San Francisco County, San Francisco Rat Control Situation:
I found you my doing a web search and happen to see that you used everything I have used, but I have not had the success you have had!!! Please David I hope you can help me. I live in San Francisco in the Oakland area on the cities eastside. I live in a gentrified neighborhood where they are tearing down abandoned homes and this is when the rat problem seemed to start. I started having a rat problem about 2010. Our street once upon a time had at least 8 feral cats, but now you hardly see any now. We at one time had zero rat problems. I have always owned cats but when my cat died in 2007 I switched to dogs. Now the male dog I have is a good ratter. I've seen him stomp rats to death. However, the problem is superseding his ability and on any given night I will see rats running around my kitchen 2 or 3 around the same times. I also think I have roof rats as I see rats upstairs that look and act different than the rats downstairs. So I'll sit and wait with my BB gun and hope I will hit one, which is rare. They almost seem to be able to read our minds and anticipate our next tactic. I have tried the Vector rat traps, baiting them with peanut butter, marshmallows chicken grease and they will eat the bait of and leave the trap untripped. I bought the cage traps, baited with dog food and the first few times did catch some but then the dilemma was I couldn't kill them like that, so resorted to poison and at first was killing them great then I started finding their droppings with the green in it and they were still running around. They soon learned to avoid the cages and poison. I brought a zapper; it was great for the mice I caught , but zero rat has been caught!! They also got into my basement by digging along the sewer line. My son has a red tailed boa ,which we thought about putting there, but it's too risky he would escape somewhere. I tried electronics and that just doesn't work at all! These ghetto rats are SUPER SMART. i went to a professional exterminator and he was telling me that this was probably one rat doing this and that some of the things I was telling him they do just wasn't true so i didn't use his exterminating services ,but, did buy the poisons from his retail store and place it as he instructed w/o relief of this problem. They steal too. When all their food sources were dried up, they came in my living room and nawed a rat head sized hole in the stiff plastic bag and stole 1/2 of a 1# bag of hard ginger candy and took it somewhere. There wasn't a trace. I stored my dog's food in a lidded tupperware container and they knawed right through that. My camera is missing, which was on my kitchen table,. Yesterday I was looking for my dish towel and they had put it under the kitchen sink as they had [artially pulled it through the kick plate., They stole paper $5 money from my son's table and it was found inside a hole in the wall. I found where they chewed through mortar so remortared those areas only for them to do again. They are destroying my home and my peace and I am almost ready to just burn this house down (figurative speech). I see them outside like squirrels looking at us and I've called the city and they have done nothing! Is my house possessed by rat demons or is this a living earthly rat infestation that can be eradicated? Can you please give me some advice and direction, please?? Thank you, Ellen
My response: I have had rats steal my camera in the past too. I think it's probably a living earthly rat infestation. You need to find out how they are getting into your house, and seal those holes shut.
San Francisco Rat Control Tip of The Week
Are Rats Able to Dream?
Talking about rats implies talking about pests. But let's not forget that these curious animals have been used in various scientific studies regarding sleep. In this post, we want to give you a brief description of what has been discovered about rats and sleep.
Do rats sleep?
If you ever have had the chance to see any of these little rodents, you should know that:- They are nocturnal animals
- They do not have the same sleep phases as humans
- They cannot see in color; they are colorblind
- These animals have many interesting characteristics, but the most interesting of them all is they incorporate the REM phase in their sleep
What is the REM cycle?
It is the phase of sleep in which our sleep becomes heavier. The brain waves that predominate behave the way they do when we are awake; this makes our heart rate and pressure increase, as well as the movement of our eyes (Rapid Eye Movement). There is no muscle tone and it is the moment we have dreams. Rats also experience the REM cycle.
So... do rats dream?
We could say yes; studies have shown that these medium-sized rodents incorporate this stage in their sleep phases. It's also important for you to know that their cycles are shorter and more widely spaced throughout the day.
That's why they will probably only see images, due to the absence of reasoning, they could not put together a story in their dreams.
Why they go out at night
It is difficult for a rat to cross your path during the day, and they have the need to go out and look for food. You will rarely see them wandering around during the day, as they tend to hide and sleep. But when night falls, they take advantage of the stillness and silence to seek supplies and prowl around.
