Rat poison is a very popular rodent extermination device on the market. You can buy it at most grocery stores, and it can be an incredibly convenient, fast-acting solution to your pesky problem.But you need to be aware that the benefits of rat poison end here.

In fact, there are far more disadvantages to using the poison that outweigh any potential benefits. You need to be aware that rat poison is an incredibly dangerous substance that can cause excessive amounts of harm not only to rodents, but also to children, pets, and the ecosystem as a whole.

Rat Poison Can Seriously Harm Your Children

Rat poison is an incredibly dangerous substance. It’s highly toxic to a wide range of mammals–including your own children. 

Your child can ingest rat poison in a number of different ways. In fact, in many cases, they don’t  have to eat it for it to cause serious reactions. Even touching or inhaling rat poison can be enough to send your child to the hospital. And unfortunately, the effects of rat poison are incredibly subtle at first and early symptoms can easily be mistaken for other conditions that may delay you from taking them to the hospital as soon as possible.

Common symptoms of rat poison ingestion or contact include:

  • Bleeding from the gums, nose, or skin
  • Chills
  • Altered mental status and confusion
  • Involuntary convulsions and muscle spasms
  • Dehydration
  • Extreme thirst
  • Frequent urination
  • Headaches
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Shortness of breath
  • Seizures
  • Lethargy

In many cases, the ingestion of rat poison can cause brain damage, liver damage, kidney failure, comas, and even death if the individual is not treated in a timely manner.

Rat Poison Can Kill Your Pets

Rat poison is often disguised in treats to trick rodents into eating it, and these same treats may attract the attention of your dog, cat, or other pet causing them to ingest it as well. No matter how well you hide the poison, there is no guarantee that your pet won’t find and consume it as well. 

And even if your pet doesn’t directly consume the rat poison via the cheese, peanut butter, or other treat you’ve hidden it in, they may still consume the poison through a secondary source by eating the body of the rat, mouse, or other rodent that consumed the poison.

Rat poison will not kill your pets as fast as it does rats–especially if you own larger animals–because the poison will take longer to run through their system, but it can still make them incredibly sick and even kill them if you don’t pay attention to their symptoms and get them to an animal hospital fast enough.

Rat Poison Can Harm the Ecosystem

It’s a given that rat poison harms everything that consumes it. But did you know that the chain of destruction often doesn’t stop there? In fact, third party rat poison consumption is a growing problem that has far-reaching implications for the environment.

When a rat or other rodent consumes rat poison, it often takes them up to ten days to die. In this time, they can wander far away from the site where they first consumed the poison. If they are attacked by hungry predators like hawks, owls, foxes, and bobcats during this time, the poison can affect these unintended victims as well. 

And unlike smaller rats who may die more quickly, the poison can affect larger creatures much more slowly, leaving them to suffer the effects of internal hemorrhaging for months before they pass away. This gives them more time to excrete amounts of the poison around their habitats that can be spread even further by wandering wildlife.

Rat Poison Is Only a Temporary Solution

While rat poison is good at killing mice, rats, and other unwanted animals that enter your home or business, it doesn’t solve your rodent problem long-term. 

Rat poison can’t remove rat droppings left behind or destroy nests. It can’t repair the holes in your walls or foundation through which the rats entered in the first place, it won’t eliminate your need to remove the bodies of deceased rodentia that die in your home after they ingest the poison, and it certainly won’t prevent the rats from repopulating and invading your space again.

Finding a Better Solution

Rat poison only offers a temporary solution to your problem, so it’s smarter to invest in a long-term solution that can help prevent rats from ever re-entering your home or workplace. 

Humane rodent removal services, like those we offer at Rat Trap Distribution, can help set you up for long-term rat exterminating success so you don’t have to worry about dealing with the pesky creatures nearly as much as you would by using rat poison.To get a service estimate or to learn more about our rat-eliminating process, reach out to one of our superstar specialists today!