I looked it up on the internet and came up with THIS site which lists the pros and cons of several rat 'repellents'.

It says "Drip up to to 4-5 drops on a cotton ball, then place it in those spots
where rats appear more often. By the way, castor and citronella oils are
good alternative options as well."

I have a new bottle of citronella oil. I will do this in a few minutes.

Gretchen. You said you didn't want to touch anything, for which I don't blame you but fact is you will have to do a little bit of it. Dab cotton balls with/oil every 15 days. Repeat. HOWEVER, you have to remove all cotton balls from nook and crannies, else rodents will take them and make cozy little nests once oils have dissipated. Do look at a commercial trap. Any good pest control can set it up for you, if you don't want to mess with it, but so simple, you'll want to DIY and save the $ after you see what it's all about.

pest controls may want to sell you an eradication program, good for them but not necessarily good you or your purse. 1-2 commercial traps should give you peace of mind.

I worked out in shed yesterday and two of the bait cubes were completely gone. I should tell my neighbor he may have a dead rodent floating in his pool as they go towards water & die.

I have an excellent pest control person and I will ask about him. He loves my garden and tells me how to prevent this or that in the yard.

I think I may have a problem, too. Bossy, would you please tell me exactly what you mean when you say "commercial trap"? Is it like a mouse trap, only larger? Or more like a Havahart trap (to catch 'em live)? Do you have a brand name or even better, an item name? Post of or link to an image would be great.

Thanks!

Carol in Jacksonville

What Gretchen said. The other day I did see one of those ugly ones but it was white. Maybe they will eventually produce them in decorator colors for those with discriminating taste....True, unattractive but IMO much better than fiddling with the spring loaded ones. I hate those!

Here is one closed

and here is what they look like inside. Blue stuff is poison. Rodents go inside, eat, leave w/o saying thank you, but die after some time. You have to ck them from time to time to ck that there's enough bait. If untouched, you move your bait to another location where you suspect there's activity and ck again after 1-2 weeks.

we got ours from our pest control guy. It is possible you can get them online. I'm very pleased with results, I have never see a dead rodent, I don't think they die right away. My dogs have never disturbed traps.

if one doesn't fix entry points and/or clear debris, problem will always exist. Trapping will be a temporary solution at best.

Hi Gretchen! Skip dropping the oil directly on concrete - it disperses too fast. Soak cotton balls instead and place them as close as you can to the army containers and VW engine, since those are your most likely hiding spots. Refresh them every 2-3 days as the scent fades quickly. Worth knowing: peppermint oil is a mild deterrent at best, and studies show it loses effectiveness once a rodent is already established in a space. If droppings keep appearing, a snap trap placed flush against the wall (where they naturally run) will be far more reliable. As working in LA Termite Company, this is all what I am telling on based on experience.