Rat Infestation? | Telltale Signs of Rat Infestation in Your Home or Business
September 17th, 2015
Are you questioning whether or not rats have made your home their own? As a homeowner or business owner, you may have dealt with or could possibly deal with a rat infestation at some point in time (this is especially true for restaurant owners).
Rats may seem harmless enough as they scurry throughout your walls, attic, and the rest of your home or business. However, it’s important to know that while they may seem harmless, rats carry a number diseases and other pests, such as fleas, lice, and other parasites.
With that, you probably now know that if you believe your home or business has a rat infestation, it should be taken care of right away. However, what are the signs of rat infestation? How can you know for sure? At Alford Wildlife and Pest Management in Fort Myers, we’ve dealt with our fair share of rat infestations in Lee County and SWFL. Here, we’ll provide a few helpful tips to help you tell whether or not rats have invaded your home.
- Noises. The first sign of a rat infestation in your home are noises throughout your walls and attic. While they can be relatively light and barely noticeable, you may hear things like running, scratching, and rolling objects. Since rats are nocturnal, they will leave nesting sites to feed at night. Pay special attention to noises around dusk or dawn as this is the time when they are most active.
- Gnawing Marks. Rats have the tendency to gnaw just about everything in the house. They gnaw on objects such as pipe work, electrical cables, and wooden fixtures with the help of their razor sharp front teeth. If you see peculiar marks on these places/objects, it may indicate a rat problem inside the house.
- Rat Droppings. Rat droppings are one of the most obvious signs of rat infestation inside the home. The droppings can be concentrated in specific locations near nesting sites and are usually scattered throughout the areas of activity. Mostly, they are found in attics, along the walls, and near the source of food. You can identify rat droppings by their shape and color. For instance, brown rat droppings are dark brown in color and have a spindle shape that resembles a grain of rice.
- Footprints on Floorboards. Rats can leave footprints on floorboards and you can look for footprints in dusty and less used areas of the home. You can shine a flashlight at low range on the floor to reveal footmarks. If you do detect footmarks on the floor, you can sprinkle talc or fine flour along the area and look for fresh tracks the next day.
- Burrows and Nesting Sites around Structures. Other signs of rat infestation are burrows and nests around or inside the home. All rats set up nests where they live. Nesting sites are most often in trees, attics, and burrows. They can also be found inside the home in furniture, under floorboards, in lofts, cabinets and other structural voids. Norway rats tend to build extensive burrows next to solid structures such as garden sheds, garages, and decks.
- A Free Rat Infestation Inspection. As you can see, rats leave evidence of their presence behind. However, we recommend contacting a professional rat removal company to complete an inspection for rats. Alford Wildlife and Pest Management has helped hundreds of clients with rat removal in Fort Myers and all of Southwest Florida. There is no job too large for our team and with our rat removal services, you’ll rest assured that the rats in your home or business will be removed and that they will not come back for a second visit.
Learn more about our wildlife removal services and contact us today for a free rat inspection.
Have you dealt with a rat infestation? Leave your story in the comments!
