Reviled as the most destructive mammal pest, Norway rats compromise the well-being of humans and cause costly damage to manmade structures. They can live as long as two years in the wild and produce as many as 20 young in that span of time.
Norway rats are mostly active at night, have poor eyesight, and rely on their other senses to guide them. Actually quite intelligent, Norway rats quickly detect and avoid unfamiliar objects that show up in their chosen environment, such as traps and baits. Their rapid rate of reproduction and elusive nature make them particularly challenging to control.
Professional Rat Control Program
If you determine that your property has a rat problem, it’s time to call in professional help. With the reproductive prowess of these animals sitting like a ticking time bomb in your home, a comprehensive rat control program is necessary.
When approaching a rat removal plan, the key to long-term success is to consider the entire rat population. A few rat traps won’t solve the problem. A comprehensive plan will include careful inspection, trapping, removal, exclusion, prevention, and clean up. The goal is to exterminate the current infestation, prevent future issues, and reclaim a sanitary environment. Here’s a breakdown of the thorough process:
Professional Inspection
The process starts with an inspection from a professional. Our Wildlife Service Technician will look for signs of rats in your home. Although there might not be any rats visible, the professionals at Critter Control know what to look for and where. During the inspection, we’ll identify all current and potential entry points. It is imperative to seal any entry point because rats can follow odor trails from other rats.
With that confirmation, a professional rat control program can begin.
Norway Rat Trapping
If you have a rat infestation currently in your home, the first step is to trap and remove the rodents.
Generally, trapping is considered the most effective and safe way to control rats. The size of the infestation will determine how many traps, what types of traps, and what rat bait will be placed around your property. Typically, snap traps are the first choice. That’s because these traps can be used several times.
The trapping and removal stage usually takes between 5 to 14 days. But if you are dealing with a well-established colony, then the professionals might extend this timeline. With an especially large colony, other control measures including tamper-resistant bait stations may be required around the perimeter of your structure.
Due to the very cautious nature of these rodents, trapping won’t happen overnight. But with time, this is an effective way to remove any rats currently in your home.
Rat Exclusions
Even if you successfully remove every rat in your home, other rats will likely return to the same comfortable spot. That’s why it’s absolutely essential to seal up all entry points of a quarter-inch or larger.
A few common entry points include foundation cracks, loose-fitting screens, holes for pipes, chimneys, and loose soffits. If there isn’t a readily available hole, Norway rats and roof rats are likely to gnaw through materials like plastic sheeting, wood, and caulking to break into your home.
Rats can gain entry through such a small opening. But Critter Control Wildlife Service Technicians have the experience and training to find all current and potential entry points. Once the weak points are identified, a whole home exclusion is necessary to prevent future rat problems.
The professionals will use sealants, wire mesh, and other rat-proofing structures to safeguard your home.
Clean Up
Rats make a mess in your home. They destroy insulation by using it for nesting materials, creating rat runs through it, and soiling it with urine and feces. Rats can bring many diseases into your home.
Rats contaminate any food they get into. A few diseases commonly transmitted through indirect contact with rats include leptospirosis, salmonellosis, tularemia, plague, and rat-bite fever. Finally, ectoparasites like mites and fleas can infest your home after hitching a ride on a rat.
Of course, no one wants to pick up a rat-related disease. The first step to avoiding any potential health hazards is to call in professional help to eliminate the rat infestation.
Once the animals are removed, it’s time to apply sanitization agents to the contaminated area. The Wildlife Service Technician will thoroughly disinfect where necessary. Additionally, all dead rats will be removed. With that, you can breathe easier in your own home.
Although improved sanitation is the first order of business, it’s not the only part of the cleanup process. Beyond sanitation, our specialists will put everything back in order. For example, let’s say that the rat colony tore up the insulation in your attic. In that case, our team would replace that installation to help you get everything back to normal.
Recurring Rodent Control Solutions
The rodent removal steps above will give your home a much-needed reset. However, the pheromone trails left behind can lead a new infestation of rats directly to your door.
Since rats can chew through most home materials, they can make new entry points into your home. Rat repellants and improved sanitation can go a long way to preventing the return of rodents.
The uncanny ability of rodents to find a happy home is a challenge for homeowners. But that doesn’t mean you’ll need to repeat the entire process again. Instead, regularly scheduled appointments can ensure that your home never sees another large-scale rat infestation.
A professional service that regularly monitors your home for rat problems can spot any future problems before things get out of hand. Although rats are incredibly resourceful critters, they are no match for a careful rodent control plan.
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From the tip of the nose to the end of the tail, Norway rats measure between 13 and 15 inches (33 to 38 cm) in length, with the tail alone accounting for about 7 inches (19 cm) of that total. They are large and robust compared to other species of rats.
Norway rat fur is coarse and usually appears brown, though some variation in color exists. They may have scattered black markings on their backs, and the undersides of their bodies typically look gray to yellowish-white.
The ears and tails of Norway rats are bald; unlike other rats, their ears do not fold down over their eyes because they are shorter.
Native to Asia, Norway rats spread throughout Europe in the mid-1500s and were then brought to North America via ships in the 1770s. Presently, Norway rats can be found in every corner of the world except for Antarctica. Relying heavily on human activity for food and shelter, the pests tend to hold a cosmopolitan distribution.
Preferred nesting sites of the Norway rat include cellars, warehouses, grocery stores, slaughterhouses, docks, sewers, barns, silos, beneath concrete slabs, around ponds, and in garbage dumps. Exceptional climbers, jumpers, and swimmers, Norway rats will nest virtually anywhere with nearby sources of food and water.
Their small size enables them to sneak into homes and sheds through cracks in the foundation and broken window screens. They sometimes gain access to homes through sewer systems or drainage pipes, as well. Furthermore, Norway rats can climb and jump with ease and may enter homes through chimneys.
Norway rats can cause a good deal of damage inside and outside a home. An infestation will destroy crops, contaminate livestock feed, and cause structure instability to anything the rats burrow under, including riverbanks, driveways, homes, and roads.
Norway rats will gnaw through anything they encounter, both under and above ground. They will chew through water pipes, electrical wires, windowsills, doors, and vents. If inside your home, you can expect to see gnawing on drywall and baseboards, shredded insulation, or even nests inside your insulation.
Norway rats also leave greasy smudge marks on walls, floors, and anything their fur touches. Additionally, they can be very annoying due to the numerous sounds they make. If you hear chirping, squeaking, squealing, clawing, grunting, climbing, and fighting noises, it could be a group of Norway rats.
Like all other rodents, Norway rats leave trails of urine and feces as they travel. Droppings can be ¼ of an inch long, and the mold spores that grow on them can affect humans. Norway rats carry diseases that can be transmitted to humans through a bite, such as trichinosis, salmonellosis, and rat bite fever. Hantaviruses are the most dangerous diseases rats carry. Among many symptoms, humans develop severe respiratory infections when exposed to these viruses.
Because ticks, fleas, and mites live on rats, you become exposed to the diseases these insects carry too, such as Lyme disease and Typhus. Indirect and direct health risks come from bites, inhaling mold spores on droppings, touching urine or feces with your bare hand, or eating foods the rats have contaminated.
Preventative measures can be enacted to limit the possibility of Norway rat infestation. Taking the time to regularly clean and sanitize can make the home environment an unfavorable place to nest. This includes wiping spills and sweeping up crumbs as soon as the messes are made and removing clutter in attics and basements. Additionally, storing food in sealed, rat-proof containers helps reduce the chance of infestation.
Checking the outside of homes for possible points of entry and then sealing any that are found is another way to prevent Norway rats from infesting. Trimming trees and bushes that hang over or sit too close to homes as well as tightly sealing outdoor trash bins also limits the possibility of rats nesting in yards.
Rat traps are the best way to get rid of Norway rats. There are many rat traps available such as snap traps, plastic enclosed snap traps, live catch traps, electric traps, and glue boards. While these are all available for DIY rat trapping, effective Norway rat control requires a strategic approach. Rat traps need to be properly baited and set near signs of rat activity.
The professionals at Critter Control know the proper size, bait, placement, and time for rat traps. The standard Critter Control rat trapping process takes between five to fourteen days. If the rat infestation is large, it can take longer. Once the rat population is controlled, we seal the house and disinfect the area. Rats can gnaw through virtually any material on your house. A recurring rat control plan will control any potential rat infestations.