Thurston County, Olympia Rat Control Situation:
Hello, I have a very old house in Olympia which I purchased not too long ago, but came with several other inhabitants. We've tried mousetraps and had no luck. There is quite a bit of excrement in my basement and the stairs leading to the basement. I don't go down there much myself, because it's an unfinished basement and I rarely have reason to, but I did go down recently and there are two dead mice on my basement floor. I have never been up to the attic, but I'm sure that is a problem as well. I now realize this is a problem bigger than my capabilities and it's now time to call in the professionals. Can you help me with the cleanup of the mice and their droppings, and sealing off their entry points? Thank you for your time, Tannia
Olympia Rat Control Tip of The Week
Can A Rat Have Rabies?
Rats have powerful bites:
Rats can have very powerful bites and are capable of damaging the skin quickly. A rat can bite through cinderblocks to get into an area if it needs to. Rats could bite through clothing or manage to break the skin even unintentionally with a very quick bite. Handling rats with care or using heavy gloves is recommended if you have to remove one or relocate it. It is ultimately best if you avoid handling rats whenever possible.
Many people are bitten each year with low rates of infection:
Rats bite over 50,000 people in the USA each year. Rabies vaccine shots are very rarely delivered in these cases and the risk for other types of diseases that rats carry can be far greater. Going to see a doctor about a rat bite can be wise if you are starting to feel some of the secondary symptoms or it looks infected.
Rats do spread disease:
Rats do spread a series of diseases including rat-bite fever. It can be transmitted through a bite or through pets. Rabies can be a deadly disease but most of the diseases that rats pass on are only able to cause the chance for fever and infection which carry lower rates of mortality.
Other animals can be much riskier to receive bites from:
If you are bitten by other animals like raccoons, coyotes, woodchucks, or skunks, this will give you a much riskier chance of receiving something like rabies. When bitten by a rat, you should be concerned but you may not have to run to get the bite checked out with the same urgency.
The main theory of low rabies cases:
A rat would have to survive a bite from a predator in order to become a carrier of rabies. As coyotes and larger animals will be likely to kill a rat in an attack, this leads to the chance of rats not being able to spread rabies at all.
