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
What Are The Mating Habits Of The Black Rat And Norway Rat?
Black Rat
The ship rats have a polygamous mating framework, where a single male mates with various females. As a rule, the prevailing male is a successful breeder. These rats mate from March to November. The development or conception period goes on for 21 - 29 days, yielding 3 - 5 litters of 1 - 16 young (with a normal or average of 7) every year. Children of this species are brought into the world altricial. Their eyes open just at 15 days old, while hairs show up before the end of the nursing period. The young ones are weaned, and become independent at 3 - 4 months of age.
Norway Rat
Norway rats generally build homes in below-ground burrows or at ground level. Homes might be fixed with shredded paper, fabric, or different stringy materials. Litters of 6 to 12 young ones are brought into the world 21 to 23 days after conception. Baby rats are stripped, and their eyes are shut; however, they develop quickly. They can eat solid food at 2 1/2 to 3 weeks. They become independent at around 3 weeks to about a month and arrive at reproductive maturity at 3 months old, sometimes as early as 8 weeks. Female Norway Rats may come into heat every 4 or 5 days, and they may even mate a day after a litter is conceived. The average female rat has 4 to 6 litters per year and may effectively wean at least 20 offspring every year.
