Cooler Weather Drives Rats In

How Rats Enter and Damage Your Home

Tuesday I received a call from a frantic homeowner because they were hearing noises in the attic.  They couldn’t sleep Monday night because of noises in the attic…combined with the thought they had something living in their house.

So, I went to the house Tuesday afternoon for an inspection and this is what I found:  (watch the video below)

Needless to say, after I showed the homeowner this video, they were shocked at the amount of damage the rats had already caused and we started our trap and seal program that day.

Interesting Rat Facts

Rats are active mostly at night. They have poor eyesight, but they make up for this with their keen senses of hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Rats learn and explore constantly, memorizing pathways, obstacles, food and water, shelter, and other factors of their environment. They quickly detect and tend to avoid new objects and new food sources. Thus, they often avoid traps and baits for several days or more following their initial placement.

Rats can gain entry to structures by gnawing, climbing, jumping, or swimming through sewers and entering through toilets or broken drains.  As the video showed, they  jump from tree branches hanging over the roof right into the attic.  They travel along electric & phone wires connected to the home.  They also climb gutters and air conditioning pipes to gain access to the attic.

Rats can squeeze beneath a door with only a 1/2-inch gap. If the door is made of wood, the rat might gnaw to enlarge the gap to gain entry.

How to Spot a Rat Infestation

Here in Florida, rats are active throughout the year.   Once rats have been spotted in the yard or landscaping,  it is only a matter of time before you find evidence of them indoors, unless your home has already been rodent proofed.  Even then, you want to make sure the prior proofing is still in tact. 

Inspect your yard and home thoroughly several times a year.  Look for these signs of rat infestation:

• Rat droppings around dog or cat dishes or pet food storage containers
• Noises coming from the attic just after dusk
• Pet bringing home dead rats
• If you have fruit trees on the property, look for evidence of gnawed fruit
• Grease/smudge marks against walls, pipes, roof lines and beams
• Nesting material behind boxes in garage
• Rat droppings in your recycle bins

If you have any of these signs of rat infestation or if you just want to make sure you don’t have any rats, give our office a call @ 813-935-7554 and I’ll send one of my highly trained technicians to inspect your home FREE of charge.

You can also request a FREE inspection of your home by contacting us here.

Yours for a Bug Free Home…..