Rat Removal Company in Tampa, Clearwater, Largo, Sarasota

How To Prevent Rat Infestations

No one wants to deal with rats in their home. Luckily, there are steps you can take to significantly lower the chances of rats being able to force their way into the walls of your home or business.

No one wants to deal with rats in their home. Luckily, there are steps you can take to significantly lower the chances of rats being able to force their way into the walls of your home or business. Before you ever suspect rats may be living amongst you and you call World Class Wildlife Removal & Rat Remediation for rat removal help, there are two steps you can take to protect your home or business from the get-go.

First, seal all the potential entry points inside and immediately outside your building that rats could use to either gain access to the indoors or squeeze inside your walls for safety. Inspect your home or building vigilantly for holes in interior or exterior walls, floorboards, furniture, roofing, and anything else you think might be used as shelter by a rat. Remember, even the smallest hole could prove to be detrimental to the health and safety of your home or business — rats can fit through holes as small as a quarter in circumference, and if they can fit their head into an opening, they’ll surely be able to squeeze the rest of their body through it.

Next, eliminate all of the ways that rats could use to climb into your home or building from the outside. Rats are resourceful; they’re far more creative than you’d expect for such a small-headed creature. You’ll want to trim the branches of any trees on your property so that they’re at least a couple of inches away from your roof and any utility lines. If you have vines or ivy growing on the exterior of your home or business, you should remove it from the walls, since rats can easily climb them. If there are any tree trunks, pipes or gutters that rats could use to climb into your house, wrap them in metal or plastic sheeting, or tree guards as appropriate to seal those potential entry points.

Diseases Rats Can Carry

  • Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome: A severe, occasionally fatal respiratory disease in humans that is caused by any contact with infected rats.
  • Leptospirosis: A bacterial disease that affects both humans and pets, spread by contact with rats or consumption of food or drink contaminated with rat urine. Can cause a range of symptoms, or no symptoms at all. If left untreated, Leptospirosis can cause kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure, respiratory issues, or death.
  • Lymphocytic Chorio-meningitis: An infectious virus that can affect humans or pets spread by skin contact with rats, rat bites or the breathing in of dust that has been contaminated with rat feces. Can cause a variety of brain-related problems.
  • Plague: An incredibly dangerous disease that can affect humans and pets and is spread by the handling of rats or other infected animals. Modern antibiotics can treat plague, but serious illness or death can result if plague is not treated promptly.
  • Rat Bite Fever: An infectious disease spread by the handling of rats or consumption of food or drink contaminated by rat feces. Causes fever, vomiting and muscle and joint pain.
  • Salmonella: While more commonly associated with the consumption of undercooked dough, salmonella can also be spread by eating or drinking food or water contaminated by rat feces. Salmonella causes diarrheal illness that can be severe.
  • Tularemia: Affects both humans and pets. Most commonly transmitted via skin contact with infected carcasses. Though symptoms vary based on how the bacteria enters the body, all forms are accompanied by fever as high as 104°F. Tularemia illnesses can range from mild to life-threatening.

Signs You May Have Rats

Rats are secretive little creatures, preferring to live in dark and secluded spaces within your walls rather than out in the open. However, if they’re living amongst your home or business, they’ll still leave plenty of signs that they’re around.

If you suspect you have rats living in your home or business, the rat removal experts at World Class Wildlife Removal & Rat Remediation can help you out. Our experienced exterminators will quickly assess the scale of your infestation, promptly and safely remove the rats from your home, and sanitize the affected areas. Call today to get your home or business inspected promptly. We operate 24/7 in the case of emergencies.

  • Droppings: Rat droppings are the most surefire sign that rats are living amongst you, and an experienced exterminator will be able to tell the type of rat, size of the infestation and the locations of highest rat activity based on how much droppings can be found, and where they’re located.
  • Urine stench: Rat urine has a strong, musky scent that is more easily detected the larger your rat infestation is.
  • Gnawed holes: Gnawed rat holes are large with rough, shredded edges, and about the size of a quarter.
  • Rub and gnaw marks: Rats leave oily rub marks along the walls they travel across. If they smear, that’s an indicator that the marks are recent. Gnaw marks on wood and plastic surfaces around your home or business are another surefire sign of rats. Gnaw marks are typically about one-eighth of an inch long.
  • Rat runways: Rub marks or gnawed pathways are most common along interior walls, building foundations, ledges, pipes, electrical wiring and fencing. They are a surefire sign of rats.
  • Rat nest: Mice commonly nest indoors, but only some rats will nest indoors, using paper, string and other softer, easily manipulated material to build their nests. Rats that nest indoors tend to prefer attics.
  • Rat noises: Rats are nocturnal, meaning they sleep during the day and are active at night. They will often create scratching or skittering sounds during the night as they scamper along floors and inside your walls.
  • Pet behavior: Pets often have better senses of smell and hearing than their human companions. If your pet is acting unusually alert, barking for no apparent reason, or pawing at low-clearance spaces, like under your fridge or oven, it could be a sign of a rat infestation.
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