What Fort Lauderdale Homeowners Need To Know For Effective Rat Control

Homes should keep people comfortable; this is why they typically come with built-in heating and cooling. No matter what the weather or temperature is like outdoors, your home provides you with a safe and enjoyable place to rest. Unfortunately, rats feel the same way. As winter continues here in Fort Lauderdale, rats will be looking for ways to get into your comfortable home. Today, we have some information and a few effective rat control tips to help keep these furry invaders outside where they belong.

A Basic Description Of Rats

There are two different species of rats here in Fort Lauderdale: Norway rats and roof rats. Norway rats are precisely what you expect to see when you hear the word rat. This large rodent has a long body and a wide hind section. Roof rats, on the other hand, are much smaller and more agile. Often mistaken for mice, these rodents love climbing up or jumping onto the roofs of homes.

Rats are omnivores by nature, meaning they eat both plants and meat. Unlike humans, however, rats don't care if food has gone bad. They love food when it is right out of the oven, and they love food after you throw it away a week later.

Why Rats Invade Homes

You probably don't know this, but your home is a massive habitat for rats. Your wall voids provide them with the protection they need to build a shelter, your faucets and pipes give them a reliable source of water, and your stocked pantries and leftovers make it easy for them to find food.

Problems Rats Cause

There are very few pests as dangerous as rats. Crawling around in filthy areas and eating rotting food, rodents pick up a variety of disease-causing organisms. Rats spread these organisms throughout homes through their fecal matter, urine, and off of their bodies. By getting into food around homes and interacting with areas where homeowners cook and eat, rats put families at risk. Some of the most common diseases rats might spread inside your home include salmonellosis, hantavirus, rat-bite fever, leptospirosis, and lymphocytic choriomeningitis.

Rats are not only dangerous, but they are also destructive. Using their sharp and strong front teeth, these pests chew on or through anything in sight. You have probably seen a hole through a wall that a rat created or gnawed marks on furniture, but did you also know these pests chew through electrical wires and utility piping. This chewing sometimes leads to electrical fires and severe water damage inside homes.

Ways To Manage Rats

Your home is attractive and accessible to rats, but it doesn't have to be. To prevent these rodents from invading your property, use these simple prevention tips.

• Use a caulking gun and some steel wool to seal up gaps and cracks in your exterior foundation.
• Repair damage to window and door screens.
• Trim back tree branches and bushes at least five feet from your home's exterior.
• Eliminate clutter and debris around your yard.
• Declutter and organize your storage areas.
• Clean your home regularly, and try to limit the number of rooms where you eat food.
• Store leftover food inside airtight containers.
• Repackage food stored in cardboard boxes or plastic bags into more robust containers.
• Clean out your pet's food and water bowls after every meal.

For additional help preventing rodents, or to have an infestation removed from your Fort Lauderdale home, get the professionals at Native Pest Management involved. We will get one of our friendly pest control technicians out your way ASAP, with a quick and reliable solution to any pest problems you are facing.

Give us a call or message us through our website for more information, or if you'd like us to schedule a home pest control or commercial pest control visit.