Dead animals in your garden can become a biohazard, these animals can be host to a number of illnesses and parasites, not getting rid of them in the right way can cause you to get sick. This article explores the question of what to do with a dead rat in the garden
If there is a dead rat in your garden you can bury it, incinerate it, throw it in the garbage, or contact pest control professionals to get rid of it. If you get rid of it on your own make sure you wear protective gear as you’re doing so
Table of Contents
What to do with a dead rat in the garden:
Precautions:
To start off with, you need to collect the right equipment to wear and use in order to get rid of the rat. This includes a high-quality HEPA-based respirator as well as strong disposable latex gloves.
You should not touch the animal without wearing this equipment
Disposing of the rat in the trash:
Once you’ve found and are wearing the above equipment, you can proceed to pick the rat up and put it in a plastic bag and tie it tightly. Proceed to put this plastic bag into another plastic bag and tie that plastic bag tightly as well.
For added safety, put the second plastic bag into a third plastic bag and tie the third bag tightly as well. Using bags that are strong will ensure that the rat’s parasites and bacteria cannot escape through the bags.
If you have pets on your property or if there are raccoons in the area, make sure that the trash cans that you throw the plastic bags in are sealed securely
Burying it:
You also have the option of burying the rat, that is, if the laws in your country or your state allow.
When burying the rat, you’d still need to follow the precautions mentioned above when picking up the rat, in this case, you can bury it in a grave instead of throwing it away.
To do this, prepare a grave that is 2 to 3 feet deep at least and place the rat inside. Proceed to add a layer of rock on top of the rat and in the grave so that other animals, such as dogs or scavengers, cannot dig into the grave to get to the rat.
Incineration:
Another effective way to get rid of this animal is to incinerate it. Your local authorities will likely not allow you to do this yourself so they will send a professional to get the job done
After disposal:
After you’ve gotten rid of the rat in a safe way, you need to ensure that the area is cleaned. Using a strong anti-bacterial spray or bleach on the area that the rat has died in will kill off any bacteria and parasites
After this, you’d need to collect all the equipment that you used to dispose of the rat and throw it into the trash. Go ahead and wash your hands with soap and water after this as well. As an added measure, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer to sanitize your hands.
Professionals
If you can, it would be best to contact your local pest control professionals to get rid of the animal. These people have been trained and are well equipped and well-informed enough to be able to get rid of the dead rat in your garden without spreading disease to themselves.
When contacting these professionals, knowing what species the rat is will be helpful to them
Can a dead rat make you sick?
A dead rat can definitely make you sick, these animals can carry a variety of illnesses and parasites. Research has shown that over 35 diseases can be spread by rats alone, this happens through contact with the rat itself, its saliva, its urine, and its feces.
If you come into contact with a rat without wearing gloves you can catch:
- Tularaemia
- Hantavirus
- Leptospirosis
What to do if a dead rat dies in your wall:
Not only can the dead rat smell be horrible, but the smell can affect the indoor air quality of your house as well. This is how you can get rid of the rat:
- The first step to getting rid of a rat in the wall is to sniff it out and figure out exactly where it is. Once you find the animal, you may have to use a drywall saw to cut into your wall in order to access the animal, (that is if you cannot get to the rat without cutting the wall open).
- Once you’ve accessed the rat, you can dispose of it using the steps mentioned in the above paragraphs
- Your walls will also likely have insolation in them. Removing and replacing all the insulation that the rat’s bodily juices have soaked into is necessary as well.
- After this, proceed to clean the area with an effective cleaning agent and open your windows to air out your house.
How long does a dead rat take to decompose?
Dead rats can take weeks to completely decompose. In addition to taking time to decompose, the dead rat will leave a horrible odor that will also take some time to disappear.
How long the animal takes to decompose is determined by a number of factors, these include the temperature in the area, humidity levels in the area as well as the size of the rat.
If the rat is smaller, then the decomposition process will take a shorter amount of time, higher levels of humidity in the air will enable the rat to decompose faster and the warmer temperatures will also enable the animal to decompose faster
Conclusion
In conclusion, if you have a dead rat in the garden, you can get rid of it by either burying it at least 2-3 feet in your garden, throwing it in the garbage, contained in 3 plastic bags, having a professional from your local council incinerate it, or calling pest control professionals to get rid of it.
If you decide to get rid of it yourself, make sure you use the right equipment when doing so, this includes thick strong latex gloves and a HEPA-based filter.
Getting the dead rat out of your walls may require you to cut into the wall using a drywall cutter, removing the animal, and then removing and replacing any insulation that the rats bodily juices have soaked into.
After disposal, clean the area and air out your house.
Leaving the rats to live in your home can expose you to a number of illnesses
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other rat related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: How to tell if a pet rat likes you, 13 signs to look out for, Lost pet rat? Steps to finding your rat both inside and outside the house, Is there a rat or possum in your roof? 8 ways to identify your visitor, Rats in roof? 6 sounds to listen out for to confirm
