Where Should I Release a Trapped Rat?

Trapping and releasing rats is often considered to be the most humane approach by many, although this is not always the case. Rats that have been trapped and then removed from their family and friend groups are likely to be vulnerable and weak within a few days, suffering with the physical symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression. This might sound like a total overreaction to what you thought was a humane approach to rat control, but scientific studies and experiments have shown, time and time again, that rats feel emotional pain, sorrow, sadness and anger, in many of the same ways that people do. Rats that were removed from social groups were sad and depressed, experienced a loss of appetite, and generally didn't handle the situation well. 

Wild rats will go through the same thing when removed from a building and then released back into the wild, so we do not recommend trapping and then releasing rats. It is also known to cause a number of other problems, including accidental death of rodents because the traps were not checked regularly enough (starvation, dehydration, exposure, etc.), accidental death of rodents due to predatory attack (cats and dogs), or because traps were faulty/not set correctly. Rats that have also been trapped and released have shown to actively avoid coming into contact with traps after that point. If you trap and then release a rat, but don't release it far enough away and it comes back, getting rid of it a second time around, especially in a humane manner, is not going to be an easy process. There are ways of dealing with trap-shy or trap-smart rats, but it involves a series of stages, performed over a series of nights — 7 to 14 in some severe cases.

Most vets or animal shelters can help to euthanize an injured or unwell rat, or for a rat that is likely not to survive when released back into the wild, but this might come with a fee. Alternatively, it is recommended by animal activists and cruelty-free experts that trapped rats are released within 100 yards of their capture point. This does not assist you — the rat will be released close enough to your building that it will probably make it back there before you do. Unless you have successfully sealed every hole, crack, nook or cranny, that rat is going to go right back into your home, almost like nothing ever happened. Wildlife rehabilitators and rat trappers will always tell you to release a rat as far away from your home as possible, preferably inserting a large body of water between your building and that release point. This could be a river or a lake and doesn't prevent the rodent from making its way back, but will slow the process a little. 



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