San Bernardino County, San Bernardino Rat Control Situation:
Hi. I hired a Pest Control Company in San Bernardino on Feb 14, 2012 to come out and find what was going on in my walls behind my pillows where I sleep. I mentioned it first to my neighbor and told her that it sounded like birds making a nest and this awful chirping/screeching noise at night when I went to bed. It was very hard to sleep and after speaking with her, and her telling me that it might be roof rats, I called the Pest Control. They came out and inspected the property, went in the garage, walked the perimeter of the house, went into the attic, went into the walk in basement and found no droppings anywhere. He put 6 bags of poison in the basement and 6 bags in the attic. He hope that this would get them as he told me that they eat the poison and then go out to get water and they will die. This cost me $125.00 which I felt was fair as he was here over an hour. He said he would be back in on March 5th to see what had transpired as it takes that long for the rats to feel comfortable eating the bags of poison and go out and die. While waiting this period of 3 weeks, the noise never stopped and the rats were still alive and had eaten none of the bags of poison in either the attic or basement.. I called to tell him this and he took some of the poison and put it in a hole in the roof line where the gutter is and hoped for the best. He said he would be back to put all screening on anything that looked specious on March 19 and did so. He deodorized the attic and crawl space and sealed the structure/holes vents, wherever he thought they might be getting in...............He then put 2 live traps in the basement and the attic and would be back in a week. He charged me $460.00 more for this service. One week later, March 26th he sent another man to check out the live traps.................NOT TOUCHED. He put 2 sticky traps in the garage up high so the dog wouldn't get to them. It is now April 10 and they have travelled from my bedroom wall to the office wall that backs up to my bedroom wall. I hear them in the morning and even in the early evening. It is like they are on some kind of treadmill, right above the heater vent on the bottom of the wall. It isn't as noisy as it was, but then they are in the office wall now and not above where I am sleeping. He gave me a 24 month guarantee................but, I don't know what to do as I really didn't want my walls ripped apart to get to them...............and there are no droppings anywhere. He tells me they have to go out to get water.........but he screened any holes he saw, and was on the roof also. SO HOW ARE THEY GETTING WATER?? CAN YOU HELP ME? Thanks Sandy
San Bernardino Rat Control Tip of The Week
Are Rats Nocturnal?
Biologically, rats are nocturnal. These animals come out at dusk to look for food and carry out other activities, then go back into hiding at dawn. Their choice of coming out at dusk is dependent on many things that have to do with their natural behavior and biology. Right here, we will be taking you through some of these factors.
The first factor is that rats are silent animals and will prefer to operate in an environment with less noise. Their involvement with humans and special liking for staying in places close to human settlements will make them want to stay in hiding during the day time because the activities of humans during the day causes noise that they can't cope with.
Another factor that modifies rats to being nocturnal is the fact that their instinct only makes it possible for them to feel relaxed and active when there is less danger. This is nearly impossible during the day time as many of their natural predators will be active during that exact time.
Third, rats like are sneaky and will always prefer to operate in hiding without the occupants of the house knowing. The night has limited light and the occupants are most likely to be at rest during this time. This gives rats all the time and opportunities they need to carry out their rat business without any form of interruption.
However, rats are also capable of moving around during the day if they have a safe route through which they can travel. The routes are usually dark and safe even during the day when there are noises and disturbances from humans.
