Madison County, Huntsville Rat Control Situation:
Hi David, I found your website online -- very informative for removing rats and squirrels from attics. My problem is the animal(s), which I'm guessing are rats or mice because they only scratch at night, is in the ceiling, but there is no attic or crawl space. The structure is a two story condo and the scratching sound is in the same location for the past 2 - 3 nights: in the ceiling of the small landing between the two upstairs bedrooms. There is a recessed light in that ceiling, and removing the light cover does provide a small access into the ceiling. The actual hole is about 6 - 7" wide, but there is an old-style light can in the hole, which only has a few small openings in it. Last year prior to painting the ceiling we removed the light cover and down came some animal droppings. Even though we weren't hearing any animal noises at that time, we set two Victor mouse traps which we were able to fit inside the small openings. We didn't catch anything so eventually, we just put the light cover back on. Now, there is very active scratching in the ceiling a few inches from the light so there is definately something alive in there. If it's a mouse, we can probably set a trap like we did before and I believe there is enough of an opening to remove the trap with a mouse in it. If it's a larger critter like a rat, we may or may not be able to set the larger trap and/or remove the trap with the dead animal because the opening may be too small. Even if we are successful at trapping and removing the animal, there is little access to remove the droppings or see if they've done any damage in there. Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Nicole in Huntsville AL
Between floors is hard. If you can get a trap inside, great. You still need to Inspect the house and find out how the rodents are getting inside and seal up every single last entry/exit hole and gap with steel.
Huntsville Rat Control Tip of The Week
Do Rats Bite Human Necks?
Rodents are omnivorous animals. Their diet is mainly based on seeds, insects, and small animals. In order to hunt, they usually bite their victims' neck to neutralize them and suffocate them until they finally die. Seeing this behavior, some people think that rats will also bite human necks, but this is extremely uncommon.
There are cases where a rat has bit a child's face, neck, and hands. This type of aggressive behavior is often seen when rodents feel that the child's movement could be a threat. On the other hand, sometimes this happens when children are dirty and have food remains on them, thus confusing the rodents.
Complications Of A Rodent Bite
A rat bite can hardly suffocate a human being, but it can have other serious complications produced by the bacteria they carry. Symptoms appear within 3 weeks after the bite when the infected wound heals.
An infectious disease can begin with increased body temperature and chills. Within 3 to 4 days after the onset of the fever, there could be rash, systemic damage to different organs such as heart or brain, and visible swelling of the lymph nodes.
Bites are not the only way a rodent can transmit diseases. Direct contact through scratches produced by infected rats is usually quite harmful as well. However, it is more common to become infected by ingesting food or water contaminated with an infected rats' feces or urine.
Pest control is necessary to look after one's own health and that of your entire family, including household pets. There are cases of domestic animals such as dogs and cats that, when biting rats, can also become contaminated with these diseases which can be deadly.
