RAT INFESTATION SPECIALISTS - DEVON & CORNWALL
Rat Removel Devon & Cornwall
Our local and affordable rat removal service supports homes, rentals, farms, and businesses across Devon and Cornwall, providing fast and effective solutions to stop rat activity at the source. We carry out a detailed inspection, identify how rats are entering, and apply targeted treatments to safely remove them. Alongside removal, we offer expert advice and proofing solutions to help prevent future issues. Whether the problem is in your loft, kitchen, garden, or commercial premises, we deliver reliable rat control backed by trusted local experience.
Permanent Solutions — No Half Measures. No Guesswork. No Endless Poisoning.
If you want rats gone properly, you’re in the right place.Most pest companies throw poison around and hope for the best.
We don’t hope. We Remove. We Proof. We Solve It Permanently
If you’re hearing scratching in the loft, spotting droppings in the kitchen, or seeing rats in your garden, you need more than a few traps or a handful of poison blocks. At Dartmoor Pest Control, we specialise in long-term rat control — trapping, removing and preventing infestations across Devon & Cornwall.
We work in homes, farms, commercial units, holiday lets, pubs, food businesses and rural properties across the South West, delivering permanent results instead of temporary fixes.
📍 Rat Problems Are So Bad in Devon & Cornwall
The South West is a hotspot for rodent activity — mild winters, old stone buildings, farms, grain stores, barns, coastal drainage systems and rural food sources all make ideal breeding grounds. We regularly deal with rat infestations in areas including:
Plymouth • Exeter • Tavistock • Launceston • Torquay • Newton Abbot
Okehampton • Bodmin • Truro • Liskeard • Callington • Saltash • Ivybridge
South Hams • North Cornwall • Dartmoor Villages
Wherever you are, rats will enter through any gap bigger than 12mm, often across roofs, drains, pipe runs, eaves and cavity voids. Once they’re in, the population grows fast.
That’s where we come in.
🔥 Our Rat Removal Approach What Makes Us Different.
Most pest companies place bait and walk away. We don’t. Why?
Because poison alone rarely solves the infestation — it only kills some of the rats, and many will die in walls and loft spaces, causing awful odours and fly outbreaks.
Instead, our method targets the root cause:
No1
Detailed Inspection of the Property
We find exactly how rats are entering. This includes:
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Eaves, fascias, soffits & rooflines
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Air vents, pipe penetrations & waste outlets
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Underslab & cavity wall ingress points
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Drain and sewer entry using cameras and external bait tracking
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Gaps as small as ½ an inch
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Structural weaknesses & construction faults
We find the entry. We stop it. 🚫
No3
Strategic Use of Poison (Where Appropriate)
We do use rodenticide — but only when it makes sense.
Poison is useful:
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Externally
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In gardens, sheds & agricultural units
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Within drains to diagnose movement
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To map where rats are travelling
Poison is not our primary control method — it is a strategic tool, not a solution on its own.
No5
5. Clean-Out, Sanitation & Deodorisation
After removal and proofing, we can:
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Remove droppings and contamination
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Deodorise to remove rat urine scent trails
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Kill parasites, bacteria & disease risk
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Reduce attraction for future rats
This step stops re-infestation and makes the environment safe again
No2
Professional Trapping — Done Properly
Trapping is essential, especially indoors where poison causes smell, rot & secondary infestation.
Our trapping approach ensures total capture:
✔ Lots of traps — not just two
✔ Placed directly on active rat runways
✔ Sensitivity and trigger tension set correctly
✔ Internal pet-safe trapping stations available
✔ Loft, attic, under-floor & appliance-void trapping
✔ Outdoor cage trapping for live capture where needed
Trapping is an art — and we’ve mastered it.
No4
100% Rat-Proofing & Entry Sealing
This is the step that makes us the industry leader.
We seal every single access point using:
🛠 Steel mesh
🛠 Plate & rodent-proof materials
🛠 Professional building-grade fixings
🛠 Zero shortcuts
Once the building is sealed, remaining rats are trapped and removed — and new rats cannot return.
This is how you get permanent results.
Summary
The ONLY Permanent Way to Get Rid of Rats
To solve a rat problem long-term, you need:
1. Full inspection
2. Entry point identification
3. Professional proofing
4. Trapping and removal
5. External strategic poison use only when beneficial
6. Sanitisation and deodorisation
Do it right once — and it doesn’t need doing twice.
Partnered With Just Rods – Advanced Drain & Rat Solutions
We work closely with Just Rods, expert drain specialists covering Devon & Cornwall. Using high-pressure jetting and CCTV drain-camera technology, they locate faults, cracks, and access points that rats use to enter properties.
With their support, we can find the source, repair the issue, and stop rats coming back — fast, efficient, and long-lasting.
Visit them at: justrods.co.uk
Rats out. Drains secure. Problem solved.
SEWER RAT FLAP – HOW IT WORKS
A sewer rat flap is a one-way stainless-steel valve fitted inside the drain line to stop rats entering from the main sewer. Wastewater flows outward normally, pushing the flap open — but from the sewer side, the door remains firmly shut.
This creates a strong, permanent physical barrier that prevents rodents gaining access to kitchens, cavities and lofts through underground pipework.
Benefits:
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Stops rats entering through sewer systems
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One-way flow — waste exits, rodents can’t return
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No poison or bait required
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Low maintenance, long-term protection
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Fits clay, plastic & concrete pipes
Simple. Effective. Humane.
Rats out — drains secure.
‼️Only to be used as a last resort
🐀 Dead Rat Smell in Walls, Floors or Loft?
We Locate, Remove & Deodorise Hidden Rodents Across Devon and Cornwall
If you’ve started noticing a strong, rotten smell around your property, there’s a high chance a rat has died out of sight — often under floorboards, inside wall cavities, or tucked deep in loft insulation.
Left untreated, the odour can linger for weeks, attract flies and secondary pests, and even lead to contamination.
That’s where Dartmoor Pest Control steps in.
We provide a professional dead-rat tracing and removal service, using specialist tools and years of field experience to locate and extract rodents quickly, safely, and with minimal disruption to your property.
🔍 How We Find Dead Rats (Even When You Can’t See Them)
Our process is designed to pinpoint carcasses fast:
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Odour tracking & airflow direction assessment
We follow scent concentration, ventilation movement and decay patterns to narrow down the source. -
Thermal imaging & cavity inspection cameras
Helpful for tracing hotspots in walls, voids, under floors and in loft spaces. -
Access with minimal damage
If we need to open a section, we do it neatly, cleanly and only where absolutely necessary. -
Full removal, disinfection & deodorising treatment
Eliminates bacteria, parasites and lingering smell efficiently.
Dead rodents can be difficult to access — we make sure they’re gone properly.
Need Rats Gone? Book Us Today
Dartmoor Pest Control provides fast response across Devon & Cornwall, with permanent solutions that prevent repeat infestations.
📞 Call for immediate help 01822 85606
📩 Request a site visit
🔍 Free advice available
🏡 Domestic | 🏢 Commercial | 🚜 Farms | 🏚 Moorland Property
No guesswork. No shortcuts. No endless baiting.
Just proper rat control that works — and lasts.
🐀 Signs of Rats in a Home or Garage
If you think you may have rats, here are the most common indicators to watch for. Rats rarely stay in open areas — they hide deep in gaps, voids and warm places. The signs are often the only giveaway.
🔎 1. Noises in walls, loft or floor voids
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Scratching, scurrying, gnawing or movement at night (worst around 11pm–4am)
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Sounds inside walls, under floors, roof space or behind kitchen units
🟫 2. Droppings
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Dark brown/black, spindle-shaped pellets about 10–15mm long
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Found under kickboards, loft insulation, behind appliances, under shelving
🧀 3. Gnaw marks
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Chewed wood, cables, pipes, plastic, plasterboard
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Rats gnaw constantly to wear down teeth — even through wiring
👃 4. Smell
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Ammonia/urine odour
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Musty, sour, heavy scent
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Strong rotting smell if a rat has died in a void
🐾 5. Grease marks & runways
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Dark smear marks along skirting boards, pipe runs or wall edges
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Footprints or tail marks in dusty or undisturbed areas (garage especially)
🧳 6. Nesting Material
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Shredded insulation, cardboard, paper, fabric
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Often found in lofts, garages, stored boxes, under floorboards
Back Home… With a Gift 😬 Dartmoor Pest Control
Another Way A Rat Can Enter A Home
