Lane County, Eugene Rat Control Situation:
Please help us! We have a rat problem at our house that has been ongoing now for years. We have killed several large rats with snap traps and set out boxes upon boxes of bait! I am at my wits end and want to burn the house down. As I type this message I am listening to one scratch in the wall, and I believe I can hear another in the ceiling above me. I had an exterminator come over today and he believes I have 2 large burrows, one under my garage and one under my shed, he feels that they may be gaining assess through the sump pump hole in my basement??? Is that possible? He set out a bunch of poison.... which I understand is a no no. We have two attics in our house and neither have interior entrance points, so it is impossible to set traps in the attic. I live in Eugene OR to be specific, do you know any rat experts in my area that you can direct me to?? I am at a point where I don't want to be in this house!
I have located the hole that it has chewed through insulation. I have an electric trap that is baited with peanut butter. I hear the darn things in the wall. Never had this problem. I am putting glue traps down tomorrow. Any other ideas? I was wondering if you could recommend a professional to get rid of rats in our attic. Somebody that will do what you mention in your awesome website ..such as Finding and sealing Entry points, guarantees removal and not coming back of rats etc. I live in Oregon thanks a lot.
Eugene Rat Control Tip of The Week
Can A Rat Have Rabies?
Rats have powerful bites:
Rats can have very powerful bites and are capable of damaging the skin quickly. A rat can bite through cinderblocks to get into an area if it needs to. Rats could bite through clothing or manage to break the skin even unintentionally with a very quick bite. Handling rats with care or using heavy gloves is recommended if you have to remove one or relocate it. It is ultimately best if you avoid handling rats whenever possible.
Many people are bitten each year with low rates of infection:
Rats bite over 50,000 people in the USA each year. Rabies vaccine shots are very rarely delivered in these cases and the risk for other types of diseases that rats carry can be far greater. Going to see a doctor about a rat bite can be wise if you are starting to feel some of the secondary symptoms or it looks infected.
Rats do spread disease:
Rats do spread a series of diseases including rat-bite fever. It can be transmitted through a bite or through pets. Rabies can be a deadly disease but most of the diseases that rats pass on are only able to cause the chance for fever and infection which carry lower rates of mortality.
Other animals can be much riskier to receive bites from:
If you are bitten by other animals like raccoons, coyotes, woodchucks, or skunks, this will give you a much riskier chance of receiving something like rabies. When bitten by a rat, you should be concerned but you may not have to run to get the bite checked out with the same urgency.
The main theory of low rabies cases:
A rat would have to survive a bite from a predator in order to become a carrier of rabies. As coyotes and larger animals will be likely to kill a rat in an attack, this leads to the chance of rats not being able to spread rabies at all.
