Travis County, Austin Rat Control Situation:
David, My dilemma I have a walk up attic w/ a wooded floor, the roof does not have insulation neither do the walls of the attic. between the floor boards you can catch movement of the rats. There is a mother and her nest of young how many is not known. She come and goes through a broken pane in the glass. My fear is the how to retrieve the young and how will i clean up , sanitize the insulation under the floor. the rats roam across the entire attic floor. I realize that you must also catch the mother but how would we ever find the young w so much space to travel? I do have a standard cage set up now by the window pane. thank you Riley
Well, if you catch the mother rat by the window pane, then the young are going to die. And you're going to wind up with a big odor problem. To find the young, I sit in silence, sometimes for up to a half hour if necessary, until the young start chattering. Then if I can't crawl into the area, I cut open the wall/floor and get the young, and use them to catch the mom rat, and I get them all at once. Where in the Austin do you ive? My friend may be able to help you.
My neighbor Frank has been killing these rats because they're on his mango tree, he kills them with a bb gun...I tried of cleaning up my yard cuz they stink and lots flies on them....there is witness that live right behind him which she saw him shot them. I thought its illegal to kill these creatures. I have sent these to my landlord so she can see this..Thanks for your time...
My response: I don't know if it's illegal. I don't think so. Contact Texas Wildlife Commission. Tell this annoying neighbor to clean up his rat carcasses.
Austin Rat Control Tip of The Week
Can A Rat Hurt A Human?
Rodents are animals that do not represent a direct threat to people. Although they are intelligent, they do not harm for pleasure. Most of the time, they are just bacteria carriers, but they do not spread them with the intention of starting a pandemic. The cases in which rats have harmed children, might have been because at that moment their instinct was activated to survive. Most houses that are invaded by this urban plague is because they do not take necessary preventive measures and rats have easy access to any corner of the house.
Rats vs. people
Man is surrounded by animals that are predators, so over the years, he decided to protect himself and shelter in homes. Some animals are attracted to find refuge in these homes due to the same necessity of protection and food that humans have. Rodents and people in the same house are a bad combination because of the structural and health damage that rodents can cause.
Can a rat make me sick?
Rats are animals whose excrement, urine, and saliva can contain a great number of bacteria damaging for people's health. Among the most well-known diseases are salmonellosis, leptospirosis, and hepatitis. The most common wounds caused by rodents are bites and scratches. An open and deep wound caused by rodents that come in contact with fluid from a rat will be an open door for microorganisms to spread into the bloodstream causing systemic infections that can be severe and even cause death.
In summary, it can be said that rats can hurt humans through infections by having contact with their fluids or can accidently cause scratches and bites through measures of self-defense. On the other hand, people that have a phobia of these little animals may have psychological damage when coming in contact with them.
