If you are dealing with only one or two rats, you can likely handle them yourself. However, rat populations are usually larger than you expect, especially if you’re seeing them during the day. They also multiply quickly when they have access to food and water. If you have a rat infestation, the best solution for getting rid of rats is to contact your pest control experts, Ultima Search. Having been in the industry for close to three decades, they have the most comprehensive product and service solutions to effectively manage rat and rodent issues at homes and offices.
Ultima Search professionals will handle the problem right the first time before it gets out of hand. They have the methods, equipment, and training to handle rats. And they have resources to eliminate them humanely, too, which home- or business owners may not be able to accomplish themselves.
Getting rid of rats is important to achieve quickly because rats spread disease. According to some reports, rodents spread more than 35 diseases worldwide. These diseases that rats spread directly include the plague, leptospirosis, rat bite fever, and food poisoning. Diseases spread indirectly from rats include spotted fevers, typhus, and relapsing fever.
Besides disease, rats actively cause damage. They gnaw on and chew through wiring in buildings and vehicles. Rats also chew through wood and other material they run into, material such as paper, cloth, books, and insulation. They make nests in crevices and enclosed areas, which can stifle ventilation and can attract more pests.
The first step that Ultima Search will undertake to get rid of rats from the affected area is to perform an inspection. The inspection is important for several reasons. Inspections confirm or reveal the pest. Accurately identifying the pest is important because methods for eliminating pests differ depending on what the pest is. A rat and a mouse, however similar they may appear, behave differently and require different techniques and tools to eliminate.
Inspections also identify where rats congregate and where they make their nests. Knowing where a rat population lives is important because they use the same paths to travel, and it’s best to put traps and bait where they commonly gather. Inspections also tend to reveal food sources and access points.
It’s fairly easy to tell if you have rats even if you don’t see the animals. Signs of a rat infestation include burrows, runways, grease marks, urine stains, rodent sounds, rodent odors (a musky scent), gnaw marks, tail drags and footprints in dusty areas, and fecal pellets.
Once a rat population is confirmed, inspectors then look for their nest. To aid them in this task, they might use a UV rodent tracker or other UV light source to find urine, which glows under UV light. If the inspector has difficulty finding the rats’ nest, they might use a rodent-fluorescent-tracking powder to track them.
The second step Ultima Search pest control professionals employ in getting rid of rats is exclusion. Killing existing rats is no good if more can invade. Exclusion involves cutting off rats’ points of entry into a building. If rats live outdoors, this alone may be enough to eliminate them from your premises. To exclude rats, all holes ½” and larger need covered or filled with mesh, hard wire cloth, metal flashing, foam, or other material. Really, all holes larger than ¼” should be filled and covered, as mice can get in these smaller holes.
After the rats’ food and access have been addressed, the next step is to sanitize the area. Garbage will need to be removed, and the landscape should be maintained. Other sanitation considerations include lifting wood piles at least 18 in. off the ground and placing tight covers on all garbage containers and dumpsters.
Eliminating a rat or mouse infestation relieves the immediate problem. But significant numbers of rats and mice are consistently present outdoors near homes—whether in urban, suburban, or rural environments. Get in touch with Ultima Search professionals know how to set up ongoing protection to prevent rat or mouse re-infestation.
