For a rat, life is all about eating and reproducing. Most of their time is spent foraging for food or being in their group of nest mates, commonly called rat packs. These rat packs can house up to 8 baby rats, and female rodents can reproduce rapidly all year long. Once you have a pack of rats in your house, you will know it. Rats are nocturnal creatures that come out and explore at night. Their bodies can reach up to 11 inches long! These giant pests can make a lot of noise scurrying around boxes, inside walls, or in your furniture. Hearing movement and noises at night is a common sign that you could have rats. Rats also have very sharp teeth and they will use them on just about anything. They can chew through wires, wood, walls, furniture, and fabric. Finding gnaw marks is another sign that you could be infested with rodents in Charlotte, NC.
Cleaning Rodent Areas
Rats aren’t just noisy, nocturnal pests. They are also carriers and transmitters of disease. These dirty creatures frequent sewers, garbage, and stagnant, grimy places and then track all of those germs into your house. Anywhere a rat scurries can become contaminated with harmful bacteria like the Bubonic Plague, Hantavirus, and Rickettsia Disease. And if that isn’t scary enough, you also have to worry about rat bites and getting Rat Bite Fever. If you have a rat problem then you need to call an experienced exterminator who offers rodent control services. They can custom-fit your rodent control services to help any size rat infestation. While getting ready to give them a call take a look at these tips to help deal with rodent infestations.
Cleaning areas that have been contaminated by rodents is going to be the biggest step you can take to help keep you and your family safe from harmful diseases transmitted by rodents.
Make sure to follow these rules:
- Always wear gloves when cleaning up after rodents
- Never sweep or vacuum rodent debris or droppings. Moving the particles of rat dander, urine, or droppings can launch the particles into the air and can then be inhaled by anyone around. This can be extremely dangerous since there are lots of rat bacteria that can be harmful or even deadly to humans.
- Soak any contaminated areas in a disinfectant solution like bleach for at least ten minutes, or per the product’s instructions.
- Clean up debris with paper towels and dispose of all garbage in double bags, taking the bags out to the trash can immediately.
- For clothing and fabric, wash in a washing machine on warm with laundry detergent. Dry on high heat in a dryer.
- For fabric and furniture, use a steam cleaner and disinfectant.
- Use good hand washing techniques after dealing with rodent clean up and dispose of used gloves.