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
Why Do More Rats Live In Urban Areas Than In Wild Areas?
Statistically, more rats are living in urban areas than in the wild. This is simply because urban areas have an abundant availability of food that is easily accessible, compared to the wild where they have to go in search of food before they can find something to eat. Although, rats in the wild are known to live longer simply because they feed on natural foods.
The most dominant species of rats living in urban areas are roof rats and Norway rats. These species of rats have an adaptive feature that allows them to survive in any kind of environment and their rate of reproduction allows them to multiply rapidly in any home they find themselves in.
Apart from the availability of easily accessible food, urban areas have an abundant supply of places to nest and proliferate. In urban areas, there are houses around and each of these houses has attics, walls, roofs, and other hidden places where rats can nest. The search for a place to nest makes takes rats into urban areas that seem to have many good nesting places.
Also, the absence of predators in urban areas makes rats prefer to stay in urban areas than in the wild. In the wild, there is no adequate protection for them, and more than half will be hunted as prey before they even reach maturity.
All of the above reasons clearly show why there are more rats in urban areas than in wild areas. Having realized this, you need to do all you can to prevent them from infesting your home because if they do, they will multiply rapidly within just a short time.