[jyl]

Ooo, rats are bad. We had a rat problem at the last house, fortunately halted their advance at the garage, before they breached the living quarters.

Traps didn't really work. Killed a few but they got wise. The solution was finding and sealing their entry holes - ended up having to use aluminium sheet as they chewed through wallboard. Place some of the ultra sticky traps where they will walk when trying to get to the old hole. Also a bunch of poison inside the hole. The smell of a dead rat will eventually go away, better dead and smelly than live and infesting. Find out why they are coming into your house. You may have food somewhere that they've gotten into. If they can, they've stolen and stashed it somewhere - clean that out too. Hit them hard, with every weapon you have. Gradually escalating doesn't work as well, they just learn to cope w/ each new threat. Rats are smart.