Knox County, Knoxville Rat Control Situation:
I own a 2 story w basement corner row house in Knoxville. Last night while asleep on the couch in my first floor living room, noise in my ceiling by the front wall woke me up. Sounded like the scurrying of 1or 2 mice. Joists run the width of my house, from the outer wall to my neighbors house, so that space leads to nowhere. No food, water, or other openings are available. Should I be concerned, should any (?) action be taken?
One story concrete slab house with rats in attic. I have sealed up every hole to the attic I can find. The last thing I did was put the 1/2" wire mesh on all the vent pipes on the roof. The wire mesh on all the stacks, seemed to fix my problem, but about 2 months later they are back. I put up some security cameras in the attic and at bottom of a double wall space for plumbing, and can see the rat coming down and going up at bottom of a 2" pvc vent pipe obscured by a wall between two bathrooms with a tub on one side and shower on the other. The vent pipe is for the tub and shower. From the top of wall in the attic, I was able to cut out around the pipe and see down the wall about halfway down the 2" pvc vent was split (offset) maybe broke during construction where 2 pipes were joined together. Could not see actual chewed off part, but is probably there. I can see that the rat could get in there, but my question is where or how is he going outside besides into the sewer? The top is sealed with the wire mesh. I can fix the split pipe easily by tearing out the shower wall, but do you think that would fix the entry problem? How long can rats stay in attic without going outside for food? Do attic rats tunnel under a concrete slab house for entry?
Knoxville Rat Control Tip of The Week
Will A Rat And Her Babies Nest In An Attic?
If you have a possible rat infestation in your home, chances are that rats and her babies are nesting in your attic. These rodents have a special liking for dark places with small holes where they can reproduce and there is no better place to do that in your home than your attic.
Unlike other parts of every home, attics are places with little to no source of food. So you might be wondering why they would go all the way there just to stay. Once the rats in your home decide to move into your attic, their primary objective is to go and give birth to their babies. With their short gestation period of just 22 to 28 days, you will be having an average of 10 babies from just a single mother. This shows how rapid rats can breed in your attic when allowed to.
Having realized this, you need to get rid of the rats in your attic whenever you seek out to remove other animals nesting there too. Apart from breeding in your attic, rats are very destructive. Within just a short time, they can wreak havoc in your attic by creating cavities in and around your attic.
To remove the rats and her babies nesting in your attic, all you have to do is search your attic carefully. Although, this can be a very difficult task because rats are good at creating hideouts when they want to nest. As a result of this, you might need to consider other removal methods such as the use of lethal traps, rat poisons, and sticky traps which are often inhumane methods.
If you are not too comfortable with the use of these methods, the best thing you can do is hire a wildlife removal expert to help you get rid of the rat and her nest of babies.
