Sacramento County, Sacramento Rat Control Situation:
Hello David, I am desperate now. I have four children all under the age of thirteen. I need some help. I have an infestation of rats in my house. They were mainly in the walls and attic. One Sorry huge rat I killed that came in my house is dead. I poisoned him. I cut down my hedges because I had huge holes behind them. I filled it with dirt. The next door neighbor elevated her house and her problem ran behind my hedges. I put rat traps in the attic, poison, glue traps. Always fixing holes. I still have rats. I Heard one just last night fall down my wall. I live by woods and the rats seem out of control. Never had a problem for the thirteen years I have been living here until the neighbor elevated her house next door to me. Please any suggestions would be appreciated. I also hired orkin and it didn't help either. Very concerned, Angela in Sacramento CA
Hi David. I discovered your web site while googling "rat urine". We have had an occasional problem with rats over the past 3 years and thought we had the problem fixed last fall after a 1 year contract with a local pest control company. This past weekend we smelled a dead rat and found a small one in the crawl space. The smell dissipated and this morning we woke up to a horrible urine smell which came from the front hallway/living room (they are side by side). This is above the area where we found the dead rat, which we removed. As we don't know exactly where the smell is, we don't want to start ripping down drywall. Do you know of any good company in the Vancouver area of British Columbia that can help us with the clean-up and blocking the rats entry? Or, if not, what type of things should we be looking for when calling pest control. We are at our wits end and really believed that we had solved the problem. Thank you in advance for your advice. Robert
Hello, thanks for the informative page. I have a room addition that was built onto my house and the the rats have chewed an opening from the outside where the water pipes come in. The space they are scratching in is a wall space between the old building and new building and as of now there is no access to the attic or into the house they just have this cavity they have found. I don't want to seal up the hole with them in there. What do your recomend as the best course of action. thanks, Bill
Sacramento Rat Control Tip of The Week
What Is The Natural Diet Of The Black Rat And Norway Rat?
Black Rat
The black rat (in many cases called the ship rat) has a smooth and incredibly long tail that is longer than its head and body. Romans were the ones who brought this species to Britain. The color of the black rat fluctuates from dark to grey-brown. When compared with brown rats, these creatures have little bodies and bigger ears and eyes. Black rats are amazing climbers. They are fit for running along phone wires, utilizing their tails to adjust while moving. The species is additionally called 'rooftop rat' due to building their homes high in rooftop spaces.
Diet
Black rats are viewed as omnivores and eat a wide scope of foods, including seeds, natural products, stems, leaves, fungi, and an assortment of invertebrates and vertebrates. They are generalists, and as a result, not picky on their food choice, which is demonstrated by their propensity to benefit from any meal given to cows, pigs, chickens, felines, and dogs.
Norway Rat
The main thing to know is that, regardless of the name, the Norway rat isn't really from Norway. It is believed that the name originated from a man named John Berkenhout, a British naturalist, who concluded that the brown rats had migrated to the UK from Norway. Present-day researchers think that this type of rat actually originates from China. They showed up in the British Isles most likely transported via ships and goods.
When they got to the UK, be that as it may, they immediately multiplied and set up for business there. That is the reason they are otherwise called the common rat, the road rat, the sewer rat, or the brown-colored rat.
Diet
Norway rats will eat pretty much anything. If they get inside, they'll search in your kitchen cupboards and pantries. Specifically, the rats are looking for meat and even fish; however, they will also feast cheerfully on dry dog food. When they discover the food, they will eat and eat, glutting themselves on what they find, and if they smell food, they'll chew through plastic, lead pipes, wood, and anything else to get there.
