Rats are known to be one of the most prominent pests inside the house. They easily enter your house through tiny holes which they can fit through. Their flexible bodies allow them to look for weaknesses in the structure of your house.
They are generally attracted to homes that are unsanitary. This is why you should immediately address their presence in your house.
What attracts them?
Generally, rats are attracted to the first sign of food. In a house, this may be something as simple as exposed cat or dog food, fruit-bearing plants, and the likes. They will eat most of the things they find though, even the ones in the garbage. This is why there are found almost anywhere in both rural and urban areas.
Why do they enter your house?
They enter houses to look for food. They enter your house through the smallest of holes. They have extremely flexible backbones that can squeeze through the sides of a door, an exposed window, or a hole in the wall. This is why it is hard to keep them out of your house through barricading it alone.
In the winter, they will also look for a place to stay in to avoid the harsh conditions outside. The warmth of your house along with the supply of food there makes it a good place for them to stay in. If rats manage to stay inside your house for a long time, smaller rats is guaranteed to also be present. Their rate of reproduction is very fast which is why they should immediately be exterminated as soon as possible.
How do they enter your house?
There are two types of rats, the Norway Rat and the Roof Rat. The roof rat is known for their black color and their skill in climbing. This is why they are named like this. They can climb walls, trees, and stairs with ease, making them usually inhabit your basement. The roof rat will squeeze through tiniest in your house.
Roof rats are especially known to climb trees. They then enter through your window, making it easy for them to enter a room. This is why tree branches that reach out towards windows should be trimmed.
What makes it this even worse is the fact that rats have pheromones which they can use to attract others rats. From this, you can have a swarm of rats following after one makes a trail for the others. Add this with the fact that rats multiply fast and you will see why rats easily infest an area. This is why you should immediately address the rodent pest problem in your house.
How do you know if they have entered your house?
There are many types of pests and nuisance wildlife which can be present in both rural and urban areas. However, rats are easy to distinguish among the rest because of them being portrayed in popular culture. They’re usually black or brown, they’re furry, they’re small, and they have long tails. This is why you should immediately recognize them upon seeing one.
However, they are known to be active especially during the night. This is for them to be able to avoid human interaction. They are known to be skittish animals because of how low they are in the food chain. Outside of your house, they have hundreds of potential prey. This side of them makes it harder for you to catch them. Even if you catch them scuttling around, it will still be hard for you to manually grab them as they are fast and small.
1. Bites on food and wood
Rats are known to be omnivores, meaning that they are not picky with their food. They can eat both meat and plants. This is why they are known to chew almost anything they see. This may range from cat or dog food, meat, dairy, up to wood, electric wires, and anything which can be nibbled on. For the former ones, they will do this for them to be sustained. For objects, though, they will usually only do this for the sake of removing obstructions. They will chew through anything that may be an obstruction for them.
The risk of rats being able to chew through your electric wires should be an instant reason for you to target them immediately. They can also chew through leather, wood, and even water pipes. The structural integrity of your house can be damaged in the presence of rats.
If you also leave dog or cat food inside your house, it may also be taken by rats. This is why you should constantly monitor the movements of your pets. Often, a cat will chase these rats if the latter touch their food. Dogs will also bark or try to chase the pests. What makes it a risk, though, is if the rat has rabies.
2. Rat droppings
The presence of rats inside your house will always come with their droppings. Their feces are distinguished by its resemblance to pellets. It is usually clumped together. They are usually present during the night as it is the time when the rats are awake.
Do not attempt touch the droppings of rats. This is because it contains a lot of bacteria and diseases which you can contract. If you want to clean it, you should equip yourself with gloves and a cleaning agent.
3. Their noises
This is another element that should be obvious at first hearing. The sounds of rats can be distinguished by its squeaky, almost sneeze-like sound. If you hear this sound within your house, you may already be sure that a rat is inside it.
Aside from this, you may also hear their skittering. This is especially heard if they are in your basement. They will usually move around in the night. Along with this, you may also hear the sound of biting and chewing.
The dangers of having rats in your house
Rats carry a lot of danger in your house. First off is them being able to damage the integrity of your house as stated above. This is because they will chew anything that may block them from being able to move around or to get their food. This may include wood, electric wires, and even water pipes. If they move around in numbers, they may cause massive damage to your house.
Aside from this, they are also filled with diseases. They look for food even in the garbage, after all. Their fur may carry grease, mud, and soil with it. It is also filled with parasites and bacteria. Any food that they will manage to bite will also be filled with bacteria due to how dirty the food they eat are.
Rat urine are also known to carry leptospirosis which are especially prevalent in areas that are commonly flooded. Their urine may mix with flood water and penetrate the human skin through punctures and open wounds. Getting the disease will usually result to a critical situation that will require immediate medical attention. Humans can also get rat bite fever after being bitten by one. This will cause inflammation of the skin, vomiting, and other symptoms. This is why rats should immediately be targeted
How to get rid of them
Rats traps are available in the market. Among them, the best are snap traps. This is because they are practical, easy to set up, and very effective too. Other traps for rats include electric traps and sticky traps. Electric traps can be more expensive while sticky traps may not be effective.
Rat poisons are also available, however, they are not recommended. This is because they do their job slowly. Rats will generally look for a hidden place if they are weakened which may even be worse for humans. If they die within small spaces, their bodies will be harder to throw. The smell of dead rats are especially putrid and having them die within spaces that are hard to reach will make humans suffer from its smell for a longer time.
You may also try to put rodent repellents like peppermint oil and predator urine.
Wildlife control and pest extermination services
In the end, the best way to handle rat infestation is to call for wildlife control and pest extermination services. This is because they are equipped with both knowledge and equipment to get rid of the rats. This will also help you avoid direct contact with the pests.
