Albemarle County, Charlottesville Rat Control Situation:
Hi David, My name is Nancy my family and I live in Charlottesville Va. and we have had a rat problem in our house. We hired a company for rat removal and got rid of the rat problem for now. However the rat(s) were living in the ceiling in the basement laundry room. There is feces in the ceiling and the removal control recommended we pull down the ceiling which is just thin wood paneling, in order to remove the feces, and take away a place for them to hide in the future. After reading your website we are concerned about having my husband do this work. I'm pregnant an we have a small child in the house as well and don't want to be stirring up potential illness or problems. Also there are a lot of electrical conduits attached to the ceiling which we are concerned about. Do you think we can do this ourselves, or do you think we should hire a professional if you recommend a pro, how do we find someone to do this work? Everyone we've found just seem to be about removal of the rats, not clean up.
Dear David- Help! Need man. However, I am a single gal of retired age -semi rural. I am about to use a cylindrical attachment for drill to cut a 2 " drywall plug out of bathroom wall. This bath was added on. The noise does not always come from the same "section" so I am about to guess and go along the wall avoiding studs and taking plugs out (under counters) until I get to him/her. Then I will put a live rodent trap up to the hole and hopefully remove it that way before it dies. Question: Does this approach make sense? If I wait for a man to come help I fear it will die in the wall.
Dear David, We had heavy rain this past spring in the Charlottesville Virginia area ( so much for the drought) and there was a huge exodus of rats and mice into all of our homes. It was so widespread that traps were sold out in a 50 mile radius. Recently I pulled the bottom cushions of a sleeper coach up to turn them and discovered large clay colored dropping ( it was almost the size of rabbit food pellets) all over the back part of the seat area. Then a mouse or rat ran out a few days later. I believe it was in the mattress for some time. They also came up from a heating vent in a little used room. I am concerned about using the heat since they are under my house in the crawl space. What kind of company could I call to remove and dispose of the mattress safely? Would I be able to use a fabric safe disinfectant to save the couch and then replace the mattress? It is a very expensive couch that I wish to keep. I had my ducts cleaned a few years ago and I wonder if that loosened them and made it easy for the rats to get in.Thank you
Charlottesville Rat Control Tip of The Week
The Proper Way To Clean Rat Feces Out Of Your Attic
If you already know the dangers of having rat feces in your attic and coming in contact with it, you are most likely going to get scared and confused about how to clean it. When it comes to cleaning rat feces, you can't afford to do it the wrong way. Refusal to follow the due process might cost you more of what you are trying to prevent.
Since rat feces is a major carrier of bacteria and other disease-causing organisms, the first thing you need to do when planning to clean out the feces from your attic is to protect yourself appropriately. To do this, you need to start by ventilating your attic for as long as possible before entering. By doing this, you are simply expelling the contaminated air and allowing fresh air to go in. This protects you from breathing air that is contaminated with rat feces while in the attic. Also, you need to have equipment such as a facial mask, gloves, plastic bags, and a strong disinfectant in place before going ahead to clean your attic.
Just like every other part of your home, cleaning your attic is not that difficult. Provided you have all the supplies listed above, you will find it quite easy to do. To start, wear your facial mask and gloves properly and carefully pack the feces into the plastic bag. After that, dispose of the plastic bag safely.
When you are done with that, you need to soak the floor of your attic with a disinfectant and then scrub the floor until all the remaining feces are removed. Leave the disinfectant on the floor for 10 minutes to allow it to kill all the pathogens and bacteria deposited by the rat. After doing all this, your attic will be completely pathogen and bacteria-free.
If you find any of these is difficult to do, you can hire a professional to help you out with the cleaning.
