Leon County, Tallahassee Rat Control Situation:
Aloha David, We are just moving to Tallahassee but own a home in Honolulu. I am writing you because there are no rodent removal companies on Oahu and I don't have anyone I can get help or advice from. We recently discovered rodent droppings in our atticat the Honolulu home. After checking the roof, eaves, etc., we found the potential entry point into the attic. It is an existing vent opening that a contractor used for installation of a hot water heater pipe that was fed into the attic. (see photo) We sealed the opening with galvanized sheeting, screwed in place, caulked and painted. The opening was sealed off September 14,2012. Subsequently, we set snap and electronic traps in the attic. The morning after the first traps were set, we caught one rat in the rat zapper. None in the snap traps. The fifth day we caught another rat in the zapper. After several days of no more trappings, we completely vacuumed the attic space with a hepa vacuum. Feeling like there were no more rats in the attic, We removed the traps. We have been checking the attic everyday since the last rat was killed, on September 21,2012 and there have been no droppings... ...until this morning when my husband checked the attic. He found one rodent pellet on a beam about a foot from the attic access panel and several more maybe six feet or so from the opening. My question is twofold: 1) is it possible for a roof rat(s) to live in an attic space for an extended period of time without access to water (over 3 weeks), and 2) wouldn't we see more than 3 rat turds if there is current activity in the attic? I really would appreciate any advice or insights you can provide. I am so fearful of rodents and will have to return to Honolulu in less than a week to take care of the house while my husband returns to work here in Florida. If you feel so inclined, you can also reach me on my cell phone. Mahalo, Frances
Tallahassee Rat Control Tip of The Week
Can Rats In An Attic Destroy The Insulation?
If you have rats in your attic, one of the things you need to be concerned about the most is your insulation because these rodents are capable of destroying the insulation of your home. Being the major part of your roof that helps to absorb the heat coming from outside and prevent it from escaping into your home, you can't afford to keep having those rats nesting in your attic.
Maybe you are wondering what the rats in your attic have to do with your insulation to the point of destroying it? Right here, we will be enlightening you on how the activities of rats in your attic can destroy the insulation of your roof.
The first reason why rats will seek out to destroy the insulation in the roof is that the soft material of the insulation is good nesting material. As a result of this, they will continuously tear the insulation, remove the materials, and then use it to build their nest in the attic.
If the rats are not removed from your attic quickly, they will multiply in number and that will increase the rate at which they tear and remove material from the insulation in your roof, leaving the insulation void.
Apart from the physical damages that rats cause to insulation, these rodents use the materials of the insulation as latrines, which usually causes stains on the surface of the insulation. When this accumulates over time, the dusty particles of the feces on the surface of the insulation will begin to escape into your house and begin to cause several airborne diseases.
Having shared this, you need not waste any more time to get rid of the rats in your attic. If you don't swing into action quickly, the damage they can cause will cost you more than you ever expected.