Rat Control

Eliminating rats from a house is a difficult task. Despite the abundance of do-it-yourself rat removal techniques available, most homeowners eventually learn that taking on a rat problem alone is not only expensive but also time-consuming and frequently unsuccessful.

Thankfully, experienced rat control experts are skilled at handling rat problems swiftly and efficiently. Rat exterminators assist in eliminating a rat infestation permanently by helping you identify the telltale signs of rats in your home and repairing any damage they may have caused.

However, if you become knowledgeable about them, you can take some safety and health precautions.

How Do We Describe Rats?

Medium-sized rodents that resemble large mice are called rats. Their tail is scaled, and their snout is pointed. Rats are a rather prevalent kind of rodent. These pests have the potential to reach lengths of up to 10 inches.

Rats frequently reside close to locations that contain food scraps, like trash cans and dumpsters. Despite being able to be found in the wild, these pests typically gather in urban and rural areas.

Rats can live in many different types of environments, but because they eat food scraps and trash, they usually like warmer climates and are found close to people. Rats are quite skilled at infiltrating houses and businesses because of their resourcefulness, which may allow them easier access to food and water.

Since rats like to travel in packs, it’s possible that by the time you discover one, there are several rats in your house or place of business. When a male and female rat decide to nest in a suitable location, they form packs.

Although this particular rodent has over 60 species, house rats, Norway rats (also known as brown rats), and roof rats (also known as black rats) are the most prevalent varieties in the US:

• House rats typically have light-colored bellies and gray hair that is flecked with black hair. Their bodies and heads range in length from 13.3 to 21.3 cm, while the length of their tails varies from 7.6 to 16.5 cm.
• Norway rats have gray or brown fur and are larger animals. Their tails are shorter than their bodies and can reach lengths of up to 21 cm, while their bodies alone can reach lengths of up to 40 cm.
• Roof rats inhabit roofs. Their tails are longer than their bodies, and they have the potential to grow to be over 40 cm long.

Because of their propensity to spread bacteria and dangerous diseases, rats are thought to be unsanitary and can do a great deal of damage indoors.

How to Determine Whether Rats Are in Your Property?

People typically want to know how to determine whether they have a rat problem on or around their property as soon as they learn about the very real risks posed by rats. For rat control purposes and to ensure your family’s safety as well as the safety of your building, it is crucial to perform routine inspections.

Because they are nocturnal animals, rats are not always easy to identify, and it is unlikely that you will see them during the day. It would be wiser to search for signs of rat activity instead. This could be in the shape of:

• Your property or its contents have sustained structural damage. Examine the kitchen area for any signs of damage such as ripped food packaging, frayed electrical cables, or eaten skirting boards.
• Rat droppings. Anywhere they are active is where you can find these, which resemble dark brown rice grains.
• On and around the property are nesting areas and burrows. Typically, these will be tucked away and near a food source, like a compost or garbage bin.
• Seek out areas where rodents reside. Rats typically reside in burrows or nests. Burrows are smooth-edged holes in dirt or concrete. There are burrows beneath bushes and plants. They frequently have an opening for entry and departure.
• Look for runway traces in the grass and on the walls. Rats wear down grass paths and leave dark, greasy tracks along walls when they run along the same route repeatedly throughout the day.
• Paw prints of rats. Finding rat paw prints requires luck, but if the area is dusty or you’ve previously dusted it with talcum powder or other fine powders to trap the pests in their tracks, it may be easier. If you’ve discovered an entrance to a nest or burrow and want to know if it’s occupied, this can be quite helpful.
• Rat noises, like scratching.

What are the Tips for Controlling and Preventing Rats?

Rats require food, water, and shelter to survive. This is how to solve rat-related issues.

Make your house and storage buildings rat-proof:

• Look for holes or gaps the size of a quarter or bigger on the outside of your home.
• Use materials resistant to rodents to fix all openings: 18–22 gauge, 1/4-inch wire hardware cloth
• To eliminate gaps, place metal weather stripping under doors.

Seal cracks and tiny holes:

• Use caulk to plug tiny holes and cracks.
• Alternatively, apply roofing cement with a caulking gun; it’s easy to use and long-lasting.
• Use metal door sweeps made resistant to rodents to seal gaps beneath doors.
• Cover gaps around windows with metal flashing Install vent screens, particularly for lower floors.

Close Any Inactive Burrows:

• Burrows in the ground can be sealed by walking on them or by filling them with soil and compacting them with a shovel.
• Burrows in cracked or broken sidewalks should be sealed with cement and metal filler.

Remove the rat’s habitat:

• Take out all the trash and debris.
• Keep household items, lumber, and woodpiles at least eighteen inches above the ground and twelve inches away from walls and fences.
• Remove any bushes, vines, and trees so they are at least 4 feet away from the roof.
• Take down dense vegetation from buildings and fences, such as pyracantha, bougainvillea, and ivy.
• Cut back on vegetation to let in more light and get rid of rat hiding places.

Eliminate any food sources from your land:

• Garbage cans should always be covered.
• Harvest produce as soon as it’s ripe, and discard or compost any fruit that falls to the ground.
• Feed pets only during the day and take out any uneaten food as soon as possible.
• Food should only be kept in covered, rat-proof metal containers in garages and storage sheds during the night.
• Refrain from feeding birds and tidy up any leftover seed that falls near feeders.

What You Must Understand About Rats?

When a rat problem first appears on your property, it is best to get professional assistance. If left untreated, rat problems can spread quickly to become large-scale, dangerous infestations:

• Rats’ teeth never stop growing, which makes them capable of causing serious property damage. To keep their incisors in check, rats constantly chew on objects. They can eat through many different materials, including some metals.
• Rats are a serious threat to public health because they communicate by marking their territory and urinating everywhere they go. They can transmit a number of nasty diseases to people, usually by contaminating food preparation areas with their urine or bodies.
• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Lyme disease, the plague, and hantavirus are among the illnesses that rats can carry.
• Being nocturnal animals, rats are most active at night and in the early morning and evening hours.
• A female rat can give birth to six litters, or twelve young rats, on average each year. In actuality, though, the majority of litters contain five or more offspring. Young rats are referred to as pups. These young rats, who are sexually mature at four to five weeks old, allow the population to grow from two to as many as twelve fifty in a year, with the potential for even higher exponential growth.
• Due to their exceptional climbing skills, rats can enter buildings through gaps around soffit vents, cables entering the structure, or even breaches in the sewage system. Rats can swim and run very well, too.

How Long Does It Take to Get Rid of Rats Completely?

Depending on your situation, Titan Pest Services offers various rat-proofing and rat-control options. Because every project is unique, Titan has created tried-and-true methods to swiftly take control of any circumstance.

Whether you live in a single-family home, a building with multiple units, or a commercial building, Titan can handle rat control on the inside or outside of the majority of structures.

You can find created programs that can swiftly and effectively control them. It is possible to customize each service to specifically control squirrels, mice, and rats. To assess the problem and create an extermination plan that will satisfy your needs, an inspector will visit the property and conduct a free inspection.

The majority of buildings can be made rat-proof to keep out intruders, and once inside, a program for catching and eliminating rats can be quickly put in place.

Titan rat control technicians will come back by appointment to service the traps once they’ve set them up and continue doing so until all the rats have been removed.

Do Rats Come Back After Rat Control?

The rat will return to the nest if it hasn’t been disturbed; however, the majority of rats will still go back there. Rats are known to be both territorial and tenacious; they will go to considerable measures to establish a home among people, and they are unlikely to abandon their nests just to move to a more desirable area.

That’s why, combining control with professional pest extermination is necessary to destroy their nests and get rid of them completely.

Expert Rat Exterminators are Here: Titan Pest Services

When it comes to eliminating rats and other pests that pose a health risk to the public from homes and businesses, Titan’s skilled pest control professionals are pros. Titan Pest Services’ experts have years of experience controlling rodent infestations and are knowledgeable about the behaviors of rats.

Titan’s team is available around the clock to provide you with the best solutions for your pest problems, whether you’re looking for a rat exterminator, rat proofing, or rat monitoring.

For professional advice on getting rid of rats on your property, get in touch with Titan right now!