Rat Prevention

Common sense folks, in order to know how to prevent rats, you need to realize why exactly do they infest your property in the first place. Here we go.

3 FAQs on Rat Infestation

Rats are amongst the most destructive pests to lurk in areas where humans live and make a living. They can destroy properties and at the same time, threaten human life. These rodents are able to do this much damage because of their ability to adapt to virtually any kind of environment -- no matter how crowded or busy these environments are. They are also very comfortable with living in houses, gardens, sewers, streets and all the other places where they would find food. Moreover, they are not picky eaters and they can live even with very little amount of food. All these characteristics increased their fame as a notorious pest not only in agricultural areas but also in the metropolis.

Why Bother with Rat Infestation?

Since these pests are very inquisitive and curious, they would end up sniffing and nibbling all sorts of things. They would harbor harmful bacteria in their bodies and become infected themselves. Now, the biggest problem with rats is that they can easily contaminate food items which humans store and keep in their pantries and even on table tops. Their urine and droppings can bring different kinds of diseases. Rats also have a stinky odor. Some animals (like the little mice) even scurry away once they smell that a rat is coming. Moreover, because these rodents are "dirty" by nature, it is very common for rats to have fleas and ticks which can migrate from their bodies to the bodies of the pets in the house, or worse, to the unsuspecting sleeping human dwellers.

Apart from health reasons, rat infestations should also be addressed because they are very destructive. They would gnaw and chew on anything and everything that comes their way. You can almost expect that food items kept in plastic packages and carton boxes would have at least one nibbled hole through it if rats are present in a house. There have been fire emergencies in the past too which have been caused by faulty electrical wiring (which, of course, happened because a rat nibbled the insulation of the electrical wires).

Which Rats Usually Infest Properties?

There are so many rat species all around the world, but only two of them can be considered as "common" city rats. These are:

The Roof Rat

These rats are also called the black rats, although many of them have grey and brown coverings. Their underside is usually white, no matter what their fur color is and they have small bodies which make their long tails more pronounced. These rats are expert climbers.

The Norway Rat

Norway rats are also called brown rats because of their predominant color. While roof rats may have brown coverings, the real factor that really distinguishes a Norway Rat to that of a brown roof rat is the hue of their brown color. The later have deep and dark brown fur coverings while the first one would definitely have lighter shades of brown. These rats have large bodies too and their tails also appear "fat". They can swim and they love to dig burrows to serve as their homes.

What Do Rats Eat?

Rats and mice do not really stick to any kind of diet; they would eat whatever food it is that they can come across with. They would eat garbage, left-over food, decomposing biodegradables, fresh and rotten fruits, deeds, pet food, animal wastes and all sorts of things. This means that any un-kept and un-cleaned surrounding can be an inviting place to live for rats already. Having known this, it becomes obvious that regular clean-ups can greatly decrease the propensity of a rat infestation in your area.