whole rat family in a certain place is impossible to bring out. Do not eat rats and stale food, as well as smelling man.
Contrary to popular belief, this animal is quite clean, visits the garbage in extreme cases, in the premises chooses the most well-kept places. Foul meat, for example, will not eat even the most starved rat.
And although the rat is an omnivorous animal, choosing a bait for the trap, you need to know which products the rodents prefer.
Learn also how to get rid of the mole, ants, mole rat, water rat, viper, snakes in your summer cottage.
What rats love: the perfect bait
As you know, the most popular bait in a mousetrap is hard cheese. For the trap is also a bait number 1. Cheese has a strong specific smell that attracts animals from afar, the rodents love the taste, it has a dense texture to be fixed in traps and does not spoil for a long time. 
Also well proven bait in the form of:
- sala;
- fish;
- meat;
- sausages;
- flour;
- beer;
- porridge;
- of bread;
- baking;
- cottage cheese;
- smoked meat
Where is the best place to place a trap
It is most reasonable to locate a trap close to the place of residence of the rat family. And if it is not defined, then it should be assumed that these animals prefer to move along the walls in clean and dark places, without going out to the light and open parts of the room.
It is usually customary to install rat traps on a counter-flow, that is, towards the usual course of their movement. 
Since rats are distinguished by intelligent caution, it is advisable in rat traps, where rodents have to penetrate, first place the bait without setting the trap into a combat position. Rats have to get used to the fact that nothing threatens them inside.
You should also consider the cleanliness of these animals, so do not install rat traps in the cluttered places. In addition, after catching rodents, it is necessary to thoroughly wash the traps.
What to do with the caught rat
Most rat traps quickly rob a rodent of life. However, some traps, such as those made from a plastic water tank, allow the animals to stay alive and healthy for a while.
Of course, a big and strong person can kill a small animal in many ways. But it’s one thing to throw the already dead animal out of the rat-trap, and quite another to kill the living creature with your own hands, while delivering torture to it. This is not a lot of hunters. 
In this case, a method was invented how to put the beast to sleep painlessly for him.
For this:
- The animal should be placed in a plastic container.
- Dilute baking soda with vinegar in any container.
- Pour the mixture into a container.
- The carbon dioxide released in the course of the reaction will quickly lull the animal without any torment to it and then bring it to death.
Rat Trap: Precautions
A cornered rat can be very dangerous. And this is not a figure of speech at all, but a harsh reality. A rat that has fallen into a trap, frightened and feeling hopeless, when taken out of a mousetrap, is capable of digging into the throat with incisors, clutching at the face, or biting through a hand deeply.
In this case, not only the injuries themselves are dangerous, but also an infection that the animal can bring into the blood of a person with its saliva. 
Important! Rats are capable of jumping up to two meters in height - which is why they can cling to the face of a person who has driven them into a hopeless situation.
When using home-made or industrially produced rats, you should protect them from access by children and pets.
The centuries-old human struggle with this intelligent, cunning, careful and prolific animal has not brought any serious success yet. Rats continue to cause enormous damage to food stocks of people, while spreading dangerous infections.
That is why the search for new means to combat this dangerous adversary continues. But, having put some efforts, you will be able successfully to protect the housing from their invasion.
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