Facts About Rats

The Norway Rat (brown rat) and the Roof Rat (black rat) are the two most common nuisance rats. Rats are commonly found in urban areas and these types of rats will go wherever they can find food and shelter. This is usually in buildings, mainly homes. Rats only need a tiny hole or crack to fit through although they seem large. Both brown and black rats eat different types of plant and animal foods but they also ruin food supplies by contamination from their urine and feces. 

The first signs that they are lurking around your home are the noises of scratching in the walls and attics. The most irritating thing is that they chew on anything they find including wires which can cause a fire hazard. They eat any food that you may have left out as well as leave droppings everywhere and this poses a dangerous risk to your health. Rats can carry all sorts of diseases such as Salmonella, Rickettsia pox and infectious jaundice to name a few. They live for about a year and they breed in very large numbers. 

When encountered they can bite and cause health problems this way. They are a nocturnal rodent that poses health risks. Even though they often live for less than a year, they can breed in large quantities

Facts About Mice

Mice weigh less than an ounce and can fit through very small openings. They are nocturnal and prefer to feed on seeds and grains although it does consume many types of food. They breed in very large quantities and cause damage to crops, food and even clothes. Mice only consume about three grams of food per day but they destroy a much larger area as they have a habit of discarding half eaten items. In the fields, they dig up grains that have just been planted. At homes they cause damage to wooden furniture by chewing away and they even chew on wires causing a fire hazard and the repair process will be costly.

Mice can be found in homes, shops, mills, poultry farms and burrows and live in places habited by humans. They will find small openings in walls to enter and chew away holes if they cannot access any. Mice are carriers of diseases like Tularemia, Plague and Murine Typhus. They are also carriers of tapeworm which are parasitic in nature and can reside in the intestine of human beings. 

Is There A Difference In Rat And Mice Trapping?

To completely remove rats and mice is simple but not an easy task. To remove both rodents, you simply have to follow the same steps but the difference is in the traps available for use for each rodent. There are four easy steps to follow to remove these rodents. 

The first step is inspection. This is the most important and hardest of all steps. You have to do an inspection of your building site, top to bottom, including gaps, vents, pipes, roof lines and any other tiny openings you find. Mice especially are capable of entering through holes as small as a dime so it is crucial to do a thorough inspection.

The next step is to seal all the openings that you have found. Rats and mice will chew their way in so use a material like steel that these rodents cannot get through. In the case of mice use sealant such as silicon or polyurethane so that they cannot smell the former entry hole and try to chew their way in. Do remember to seal every opening.

Trapping the mice and rats is the next step. Once the building has been sealed, you need to get rid of the rodents that are still present inside the site. Wooden snap traps are commonly used for rats and mice and are very effective. For mice, there are other alternative traps such as ones with a glue pad where the mouse can stick to so that it will be unable to move again while as for rats they have electrocution traps that will kill them with an electric current, neither of these methods are considered the best. There are few types of traps, with some being able to catch more than one rodent at a time but that depends on what you prefer to use. Do not use poison as an option.

The last step once the problem is solved is to remove all the rat and mice droppings from each area. Clean and decontaminate the area well as especially in the case of mice, they leave behind a scent that can attract new mice. This can be done by fogging where you’ve found them with a cleaner that’s enzyme based cleaner and an atomizer.