Do rats eat cheese? Do they like it?

Many people have learned to use cheese as bait while trapping rats. However, recent studies have shown that rats are not always attracted to cheese. The research had shown that rats eat pretty much everything and this includes cheese. However, when they are given a choice, then the rats will go for sweet treats, so using cheese to bait the rats may not always be that successful. Since the house cat likes cheese, it is not advised to leave cheese on the traps since they may be injured instead.

Some researchers have found out that rats do not like cheese, and this is because of the pungent aroma that cheese may have. The rats will also notice this, and they have refined noses despite what people may think. When the rodent is very hungry, then it can nibble at the cheese, but its scent will often not lure the rat into the trap. Getting rid of the rats is easy if you are aware of what the rats do or do not like. The sense of smell of the rat is strong, but it turns into a weakness if you use food that it does not like.

It is a well ingrained belief that rats and mice love cheese, and it has been used as bait for rat traps for a long period. However, as the pest exterminators and shop owners are aware, rats may not like the cheese and they may act shy around some types of cheese. There are some cheeses that give an odor that is even repulsive to the rats. The experts who studied whether the rats like the cheese or not said that rats will end up eating anything whenever they are very hungry, but mostly rats prefer sweet things, fruits and grains if given a choice.

The myth that rats love cheese started many years ago when people were eating salted meats, cheese and grains. The meats and grains were being kept away where the rats would not touch them, but the cheese needed to breathe, so it was not stored securely. When the rats got hungry and had nothing else to eat, it would end up eating the cheese and it would leave some teeth marks on it. This is why people ended up believing that rats liked the cheese. However, nothing can confirm this theory. This idea was made strong by cartoonists who like to draw some parts of cheese with holes in them and the rats came out of them.

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