Orleans Parish County, New Orleans Rat Control Situation:
Hi from New Orleans. I must say ure website is absolutley brilliant.Thank you for such a wealth of advise. I realise now that setting traps willy nilly doesn't work. I have caught a couple of mice over the past 6 weeks. But there is still something crawling around up there, and i CANNOT GET IT. Originally i'm sure it was mice as i caught 2/3 of them. But today i saw some rat droppings. I feel a bit spooked as i can hear this rodent on and off during the night. Sometimes right behind the wall at the head of the bed!! Have u ever heard of a cat used in an attic space (where i have a rat) to catch a rat? I have the cat, but maybe id have a problem with a lost cat in the attic if i put her up! What do you think? Thanks again for your greta website.
My response: You can try putting your cat up there, but it probably won't solve the rat problem. Inspect the house and find out how the rodents are getting inside. Seal up every single last entry/exit hole and gap with steel. Trap, properly trap on rat runways, ALL the rats, and remove them from the house.
I have been reading a lot of your website and am sure I can NOT do this myself. I am going to contact Trutech in Gadsden and hopefully can get them to come out and get rid of this problem. I read your price range and maybe they will let me pay a large amount down and monthly installments for the rest if it is much more than 500.00. My house is very very small so I hope that's a plus. Anyway I apologize for emailing you three times. I should have read further before contacting you. Thanks again! I forgot to mention that my attic is impossible to even look in. There is only a very small hole hat is supposed to be the attic and it is in my closet but I could not even get my head through ANSI am a small woman. Thanks
New Orleans Rat Control Tip of The Week
Can A Rat Hurt A Human?
Rodents are animals that do not represent a direct threat to people. Although they are intelligent, they do not harm for pleasure. Most of the time, they are just bacteria carriers, but they do not spread them with the intention of starting a pandemic. The cases in which rats have harmed children, might have been because at that moment their instinct was activated to survive. Most houses that are invaded by this urban plague is because they do not take necessary preventive measures and rats have easy access to any corner of the house.
Rats vs. people
Man is surrounded by animals that are predators, so over the years, he decided to protect himself and shelter in homes. Some animals are attracted to find refuge in these homes due to the same necessity of protection and food that humans have. Rodents and people in the same house are a bad combination because of the structural and health damage that rodents can cause.
Can a rat make me sick?
Rats are animals whose excrement, urine, and saliva can contain a great number of bacteria damaging for people's health. Among the most well-known diseases are salmonellosis, leptospirosis, and hepatitis. The most common wounds caused by rodents are bites and scratches. An open and deep wound caused by rodents that come in contact with fluid from a rat will be an open door for microorganisms to spread into the bloodstream causing systemic infections that can be severe and even cause death.
In summary, it can be said that rats can hurt humans through infections by having contact with their fluids or can accidently cause scratches and bites through measures of self-defense. On the other hand, people that have a phobia of these little animals may have psychological damage when coming in contact with them.