Rats have no place in Thomasville homes. These relentless and clever creatures are a major pest not only in Thomasville, but in all parts of the world as well. A tiny hole in your house is all they need to attack your home and do lots of damage to your property. Once they are inside homes, they can go on a chewing spree, practically destroying everything from books, boxes, cardboards, clothes, walls, and furniture. They can be fire hazards because they like to chew on electric cables and gas pipes. Making matters worse, the transmitters of deadly diseases.
Rats can be small animals, but they are never too small to bring down an entire business—especially in both food manufacturing and restaurant businesses. Their presence alone can close restaurants and factories. Such is the influence of rats.
Rat droppings, urine, saliva, and vomit are enough to make people sick. For this reason, it is very important for everyone with rat infestation problems to eliminate these filthy animals. Go-Forth Home Services, the leading Thomasville pest exterminators, has experienced all of these problems and helped thousands of households with regards to their rat problems and would like to share with you some tips on how to get rid of rats in your home.
Overview
For a rodent, rats are just medium-sized and look like a larger version of the common house mouse. Rats have longer bodies, longer tails, and longer legs compared to mice. The most widely known species of rats are the black rat and the brown rat.
Black rats are another name for the common house rats. These rats are pests to both agriculture and the household. The size of an adult black rat can go from 5 inches to 7.2 inches and its weight to about 75 to 230 grams. Rats are not really picky eaters. They have a wide variety of foods that they feed on, which includes farmers’ crops, human food, rotten food, trash, and insects. They can live in houses, warehouses, and commercial buildings. They can also thrive in agricultural areas like crop fields and barns.
On the other hand, the brown rat is a larger species than the black rat. It can go as long as 11 inches in length and weigh up to 17 oz. Brown rats are nocturnal and are omnivorous, meaning they can eat almost anything.
Rats are very smart creatures. They also have a great memory and do not forget. They easily learn new trails and stick to that trail every time they go out of their nests. They would likely avoid trails that they find dangerous.
Their smartness makes them inquisitive. They like to investigate but avoid any form of confrontation. They are highly social creatures. They live in groups in a single nest wherein they sleep while cuddled next to each other. They love to play with each other. They feel loneliness when they are left alone. They mourn the loss of a loved one, just like humans. It has also been observed that rats get depressed due to loneliness.
Rats reproduce quickly. A rat that is already 5 weeks old can already reproduce. It can reproduce every three weeks and can do so for two years. Another reason why they are great survivors is that they can live for 20 days without drinking any water. They get their hydration requirements from the food they eat, and as we discussed earlier, they are not choosy eaters.
Why Is It Dangerous To Have Rats Around?
Rats have enormous economic and health consequences. The damage that they can cause will truly alarm you because they can destroy books, boxes, furniture, walls gas pipes, and electric wirings. They damage food that is on the table, regardless if it is still in its packaging, rendering them useless and thus should be thrown away.
Rats do not distinguish between what is dangerous to gnaw at and what is not. Their penchant for chewing electric cables and gas pipes certainly make them fire hazards.
But why are they always chewing on anything, you ask? The answer is that rats have incisors that are constantly growing all their lives. In order for it to stop growing any longer, they need to always chew on something.
Then there is the issue of rats being high health risks. Rats can transmit several deadly diseases. This is possible each time they contaminate our food with their droppings, urine, saliva, and vomit.
Among the diseases they transmit include:
- Leptospirosis, which is a bacterial disease that is passed on to humans through breaks in the skin that get in contact with water that is contaminated with rat urine, or drinking water that has rat urine;
- Rat-bite fever that is passed on to humans through its urine; and
- Salmonella which is passed on to humans by eating food that is contaminated with rat droppings or urine. These diseases are life-threatening if not treated early.
Rats’ Effect On Businesses
Due to the high risks of health that rats bring, certain steps must be taken to prevent them from infesting business establishments. Though all kinds of businesses must do this, there is one particular industry that has to be extra careful: the food industry.
There are laws that require restaurants and food manufacturers to keep their establishments free of rats and mice. Come to think of it, keeping their businesses rat-free should be automatic. It is a natural reaction for people to be terrified of rats, whether they know that rats are disease vectors or not. In this day and age of technology and social media, one picture posted on Facebook or Instagram showing a restaurant with a rat in there would spell automatic doom for the business. Not only would it turn away customers, but they may face closure too.
Of course, even if they are not found out by the public, the damage rats can cause to equipment—plus their being fire hazard—can cause severe consequences on the business’ operations. This will again lead to huge opportunity costs.
Signs That Rats Are Around You
You have to know these signs of rat infestation so that you can prevent any further damage and keep your family from being ill.
Presence of rat droppings. Rats poop a lot. All they do is mate, play, eat, and poop. Rat droppings look like little black pellets and they are scattered all over. If you see these black pellets, then you definitely have rat infestation problems.
Black markings on the walls. Rats are never comfortable crawling out in open spaces. They have poor eyesight, so they crawl next to walls all the time. By doing this all the time, rats leave marks from coming from the dirt and grease on the walls.
Gnaw marks on boxes, cardboards, insulation, books, electric cables, gas pipes, walls, and even clothes. Only rats can do such things.
Scratching noises on the roof. This is where rats like to hide. You can hear these noises in the evening since rats are nocturnal.
Getting Rid Of Rats
To prevent rat infestation in your home, here are some tips you can follow.
- Inspect around the house for cracks, crevices, and holes as these can be used by rats as entry points. Due to the flexibility of their bodies, rats only need a small hole that their heads can fit into, and their bodies will soon follow. Seal openings by caulking.
- Use rat traps. Make sure to put them beside walls. One clue on where you should put traps is the dirt markings on the walls we talked about earlier.
- Keep your food in sealed containers. This is one of the biggest reasons rats are in your house anyway. With no access to food, it can discourage rats from infesting your home.
- Put a lid on your trash cans because this is another food source for rats. Regularly dispose of your garbage.
- Always clean your house. Sweep and mop floors. Vacuum carpets, furniture, and floors. Wipe off food debris and drink spills. Good housekeeping will keep rats away.
Rats will always be dangerous to have around. We can never state enough the economic and health damage they bring, thus the need to get rid of them at once. These tips will surely help you have a rat-free home.
However, if rats are too much of a problem for you to single-handedly take care of, do not worry. The best pest control experts in Thomasville, Go-Forth Home Services, is just one phone call away.
Go-Forth Home Services is the leading pest control company in Thomasville, having been in this business since 1959. We have expert professionals who can handle pests like rats, mice, mosquitoes, flies, bed bugs, poisonous spiders, termites, ants, moths, weevils, silverfish, and many more pests. We only use the latest and most advanced technology in the business, so say goodbye to pests for good.
For more information, or to request a free quote, call us now!