Luckily we don't have rats in my neck of the woods. Though, we have tree rats (red squirrels), and I deal with them with a .22. They can cause a lot of damage as well.

Maybe I should have said rodenticide, because it's not specific to rats (or to rodents, for that matter).

Chipmunks gnawed through our basement casement windows and wrecked holy hell on our house. They can’t easily be trapped. I got them out by borrowing ferrets from one friend and the last one out by borrowing another friend’s house cat.