In addition to being unpleasant to look at, rats can carry diseases and create health risks. They can also be incredibly destructive – chewing through walls, insulation, and electrical wiring. If you want to reclaim your home, the only option is to figure out how to get rid of rats fast, once and for all.
' Unfortunately, these invasive creatures will never leave on their own. This is especially true if there's a continuous food source on your premises. Like other rodents, rats invade homes in search of three basic needs, including food, water, and shelter.
One of the main reasons rats are often unwelcome house guests is that they can carry pathogens that may transmit disease to humans, including hantavirus. Some of these pathogens can be transmitted through the rat's urine and droppings, which become airborne as they break down and contaminate other dust particles.
Homes, vehicles, and gardens are not safe when rats are around. Rats also pose a health risk because they spread infectious diseases to humans and pets. Once a rat problem has been discovered it is imperative to act quickly to remove the rats and ensure they do not return.
For a relatively minor infestation, it will take around 3 weeks to eliminate rats. This is when you have a couple of rats scuttling around, but it's nothing serious. On the other hand, if you have a severe infestation, it can take up to 3 months to solve.
While rats might leave a nest temporarily if disturbed, they will likely only nest somewhere else close by, no doubt creating multiple nests that exacerbate the issue. On top of that, there's also a risk that they will return to the same space if you haven't properly dealt with the nest.
Rats are Harder to Control
It's just a fact -- rats are vastly more difficult to effectively get rid of than mice. Rats can, for example, eat the lure from a mouse trap without triggering it (and even if it does go off, a mouse trap usually doesn't strike with enough force to cause a fatal blow).
The smell of peppermint, chili pepper, eucalyptus, citronella, and sagebrush are all effective at keeping rats away if applied in the right concentration. They are also deterred by chemical smells like ammonia and bleach.
This makes peppermint oil, chili powder, citronella, and eucalyptus the most common natural rodent repellents. Chemical smells, such as ammonia, bleach, and mothballs also work as mice deterrents.
Some mice and rats can carry harmful diseases, such as HPS, Leptospirosis, lymphocytic choriomeningitis, plague, and typhus. The best way to protect you and your family from these diseases is to keep mice and rats out of your home.
Rats and mice are known to carry many diseases. These diseases can spread to people directly, through handling of rodents; contact with rodent feces (poop), urine, or saliva (such as through breathing in air or eating food that is contaminated with rodent waste); or rodent bites.
In autumn and sometimes even late summer, rats become more active. In this time of high activity, they gather and store as much food as they can in their burrows for the upcoming winter. Though they do not hibernate, they stockpile on food to reduce the need to leave the warmth of their burrows.
If there are garbage cans and dumpsters around, they will use those too, as a means of cover from predators. Rats also crawl up trees during the day to look for food sources. In a city, rats tend to hide in sewers and other public places during the day where they can avoid predators.
Rats in the wild are prey to snakes, coyotes, owls and other animals, so they often live for less than a year, but rats living in more protected indoor areas can live for two to three years. If their breeding is unchecked, they can produce thousands of babies over the course of their lifetimes.
Pet rats enjoy human interaction. Once your rats are used to interacting with you, going an entire week without human contact can be stressful for them. Not only do they thrive by receiving love from their humans, but they also do better when stimulated intellectually.
Rats cannot tolerate smells such as ammonia, mothballs, peppermint oil, crushed cayenne pepper, and pepper spray due to their intensified sense of smell. Clean and uncluttered homes and yards scare rats due to the lack of food and places to hide, as well.
Eucalyptus or Peppermint oil can repel rats because they hate the smell. Another way to use a rat's sense of smell against them is to plant peppermint and catnip in strategic places. Diatomaceous earth is non-toxic to humans, but it can dry out rats until they die.
Rats and mice can cause structural damage to homes, apartments, offices, and virtually any type of building through gnawing, nest-building, and defecation: Mice will chew on just about anything that they see as useful in building their nests. This could be wood, paper, cloth, books, etc.
All you need to do is mix 2 – 2 and a half cups of ammonia, 100 – 200 mL of water and a 2-3 spoonful of detergent in a bowl. Then, put it to places where rats are usually seen. The smell of ammonia is very pungent that it instantly kills rats.
Rats exhibit aggressive behavior when threatened. They may fight, chase, bite and box. Rats also display some behaviors such as sidling and belly-up defensive postures. Rats dwell in cities, suburbs and rural areas.
Rats nests usually consist of five to ten rats each. However, rats will often build their nests in close proximity to one another to form a social colony. Like mice, rats will continue to multiply and grow their population until they run out of resources to support themselves.
Rats are very hardworking species and they will always go the extra mile to try and infest your property. Their constant search for food, shelter and warmth during the colder months will always drive them into your home which provides them with all of these comforts.
There are two main things that can attract mice and rats to your house – food and shelter. If you don't tidy up properly and there's food waste on the floor or surfaces, rodents are going to love it! Rats and mice also need shelter, particularly during winter to avoid the worst of the cold.