Dear NNN: Help! I saw something skitter away from my compost pile, and I think it was a rat. How can I get rid of it without using poison or traps? -- Patty

Dear Patty: Good question! We asked David Jones, one of the experts at Bio Tech Pest Control in Westerly, what to do, and here is his advice.

Patty, you are wise to want to keep your yard free of rats, especially at this time of year when they will soon be looking for warm winter quarters -- and you don't want them to consider your house as an option. Mice also may be considered cute little creatures when they're outside, but you don't want them to think about coming indoors. Their waste products are smelly and dirty, and if one gets into your food pantry, or dies in your basement or garage, you won't like it. Also rodents can chew through electrical cables, which can cause fires in your home or even in your cars.

We do have nontoxic, environmentally friendly options for dealing with them -- click on "More..." for the rest of the details.

First, a few things we don't recommend. Glue-board type traps are cruel, and inflict immense pain and discomfort on any animal that gets caught on them. We would not be allowed to use these torture devices on any other creature. Also, using "humane" live traps is not a good idea. If not found quickly, the rodents will die slowly, and if you try to release them, the problem is where are they going to go. Each family of mice has an alpha male which will readily attack and kill an unexpected visitor from another unknown family of mice.

Using poisons, which are very toxic, puts you and your pets at high risk of death or serious illness from accidental poisoning. Also, mice that eat poisons often die in hard to get at locations inside your home and smell really bad.

So, what can we do that’s humane and safe?

We can prevent mice and rats from entering our homes in the first place by closing up entry points with foam and metal discs. We can clean up our yards and bird feeders to elimate their food sources and cover. We can use a variety of repellents to scare them away, such as Shake-Away Rodent Repellent, a safe and effective repellent that is available at your local hardware store. It uses coyote urine to frighten the rodents away.

Once they are in the house, unfortunately, the best solution is to kill them quickly and humanely. Snap traps baited with peanut butter are a quick and very efficient way to reduce populations quickly.

Many people don’t want to set traps and deal with their removal, and that’s understandable. You may want to get help from a professional -- be sure they do not use glue boards or poisons. But you can do a lot of prevention yourself by stopping up the entry points now before they start coming in for their winter vacation. Prevention is the best way to deal with unwanted non-paying pest guests.

David Jones, of Bio Tech Pest Controls in Westerly, performs environmentally friendly, biological pest control services in Rhode Island and Connecticut.