Contrac Rodenticide doesn't so much attract rodents from all over as it will target rodents that are already coming onto the property other food sources, nesting supplies or water. Bait stations with rodenticides should be placed on the exterior of the home or within 50ft of the house where the rodents are already traveling. The blend of food grade ingredients will appeal to their sense of smell as they travel along their already familiar path. Use gloves when handling the bait so your human scent does not contaminate the bait and place the bait stations in the runways they are already traveling. Bait should be renewed at intervals of several days. Continuous bait availability (as with anticoagulants) is not required, but bait needs to be present long enough to allow all animals in the area to feed. The amount of bait needed is usually about one-third that used with anticoagulants, since an animal ingesting a lethal dose does not feed again.
You can review how to avoid the most common rodent baiting failures here.
Contrac Blox Rodenticide should be applied in tamper resistant stations to avoid non-target animals and children from accessing the bait inside. It is possible that a squirrel could be attracted to the bait for consumption. Although, Contrac is labeled for rats and mice, it could harm a squirrel as well since they are also in the rodent family.
There are many reasons why rodents may not be attracted to a bait such as Contrac Blox. One very common reason is that the bait is not fresh; baits should be used within 1 year of opening, and stations should be changed every 30 days for the best acceptance. You should also be sure to wear gloves when servicing bait stations and handling rodenticides. This not only protects the person handling the bait and stations from contaminants and possible disease, but it also keeps human scent and oils off the bait so as not to deter the rodents from it.
It can be difficult to locate competing food sources. Mice will travel up to about 10-20 feet for food from their nesting site, while rats will travel much farther, 50-100 feet from their nesting site. Bait placements should be close enough together to allow easy access to the bait. Keep in mind also that if this is a service call, then you have not been there to monitor the sanitation all the time, so there could be trash or other food sources that have been left out. All food storage areas, food containers, areas around applicances, and trash receptacles should be checked for rodent activity.
If you have used fresh bait multiple times and are unable to locate and competing food sources but still see new rodent activity, then you may want to consider using a different bait. Just like people, rodents can prefer one food over another. Soft Baits such as First Strike have very high palatability and are great to rotate with something like Contrac.
