Hennepin County, Minneapolis Rat Control Situation:
Hi, David, Thank you very much to establish your very educational and candid website. I bought a house half a year ago and it had rats in the attic and in the crawl space. I hired a rodent removal guy to take care of the problem. I spent almost $1000 but I still had rats - he didn't seal all the entry points. Anyway, I then did a lot of research in rats. lol. According to my rodent guy, there was about 10 rats living in my attic. But his trap caught none after sealing all the holes (He thought he did but there was two crawl space vent open). He then claimed that all rats gone because they are "scared". Later I set traps myself and I caught two large roof rats (really large, almost 12 oz each I would say). After that, no more caught. In October, I hired an insulation company to remove ALL the batt insulation from my attic. There was still thousands of droppings left on the joist bays. I painstakingly vaccuum them out (me wearing face masks). Now the attic is clean. However, I could not find ANY gnaw marks on wood, nor electric wires, nor on anything else. Why is that? How could it be? This house had tens of thousands of rat droppings in the attic, thousands of droppings in the garage and thousands in the crawl space. But I am not able to spot their damage other than the droppings? I thought rats have to chew on stuffs to keep their teeth from growing too long. I hope you could help answer this question. It always bugs me if there is something unexplainable. Thanks! Guangchi from Minneapolis Area
Minneapolis Rat Control Tip of The Week
Reasons Why Rats Die Inside Attics And Houses
They Get Thirsty:
Rats often get thirsty when they have ingested any type of poison or when they cannot find their way out of a house. When rats go in search of water, they go towards an area where they will be closest to the outside world. When they have difficulty getting out of the home, they may find themselves in the attic close by their water source that they desperately need but unable to access a way out of the home.
They Get Poisoned On The Way Back To The Nest:
Rats will often travel throughout the home after they've been poisoned. Because poison often takes a bit of time to take effect, a rat might make its way up to the attic to stay warm and then die on its way back from the attic.
They Bleed Out:
Rats that have been affected by spring traps and other means for capturing may bleed out if they sustained serious injuries. This can happen quite quickly especially if the rat has made its way up to the attic to try and escape. This often becomes the final resting space for rats and this can eventually lead to foul odors.
They Get Stuck In Glue Traps:
Glue traps can be another cause for a rat to get stuck in an attic area. When a rat gets stuck in a glue trap it's possible that it will simply die in the area which can lead to people finding the rat or the rat causing a series of issues with smells and rotting. Glue traps are commonly placed in attics because this can be an easy place as it is out of sight for pets, toddlers, and home/business owners.