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
How To Identify Rat Feces And Where Is It Found?
Dark Brown In Color:
You can recognize the look of rat droppings for their dark brown color. Unlike other animals that have darker feces, rats have a darker brown that does not border upon black.
The Shape:
The shape is often spindle and tapered to be less conspicuous. Most rats have a spindle shape for their feces and the pieces will be no larger than a grain of rice.
The Volume:
Each rat can produce up to 40 droppings in a single evening and this can mean that you are likely to find a series of piles across your home especially if you are facing a larger rat population. As you continue to identify the look of rat feces across your home, you are going to notice piles and likely find rats nearby.
Keep An Eye Out For Rub Marks:
Rub marks are another common sign that you have rats in your home. Rats naturally have grease or dirt on their body and because of their poor eyesight they often leave a series of smudges across your home. The darker marks show areas where the rats are regularly moving throughout your home and potentially entering into areas like the walls. If you started to notice various areas where there could be marks and feces, this offers an excellent chance that you could have a rat inside your home.
Be Careful While Cleaning:
Rats carry a series of diseases and it's very important that you are able to clean up any feces that you find to prevent the chance that a family pet will get into it or that you could be exposed to potential diseases.