It's important that you be able to identify a rat problem in your house. If you hear scratching in your walls or scurrying overhead, you may need to know how to get rid of a rat infestation. Rats on your property can cause all kinds of problems, from disease to property damage. This handy guide will teach you five tips to prevent rat infestations in your home and the pest control solution – which is calling Pest Pro Pest Control for help. We provide the most effective pest control services in Salt Lake City that you need when rats have taken up residence in your home.
How To Identify A Rat Problem In Your House
There are two types of rats that may have moved into your Salt Lake City home with you: roof rats and Norway rats. Roof rats are the smaller of the two, with six to eight inch long bodies and equal length tails. They're brown with black interspersed and have black, gray, or white bellies.
Norway rats are also brown with black interspersed, and they have gray, white, or even yellow bellies. They're 7 to 9 ½ inches long, and their tails are slightly shorter than their head and body combined. They're stockier than roof rats.
Both types of Salt Lake City rodents will leave 20 to 50 droppings per day, and the shape of the droppings can tell you which type of rat you have living with you. Roof rats' droppings are about ½ inch long, rod-shaped, and have pointed ends. Norway rats' droppings are ¾ inch long, rod-shaped, and have blunt ends.
You may also see the following indications of a rat infestation:
- Gnaw marks on furniture, walls, floors, baseboards, doors, door jambs, and cabinets
- Greasy smears along walls or baseboards
- Noise in your attic or walls
- Damaged electrical wires or cables
It's important that you know how to get rid of rats in Salt Lake City as soon as you think you have an infestation due to the hazards they bring with them.
Rats On Your Property Can Create Many Hazards
You need a professional rat control company like Pest Pro Pest Control to help you deal with rats for two reasons: property damage and disease. The property damage comes from rats' need to constantly gnaw to keep their incisor length under control. If they didn't chew, their teeth could grow up to nine inches per year. When rats chew through electrical lines, they create a serious fire hazard. If they gnaw on your PVC pipes, they could create water damage as well.
The diseases rats can carry are no less severe. They can infect you, your family, and your pets, and they include:
- Rat-bite fever
- Leptospirosis
- Tularemia
- Salmonella
Keep your loved ones safe by preventing rat infestations in your Salt Lake City home.
Five Tips To Prevent Rat Infestations In Your Home
Whether you are trying to avoid issues with rats, discourage a reinfestation, or minimize a current population, the following rat prevention tips can keep rats out of your Salt Lake City home:
- Seal all the crevices and cracks in your foundation. If you leave a hole the size of a nickel, rats can get inside, thanks to their collapsible rib cages. If their head fits, their bodies will fit, too. Also, check your roof and eaves and seal any holes you find there with ¼ or ½ inch hardware cloth.
- Maintain your yard. Trim your trees, shrubs, bushes, and grass. The first three can provide easy access from your yard into your home, and the latter may be used to hide inside. Tree branches should be six feet away from your house, shrubs and bushes should be two feet away, and grass should be as short as your variety will tolerate.
- Cover your garbage receptacles with tight-fitting lids and keep them at least six feet away from your house. Do the same with your recycling bin and compost pile.
- Keep a clean kitchen. Don't let dishes pile up in the sink, clean up spills and crumbs immediately, and sweep or vacuum and mop regularly. Take out your kitchen trash every evening. If you deny rats an easy source of food in your house, they will be less likelyl stick around.
- Partner with a professional pest control company like Pest Pro Pest Control, who can not only get rid of rats in the home but can exclude them from your home, too, preventing them from ever getting inside in the first place.
The experts at Pest Pro Pest Control can help prevent and eliminate rats from your home with our effective Salt Lake City rodent control services.
The Ultimate Rat Control Solution For Salt Lake City Homes
The only thing you need to know about how to get rid of rats in the house is that you should call Pest Pro Pest Control. We have a long list of satisfied customers with a solid five-star rating on Google, hundreds of reviews, and an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. See what we can do for your rat problem by contacting us today for your no-obligation consultation and to learn more about our residential and commercial pest control services in Salt Lake City.