Berks County, Reading Rat Control Situation:
David, Thanks for having such an informative website. We've recently gotten over our second round of rats in the basement. We have had a pest control group helping us, pretty much with bait throughout the basement. It's certainly worked, but boy is it not fun to follow the smell to the dead guy. It seems we have been free from seeing any droppings for a few weeks or any signs of activity. The strange thing is that in the past week we have had hundreds of house flies that we are dealing with in the basement. I'm assuming the problems are related. We've been going down to vacuum all visible flies (every 4-6 hours). Each time we easily find another 20 to suck down. We aren't smelling the familiar smell of a dead rat, is it possible it's there but beyond the stench phase? Any suggestions? The flies aren't congregating in one spott, they tend to hover around the windows. Any chance you service Reading PA? Could really use someone as yourself to complete the inspection of the basement for possible other entry points and removal of any additional insulation that may be harboring feces. Ok, I appreciate any input you could provide.
We have 5 cats, three are usually indoors all the time. Sometimes they bring in a mouse or rat and it gets away. And then the rodents can live in the house for a long time and the cats don't care one little bit unless the rodent just happens to make a dash across the room in broad daylight - and gets spotted. Otherwise, it's home sweet home for the rodents until I snap-trap them into oblivion. I would add that if you know you have mice or rats, deal with it as soon as you can. We had a mouse get up inside our washer and chew through 7 of the little control wires to the control panel, killing the washer and necessitating a $50.00 replacement part, and later causing a flood from a leaky hose that cost me $200.00 to fix. Had we taken care of him earlier this could have all been avoided. I agree with you about glue boards. Seems needlessly inhumane. Just put yourself in the position of the rat: you want to go out quickly or be stuck on a glue board until you starve to death?
Reading Rat Control Tip of The Week
Symptoms Of A Sick Rat
In most cases, a sick rat will not show any obvious symptoms at the early stage of an illness. But if the rat in question is a domesticated rat, you might notice some physical changes in the rat if you are very observant. Here are some of the common symptoms that you might notice in a sick rat:- Restlessness and irregular breathing
- Eye and nasal discharge and continuous sneezing
- Rapid reduction in body weight
- Body exhaustion and excessive sleeping
- Lack of appetite and crouching behavior
If you notice any of these in a rat, it is an indication that the rat is sick and it needs urgent medical attention. After noticing any of these symptoms, the first thing you need to do is to avoid any form of contact with the rat. Rats are carriers of diseases, so it is best to avoid touching it.
Although, not every sickness of a rat is a result of viral, bacterial, or parasitic infection. Their sickness could also be as a result of physical injuries such as a sprained bone, a broken tail or toenails, or a bite wound from another rat or animal.
Just like other animals, rats are also affected by diseases. If you wish to keep the rat alive, the best thing you can do is to seek medical attention. Rats are very sensitive animals and will not do well when administered the wrong medication. Having shared this, you need to avoid the use of medication that is not prescribed by a veterinary doctor.
