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
Why Using Poison Causes Dead Rats In The House
Unintended Victims:
Using poison can be quite risky as you could put your pets as well as young children at risk. If you're laying down rat poison throughout your home, it's possible that it could easily become targeted by toddlers who might be attracted to the small size and colors. Your pets could also be taking an unplanned trip to the hospital if they happen to ingest any of the rat poison as well.
It's Harmful To The Environment:
Using rat poison not only causes dead rats in the house but it's also harmful to the environment. You could end up with a predator in your home that's scavenging off of the dead rats, it could kill off some of the plant life in your area and it can lead to the chance that you might end up with other animals falling victim to the rat poison as well. Many homeowners have woken up to find a bobcat, fox, or coyote killed in their backyard from ingesting a rat that ate poison or from ingesting the poison themselves.
It Also Doesn't Solve The Problem:
Rats are finicky creatures and you might end up with just a few of them dead in the house before they communicate with one another and begin to avoid the areas where you place down poison and traps. Rather than facing ongoing difficulty with poisons and not getting all of the rats out of your home, choosing a different method could be a wise choice for making improvements for the future.
It's Often Time-consuming:
You might end up having to change out the poison or change your trap location on a regular basis just to capture a few rats. This can often be more time-consuming for you and your family.
