Monterey County, Salinas Rat Control Situation:
Roof rats in apartment walls - Hi! I saw your page and hope this is still a valid email. I live in an apartment and do not have rats inside yet but do have them in my walls. The property manager called pest control who put traps with peanut butter on the roof but that is it! I called the county complaint line but they said it will be 7-10 days til they can come. What else can I do or get the manager to do? The noise is becoming more frequent and in more walls. I asked them to cut into walls but they won't yet. Thanks, Lindsay
Hello David, I have visited your site after searching for an answer to my problems. I think I have a rat living in my ceiling. Its driving me crazy, it makes so much noise especially in the evenings and it even wakes me up in the middle of the night. I live in a council flat on the top floor and the rat lives in the attic. The problem is that there is no human access to the attic at all, I have called the council and they said as there's no acces to the attic they cannot do anything. Only if the rat comes into the flat. It's outrageous! I stood outside one day and have noticed that on the top of the roof there is a very small gap, which I don't know what it's for but I think the rat is using this passage to come in or out, or perhaps the pipes. Anyway, how can I get rid of it without being able to put any poison or traps in the attic? Please help! Thanks you, Adriana
Salinas Rat Control Tip of The Week
Reasons Why Relocated Rats Don't Survive Out Of Their Usual Territory
After trapping a rat in your home, you will have to decide either to kill it or relocate it. If killing a rat doesn't go down well with you because it makes you feel inhumane, you will be left with no other option but to relocate it.
If you have decided to relocate a trapped rat into a new territory, you need to understand the fact that it might not survive. Despite being a very smart household pest, rats find it very difficult to cope in a new environment for several reasons. The following are the reasons why a relocated rat won't survive out of their usual territory.
The first reason why rats won't survive in a new environment is that they are accustomed to their old environment. They have spent their entire life studying where they stay, knowing the exact place to find water and food in order to survive daily. Transferring this survival instinct to a new environment is a quite difficult thing to do for rats. As a result of these differences, they will find it difficult to locate food and water which they need to survive in any environment they are relocated to.
The presence of predators in the new environment is another reason why rats will find it difficult to survive. Animals like cats, snakes, and birds hunt for rats and will take advantage of the fact that the newly introduced rat doesn't know its way around to capture it.
When you introduce a rat into a new environment, it is going to meet other street rats that are already accustomed to that specific environment. Rats being animals that exhibit dominance in the form of hierarchy, where the submissive group is traumatized by the dominant rats, your rat will face multiple brutal battles and might end up in bad shape in the process. Over time, they will either get killed or too weak to look for food and shelter.
All these clearly show why any rat you decide to relocate might never survive the effects of leaving your home and being transferred into a new environment.