Having rats on your property can drive you crazy. These rodents are more clever than we give them credit for and can continue to cause problems despite your best efforts to eliminate them. Not to mention, rats are incredibly destructive and known to spread disease. If you’ve got rat problems, this is what to do about rats on your McKinney property.
What You Should Know About Rats
Rats are some of the animal kingdom’s ultimate survivors, able to adapt and thrive in a wide variety of environments. Many of the world’s rats are dependent on human settlements for survival and have become adept at infesting homes and businesses. There are several species of rats that can be found in the U.S., though most share similar traits.
Rats tend to be fairly large compared to other American rodents, with bodies eight inches or longer in size. They have long, scaly tails and tend to have blunted, blocky heads. Fur may vary in color from gray to shades of black. Rats are omnivorous and will eat anything from discarded pizza to insects to rotten fruit. A single female rat can give birth to 60 or more young per year, causing infestations to grow rapidly.
Problems That Rats Cause
Rats cause just about every problem that a pest can: disease, destruction, and distress. As omnivorous scavengers, rats often find themselves in some disgusting locations in search of food. They are of course known to frequent sewers, but also rummage through garbage where they pick up pathogens.
Contact with rat droppings can cause salmonellosis and leptospirosis, and a bite from a rat can result in the aptly named rat bite fever. Rats are also known to pick up parasites like fleas and ticks, which can then feed on pets or family members, potentially spreading even more disease.
Like all rodents, rats have a compulsion to gnaw. Their durable teeth can chew through wood, plastic, and even brick materials. They can cause damage to belongings and structural features of your home or business. They may even chew through electrical wires which can potentially start a fire on your property.
And finally, rats are just distressing to have around. Nobody wants to worry about disease-ridden rodents running around their property causing destruction.
How To Prevent Rats
Thankfully, there are some tried and true ways to prevent rats from infesting your McKinney property. Some adjustments you can make are:
- Sealing entry points – Rats can squeeze through any hole wide enough for their snout; in most cases that’s a hole about the size of a quarter or smaller. Inspect the exterior of your property for entry points and stuff with steel wool or seal with metal lathe. Rats can easily chew through wood and even brick coverings, so be sure to use metal.
- Guarding the garbage – Keep trash receptacles as far away from your home or business as possible. Try to use a metal bin with a tight-sealing lid to discourage rats from feasting on your trash.
- Keeping clean – Simply maintaining a clean indoor space can prevent rats. Clean food waste from floors and counters, dispose of the trash often and don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink overnight. Try to clean up any excess birdseed or fallen nuts and fruit in your yard as well.
If you’ve got a rat problem on your McKinney property, the best way to deal with it is to call the experts at Adams Exterminating Company. We offer comprehensive pest control programs to eliminate rats in your home and commercial pest control services to discreetly eliminate rats infesting your business. Get in touch with us today for your free estimate.