While a lot of people celebrate the cooler weather, this can be the ideal time for pests to get into homes. When the temperature drops, rats may invade houses to find warmth. There are many reasons rats can strike terror in people. But you don’t need to live with them. Through rat pest control near me, you can keep your home rat-free and maintain a healthy environment for you and your loved ones.
Rats can cause significant damage to door frames and electrical equipment through gnawing. Their body oils can also stain walls and pipes. Rat droppings and urine cause a strong odor. That is why no homeowner wants to deal with such rodents. Thus, if you notice a rat activity on your property, you should call for a rat inspection and extermination.
Signs Your Home is Infested with Rats
If your home has a rat infestation, you may hear rat activity at night as rats scurry about or gnaw. Sometimes, rats can race around your landscaping or along fence lines. The following are signs of a rat infestation:
- Scents. In serious rat infestations, you may smell a strong scent from rat urine and feces. Droppings and urine stains are often scattered about your house, in foraging areas, or near a rat nest. Such droppings are black and a bit curvy in shape. Also, gnaw marks can be found on wires, foods, cabinetry, door frames, or beams.
- Nests. Rats make their nests using building materials, small branches, scarp, and insulation. They use the same entry points whenever they forage for food and go back to their nests. Eventually, such surfaces can be stained black.
Professional Rat Control
Pest control experts provide an integrated approach to rat control. They will thoroughly inspect your landscape and house, recognize conducive conditions, identify rat indicators, and recognize structural deficiencies. To relieve rat pressure, these experts may make some recommendations. These include placing rat traps in strategic locations, installing lockable rodent bait boxes outside your house, and preventing rats from entering your home by making a hidden physical barrier to entry points like the AC chase, roof intersections, and vent stacks.
Dealing with a Rat Infestation
Rats will enter your house to nest, forage food, or forage water. Keeping your house clean and having good sanitation practices can minimize the chances of rats infesting your house. Good practices include storing foods in airtight, sturdy containers, removing garbage regularly, getting rid of clutter or possible harborages like stored furniture or boxes, picking up fallen fruits from a fruiting tree, and making sure soffits and screens are intact.
