Rats

Worried about rats in your property? Rats are known to spread diseases, so if you find them in your home it should be treated as a serious pest problem.
Even if they are not in your living areas, rats inside the home should be treated immediately as they can also cause damage to wiring and have even been known to chew through floor joists and walls.

They can also cause damage to your home’s insulation.

Common Pest Rats 

In the USA, Roof rats (Black Rat) and the Norway rats (Brown Rat) are the rats most likely to be found around or inside your home.

The Roof rat is appropriately named 

because they often live in “roof” areas of houses or structures. They have the ability to climb and will use various methods to travel through a neighborhood – overhead utility lines or fences. You may find these rats nesting in your trees, bushes, or even in the attic of your home.

Norway rats prefer to nest around

lower floors of a building. However, if there is a larger population, or an area allows, they can live in attics, above ceilings, or upper floors. Their nests may be found in wall voids, underneath floors, crawlspaces, and even furniture. Nests are mostly built using soft materials such as paper, cloth, leaves, grass, etc.

Differences between Roof Rats & Norway Rats

There are several ways to determine if you have a Roof rat or Norway rat on or in your property. Since both rats are typically shy in nature, it may be difficult to get a good look at them. However, their physical appearances are different.

Roof Rats are sleek in appearance. They have pointed snouts, large prominent eyes, and are typically gray to black in color. The Norway Rat is thicker in body size, have blunted snouts, small eyes, and are brown in color.

Another way to help you identify if you have a roof rat or brown rat is to locate their nests.

Roof rats usually make their nests in walls, attics, trees. The brown rat will usually burrow to make their nests.

Rats in Your Home

Although mice are more likely to intrude into your home, rats will also enter a home if they are attracted to the food, water and shelter available.

Signs of Rats

Although rats are nocturnal and usually hide from humans, there are a number of signs that can indicate their presence in your home:

• Scratching noises in walls or under the floor as rats scurry around.
  
• Droppings – rats leave dark, tapered droppings about 3/8" - 9/16" long.
  
• Distinctive smell – rats leave an ammonia-like smell that will be particularly strong in enclosed areas such as under cupboards.
  
• Damage – they have teeth that grow continuously and gnaw on wood and plastic to keep them trim. Rats can even cause fires by chewing through cables.
  
• Ripped food packaging – rats will tear open food which may leave teeth marks.
  
• Nests – rats build nests in warm, hidden places using shredded material such as newspaper and fabrics. Nests will often contain young rats.
  
• Burrows - In gardens, rats will dig burrows especially in compost heaps or under sheds. They will also build nests under garden decking.

Rats in Your Yard

Rats in the yard and outside can also present tremendous risk, particularly since those areas are visited by children and pets. Rats can also significantly undermine hill sides, retaining walls and other similar structures through their burrowing activity.

A crucial step in eliminating rats in your home is to remove whatever is attracting them to your home in the first place.

Find out about how to get rid of rats or contact Ehrlich at 1-800-837-5520 for more information and advice about rats.