Knox County, Knoxville Rat Control Situation:
I own a 2 story w basement corner row house in Knoxville. Last night while asleep on the couch in my first floor living room, noise in my ceiling by the front wall woke me up. Sounded like the scurrying of 1or 2 mice. Joists run the width of my house, from the outer wall to my neighbors house, so that space leads to nowhere. No food, water, or other openings are available. Should I be concerned, should any (?) action be taken?
One story concrete slab house with rats in attic. I have sealed up every hole to the attic I can find. The last thing I did was put the 1/2" wire mesh on all the vent pipes on the roof. The wire mesh on all the stacks, seemed to fix my problem, but about 2 months later they are back. I put up some security cameras in the attic and at bottom of a double wall space for plumbing, and can see the rat coming down and going up at bottom of a 2" pvc vent pipe obscured by a wall between two bathrooms with a tub on one side and shower on the other. The vent pipe is for the tub and shower. From the top of wall in the attic, I was able to cut out around the pipe and see down the wall about halfway down the 2" pvc vent was split (offset) maybe broke during construction where 2 pipes were joined together. Could not see actual chewed off part, but is probably there. I can see that the rat could get in there, but my question is where or how is he going outside besides into the sewer? The top is sealed with the wire mesh. I can fix the split pipe easily by tearing out the shower wall, but do you think that would fix the entry problem? How long can rats stay in attic without going outside for food? Do attic rats tunnel under a concrete slab house for entry?
Knoxville Rat Control Tip of The Week
Why Do More Rats Live In Urban Areas Than In Wild Areas?
Statistically, more rats are living in urban areas than in the wild. This is simply because urban areas have an abundant availability of food that is easily accessible, compared to the wild where they have to go in search of food before they can find something to eat. Although, rats in the wild are known to live longer simply because they feed on natural foods.
The most dominant species of rats living in urban areas are roof rats and Norway rats. These species of rats have an adaptive feature that allows them to survive in any kind of environment and their rate of reproduction allows them to multiply rapidly in any home they find themselves in.
Apart from the availability of easily accessible food, urban areas have an abundant supply of places to nest and proliferate. In urban areas, there are houses around and each of these houses has attics, walls, roofs, and other hidden places where rats can nest. The search for a place to nest makes takes rats into urban areas that seem to have many good nesting places.
Also, the absence of predators in urban areas makes rats prefer to stay in urban areas than in the wild. In the wild, there is no adequate protection for them, and more than half will be hunted as prey before they even reach maturity.
All of the above reasons clearly show why there are more rats in urban areas than in wild areas. Having realized this, you need to do all you can to prevent them from infesting your home because if they do, they will multiply rapidly within just a short time.