Los Angeles County, Los Angeles Rat Control Situation:
Hi David, I'm in southern California. I have at least one rat in my ceiling, maybe two or more. I've read your website and really appreciate the great insight you're providing. Based on your advice, I've caught 3 rats around the outside my house (over the last 2 months), trimmed trees back (3 days ago), and plugged all the access holes I could identify (3 weeks ago).
Yet I still have at least one rat in my attic. Though I've place several snap traps (baited with peanut butter and bird seed) in the attic, I get no nibbles. I also cannot find any evidence of their paths. I've moved the trap several time with no success. From inside the house, I hear them in sections of the attic (about 3:00 am) that are completely inaccessible to me (because of firewalls.)
So I hired a pest extermination company. For $275 they put some poison bait stations outside, and three snap traps in the attic that are baited with a beef jerkey substance. The traps are near the attic access panel - not near the rat noise activity. The guy's reply was that the scent would lure them. He also reviewed my hole-plugging and said it was fine. He didn't get onto my roof. It's been three days and I check the snap traps in the morning and around dusk each night.
My questions are:
1. Is it safe to assume that the rat(s) sleep in my house during the day and at night they are coming and going outside? Does this mean I've missed an access point?
2. Considering the inaccessibility, is it common to drill a hole in the ceiling (like a 4" hole for recessed lighting) to place traps in the attic for those inaccessible places? If I drill a hole, then I can stick a camera up there and take pictures to look for evidence, place the traps, monitor them, etc. But then I've got a hole to deal with.
3. Is it worth parking myself on the roof and patiently waiting to see where the rats are coming and going?
4. Have I given the beef jerkey snap-traps enough time to do their thing? Any other advice? Thanks for your help!
Los Angeles Rat Control Tip of The Week
Are Rats Nocturnal?
Biologically, rats are nocturnal. These animals come out at dusk to look for food and carry out other activities, then go back into hiding at dawn. Their choice of coming out at dusk is dependent on many things that have to do with their natural behavior and biology. Right here, we will be taking you through some of these factors.
The first factor is that rats are silent animals and will prefer to operate in an environment with less noise. Their involvement with humans and special liking for staying in places close to human settlements will make them want to stay in hiding during the day time because the activities of humans during the day causes noise that they can't cope with.
Another factor that modifies rats to being nocturnal is the fact that their instinct only makes it possible for them to feel relaxed and active when there is less danger. This is nearly impossible during the day time as many of their natural predators will be active during that exact time.
Third, rats like are sneaky and will always prefer to operate in hiding without the occupants of the house knowing. The night has limited light and the occupants are most likely to be at rest during this time. This gives rats all the time and opportunities they need to carry out their rat business without any form of interruption.
However, rats are also capable of moving around during the day if they have a safe route through which they can travel. The routes are usually dark and safe even during the day when there are noises and disturbances from humans.