Palm Beach County, West Palm Beach Rat Control Situation:
Hi there! I am your neighbor in West Palm Beach! We live in a historical neighborhood here and have just dicovered we had rats coming into the house and eating from some birdfood I put next to the washer (whooops! ) Prior to this I have never seen any rats and I immediately removed this food source...yuck! My landlord has hired a company to get rid of them they come and set traps but they didn't seal up the house for 3 weeks..it's been 2 more weeks and we can still hear them gnawing under the cupboards! HOW can we get them to go away? I have been calling the rat guy constantly and he says "it's a long process" but it's been a month and a half now and they seem to be getting more determined! I have removed all food and garbage from the house but I am going nuts will they give up eventually if theres no food?!? Any light you can shed on this would be great I cannot believe that the landlord paid for this IN FULL the first week now this lazy rat guy just comes once a week to set a few traps and disappears the rest of the time...I could have gone to home depot and done this!! HELP!!
David, I have enjoyed reading your articles on rat control. I found some droppings in my attic this past fall and immediately set some snap traps and bait stations. I caught one rat and they ate almost all of the bait. I thought I had the problem under control and then recently found dome droppings in another part of the attic. I have set more traps there today and they have already eaten some of the bait. There has been no other activity as far as droppings in the original area they were seen. Do rats move from one area to the next in a house? Do you have any more suggestions. I am getting 2 trees removed that hang over my roof. I am also getting a new roof in the next month. Hopefully this will help in the situation. Thanks, Mike
West Palm Beach 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.
