Discovering a rat problem in your home is something no homeowner ever wants to deal with. But the sooner you can contact an experienced professional, the better off your home will be. Your trusted Salt Lake City pest control team at Pest Pro Pest Control is here to help.
Let’s take a look at how to decide if you have a rat problem and what you can do to get rid of rats once and for all.
Physical Characteristics Of Rats: How To Identify A Rat
Rats aren’t the only type of rodent in Salt Lake City that can infest your home, but the methods you’ll need to use to get rid of them will differ from the tactics you’ll need to use to get rid of pests like mice, voles, and other rodents.
Before you call a rat control company, you’ll want to make sure you actually have rats rather than mice in your house. Here are a few of the key physical characteristics you’ll want to look for:
- Larger bodies: Rats are much larger than mice and range in size from six to nine inches from the tip of their nose to the end of their tail.
- Scaly, hairless tails: Rat tails are scaly and tend to be completely free of hair.
- Gray or brown fur: Rats come in a range of colors. Depending on the types of rats in your home, you may see some with dark gray fur and others with brown or mottled brown-gray fur.
These physical characteristics can help you distinguish rats from other pests in your home. As a general rule, if you see something larger than a mouse, even if it resembles a mouse, it’s likely a rat.
Hidden Hazards: Health and Property Risks Posed By Rat Infestations
There are several diseases rats carry that can pose a risk to humans and animals in your home. These include the following:
- Rat bite fever
- Leptospirosis
- Tularemia
- Salmonellosis
- Jaundice
- Trichinosis
- Cowpox virus
Though highly treatable, these diseases can cause discomfort for anyone infected. But spreading diseases is not all that rats do. They can also damage your property. Rats can chew through wires, gnaw on furniture, and contaminate your food as they forage through your cabinets. When you work with a rat control specialist, you’ll be able to keep that damage to a minimum and get rid of any rats in your home.
Call The Rat Control Experts: Ensuring Safe And Effective Elimination
Unfortunately, DIY control methods are rarely effective. You’ll want to work with a professional rat control company to get rid of active infestations and prevent new infestations in the future.
Professionals have the necessary tools, equipment, and training to identify which type of rats you have in your home, where they’re nesting, and how they got inside in the first place. Once they determine the extent of the problem, they can safely remove the live rats from your home.
Rat Prevention Tips: Eliminating Attractants And Sealing Entry Points
Though you can get rid of an active rat problem in your home, it’s always best to prevent infestations in the first place. Here are a few things you can do:
- Clean your kitchen every night to remove crumbs and attractants.
- Seal up any holes in your exterior walls.
- Store your food in airtight containers.
- Keep your yard free of debris, woodpiles, and other potential nesting areas.
- Keep your roof and attic space in good condition and fix any damage as soon as it occurs.
If you’re worried about the possibility of rats in your home, don’t wait. Schedule an appointment with a trusted expert. At Pest Pro Pest Control, we proudly offer rat control services in Salt Lake City. Contact us today to see how we can help.