Roof rats enter homes by jumping onto rooftops from utility lines or branches. Even nickel-sized holes along attic vents, pipes, or walls are big enough for the pests to squeeze through.Once inside, roof rats gather in closed, rarely used spaces like attics to nest.
Despite remaining out of sight and avoiding contact with humans, rats still leave signs indicating their presence within the home.
Signs of a Roof Rat Infestation
Telltale clues of rat infestations include a musky smell, the sound of the rodents chewing or scurrying about, and grease marks that occur when the pests' oily fur comes into contact with walls and other household surfaces.
The most common sign is rat droppings.
Maybe you’ve seen a rat scurrying along in your house, and maybe you haven’t. But those rat droppings in the attic didn’t come out of thin air. Whether or not you still have rodents in your house, what the rat or rats leave behind needs to be dealt with.
The Most Common Sign of a Roof Rat Infestation in Your Attic
Seeing just a few rat droppings in your insulation might be tempting to ignore especially if they appear old. Fresh droppings are shinier and darker. Old droppings appear chalky and dry, but rat feces start to look old after 48-72 hours.
Rat Droppings in Attic Insulation
You should not ignore rat droppings in your attic insulation. Rat poop and urine can leak into nearby walls and ceilings, causing disgusting smells and stains.
The urine and feces can be a host to health hazards. Some pathogens can infect you via airborne transmission. When rat droppings are disturbed, the airborne particles can cause hantavirus or histoplasmosis. Leptospirosis spreads when you come into contact with rat urine. You can catch rat-bite fever by coming in contact with surfaces contaminated with the bacteria. An ignored rodent problem can be a serious health risk to homeowners.
Roof Rat Damage
Property damage caused by roof rats can add up quickly. They destroy insulation by creating trails through it and using it for nests. Rats gnaw on everything which damages electrical wires, drywall, PVC pipes, and more.
Roof Rat Diseases
They also find paths down to kitchens and pantries, where they eat and contaminate food. This is the way roof rats typically spread diseases like plague, salmonellosis, leptospirosis, rat-bite fever, and typhus to humans. Infested homes also need to be screened for any added pests the rodents may carry, such as mites and ticks.
Attic Restortion from Roof Rat Infestation
Depending on the severity of the insulation damage will determine the cleaning services. We safely get rid of all the rat waste. An ectoparasite treatment exterminates pests like ticks and fleas. A sanitization agent will decontaminate the area.
In the case of rat droppings in attic insulation, cleaning the mess immediately is not the best option. One rat can quickly become many. The presence of one rat can attract more rats. You need to seal your house to stop that. One female rat can have up to seven litters of five to twelve pups in a year.
Fortunately, you do not have to do this alone; Critter Control® is here to help. We believe in offering comprehensive rodent control. We remove any rodents from your house and restore your home to its pre-rat condition. We also provide exclusion services to ensure the rats don’t come back.
You do not have to go to another company for insulation removal- we are fully qualified to do that as well. We have all the equipment to clean up rat droppings in existing insulation, as well as the necessary materials to remove old insulation and replace it with new insulation.
Get them out.
Keep them out.®
Experience wildlife or pest issue? We can help! Complete this form and your local Critter Control® office will contact you to assist.
Best Bat Removal
Brandon was out to please and make out lives easier with out bat situation. Above and beyond of the call of duty and got the job done. Thank you!
BAT POOP CLEAN-UP AND PREVENTION! Bat guano removed from gables. No bats found in attic, so put new screens on all gable vents, as one screen was close to breaking and then bats may have gotten in! Great work in
Tulsa!
Squirrels and chipmunks were in our attic. So we called Critter Control to do an inspection. Their representative climbed all over our very steep roof and found several places where squirrels had entered our attic.
Upon inspection of the attic, evidence of bats was also found. The Critter Control team came on time to completely caulk the entire perimeter of the house and create an exit strategy for the squirrels and bats.
Because
bat droppings can cause histoplasmosis, this also required total removal and replacement of our attic insulation and sanitizing the space. Not a small job in a 1,300 sq. ft. attic! While Critter Control’s cost was high, our homeowners insurance covered most of it. Everyone representing Critter Control was professional, courteous and timely. I would highly recommend them to anyone who thinks they might have unwelcome guests living in their attic
On recommendations from a nearby pest control company, I called Critter Control for suspicious
bat droppings.
Madison came out the same day to do an inspection. She was knowledgeable, thorough, and highly professional. She examined the ‘matter’ that had been scattered on my threshold and thought it was foliage. But she then asked to go up to my attic space where the bats could be roosting. She had to walk up 3 flights of stairs with a heavy ladder. She again spent some time searching all the nooks and crannies and found nothing.
She seemed so interested in her craft, it was truly inspiring to see! She reassured me and is writing up a prevention strategy for my appraisal. She charged me NOTHING!! I am so impressed. We need more Madisons in this world!
Service:
Bat Removal in San Diego
We noticed droppings on our brand new deck - we were given their number from our contractor. They came the next day. Brian looked at it and said - yeah, bats!! He then checked every area in our attic and he explained exactly what needed to be done.
He found evidence of a mice infestation, provided a referral and they are helping us as well. Great service, very informative, very professional! We are very satisfied and would recommend them to anyone who has any issues with any critters!
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