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
The Reasons Why So Many Rats Live In Big Cities
Since ancient times, rodents have noticed how humans have created comfortable dwellings that in turn often house large amounts of food. The invasion of people's homes and privacy by rats is due to their constant search for shelter and food.
Rats can chase man wherever he goes, in order to continue to benefit. These animals can have a great capacity to adapt to the different environments humans live in. The rodent's diet consists of anything and to get it they can gnaw, climb, jump, run, and even swim.
A Big City To Share
With the settlement of large cities, human beings have grown in population and their consequences on the planet too. The environmental pollution of large cities represents a serious danger caused by people themselves. However, for rats, it has represented the peak of their population growth rate.
Human beings transporting themselves from one place to another, wherever they go, will take the rats along with them, having to share their cities. These animals have become pests to many people because it is exactly in the habitats of humans that they find the perfect conditions to live comfortably.
The More Garbage, The More Rats
Rodents can be phobic animals, that is, they fear new places and prefer to move through the same paths their whole lives. The exploratory and inquisitive instinct that characterizes rats is due to their need to survive in the absence of shelter. Rodents consume one-fifth of the world's food supply each year. The garbage dumps in big cities, day after day, are filled with new food remnants that provides rats with everything they need to survive.
Today, it's very likely that you'll come across a rat in any city in the world. However, people take care of their homes by being advised by professionals who teach them ways to combat this urban pest.
