Hennepin County, Minneapolis Rat Control Situation:
Hi, David, Thank you very much to establish your very educational and candid website. I bought a house half a year ago and it had rats in the attic and in the crawl space. I hired a rodent removal guy to take care of the problem. I spent almost $1000 but I still had rats - he didn't seal all the entry points. Anyway, I then did a lot of research in rats. lol. According to my rodent guy, there was about 10 rats living in my attic. But his trap caught none after sealing all the holes (He thought he did but there was two crawl space vent open). He then claimed that all rats gone because they are "scared". Later I set traps myself and I caught two large roof rats (really large, almost 12 oz each I would say). After that, no more caught. In October, I hired an insulation company to remove ALL the batt insulation from my attic. There was still thousands of droppings left on the joist bays. I painstakingly vaccuum them out (me wearing face masks). Now the attic is clean. However, I could not find ANY gnaw marks on wood, nor electric wires, nor on anything else. Why is that? How could it be? This house had tens of thousands of rat droppings in the attic, thousands of droppings in the garage and thousands in the crawl space. But I am not able to spot their damage other than the droppings? I thought rats have to chew on stuffs to keep their teeth from growing too long. I hope you could help answer this question. It always bugs me if there is something unexplainable. Thanks! Guangchi from Minneapolis Area
Minneapolis Rat Control Tip of The Week
How Likely Is It That A Rat In The Attic Will Have A Nest Of Babies?
Rats are among the most common pest animal species that people may have to deal with around the home, and because they are quite small they can often be quite elusive little animals to deal with as well. They are quite good climbers when it comes to moving around a domestic property, so if you are worried about rats, they won?t necessarily be around ground level. Because the attic or roof space of most domestic properties is rarely used, it can often be the dark quiet place where rats can get a foothold and build a nest without being noticed by the people living beneath.
Do Rats Have A Mating Season?
Like most wild animals, rats in the wild do have a mating season, where they will normally copulate and impregnate female rats in the spring, and then the female will then give birth a few weeks later, and can then have a few litters over the summer. However, the reason for the mating season is that in rural areas there are limited food sources available during the winter months, so it is impractical for rats to mate during these months. However, over recent decades, a growing number of rats are actually giving birth throughout the year because food sources are also present throughout the year, so whatever time of the year you discover rats in the attic, you may find there are babies there too.
How Often Will Rats Give Birth?
Because of how quickly rats can go from mating to giving birth to a litter of baby rats, a female rat can often be back and ready to mate again within a few weeks from giving birth. This means that in some cases female rats can give birth to up to ten litters a year, so the population of rats from one breeding female can increase very quickly. It is also worth noting that a baby female will actually become sexually mature herself after around six weeks from birth, so the possibility for a rat population to expand very quickly where there is sufficient food is certainly there.
Dealing With Rats In The Attic
When it comes to dealing with a rat infestation, the first step is to identify where in the attic the rats are active, and while taking the appropriate precautions, look for areas where there is a buildup of rat droppings. You should then place several rat traps in these areas of the attic, along with a small amount of food as bait, and the next step is simply to watch and wait. You should remove any rat carcasses as they are caught in your traps, and then re-lay the trap with a new serving of bait, and you should then continue this process until you no longer see any signs of fresh rat activity, and when you are no longer catching any more rats. You will then need to carry out the appropriate repairs.
What To Do With A Nest Of Baby Rats
In some cases you may actually find a nest of baby rats in the attic, and if they are very young they will often be unable to look after themselves, and will ultimately die if they have to live without the support and feeding from their mother. Because of how common they are, baby rats are rarely suitable to be looked after by a wildlife rehabilitator, so in this case the most humane thing that you can do will be to kill those baby rats as humanely as possible.
