Greenville County, Greenville Rat Control Situation:
Hi, David: We are recent home owners with an infant at home, and found ourselves with a squirrel and mice in our attic. I came across your web site which was extremely helpful; thank you so much for putting that together. We followed your advice and hired a company from the web site you listed. I wanted to get your advice about what that company did. We still have mice and wanted to get a sense of what we can ask for, in the way of continuing the work. The attic is large and has the rolled insulation as well as the blown kind. The company did use poison. Should the poison cease or at this point continue? They've been trapping and poisoning for 2 weeks now --even though they've only caught one mouse. We're the middle townhouse in a row of three. Both town homes in either side of us have mice as well. The neighbor on the right has a bigger infestation that the neighbor on the left. According to the company guy, there's not a lot of feces in our attic, which indicates that we don't have too big a problem. However, even if only one mouse, that's a big problem --to me. When the company came to do repairs, they did some work in the front and back of the house (they put critter guards, and fixed a small hole in the A-frame on the roof). We still have mice, though. They've got to be going from house to house via the attic --it's the only thing that makes sense. It seems rather crazy that the mice are going out of our roof and then going to the neighbors via the roof, and back. We've had a bitterly cold winter; I can't imagine they're going to go out of one house and into the other. Logic would tell me that they've carved themselves a path from attic to attic. The company person claims that he can't seem to find a hole in between the houses, though his time in the attic has not been long at all. And, we still have mice. Also, they sterifabbed the attic, but shouldn't they have waited until the mice were caught? If there's more there, they're going to have to sterilize again, no? What are your thoughts? Thank you!
Greenville 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.
