Brown County to make rat traps available to Green Bay residents June 30 at Neville Museum

Doug Schneider | Green Bay Press Gazette

Show Caption Hide Caption Green Bay resident talks about rats Janet Angus urges Green Bay City Council members to spend money on eradicating rats in the city.

GREEN BAY - Brown County residents who go to the Saturday Farmers Market June 30 can come home with something other than fruits and vegetables: a free rat trap.

About 1,500 rat traps will be available at no charge for county residents who stop by the Neville Public Museum between 9:30 a.m. and noon June 30. The spring-loaded traps will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Similar traps were selling in FleetFarm.com and at other retailers this week for less than $4.

The county budgeted $5,000 this year to buy traps for people who live in the Fort Howard, Fisk Park and Mather Heights neighborhoods, parts of which have been plagued by the annoying rodents for several years. But any county resident with a rat issue can claim one, said Bernie Erickson, a county supervisor who represents part of Green Bay's west side.

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Rats can bite, spread disease, and endanger humans and pets.

Some west-side residents complained last fall of seeing rats in the area for the first time in decades. City officials received about 150 complaints through Sept. 24, but said the number didn't seem unusually high.

In November, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, ran advertisements on Green Bay Metro Transit buses urging residents not to use poison or kill-traps on rats. The ads say, "Only a Dirty Rat Uses Cruel Pest Control. Be Kind."

Keep rats away

To reduce the chance rats will want to be near your home:

• Remove food sources, water and items that provide shelter for rodents.

• Dispose of garbage on a frequent and regular basis inside.

• Thoroughly clean areas with signs of rodent activity.

Be rodent-proof

Rats can enter the home through a hole the size of a quarter. Mice can enter through a hole the size of a dime. Seal gaps and holes inside and outside the home that are greater than a quarter-inch diameter with cement or cement mortar, 19-gauge or greater metal mesh, wire screening, or hardware cloth (¼-inch or less spacing is preferred),

steel wool, heavy-duty caulk or elastomeric sealant or expanding foam.

Clean contaminated surfaces

If rats have been in your house:

• Do not vacuum or sweep rodent urine, droppings or contaminated surfaces unless they have been disinfected.

• Wear rubber or plastic gloves if you need to touch dead rodents, traps or droppings.

• Spray rodent urine or droppings with a disinfectant or a 1:10 chlorine solution (1½ cups of household bleach mixed with 1 gallon of water) until thoroughly soaked. Let it soak for 5 minutes.

• Use a paper towel to pick up urine and the droppings and discard it outdoors in a sealed garbage container. After the rodent droppings and urine have been removed, disinfect items that might have been contaminated.

Bury the dead

If you find a dead rat in a trap:

• Spray dead rodents with a disinfectant or 1:10 chlorine solution (1½ cups of household bleach mixed with 1 gallon of water).

• Wear rubber or plastic gloves.

• Take the rodent out of the trap by lifting the spring-loaded metal bar and letting the animal fall into a plastic bag, then seal the bag. Or, place the entire trap and dead rodent into a plastic bag, then seal the bag.

• Place the rodent, or the trap and rodent, into a second plastic bag and seal it. Promptly dispose of the sealed double bag in a sealed outdoor garbage can.

• Wash gloved hands with soap and water or spray a disinfectant or bleach solution on gloves before taking them off.

• Remove gloves. Thoroughly wash hands with soap and water (or use a water-less alcohol-based hand gel when soap and water are not available and hands are not visibly soiled).

• If the trap will be reused, immerse and wash it in a disinfectant or 1:10 chlorine solution (1½ cups of household bleach with 1 gallon of water) and rinsing well afterward.

• Continue trapping for at least 1 week after the last rodent is caught. If rodents continue to be a problem, consider contacting a professional pest control operator for help.

— U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention