Rats are extremely hardy animals who unfortunately adapt well to our urban environments. Tolerating rats in your home or business is not something that most people want to do. For many reasons people and rodents aren’t likely to coexist peacefully! Rats will eat anything a human will; and more. But worse than the damage of rats eating your food is the damage done by their urine and feces (which are left behind on any uneaten food). As rodents front teeth never stop growing, rats and other rodents chew on things to keep their teeth worn down and manageable. Unfortunately this can be both inconvenient and dangerous when rodents start gnawing on your property; particularly your electrical wiring. The worst aspect to having rats near you though is that they carry and transit many harmful diseases. Just some of the diseases that can be spread from rats to people are bubonic and pneumonic plague, leptospirosis, murine typhus, salmonella, Hantavirus, and tularemia.
 

Signs of Mice, Rats and other Rodents

If you suspect you have rodents in your home or business, the following signs can be good indicators that you are right!
Inside the buildings:
• Droppings.
• Gnawed holes up to two inches wide in baseboards or at doorframes
• Smudge marks on walls (these are caused by rodents rubbing their body oils onto walls and other surfaces)
• Sounds of scratching and movement in walls and attics.
• Family pet staring blindingly at a blank wall.

In regards to outside of your buildings the most obvious sign of rodents are burrows. However, please be aware that burrows may instead indicate the presence of other burrowing animals such as chipmunks. Never attempt to control a wildlife problem on your own; especially when you aren’t sure what species of wildlife you are dealing with.
 

Rodent Prevention Tips

The best way to control rats and rodents is to discourage them from taking up residence in your place to begin with. Typically, conditions that support high rat populations such as plenty of available food and water as well as easy access points that provide rodents with the shelter they seek, are left until there is a rodent infestation – and a real crisis at hand. It is at this time that many homeowners break out unfamiliar poisons or trapping devices which may succeed in reducing the population temporarily but don’t address the cause of the problem in the first place (or eliminate the sneaky rodents that don’t get caught). Abele Exterminating eliminates your rats for good – we remove existing rodents, exclude them from returning and clean up the mess they left behind.
 

Rodent Prevention Habits

Good sanitation is the best and most economical way to prevent rats before they take hold. Abele Exterminating has prepared the following tips to keep rats away:
• Store food in rat-proof containers such as sealed galvanized cans with tight fitting lids.
• Store and dispose of garbage properly. Again, in sealed containers with tight fitting lids until trash night.
• If you feed your pets outside, leave the food out for just long enough for your pest to eat it and then remove it.
• Clean up any pet droppings from your yard every day.
• Remove old wood or rubbish from around your property as these areas attract rats.
 

Professional Rodent Control

If you already see (or hear) some of the above signs that rodents may be present in your home or business, call Abele Exterminating. We can promptly remove the rats, help to seal access points, clean up the infected areas and give you more advice on rodent prevention. Contact us today!