Saint Lucy County, Port St. Lucie Rat Control Situation:
Hi there, I'm glad I found your website, its been pretty informative, and helpful in reassuring me a bit. Ok, so me and my boyfriend just moved into a rental house 2 months ago, and we've been hearing scuttling in the ceiling crawl space, and I've noticed when I turned on the oil heat, that the odor that comes out of the ducts with the heated air smells like dead rats and urine, and every time we had the oil heat on at night, I would wake up with a slight feeling of throat irritation and like my nasal passages hurt, but since the summer we haven't been running the oil, but I dread when winter comes... and the scuttling continues. Well I went up into the crawl space last night, after we had a talk with the property manager, and he assured us he would be out and take a look and fix it, he didn't, anyways, it was easier for me to crawl up, as my boyfriend is 6'3" and would be bent like a hairpin, I suited up as you suggested, latex gloves, full respirator, safety glasses, headlamp, camera and flashlight, even a shower cap to protect from gunk falling on my head. I found extensive evidence of rats or squirrels, poo, tunnels, chewed stuff etc.,. took loads of pics to show to the property manager. From what I've seen and smelt, I am thinking that this will cost the owner of the house a tidy sum to clean up, because I am sure this is very dangerous health-wise to live in, and this type of condition should not be allowed in a rental home or any home. This may sound like a dumb question, but I was wondering how do I convince the owner and property manager this needs to be cleaned up ASAP, professionally. Also how would the rat urine etc. get cleaned out of the ducts in an oil heated home? That seems like it would be tough to do properly and safely. Any advice or info you could give me would be greatly appreciated.
Port St. Lucie Rat Control Tip of The Week
Are Dogs Good at Keeping Rats Away?
Having rat problems automatically comes with the need to get rid of them. If you have a similar challenge in your home, chances are that you are already thinking about getting the natural enemy of rats to help keep them away. While cats seem to be the most commonly used animal when it comes to keeping rats away, dogs can also play a similar role and even do it better.
There is no denying the fact that cats are great at keeping rats away, but these animals are opportunistic hunters, which simply means that they only kill rats when they see one. Also, as they become older, they begin to develop a lackadaisical attitude towards the hunting and catching of rats.
But in the case of dogs, their hunting spirit becomes fiercer each passing day, and they can be quite aggressive hunters. Also, when dogs become familiar with you, they become territorial and will do everything possible to satisfy you. The moment the dog figures out that you want it to help keep rats away, it will work tirelessly to get this done and will always be on the lookout to catch a passing rat.
To take advantage of the supreme hunting skills of dogs, all you need to do is to get a breed of dog that is very active and train it to follow your commands. Once you can do that, the dog will help keep rats away from your home.