Lucas County, Toledo Rat Control Situation:
Hi David- Thank you very much for your site. It has been extremely helpful. I caught my first and I hope only rat tonight (I know that's doubtful) due to your trapping advice. That said, I need advice on how to deal with rats burrowing into dirt basements. I have a half basement with a dirt crawl space and a narrow dirt trench around the perimeter for drainage. We found a rat a week ago and saw it has burrowed two holes outside down into the basement. Obviously it opened it up after we filled it in. Short of getting a new foundation I have no clue what to do. The best advice I have found was to put hardware paper down but that would be difficult in the crawl space. I spoke with a professional trapper in Toledo OH and he said there wasn't much I could do about them getting in other than keeping the traps set. We have lived here 8 years and never have seen a rat before. Mice yes but we have worked hard to close up the holes but clearly this is a different ball game. We are in a rural area and there are no dumpsters and the neighbors are clean etc. So I do not think it's a matter of cleanliness. Any advice you could give would be more than appreciated. And again, thank you for your site!!
I have sent a picture of the droppings I found, is it from a rat? I have set 2 traps in my attic and rat poison in saucers some of which has been eaten, but still have the rat or rats. I don't know what to do next buy some more poison? as I've run out. I did not want to pay a pest control company as I think normally they just use poison anyway, but if I cant get rid of them will have to. Shall I put the traps where the droppings were seen. This is terrible I can hear it or them at night in the attic, and would appreciate your advice.
Hi David! Thanks for your site and all of the useful info. I searched for the following for days, and still have nothing. How long do diseases remain "alive" in rat feces ? I have evidence of rat nesting in my outdoor storage shed that I first noticed about 6 months ago. I plugged the point of entry with steel wool and have not seen any activity since. I plan to clean the disturbed area and discard the damaged things. My question is, considering the age of the feces, is it and the contaminated area still potentially toxic or just ugly dirty !?
Toledo Rat Control Tip of The Week
Why Do More Rats Live In Urban Areas Than In Wild Areas?
Statistically, more rats are living in urban areas than in the wild. This is simply because urban areas have an abundant availability of food that is easily accessible, compared to the wild where they have to go in search of food before they can find something to eat. Although, rats in the wild are known to live longer simply because they feed on natural foods.
The most dominant species of rats living in urban areas are roof rats and Norway rats. These species of rats have an adaptive feature that allows them to survive in any kind of environment and their rate of reproduction allows them to multiply rapidly in any home they find themselves in.
Apart from the availability of easily accessible food, urban areas have an abundant supply of places to nest and proliferate. In urban areas, there are houses around and each of these houses has attics, walls, roofs, and other hidden places where rats can nest. The search for a place to nest makes takes rats into urban areas that seem to have many good nesting places.
Also, the absence of predators in urban areas makes rats prefer to stay in urban areas than in the wild. In the wild, there is no adequate protection for them, and more than half will be hunted as prey before they even reach maturity.
All of the above reasons clearly show why there are more rats in urban areas than in wild areas. Having realized this, you need to do all you can to prevent them from infesting your home because if they do, they will multiply rapidly within just a short time.
