Rats are large, disease carrying rodents, and you do not want them in your home. Particularly if you have pets or children, a rat infestation can be dangerous. They will come into your home and destroy practically everything, and touching a dead rat or rat droppings can be enough to transfer diseases to pets and children. In the warmth and safety of your home, rats can live up to three years, and with the average female rat giving birth to 8-10 babies at a time, your home can be overrun quickly.Spire Pest Control is here to fight your rodent problems for you. If you have a rat infestation, call today to receive prompt service and removal.
You might already know for sure that you have a rat problem. But here are a couple of the most common signs of a rat infestation.
The first sign of a rat infestation in your home is their droppings. Larger than mouse droppings, Norway rat droppings are dark and cylindrical. Rats will usually find specific, hidden places to urinate and leave their droppings.
Because their teeth never stop growing, rats can chew through electrical wires, solid wood, hard plastic, and even metal, especially if there are large numbers of them in an area.
Rats may fight one another at night over food, territory, nesting material, or dominance. They might make scurrying noises or squeals.
Always on the lookout for food, rats will chew through food storage containers or even solid wood to find food. Some rats may steal chicken eggs from coops or food from vegetable gardens.
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Rats have an extraordinary ability to squeeze themselves into tiny spaces. Rats can fit into a gap or crack about the size of a quarter and then wiggle their way through.
After gaining access, rats are likely to look for hiding places, food and water, and material for nests. Often, the kitchen, basement, or other places with food storage are the most obvious hiding places.
Rats can carry diseases such as leptospirosis, the bubonic plague, and hantavirus. Because they often travel directly from an unsanitary area to your kitchen, they can also spread salmonella. Rats may also be infested with fleas or ticks that can also carry diseases.
Rats commonly destroy property by gnawing on walls, chewing up papers or fabrics, and generally causing a mess with their nests, urine, and feces.
Small rodents like rats and mice are not known to carry rabies or transmit it to humans.
Typical signs of rats may include:
Gnaw marks in walls, near the corners of doors, or in food containers.
Squealing and scratching sounds. Rats will fight one another for dominance or food, so you may hear rustling or squealing noises at night.
Nests. You might discover a rat nest, which is often made of ripped pieces of paper, cloth, wall insulation, or pillow stuffing.
Droppings. Even though rats try to find a good hiding place to do their business, you may discover where they discard their droppings, such as an area that is hidden out of the way.
Footprints. It is also possible to find tiny rat footprints in spilled food, dust, or dirt.
Unusual pet behavior. Finally, some pets may show alert behavior when they hear or smell a rat nearby.
Even though we’ve seen the cartoons, most rats would actually prefer other types of food besides the blocks of cheese we buy at the store.
Rats have a keen sense of smell, which they use to identify food that they most enjoy, which can range from fruit and nuts to vegetables, meat, and garbage. Rat species like the Norwegian rat are scavengers, so they can eat many different sorts of food, including decaying material or trash.
Rats enjoy foods with high energy, like high-sugar foods or high-protein foods. If they can, they willingly dig into pet food, bird seed, peanut butter, or other foods.
Unlike mice, rats are smart enough to be extremely cautious around things that are new to their environment, a fear called “neophobia.”
They also are intelligent enough to figure out whether or not something presents a hazard. For example, if one of the rats finds a trap or something dangerous, the other rats will notice the problem and avoid it.
Body Size. Mice are smaller than rats, although a juvenile rat may look similar to an adult mouse.
Ears. Mice ears are more rounded, while rats have a slimmer ear shape.
Tail. Mouse tails are longer than their bodies, while rat tails are generally shorter. Mouse tails also have small hairs, while rat tails are completely bald.
Droppings. Mice feces are about the size and shape of a grain of rice. Norwegian rat droppings are pill-shaped, and roof rat droppings are banana-shaped. Mice spread their droppings everywhere, but rats are more careful and use a specific hiding spot as a “latrine.”
To ensure our customer's safety, we insist on a thorough screening process for all Spire Pest Control Technicians. They also complete extensive training in the classroom and on the job with an experienced mentor before servicing alone.
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If a Spire Pest Control customer has an infestation of covered pests in their home or business between regularly scheduled Home Protection Plan treatments, we will come back and perform targeted treatments to get rid of the pest at no charge. If Spire Pest Control cannot resolve the problem after three such targeted treatments, we will cheerfully refund the customer’s last monthly subscription fee, as long as all other terms of the agreement have been met.
And if you see any pest activity between your regularly scheduled treatments, simply give our office a call; we'll come back at no additional charge.
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