Controlling the Rat - A Community Effort Return to Pests and Pesticides Rats like to live where people live. They quickly adjust to the neighborhood. Rats can thrive on just an ounce of food and water daily, so when they enter a neighborhood and gain access to meat, fish, vegetables and grains, they will stay.
Rats prefer to feed in and around homes, restaurants and businesses.
But they will settle for scraps from trash bags and cans, private yards and what they find at the community refuse disposal and transfer station. Rats get the shelter they need from tall weeds and grass, fences and walls, rubbish piles and abandoned appliances. If rats are living in your neighborhood, there are steps you should take, even if they aren't in your home. A community effort works best, where everyone in the neighborhood takes steps at the same time to prevent rats from entering the buildings and to remove their food and shelter. The sooner you know rats have entered your home, the easier it will be to get rid of them.