Greene County, Springfield Rat Control Situation:
Hi I saw your website and hope u can help. My neighbors with the cold weather the mice have came. This has been ongoing battle for a couple months. My cat has caught almost 11 , poison killed the rest, along with traps, now it seems there are some new ones in my ceiling, they have chewed so far three holes through my ceiling, I can hear them at night running and scratching, I detest rodents but am at my wits end just when I thought I had them beat they are back in the ceiling where I cannot get to them. Should I put out another round of poison and traps or call a professional! Help at this rate I will have holes all over my ceiling and need a lot of drywall patches!! I am at my wits end can u suggest anything?
I found your website and thought you might be able to help me with a problem I've got here. I've had a lot of my stuff in storage for a few years whilst traveling, and have just returned and found that rats got into a fair bit of it. Some of it I was willing to throw away. However, there's some books that I'd like to be able to salvage which have soaked up rat urine. Or if not the urine itself, the odour of it. Do you have any suggestions? You might need to be aware that I live in Australia, so some of the chemicals or products you may recommend may not necessarily be available to me here. But whatever you recommend would be greatly appreciated anyway! My husband and I are experiencing a foul smell in the ceiling closer to our car port area. It smells the worst outside. There was a Possum in the ceiling but fortunately it fell out of the roof siding outside but I think it may have carried something up there and now there are a million flies and a bad smell up there. Can you please help.
Springfield Rat Control Tip of The Week
Are Mice or Rats Easier to Trap?
Intelligence:
Mice can often be much easier to trap because they are naturally curious creatures. It often takes just one or two days to capture a mouse after setting up a mousetrap. If you're having difficulty trapping a mouse you could consider moving it to a different location. Rats can be extremely intelligent and they communicate with each other meaning that any new objects will often bring about suspicion.
Reproduction:
Rats often reproduce at a much faster rate and this can make it difficult to control a rat problem if it's been going on for a long time. Most mice have around eight litters per year with around 5 to 6 pups in each litter. Rats can have between 6 to 12 pups in their litter.
Diet:
Rats can often be ravenous eaters and often require meat or a more substantial food source in order to remain satisfied. This can often make rats very difficult to trap because they can be so fussy about their food.
Size:
Rats have a definite size advantage over mice and this often means using much larger traps and some extra measures when it comes to keeping them in a trap. Because of the extra costs of these larger traps and the need to be more careful with where you set them, the requirements to trap a rat can be considerably higher than what it takes to trap the average mouse. Most rats can reach a length of between 7-10 inches and weigh up to a pound whereas the typical house mouse maxes out around 8 inches including its tail.
Tracking:
It's often easier to track rats because they leave larger footprints and they can cause a bit more destruction with their added size and strength. This can make finding rats throughout your home a bit easier.
