Dauphin County, Harrisburg Rat Control Situation:
David, I found your website very thorough and educational, especially when researching how to handle the rats in my walls/attic. I do have a question though. How do you install steel mesh barriers in the crawl space with the dirt? Won't they dig and try to get under the mesh? Unfortunately, I do not have a husband and need to try to resolve this issue myself so want to do it "right the first time". Any help you can give is appreciated.
Hi David, I found your website "Rats In The Attic" very interesting. I live in a 2-story house. My bedroom is on the second floor, and I get awaken many times at night by the sound of a rodent chewing in the ceiling, but there is no activity there during the day. I could not find any place the rodent could get in there, even from the attic. I liked your idea of setting a trap in the attic to lure this rodent from the ceiling space, and would like to get your advice. Do you have any suggestions on how I could figure out by the sound alone if the rodent is a mouse, a rat, or a squirrel - so I would set an appropriate trap? Please let me know the size of the trap and what bait should I use for this rodent. Thank you.
I have Rats in my Garage and have been using a Rat Bait plus I have a pest control company come out but the Rats do not like HIS bait but seems to be ok with the Home Depot products. What do you charge to ‘take care' of these pasty rats? I just dumped my 2nd dead rat in the trash can for this week!
What if there is scratching at 8:30 in the morning as well as around almost 11 at night on inconsistent days? Is it most likely a rat? The scratching noises arent small mouse ones . I put the fireplace on ( which i just read not to do) and deetermined it isn't in the fireplace because the scratching continued after the fireplace was on for a couple minutes. What could this be ? And outside in our very small backyard... Where are some possible entry points? Would the entry point most likely be where the rat is scratching or if the scratching is in he back yard walls the rat could have come from all the way in the front if the house (should i be looking all around the exterior if he house?)
Harrisburg Rat Control Tip of The Week
New York City's Rat Problem
The Norway Rat:
The majority of rats in New York City are Norway rats, otherwise known as brown rats. Brown rats typically weigh 1 pound and they can grow up to 16 inches long. A brown rat needs just 1 ounce of food and water every day to survive.
Agile Creatures:
Brown rats are known for their ability to climb through pipes and get through small spaces. Even though some of the largest brown rats can be up to 20 inches long and weigh more than 2 pounds, it's easy for them to fit through a hole that's the size of a quarter. Rats have some serious superpowers and are capable of falling up to five stories without any injury and leaping up to 4 feet for climbing.
Going Through Any Material:
Rats also have extremely strong jaw muscles and quality teeth. There are rats in New York that are capable of chewing through cinderblocks and sewer pipes.
Where Rats Live:
Most rats will rarely travel more than 600 feet away from the area that they were born. Most rats like to nest and burrow in soft ground as well as below ground to live in colonies. A rat colony is usually between 30 to 50 rats and the number of rats in a burrow or family is usually between 8 to 12. Rats stay close to their food source and they can often be found just a few hundred feet from where they go every day to be fed. Public garbage areas, alleyways, and more can be a hotbed for rats and NYC produces its own information portal on areas where rats are heavily concentrated.
Massive Population:
It's estimated that there are roughly 2,000,000 rats in New York City and this means that the rat population in New York City sits around 25% of the total number of humans.
