Tag Archives: rat infestation

Rat Trapping in Metro Markets Like Atlanta – Rat Control

The lowly Roof Rat despised by many and loved by a few. Regardless how you feel about them if you live in the Atlanta area you will run into one occasionally whether it is at a public sidewalk, outside a restaurant or in your home.

We have had many customers over the years that think that because they have roof rats that they must be dirty or that the unwelcomed next door neighbors must have brought them. Let me tell you that as a company we have been in $75,000.00 homes to $10,000,000.00 dollar homes and filth has very little to do with it most of the time. Rats and most other critters that enter our home need three basic things to survive food, water and shelter and many times your home is the shelter. Food and water can come from many sources like the dog food set out for Fido on the back deck, food fallen from a child’s highchair and believe it or not even dog feces left in the back yard.

You say really dog feces and I say yes because many people feed their dog the cheaper dog food and many times the number one ingredient is corn and dogs cannot properly digest corn so it ends up in their feces.

How many of you love to sit at the table in the morning and watch all the beautiful birds visit your bird feeder as you sip you morning coffee? I do, well guess what feeds on the seeds at night? That’s right you guessed it roof rats. Your backyard grill, stored grass seed and emergency food stores in the basement are all fare game to the opportunistic roof rat.

Rats carry many diseases that can be easily transmitted to humans. Right now the CDC has reported an alarming rate of Hanta virus from rat feces. It is not the scope of this article to get into all of that but let’s just leave it at that you do not want them living in your home and I am sure you agree with me.

You suspect you may have roof rats or you may even know for sure that you do so what do you do? Call a professional. Rats are very smart and learn faster than many kids I have come across and if not taken care of properly by a professional can cost you a lot more money in the long run and will have you sharing your home with them longer then need be. Even for a seasoned trained professional, rats can be tricky at times.

A true professional will look your home over and point out the areas that the rat may be using to gain access to your home. He should tell you how to not attract them by proper food storage and waste removal. He can also give you a thorough quote on exclusion (the sealing of your home from rodents and other critters). He should not just throw a handful of traps in your attic not to be seen again. These traps should be monitored daily by the professional so he can see what’s working and what’s not and make the proper adjustments to his strategy. Heck if it was just a matter of throwing some rat traps up in the attic well you could have done that if it was just that easy and saved some money, but the truth of the matter it is not just that easy. So if you think you may have roof rats or some other uninvited critter in the house call a professional for some help.

Rat Trapping Articles

We own a business that deals with all kinds of Nuisance Wildlife and the conflicts incurred with homeowners. This includes: squirrel trapping, raccoon trapping, beaver trapping, bat control and also Norway Rat & Roof Rat trapping. So we have definitely had a lot of experience with the issues concerning rat trapping & rat control.

I can tell you this – every customer that calls me acts as if they should be embarrassed that they have nasty dirty home. Rats do not seek out dirt or filth. They seek out food, shelter & water. You have to provide one of the three to have a rat situation.

When I talk to potential customers I could get rich from betting that either they have dogs or one of their neighbors have dogs. Then I ask if the feces is left on in the fenced yard. 99.5% of the time they say YES – then ask… “How did I know”? Then I have to go into this long dissertation about how the dog food these days has a base of CORN. Corn is non-digestible by the dogs so it is passed right through to their feces. Rats love corn!!!! Disgusting, YES but factual. If they or the neighbors cleaned up the feces right as it occurred then this problem with rats “Might” have been avoidable.

Regardless when you are hiring someone with a wildlife license it is imperative that the traps are checked daily. Here in the State of Georgia it is the law. Unless it is a Pest Control company that uses poison then they do not have to do daily trap checks.

The reason it is important is because it makes the most out of your trapping dollars. A trap with a rat in it will NOT catch another rat. It is occupied. Plus if the rats eventually associate the dead rats with this trap then they will learn to avoid it. It is called “trap smart”.

We used all kinds of traps to catch rats. Like cage traps, snap traps (different appearances) to mix it up. Regardless of the type or appearance of the trap, any trap left inside a building or home is concealed. Concealed by an outer box so the client does not see the rat – alive or snapped. No matter – no one wants to see any of the unpleasantries.

One thing that I want to discourage is the use of poisons (bait stations). More often than not we see inexperienced pest control companies, the only ones legally allowed to use poisons, set them improperly and causing more of a problem with dead animal removal than creating the solution. Terrible! When bait stations are set at improper locations the rats find it easier to run into your attic or walls to suffer from internal bleeding and possibly DIE inside you walls or attic. Yucky!

If you need help figuring out the right questions to ask when hiring someone to resolve your rat problem we developed a website dedicated to consumer awareness called rat control dot biz.