Category Archives: Rats

Anything to do with rats

Dead Rat

I don’t know if you’ve ever smelled a dead rat, but it’s not pleasant that’s for sure. It was roughly a year ago when my wife Justine and I discovered that our new house (of only three months) had a rat problem; no wonder it sold so easily. It took us a while to realize that our moving boxes hadn’t had holes in them when we moved, and all of our food was intact when it was packed away. The hard part wasn’t getting rid of the rats, but convincing Justine that traps and poison were the way to go. As an animal lover she was hesitant to bring harm to any creature, she wouldn’t even swat flies in the house! At first we tried to just block off any place we were suspicious that they could get in, but then we discovered that the rats had chewed holes in our couch, the one Justine’s grandma left to her when she died. After that there was no mercy for any vermin in the Nielsen home! We set out traps in hopes to catch all the rats red handed.
My master plan didn’t settle well with my wife, and when she found a dead rat under her desk, twisted grotesquely in a trap, she called for a cease fire and told me she would not let me set anymore traps, she couldn’t stand the sight of the poor, dead rodents. I was a little aggravated at this change in my strategies, but they changed nonetheless. I know who makes the rules in my house. As they say in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, “A man may be the head of the house, but a woman is the neck and she can turn the head any way she pleases,” so I set out poison instead, that way none of the rats would die in the house, but in their nests instead. Wherever they may be.
Awkwardly for us, the nest turned out to be underneath the house, and as I said before, the smell of dead rat isn’t an enjoyable one. What was worse was that our cat, Minny, LOVED to catch mice (I know we should have just let her go for the rats but I was ready for war!) and these were bigger, faster, more challenging, and apparently more appeasing. She chased and caught maybe two or three or more of the already poisoned rats, and got VERY sick. Now, not only did we have to live with the smell of the dead rats, but also with the smell and sound of an ill pussycat, none of which I’d like to experience again. We were in and out of the vet’s office for a month, not to mention I had to crawl under the house to clear out the rotting animals. This took a lot longer than I thought it would just for a couple of dead rats.

Rats!!

rats1We get a lot of questions about rats.  What do rats like to eat?  Why are rats in my home?  What do rat droppings look like?  How do I get rid of rats?

 

Roof rats, Norway rats, black rats, pack rats, kangaroo rats, naked mole rats, cotton rats.  Not all creatures called “rats” are actually of the rat family, but when you’re dealing with a rat infestation, you probably don’t care what type of rat you have, you just want them gone.  Unfortunately, different types of rats behave differently, which means that you need to know what kind of rats are breeding around you so that you can most effectively get rid of them.  That’s one real advantage to having a rat catcher / wildlife removal expert.  With a little investigation, they can tell what kind of rats are infesting your house or building, and they have the expertise and tools to get rid of that particular type of rat.

 

Rat teeth are constantly growing, so a rat must continually gnaw on things to keep them a manageable size.  Combine that need with strong teeth and powerful jaw muscles, and rats can chew through pretty much anything, including concrete and lead pipes.  A rat can bite with the force of 12 tons per square inch (a great white shark bites with 20 tons per square inch.)  Ouch!!  So, once rats are in a building or a home, anything is fair game for gnawing.  Wood joists, wires, boxes, soffit, pretty much any building material and personal property.

 

Rats will eat pretty much anything and gnaw on everything. They are opportunistic feeders, which means if they can get at it, they’ll eat it.  Grains, meat, fish, seeds, fruit, snails, insects, pet food, leather, fur and other rodents.  Keeping lids tight on garbage cans, getting rid of bird feeders, and cutting off access to gardens and food storage will all help limit a rat’s access, but they’re quite capable of climbing, jumping and chewing their way in if they’re determined.  Allstate Animal Control has a slick rodent barrier that prevents rodents from digging under a fence and climbing up fences, trees or telephone posts to gain access to a food source.

 

Rat droppings are compact black pellets that look very much like a bean or raisin.  Their droppings usually measure about ¼ to ¾ of an inch long, and are usually found in their traffic areas, outside the structure, by window wells, window ledges, or access holes.

 

Rats can get into a home through a tiny opening.  Holes left by woodpeckers, openings around pipes, a weak soffit or other roofing material are excellent access points for rats, and you may notice the entryway is black and greasy from a rat’s body oils.  Finding and sealing one opening, though, may not be enough.  They will likely have more than one entrance point.  Again, a professional rat trapper can inspect your building or home, locate and seal up these little holes.

 

Picking up a few traps at a hardware store and setting them around heavily trafficked areas is definitely an option for homeowners, but since rats are such prolific breeders, it’s likely you have more rats in the walls or attic or under the floor than you can see or catch.  Rat poison is another option, but introduces possible harm or even death to children or animals who get overly curious. Also, rats are smart and learn to quickly avoid most poisons set out for them.  Keep in mind that rats pack a painful bite, carry diseases (sometimes fatal diseases), and get very feisty and ornery when cornered.  The absolute best way of getting rid of rats is to have a professional trapper come out to your building.  They have the expertise, the tools and the experience to find out which kind of rat you’re dealing with, use the most effective methods of exterminating rats or trapping rats or killing rats, and do what is needed to keep rats from coming back.

Rat Infestation in Washington, D.C. Neighborhoods

Rat (4)Rat Urine Kills Pet in D.C Neighborhood

A 13-week-old dog in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. recently died from a disease transmitted by rodent urine.  Residents have long been frustrated by the rodent problem, but this has tipped the scales for Foggy Bottom Association President Marina Streznewski.  The dog was her pet, and now the rat problem is personal.  The association has been working to get the rat problem under control for a while, but now she is reaching out to other local groups with proposals they work together.  She’s also pushing for new compactor trash cans that block rodents from getting into the garbage.  Rats can easily climb the current typical trash can models and access waste just lying at the top.  Efforts are being made to put a grant program into place for businesses so they can more easily purchase the new trash cans.  But, the rodent problem won’t be solved by new trash cans alone.  Bushes must be cleared, rat burrows must be treated, and neighborhoods must work together if they hope to get the rodent infestation under control.

Rats, Disease, and Rat Mites

Rat Mite, courtesy of Biodisc/Visuals Unlimited, Inc.

It’s well-known that rats are responsible for spreading lots of diseases, and recently researchers have discovered 18 more unknown viruses carried by New York City’s rats.  As if they weren’t already bad enough!  But, of course, we know that rats are found all over the United States, not just in the big cities, and we should all be aware that they present a very real and serious health risk.

According to the CDC, the diseases we know of that are transmitted from rodents to humans include: Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome, Lassa Fever, Leptospirosis, Lymphocytic Chorio-meningitis (LCM), Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever, Plague, Rat-Bite Fever, Salmonellosis, South American Arenaviruses, and Tularemia.  Awful, right?

Now, let’s add to that the fact that rats have tiny parasites called rat mites that live on rats and inside their nests and feed off rat blood.  But, rat mites are capable of living without a rat host, and are perfectly happy to feed off human blood.  If you have rat mites, you have a rat problem, and it’s time to get rid of those rats.  The advantage to having Allstate Animal Control send someone out to take care of your rat problem is you get experts who are experienced at getting rid of the rats that are breeding in your structure, as well as sanitizing and repairing the area they infested so rat mites don’t seek out new hosts (aka you, your family or your pets).  They can also inspect your home or other building to seek out and seal up all entrance points to prevent the rats from returning and keep other wild animals out.

Rats In House

 

Rat (1)

Oh, no, this will not do, we will have no more rats in the house, uh uh, no way. I don’t know how the dirty damn things got in my house, or why they chose us. I run a clean home. We don’t live in a museum or anything, that’s not what I’m saying. We live in a cute little clean home, though, and I refuse to let rats in the house destroy it.
But, we are losing this battle, and I am ready to drop kick the little suckers into next year if I have to.
I first noticed we might have a rat in the house when I went through the Christmas decorations that I keep in the downstairs office. There were holes chewed right through the cardboard boxes, and little rat turds sprinkled in the tinsel and garlands. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d up and had babies right there in and amongst the nativity scenes and tree ornaments. At least there wasn’t anything dead in there, but just knowing they had made free with my decorations was enough to give me the shivers.
I made everyone tear through the house, looking for little rat holes or rat droppings. My niece found half an eaten potato in the pantry. Oh, no, we not only have rats in the house but they’re in the kitchen, too?! It was on, I was at war.
We put out traps, sealed up all the food, cleaned up all the rat turds. It obviously wasn’t enough. The rats in the house chewed through the water line to the refrigerator next. Oh, yes, they did, chewed enough holes in it that water soaked up underneath the floor boards and ran down the wall into a closet downstairs. Water damage on two floors, all because some furry little rodent can’t keep clear of my house and keep its teeth off pipes.
We caught two rats with the kind of rat traps you get at the hardware store, and I thought, phew, we don’t have anymore rats in the house. But, it turns out I was wrong, because the next thing you know, we found out that a rat had made its way into a guest bedroom, chewed a hole into the closet where we keep all our extra winter clothes, and made a rat nest and had babies inside a spare skiing jacket. It chewed its way clean through the jacket lining and used the inside fluff to make a nest for disgusting rat babies.
This will not do. I cannot have rats in my house. We are a clean family and I expect our home to be free of rats, so you gotta send someone out here ASAP to trap the rats, kill the rats, whatever you gotta do to get them out of my house.

Dead Rat In Wall

get rid of rats

 

My apartment smells like sewage, and the maintenance guys for the apartment complex told me it’s probably a dead rat in the wall.  We’ve been having a rat problem outside in our area, which is bad enough, but when the rats get inside the building and then die in the walls, it’s awful.

When I was in high school, a rat died in the wall of my Mom’s house.  It smelled like urine and decay and it was just awful.  It had died inside one of the walls of the downstairs bathroom, and we had to have someone come in and tear up the walls of the bathroom until they found the dead rat and removed it.  So, I know what you’re supposed to do if you have a dead rat inside the wall.

But, the maintenance guys for my apartment complex figured they’d just do something else, something simple.  They came in and re-caulked the top and bottom of the walls and then  left, saying I’d have to just deal with the smell until the rat had decayed enough that it stopped smelling.  Uh, yeah, great idea.  Or not.  Who wants to live with an apartment that smells like sewage and dead rat??  I would think they’d have to check the pipes to see if somehow rats have damaged them, and then go inside the wall to remove the dead rat.  Because, a decomposing rat means that, not only are there nasty smells, but probably lots and lots of bugs, too.

I had a party planned for this weekend, but I’m going to have to cancel it or maybe convince one of my friends to have it at their place.  I can’t even stand to hang out in my front room, which is where the smell is worst, so how can I expect my friends to come over and sit around in that room?

The smell is so bad in that front room that I don’t even relax in there anymore.  I walk inside, holding my breath, go straight to the kitchen to drop my stuff off and get dinner, and then go straight to my bedroom, where I work on the computer and watch TV until it’s time to sleep.  I’m furious the maintenance people won’t do anything about the dead rat in my wall, other than just add a little caulk to “seal out the smell.”  But, I called the property manager, and convinced him to reduce my rent for next month by what it would cost me to get the dead rat removed out of the wall.  That doesn’t help me if there’s a problem with the pipes, but at least it gets the dead rat out of the wall.  One step at a time, I guess.

Rat in the House

“Well, of course there’s a rat in the house.  That’s just great.”  I was speaking to myself, of course.  There wasn’t anyone else around at the moment to fully appreciate the resigned and slightly sarcastic tone in my voice.  There were days I loved being a mother of four.  There were days I was so proud my husband was serving in Afghanistan that I didn’t mind being a single parent for another six months.  This was not one of those days.  This had been the kind of day that ends with me sending the kids to bed early and in tears because I was just too sick of their fighting to bear one more minute.  This had been the kind of day that ends with me sitting on my bed, eyes glazed, can of whatever in my hand, and an open bag of some kind of junk food.  This had been that kind of day.

It had started off badly, when I overslept.  I’d stayed up late, because I had a chance to talk briefly with my husband.  His call had been delayed for some reason, but we did finally talk.  I miss him terribly.  I miss my partner.  After our conversation, I stayed up even later, feeling sorry for us and wishing he could come home and stay home forever.

Oversleeping means that the children are late for school.  When I did wake up, chaos began.  I had to yell at Martin for watching television before school, and make him get himself dressed and ready for first grade.  Andrea pretended like she was still asleep, until I threatened to sing our Good Morning song, and then she was up like a shot and whining and complaining that life was sooooo unfair to her.  Cody and Brady fought each other in their sleep, I think, because they woke up angry at each other and didn’t stop fighting all day long.

I got them all off to school, eventually, although Andrea missed her bus and I had to drive her to junior high.  That meant I was late for work at the recreation center, which meant I missed our morning meeting and had to sit in my boss’ office for ten minutes while she told me how important it was to get to work on time.  My boss is fifteen years younger than I am, and feels she has something to prove.

Work didn’t get any better during the day, but I managed to stick it out and make it home in time for the kids to come home.  Helping them with their homework seemed like a special punishment designed for the worst levels of hell.  By the time everyone had finished homework and eaten dinner, I wanted to kill everyone.

I survived another couple of hours while their fighting, bickering and complaining increased, and finally had enough.  They all went to bed early, and I lay on my bed, too dazed to cry.

That’s when I saw the rat in the house.  It stopped in the middle of my bedroom floor and just looked at me.  “Good timing, stupid,” I thought, “I’m just spoiling for a fight!”

Rat in the House

rat removal

Laundry is one of those chores I actually don’t mind, as long as a rat in the house is not part of the process.  My wife loathes doing the laundry.  She would much rather take care of the garbage, the vacuuming or the dishes.  She says she can’t stand sorting through dirty laundry, looking through the pockets of our boys’ pants to make sure they don’t contain rocks, sticks or other debris they treasure for a moment until it’s forgotten in the dark recesses of their pants.  Once everything’s finally washed, my wife just cannot stand turning clothes right-side-out, folding them, and fighting with our boys to put them away before they are unfolded.  Plus, she says the process dries her hands out.  So, I made a deal with her – she takes care of the garbage, and I will stay on top of the laundry.

 

Rat
A typical rat.
(Artwork by Sharon Davis. Contact us for her contact info.)

I keep my end of the deal, and secretly rejoice that I don’t have to face the disgusting garbage can ever again.

 

So, one night, after we put the boys to bed, I trundled off into the laundry room with the upstairs hamper in tow, and proceeded to prepare the clothes for the washing machine.  My elbow bumped the liquid detergent, and some of it spilled onto the floor, so I pulled open the drawer on the bottom of the dryer to grab a rag with which I could wipe up the sticky detergent before it made a bright blue path under the machines and down the drain.  It was at that moment that I discovered we have a rat in the house.

 

Apparently, the rat in the house loves the warmth that comes from the dryer, and the relative quiet it enjoys in that laundry room, since I’m the only one who really uses it.  It had made a nest out of the rags that I’d neatly folded up long ago and placed in the drawer.  I have no idea if the rat explored the rest of the house often, or if it just stuck to the laundry room, feasting on whatever tidbits I’d fished out of the boys’ pockets and tossed in the small garbage can.  And, I have to admit, I was simultaneously glad my wife hadn’t been the one to discover the rat in the house, and jealous of her.  Really, of the two of us, you would have thought the one who dealt with the garbage would be more likely to discover a rat in the house.  But, no, it was me.

 

Fortunately, we’d already used Allstate Animal Control in the past, when we’d discovered another critter digging holes in the lawn.  So, it was a no-brainer to email them again and have them get rid of the rat in the house.

 

You know, after that incident, I haven’t left a single pile of laundry just sitting in the laundry room.  I hate to imagine a rat making a nest in our clothes!

 

 

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.

How long does dead rat smell?

rat removal

“How long does a dead rat smell for?”  I blinked when I read my brother’s Facebook status update.  Who says that?  He usually likes to have political discussions with his Facebook friends or put up pictures of his kids.  But, this was random.  I had to know what was going on, so I sent him a message.

“Is this a real rat or a political rat?  LOL”

“Very funny,” came back his reply.

Now, my curiosity was piqued.  What on earth was he talking about?  I decided to email him instead.  “Who asks that kind of question?  How long does a dead rat smell?”

He replied pretty quickly.  “I’m serious.  I need to know how long a dead rat smells.  We had some rats in the garage and I set out some poison, and now I’m stuck with this nasty smell, and I want to know how long I’m going to have to deal with it.  Any ideas?”

Unfortunately, I did have a good idea, since I’d dealt with that same thing a few years ago.  My son was poking around the attic one day and apparently found a dead rat.  From what I understand, he’d gotten my work gloves out, put the dead rat in a box, and carried it down to his room with thoughts of using it for a science project.  He got distracted with something else, the dead rat box got shoved under his bed, and two days later the entire family had to search the entire house in an attempt to discover the source of an awful stench.  Eventually, my son remembered the dead rat from the attic.  The box was retrieved and his room was cleaned and sanitized.  So, how long does a dead rat smell?  At least two days, and probably a lot longer than that!

This wasn’t the answer my brother needed, though.  It was summer, and if the dead rat was in the garage, it would probably decompose fairly quickly, with a lot of flies and stench involved.  My brother and his wife had taken to parking their cars outside instead of using their nice, big garage for its intended purpose, just to avoid having to smell the dead rat.  Letting it decompose on its own, then, was really not a good solution.  They had to get rid of the dead rat.  His Facebook friends all agreed.

I suggested a good rodent removal company, and he got them out there pretty quickly.  Good thing he did, too, because it turned out he had more than one dead rat rotting in his garage.  There had been an entire rat nest.  They found it in one of the boxes containing Halloween decorations.  Appropriate, don’t you think?  The whole box got tossed and rat traps were set.  My brother’s family could go back to actually using their garage and my brother went back to his Facebook political discussions.  We never did find out the answer to that question, though.  How long does a dead rat smell?  The answer is, no one wants to deal with the dead rat long enough to find out.