Are Sticky Traps a Good Solution for Mice and Rats?

You have a range of options when you need to trap a rodent in your house or apartment. One of the traps types you will find most often at your local hardware store or online marketplace are glue traps. Also called sticky traps, they can at first seem like the right solution for your mice or rat infestations – they can trap both rodents, work quickly, are inexpensive, and don’t have any moving parts to cause injury when you set it up.

But glue traps for rats have some significant drawbacks that may mean they are not the best solution to get rid of your infestation. These are the pros and cons of sticky traps, and the alternatives you might want to consider instead.

How Glue Traps Work

A glue trap consists of a piece of cardboard or cardstock covered in a layer of glue. You place the trap in the area where rats or mice are likely to be traveling, such as corners of your utility room, along your baseboards, or in the back of your cabinets, and set some bait on it. The glue is so powerful that when the rodent walks onto the board to retrieve the bait, its paws will be instantly stuck in the glue.

Once the rodent is dead, you can simply throw the entire trap away. Manufacturers advertise these traps for both mice and rats, and often make the claim that you do not need to check them regularly like you would a snap trap. They also advertise this as a poison-free method.

Despite their effectiveness, there are several reasons not to use rat traps in your home:

• Inhumane – Glue traps work by holding the rodent until it dies of dehydration and starvation. This is a slow and painful death that is unnecessarily cruel.
• Not Necessarily Mess-Free – Rather than starve to death, determining rodents may be able to rip away from the trap, leaving fur, skin, blood, and even appendages behind in a terrifying mess.
• Risky for Other Animals – The glue can catch mice and rats. It can also catch other pets living inside your home or small animals if you are using the traps outside.

You still need to get rid of mice and rats quickly if you have them inside your home. But going the DIY route with glue traps may not be the right method when you need humane and safe rodent control. Unfortunately, other DIY options like poisons often do not meet safe and humane requirements either.

Instead, your best option is to call a local rodent control company in New York City. Animal Control NYC uses professional rodent traps and the latest science to manage mice or rat infestations in a way that is fast, effective, safe, and humane. We also eliminate the entrance points for rats so that no new rats will come in the future. Let us treat your rodent problem today.