Finding out you have rats is almost always an unsettling discovery. Unless the idea of rodent roommates is an appealing one, the first thing you’ll probably think is, “How do I get rid of rats?” The simple answer? Leave rodent removal and exclusion to the pros.
Pest Pros, a Crawl Pros company, offers free home inspections to assess rodent activity in your crawl spaces, attics, and walls. Call our team at (866) 686-3118 or submit the form below to get started. Need more information? Keep reading to learn more about how experts — like Pest Pros — can help remove and exclude rodents from your home.
But let’s first talk about why there’s even a need for rodent exclusion, including the types of rats you might find, a recent increase in rat infestations, and the dangers rats pose for your home and health.
What Types Of Rats Are In My Crawl Space?
There are two main types of rats you might encounter in your Pacific Northwest home — the black rat and the Norway rat. These two species differ primarily in habitat. Black rats, also appropriately called roof rats, like to live up high and rarely come down. These are the rats you’ll see on telephone wires, in trees, and yes, in your attic. They can be identified by their light brown to black coloration, often with a lighter underside.
The Norway rat, also called the brown rat, is one of the most widespread common rat species. It can be identified by its large size and its brown or grey coloration. Norway rats stay low to the ground, infesting crawl spaces and foraging for scraps in your garbage cans. These rats will eat almost anything, including the contents of your cupboards.
The Ratpocalypse Is Upon Us
The U.S. has recently seen an increase in rat populations and activity, which some have dubbed “The Ratpocalypse”. This is just one byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic and the migration of humans from shared spaces to their homes.
Normally, here’s not enough territory for a large rat population, which is self-regulated through in-species control methods, including murder and cannibalism. However, with a change in primary food sources, rats have been forced to spread out, often traveling up to one mile to find food and breed. Their territorial area has now expanded, allowing for population multiplication.
Before the pandemic, rats’ primary food source was restaurants; but widespread closures pushed them to find food elsewhere, such as grocery stores and residential areas – including your home. These increased rat populations have become emboldened, leading to infestations and requiring residential rodent removal and exclusion by companies like Pest Pros.
Crawl Space Rat Trapping – Are Rats Dangerous?
While rat infestations are unpleasant, rats’ primary goals are to sleep, eat, and breed, which means that there will almost always be more than one rat in your crawl spaces and attics. This can get out of hand quickly because two rats can multiply to over a thousand in one year. This statistic alone is why rodent control is best left to those experienced in rodent removal and exclusion.
While this is undeniably alarming to consider, rats do tend to be afraid of larger animals — like humans — so they stick to walls, attics, and crawl spaces to avoid interaction. You may find them in your trash cans and cupboards, but they don’t like people and won’t attack. This doesn’t mean rats are now welcome visitors, but attacks are one fear that can be assuaged.
On the other hand, rats are known to carry diseases and parasites, transferred by the fleas and mites living on them. Studies have even suggested rats can carry coronaviruses, though the research is still relatively new for COVID-19 specifically. On their incessant search for food, rats can contaminate your home with said diseases and parasites while causing physical damage, including chewing through plywood, metal, and concrete — putting the infrastructure of your home at risk. Because of these dangers, investing in professional rat removal and exclusion from Pest Pros is the best way to protect yourself and your home.
Rat Removal & Exclusion – Removing Rats and Rat-Proofing Your Crawl Space
Rat removal is just that — removing existing rats. This is done through trapping and bait stations. One type of trap is a hydro-trap that uses compressed air to kill up to 24 rats at one time. Bait stations are placed outside of the home (not inside) with a chemical that acts as a blood thinner, leaving rats to burrow outside to die. Finally, old-fashioned snap traps, like the kind you’ve seen in cartoons and movies, are also still an effective method of rat removal.
During the process of rat exclusion — the prevention of new pests from entering the home — cement is poured down burrow holes, larger holes are filled with galvanized screening and mesh, and smaller holes are filled with a product called excluder — a non-rusting steel wool pad that will deter rats by cutting their faces as they try to chew. During the exclusion phase, there are 4 common things we look for: missing doors, busted screens, burrell holes near sewer or water lines in the crawl space, and the area between the furnace and crawl space.
Crawl space and attic rodent removal and exclusion are best left to the experts, like our team at Pest Pros, where we boast over 92% success in rat control. Using a variety of techniques, we pride ourselves on keeping you and your home safe. With a free home estimate, there’s nothing to lose and so much to gain, including peace of mind. Always included in your plan is removal and replacement (R&R), including 4 months of pest control. We always ask three questions: 1) Did we eliminate the issue? 2) Did we accidentally trap rodents in your home? And 3) Are the pests persistent? We work until we satisfactorily answer all of those questions and the problem is under control. That’s our guarantee.
Are There Any Rat Removal & Exclusion Home Remedies?
While we strongly suggest leaving rat removal and exclusion to the pros, snap traps are an at-home method you can try to remove rats. Rats are nearly blind, so they rub their bodies along baseboards to follow their scent as they traverse your house. Placing snap traps with peanut butter along your baseboards offers you a good shot at catching some of the rats in your home.
Rodent exclusion and more effective removal techniques, however, are very difficult for the average homeowner to accomplish, and simply attempting rat removal is only a temporary solution to eliminating rats from your home. To avoid continued rat infestation, consider investing in professional rat exclusion and removal by contacting our team at (866) 673-9626 or submitting the form below to get started.
Call Crawl Pros for Crawl Space Inspections
With locations in Washington and Oregon, Crawl Pros is the regional expert in crawl space and attic services. We understand common issues with houses in the region, know what to look for, and can offer thorough, accurate explanations and recommendations as a result. We’re so confident in our ability, in fact, that we offer a “Perfect Lifetime Guarantee” with all of our services, including water remediation services.
If you’re interested in scheduling Crawl Pros or Pest Pros services, please submit the form below. We look forward to working with you!