Kalamazoo County, Kalamazoo Rat Control Situation:
Hi David, I came across your website and found it extremely informative. We are in the process of home inspections on a house we want to buy. It is in a great neighborhood at a fair price. The homeowner died recently so there is no one with any knowledge of the home's current condition and history. Yesterday we had the general home inspection and found piles of rat droppings underneath kitchen drawers and under the kitchen sink, dead rats and piles of droppings (I mean tons!) under the house, a two-foot pile of attic insulaton under the house where the rats were carrying it out of the attic via inside the bathroom wall, and depositing it down there. When the inspector opened the attic crawl space door, piles of droppings fell out. The house has a faint bad odor. There are entry holes all over the house. We will be bringing in a rodent expert for an estimate. My question to you is, when is this too much to clean up and disinfect? We have two young children 5y and 7y, and I worry about the residual health impact of the droppings and urine. Can we ever live in this house and not worry about our health? Also, will the clean up cost add thousands of dollars to our home cost? Thank you! I am looking forward to hearing from you! Sincerely, Heidi
Kalamazoo Rat Control Tip of The Week
Are Rats Able to Swim, or Do They Drown?
Though rats are not the most desired animals to have around your home, you will be amazed by the incredible survival instincts these rodents have. One of these survival instincts is their ability to survive in water. Rats are excellent swimmers, with their legs, tail, and rhythmic body movements, they can wade in the water for up to three days without drowning
These special skills allow them to be able to survive in water if by circumstance they find themselves stuck in a bucket of water, bathtub, or toilet. In cases where the water body is not restricted by a container or an object, rats use their swimming skills to find their way to dry land close by.
If you happen to find a rat stuck in water, the best thing you can do is to remove it and relocate it somewhere far away from your home or anywhere you are. Refusing to do this and expecting it to drown will only cost you your time because the rat will try as much as possible to survive.
Rats do drown in water, but that will only happen after 3 days when the rat has exhausted all of its energy swimming with no way out. Only a few rodents have this special kind of survival instinct, this clearly shows how smart and intelligent rats are.
Nevertheless, you shouldn't allow rats to run around your house and make your home their nesting place. If you find rats in the water around your home, you need to get them removed and relocated somewhere safe and far from your home to prevent further reentry. Rats are a menace to your health, so you need to look for the best way to get rid of them quickly.