Whatcom County, Bellingham Rat Control Situation:
Hello David, I found your website very interesting. It didn't answer all of my questions so maybe you can help me out. I live in a two-story row home in Bellingham WA that is attached to neighboring row homes on both sides. I renovated the house and moved in a few months ago. I have a cat that is an excellent mouser. She has proven herself in my last home but I have not seen evidence of her catching any mice here. In fact, I have not seen any evidence of mice here at all since I have moved in, although there was evidence prior to my renovations. For the past week I have been hearing a lot of scurrying sounds in the ceiling cavity between the first and second floors. It happens mostly at night, but sometimes during the day on the weekends. It could also be happening while I am away at work. The only way I could access this cavity would be by cutting holes in the ceiling from the first floor. For this reason I am tempted to try poisons instead of traps, but I know your website does not recommend this. My neighbors on both sides of me tell me that they have mice in their homes. They are not as fortunate as I to have a good cat. I am not worried about mice in my living spaces. If they do manage to get through the drywall my cat will take care of them in a very short time. I am worried about damage to my wiring in the ceiling, and my wife's peace of mind in regards to the scurrying sounds at night. I believe the mice are using my ceiling cavity as a highway to travel between my neighbors homes. I believe I have sealed up all of the openings on the exterior of my home. I cannot say the same for my neighbors. To make a long question short, what do you recommend?
I am desperate & concerned for my family.I just want the rat problem gone forever. How much would you charge to come out to my house & complete this step by step process to get rid of the rats once and for all. After reading your article, I am convinced my regular Bellingham pest control company cannot completely resolve my problem. They have sealed up obvious points of entry with metal screens, behind which they have placed scent deterrents. You say this is not effective. I would agree as the rats are gnawing on my roof, trying to break back in. My garden is large with natural food sources from plant seeds, but otherwise is clean. I do not leave pet food, garbage or other food sources available. The crawl spaces are clean. How can I keep rodents from wanting to break into my attic? The pest control company says that the scent left by the former residents of my attic is attracting the new rodents. It's their 'scent trail' to tell them where 'home' is. I understand their strong desire to find a place to live. I read that fake owls and scent deterrents do not work. I do not want to poison the animals. I had agreed to snap trap the ones that were in the attic but only because the service would not live trap them. What now?
Bellingham Rat Control Tip of The Week
How To Deal With A Rat On The Roof
Also known as a homeowner's furry little nightmare, rats are a kind of household pest no one wants to have in their roof. These pests can keep you up at night with their scurrying sound, contaminate your environment with their feces and nesting materials, and spread all kinds of diseases.
Unlike having rats in other parts of your home, their presence in your roof can be quite difficult to deal with. The roof is a difficult place to reach and inspect. If you have to remove them from your roof, you will have to either hire a professional to help you or carry out a difficult process by yourself.
If you feel you can deal with the rats in your roof without the help of a wildlife removal agent, there are certain things you need to put in place before going ahead to remove them. First, you need to find a way to put away all the things attracting them into your home. The major things that attract rats are the availability of food and a hiding place. To make your home unattractive to them, you need to keep all the food in your home in a place that is inaccessible by the rats and keep your house clean. When you do this, they will find it difficult to stay in your home and will not find their way into your roof.
The best way to handle rats in the roof is to set multiple snap traps in the roof, bait them with attractive baits, and place them in different locations on the roof. These traps will help trap as many as possible humanely. If you are considering using poison to help kill the rats in your roof, you will be causing yourself more troubles. Having shared this, you need to use only snap traps when it comes to removing rats from your roof.
