Tag Archives: rat droppings

Rat Infestation In Car

Rat (1)           Recently, one young Irish mother was buckling her toddler into his car seat when she noticed rat droppings all over the back seat and noticed gnaw-marks on the back seats and head rests.  Her car was infested with rats!  Of course, she immediately took her child out of the car, locked it, and called a friend for help.  She and her friend have tried to lure the rats out and poison them, but so far, they’re still a problem.

Anyone with little ones knows the car that the kids ride in the most is covered in toys, shed jackets, a few crayons or markers, and lots and lots of dropped food.  It’s a mecca for rats, mice or anything that can get inside.  There’s plenty to eat and lots of things to gnaw on.

This woman already had a phobia of rats, and now she’s terrified she’ll be driving down the road just to have one scamper over her foot.  I would be equally afraid that a rat would gnaw through a crucial wire or hose.

Ireland isn’t alone in its rat problems.  Plenty of U.S. cities are struggling right now to eradicate their rats.  New York City and Baltimore, for example, are making a concerted effort to take care of their rat infestations.  But, smaller, more rural towns which are overrun with the rodents may not have the resources yet to fully manage the problem.

Additionally, there is a great deal of controversy over cities laying out rat poison, which may cause secondary poisoning.  Secondary poisoning is when a rat has consumed rat poison and is then, in turn, consumed by a predator such as a cat, hawk, coyote or snake.  Recently, two bobcats were found dead on the East coast, after consuming rats who had not died yet from poisoning.  Bird lovers are dismayed by the deaths of hawks who had eaten poisoned rats.

But, a rat infestation is a serious danger.  We were already aware of numerous diseases that can be transmitted to humans from rats, but a recent study of New York City rats just revealed 18 additional previously unknown diseases harbored by the rodents.  That doesn’t even begin to address the structural or electrical damage rats can cause to buildings, and apparently also cars.

So, where do we draw the line between guarding against secondary poisoning to other animals and guarding the health and safety of human beings?

What size is rat poop?

rat removal

My husband and I have been debating this last week on the size of rat poop.  I’d like to think we were more high-brow than that, indulging in political discussions or loving debates over social issues.  But, no, it’s been about the size of rat poop, and now our three sweet and precocious children have joined in the discussion.

One morning, several days ago, I sent my husband off to work and my kids off to school as normal, and started in on my daily routine.  I clean the kitchen, wash the dishes and retire to my home office to dial into work.  After clearing off the breakfast table, I grabbed a broom and swept the floor underneath.  That’s when I noticed hard, little black pellets littering the floor.  At first, I didn’t think anything of it, but when I bent to sweep everything into the dust pan, it suddenly occurred to me to wonder, “What does rat poop actually look like?  Is this it?”

I got really upset at the thought of rats in the house.  I work really hard at keeping a clean home, despite three very active children.  I’m not saying it’s perfect and spotless, but it’s clean and sanitary, and I’ve always prided myself on an exceptionally clean kitchen.  So, why on earth would I find rat poop under the dining table??

The pellets were different sizes – some round, some oval, but they were all the same dark color, and I could tell they were the same consistency as they rolled around in the dust bin.

Disturbed, I told my family about it that afternoon as everyone came home, and I begged them all to be careful not to leave any food out.  I assumed my husband would have no issues with me calling in a rat exterminator, but he called the whole experience into question, asking me if I even knew the size of rat poop, or what rat droppings look like.

My eight year-old daughter raised the question of why I was so sure it was a rat.  Maybe it was a mouse?  My eleven year-old boy sided with his father, saying he thought rat poop was more uniform in size and shape.

I admit, I got exasperated.  In my mind, I was sure it was a rat and I was going to battle it until we had gotten rid of it.  Over the next couple of days, I’d find more black pellets.  I’d show the entire family and the discussion over the size of rat poop would rage on.

One night, the mystery was finally solved and the discussion put to rest.  It was late, and I noticed the light on in the kitchen.  I padded downstairs, thinking we had just forgotten to turn off the light before going to bed.  That’s when I saw him under the table.  My 6 year old son, who had remained fairly quiet in our family discussion of what rat poop looks like and the size of rat poop, was sitting cross-legged on the floor.  In his hands, he held a stale chocolate cupcake from a batch I made on Sunday.  Apparently, he’d squirreled some away, and snuck down each night to nibble on them while hiding under the table.  My “rat droppings” turned out to be chocolate cake crumbs.

Rodent Infestation


I clean and repair foreclosed homes for a living, so I’ve seen my share of rodent infestations, but this home was so horrific I had to shower at least four times after I got home from work.

Cleaning foreclosed homes is not the dream job, I’ll admit, but at least it’s a job.  Like many people, I worked in the construction business for a long time until the housing market dropped.  When I’m not repairing foreclosed homes and cleaning them, I’m a flooring guy.  I lay carpet, hardwood floors, tile and vinyl.  I’m used to the muck and guck of ripping out old floors and finding everything from pet urine to bugs underneath.  So, you’d think I wouldn’t be as disgusted by the remnants of a rodent infestation as other guys.  Usually, that’s true, until I got to this house.

When I arrived, it was obvious from the exterior that the home had been abandoned for a while.  The lawn was seriously overgrown with weeds, the tree out front was dead, and untrimmed bushes practically hid the front door.  Abandoned homes don’t usually stay abandoned for long.  Wild animals nearly always move in, attracted by a warm, protected shelter and any food source they can find within.  Trash, old food, and bugs are plentiful inside some of these abandoned places, so I often have to deal with getting rid of a rodent infestation.

I think I actually gasped when I walked into this place, though.  The place was covered with hard little black pellets.  It looked like a raisin processing plant had exploded in there.

Rat eating a baby bird
Rat walking around with it’s prey.
(Artwork by Sharon Davis. Contact us for her contact info.)

Most times, you can tell when a home is infested with rodents, because rat droppings or mouse droppings will follow a trail.  Rats like to stay up against walls, feeling their way along the wall with their whiskers, so they’ll leave rat droppings in a little trail.  The kitchen counters in this home had the tell-tale rat trail up against the wall, but that was just a small portion of what I saw.  The entire floor, all counter surfaces, the stove, the oven, the refrigerator and every cabinet was covered in rat droppings.

I moved through the home, investigating the living room area, the bedrooms and the bathrooms.  I could actually see little clouds of dust rise up as the nastiness crunched under my feet.  Fortunately, my training had kicked in before I had even walked into the home, and I’d put on my respirator and protective clothing and gloves.  I carried my camera with me and snapped pictures to send off to the bank that handled the foreclosure and their property management division.  I suspected this property would probably be condemned, and had to document everything carefully for insurance and everyone else who would have to get involved.

I have to admit, I was extremely relieved I didn’t actually see the rats.  I had no idea where they were hiding, but there had to be hoards of them.  Only a serious rodent infestation would do that to a house.  I ripped off my respirator as soon as I got back to the safety of my truck, and carefully removed the protective gloves and clothing, disposing of them safely in a plastic bag.  Then, I made the call to the property management company so they could decide what to do next.

No matter how many showers I took and how often I washed my hands, though, it was days before I felt clean again.

Rat Droppings

Rat droppings just do not belong in your office’s break room.  I work in a typical office, filled with cubicles littered with pictures that remind each employee why they’re working so hard to bring in a paycheck.  Some hours of the day are fairly quiet, the sound of keyboards clacking and phones ringing fill the air.  Some hours of the day are pretty noisy, as co-workers socialize briefly before passing files onto someone else and sit back down to a fresh stack of their own.  Occasionally, someone tells a pretty raucous joke, or a highly-entertaining story about the weekend, and laughter circulates.  Certain days of the month are more stressful, when business normally picks up and deadlines loom.  Those are the days when people are more likely to snap at each other or pick up an old bickering conversation.  But, most of the time, it’s not a bad way to spend the days, weeks and months in order to pay for homes, cars, groceries and occasional vacations.

Our office doesn’t have an office administrator or office manager.  We’re all expected to keep our workstations clean and pick up after ourselves.  But, when there’s something bigger that needs to be repaired or maintained, the unspoken rule of the office is:  The person who complains is the person who maintains.  So, everyone pretends they don’t notice the air conditioning is broken so they don’t have to be the one to contact the repairman, oversee the work, and submit the paperwork.  Eyes are averted when the office refrigerator is opened, because no one wants to be the one to admit it really needs to be cleaned out.

I just about gagged when I noticed rat droppings in the break room, though.  It was impossible that the three other people who previously occupied the room failed to notice the black, round pellets scattered across the floor and one of the countertops.  I faced a dilemma.  Do I turn a blind eye, and tell myself that someone must have spilled their raisins?  Do I break out the gloves and cleaner and pick up the mess, keeping silent about the problem?  Or, do I take the proverbial bull by the horns, and take on the responsibility for getting a rat exterminator out to the office, getting nothing but paperwork and hassle for my effort?  The boss would probably also make me send an email around to my co-workers letting them know we have now attracted rats to the building, and making them empty food out of their desk drawers.  Yeah, that’d make me real popular.

But, rat droppings!  You can’t just let that slide by and hope the problem goes away.  Rats could be scurrying all through the walls right now, waiting for us to turn off the light so they can scamper out and run all over our desks, spreading diseases and filth.

I sighed as I realized I couldn’t just leave rat droppings in the break room, nor could I ignore the rat problem.  I definitely needed a raise, though!