Los Angeles County, Los Angeles Rat Control Situation:
Hi David, I'm in southern California. I have at least one rat in my ceiling, maybe two or more. I've read your website and really appreciate the great insight you're providing. Based on your advice, I've caught 3 rats around the outside my house (over the last 2 months), trimmed trees back (3 days ago), and plugged all the access holes I could identify (3 weeks ago).
Yet I still have at least one rat in my attic. Though I've place several snap traps (baited with peanut butter and bird seed) in the attic, I get no nibbles. I also cannot find any evidence of their paths. I've moved the trap several time with no success. From inside the house, I hear them in sections of the attic (about 3:00 am) that are completely inaccessible to me (because of firewalls.)
So I hired a pest extermination company. For $275 they put some poison bait stations outside, and three snap traps in the attic that are baited with a beef jerkey substance. The traps are near the attic access panel - not near the rat noise activity. The guy's reply was that the scent would lure them. He also reviewed my hole-plugging and said it was fine. He didn't get onto my roof. It's been three days and I check the snap traps in the morning and around dusk each night.
My questions are:
1. Is it safe to assume that the rat(s) sleep in my house during the day and at night they are coming and going outside? Does this mean I've missed an access point?
2. Considering the inaccessibility, is it common to drill a hole in the ceiling (like a 4" hole for recessed lighting) to place traps in the attic for those inaccessible places? If I drill a hole, then I can stick a camera up there and take pictures to look for evidence, place the traps, monitor them, etc. But then I've got a hole to deal with.
3. Is it worth parking myself on the roof and patiently waiting to see where the rats are coming and going?
4. Have I given the beef jerkey snap-traps enough time to do their thing? Any other advice? Thanks for your help!
Los Angeles 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.