Fulton County, Atlanta Rat Control Situation:
Hello, I ran across your article rats in the Attic online earlier today. I have some type of critter that moved in a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was a squirrel until I read your article that said squirrels are diurnal in nature. The thing in my attic is most active around 11pm, I can hear it move around a little bit and chewing on something-it sounds like a handsaw operating, and then again about 6am when it chews much more often and much louder. Is this symptomatic of a squirrel or could it be something else? You say rats live in the attic at night, but I don't even want to say the word rat. I live in Southeast Atlanta Georgia, so I'm not sure it's a flying squirrel, and it's definitely not big enough to be a raccoon or a opossum. Any help you could offer me would be very much appreciated. Thank you!
My response: Sounds like rat activity to me. Maybe you should have a wildlife expert come out and inspect your attic. You've got to find out how the rats are getting in, and seal those areas shut with steel.
Hi, I have a rat in my mini van and I can't get rid of it. I have tried traps - they didn't work. Poison - I think this rat thrives on it . I‘ve clean the van of any food and as it is a newish van there isn't anyway to get in. Help! Minnie
David, I live in Atlanta, not near you in Orlando, but I was looking over your photos of the rats. What are you using for bait on the snap traps or does it vary? Specifically dealing with roof rats and have you used traps outside? I'm fairly sure that I have most of the roof rats (sealed all points and it's been a while) but I feel like making sure by setting a few traps. Any hints would be greatly appreciated.
I bait the traps with a thin spread of peanut butter. But the location of the traps is 10x as important as the bait. Set the traps in areas of high rat activity.
Atlanta Rat Control Tip of The Week
City Subways And The Presence Of Rats
Rats, like pigeons, badgers, and foxes thrive in urban environments, even moving to these places. Cities are full of garbage dumps, abandoned lands, and sewers that can provide a cozy burrow for rats to live in and raise their families. Human beings have provided the perfect conditions for the well-being of this species.
Sewers And Rats
Sewers can provide everything needed for an exponential multiplication of rodents. The problem is that the more rats there are, the more they need food, so to get it they will be severely aggressive towards each other. This aggressiveness and the search for new food sources can cause serious damage to the city.
Rats Are The Real Infection
These rodents are known for carrying bacteria that cause infectious diseases leading humans to death. Something similar occurs with rats when they spread through sewers, subways, garbage dumps, and train tracks.
Rats survive thanks to the mountains of garbage in the city and play a vital role in reducing this waste. However, wiring or holes and infrastructure problems can be just some of the catastrophic consequences for the city's subway system.
Super-rats
Humans love junk food and in big cities, high-calorie garbage has given the rats that eat it the energy they need to grow exorbitantly even creating resistance to some rat poisons.
The well-being of citizens begins with professional pest control combined with a mind-set of not throwing garbage into the environment. Briefly, if there is neither food nor garbage, there are no rats. The fewer rats there are in places like the subway, the fewer rats will be able to reach homes. The more we take care of the city, the fewer health problems or economic damage there will be.