How Do You Get Rid Of Roof Rats?
As the seasons change, you may end up hearing annoying scratching sounds from behind your walls. You may also notice little droppings here and there and in all honesty – homeowner beware! These little things are indicative that you may have rats in your home’s walls and even ceilings. These pesky vermin can not only carry disease, but they are also destructive behind the scenes. How to get rid of roof rats may be why you’re reading this, but it’s important to also know how your roof became home to rodents.
How Did Rats Get In My Roof?
Rats are extremely intelligent and very versatile critters. Keep in mind that there are key differences between domesticated pet rats and wild rats. Unfortunately, the kind living in your walls and attic don’t count as pets and are more likely to carry disease. Wild rats like to make their nests in warm dry places, close to a food source that’s away from potential predators. This is often why you may find rats in your roof, what safer place could there be? They can use anything that connects to your roof as a way to get inside your home.
Tree branch a little too long and growing right next to the roof? Definite means of entry. Have some holes around the home due to age or a lack of maintenance? Another entry checkpoint. Rats are wiry lean creatures and can fit into much smaller holes than we’d think possible. If they don’t fit into the hole, there’s nothing stopping them from making it a little larger either.
Hazards of Having Rats In Your Home
Aside from making a meal of your household electrical system and home, roof rats can breed at extreme rates. They pose many different health hazards both to your home and your physical and even mental health. Wild rats can bring in vermin such as ticks and fleas from the outdoors and are known as carriers of diseases. These diseases can affect both your health and the health of your pets.
Some diseases carried by rats include the Bubonic Plague, Lyme disease, Rabies and even Leptospirosis. The worst part is that that isn’t even the extent of the list of diseases that wild rats can carry into your home!
Get Rid of Roof Rats Today!
As much as we want to pretend that we’re capable of setting up elaborate rat traps, chances are that we don’t have the time to catch each and every single one. The average gestation period for a rat is approximately three weeks. Each litter can consist of about 8 to 18 baby rats. That’s a lot of little rats that you’d need to try and catch, and chances are more would breed before you catch them all.
It’s important that you enlist the services of a professional company to get rid of roof rats in your home as soon as possible. Keep in mind that once you have gotten rid of all the rats in your home, you will need to have your home thoroughly cleaned to ensure that no harmful traces remain. This will also help stop future rat infestations, as they do tend to avoid overly clean places.
Handling Roof Rats the Art Way
Having a professional deal with your roof rat problem is the safest way to ensure it doesn’t happen again soon. Professionals who are trained to deal with roof rats will find all crevices and entry points and ensure that they’re completely sealed off.
As you know rats can be detrimental to your health, but they’re also detrimental to your attic insulation and electrical wiring. If you’re concerned that your home has unwanted little guests, give the team at Art Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electric a call today. Our team will have your home rat-free in no time!
