Broward County, Fort Lauderdale Rat Control Situation:
The past month or so we hear noises over the kitchen table in the west end of the house that starts around dark and is all night. When I go to bed around two or three in the morning there are still noises. It sounds like the animal is trying to crack a pecan on the floor beams in the attic. The dining room, kitchen used to be the garage . A breezeway was added and a huge double garage added from the 'now' kitchen back door. My husband has trapped large 'rats' in the garage, NOT mice. We do have squirrels but my husband has kept them out of the pecan trees by sprinkling crushed red pepper around the trees. They do run the utitity lines. Our house has different roof angles. The orginal house roof is higher than the roof where the the dining room and kitchen is now. It is sealed off from the garage and the breezeway. The ceiling over the kitchen table is dropped about 10 inches. If the animal is coming in there it is going about 15ft to where the noise is coming from. Due to the economy we can not afford hundreds of dollars to an exterminator so any suggestions would be appreciated.
My response: You've got to find out how the rats are getting in, and seal those areas shut with steel.
Hi, We live in the newest housing area in Boca Raton Florida. Because they are turning over the soil next door and down the street, we are getting mice and some larger animals IN the HOUSE. They are coming in thru the garage and up the dryer vent into the second floor of our home. The home is over the garage. We noticed rat and animal traps by the garages but NO ONE has been around to maintain them recently. Please can you check on the traps outside and what can you suggest we do for the inside of our home. It is a real discomfort. Thanking you in advance for assisting us in this important matter. Suzanne
Fort Lauderdale Rat Control Tip of The Week
How Do Rats Use Pheromones To Communicate?
Releaser Pheromones:
Rats communicate using releaser pheromones to send information to other rats that they are in their own territory. Rats often urinate in areas to send information that they are ready to nurse or that a specific area where their nest is located is their own. Rats use these releaser pheromones to claim territory and to make sure that other rats will stay away.
Primer Pheromones:
Primer pheromones are designed to be excreted during the peak of fertility and this is the type of pheromone that sends sexual signals to males in the area. These scents are released in order to attract males and to make sure that the female is going to mate during a time where she is more than likely to conceive.
Primer pheromones are some of the main types of communication tools used by rats and it's one of the most powerful ones that can be sensed in the area. These responses are triggered by the area of the brain called the Vomeronasal and this refers to the overall sense that an adult male gets of the pheromone.
Information Pheromones:
These types of pheromones are designed to be useful for identifying something about the animals or about the area. Rats often use these to convey fear or to share information about an area. Certain species of rats can share information about a food source, safe space, and more with these types of pheromones. Most of the time informational pheromones are designed to identify the smell of other species and to warn other rats of dangers in the area.
Scientists are continuing to study rats to determine the total number of ways that they are able to communicate by pheromones alone.
