How to Catch a Wild Rat

Wild rats are incredibly intelligent and reasonably tame, but they usually do not make good pets. But perhaps a wild rat has gotten into a place where he shouldn't be and you need to remove him, but don't want to kill him. Whatever your reason for catching a wild rat, you need to do it with the least amount of stress to you and the rat as possible. If you can't find a professional service to help you, you may need to do it yourself, provided what trouble you find the rats making.

Things You'll Need

  • Peanut butter
  • Very heavy gloves
  • Long sleeved shirt
  • Eye protection
  • Very large plastic tote, at least 40 gallon
  • Lid of some sort for the trap (with air holes if necessary)
  • Ramp of some sort, such as a sturdy piece of plywood
  • Newspapers or other bedding
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Instructions

    • 1

      Observe where the wild rat hangs out the most. You can tell this from seeing droppings and items that are nibbled upon. Also seeing the rat in a particular area is a good indicator, too. You want to put your live trap where you know the rat likes to hang out.

    • 2

      Gather together a large plastic tote or trash can, bedding for a soft landing, a ramp of some sort and peanut butter as bait. You could even put the tote directly below a shelf that the wild rat has access to.

    • 3

      Smear peanut butter on the ramp and just under the lip of the tote or halfway down the inside wall of the tote. The goal is to get the peanut butter just out of the rat's reach, so that he falls off of the ramp and down into the bottom of the tote.

    • 4

      Leave the trap there. This may take a couple of days. Eventually, the lure of peanut butter is just too strong and you will discover a very annoyed wild rat scrabbling about the bottom of the tote, perhaps trying to chew his or her way out.

    • 5

      Place a lid on the tote. If you know you will be more than ten minutes, then you need to have holes drilled or hammered into the lid beforehand to make sure the rat has air.

    • 6

      Dress in tough clothing, long-sleeved shirts, jeans, closed-toed shoes and heavy work gloves. Put on eye protection like a welder's mask if you can. You don't want to actually touch the rat, but you should be prepared in case the rat plans to touch you.

    • 7

      Take the tote and rat to where you want to release the rat.

    • 8

      Release rat by laying the tote down gently on it's side. Stand behind the tote so the rat launches itself away from you and remove the lid. Breathe huge sigh of relief, then go home and check yourself for scratches or bites. Treat any scratches or bites.