Roof Rats 101: What You Should Know About Winter Roof Rat Problems
Roof rats are among the most dangerous and damaging pests to invade a home. They are very agile creatures with black or brown fur, large ears, long tail, and pointed nose. Why are they called roof rats? They get their name due to their ability to climb well.
How do roof rats enter homes?
Homeowners often encounter rodent issues during the cold weather. When the temperature starts to drop, roof rats scurry to seek food, shelter, and warmth for living comfortably and reproducing. They use their agility to climb up the home through tree branches and downspouts and look for entry points like small gaps and holes in the crawl spaces or roof, open windows, or chew through wood boards or loose shingles to enter homes that offer all the essentials to survive cold weather.
After moving inside the house, they usually inhabit attics and upper parts of homes and buildings and can cause severe issues. Here are some roof rat problems homeowners can experience in winter:
They multiply quickly
Roof rats are great invaders and multiply at an alarming rate after finding a safe place to mate and reproduce. Female rats can give birth to several babies in a single litter. With a low gestational period and a faster rate of maturing sexually, the population can quickly explode and get tougher to eliminate.
Property damage
Roof rats are highly destructive and cause severe structural damage to property. They can gnaw through walls, pipes, insulation, wiring, and other home structures and are even known to start house fires. They can ruin the furniture, create annoying noises, damage appliances, nest in the walls, and destroy papers and clothes. Rodents are destructive - they cause billions of dollars worth of damage every year in the USA. Roof rat invasion can go undetected until their population has become huge and caused significant damage.
Food contamination and diseases
Roof rats contaminate food supplies and carry various disease-causing bacteria and pathogens. They infect humans through their urine, saliva, bite, and feces. Roof rats can spread diseases like rat-bite fever, plague, hantavirus, typhus, salmonellosis, and leptospirosis. Their urine and droppings can create an unhealthy living environment and trigger allergies. Roof rats also bring fleas and ticks in their fur, which can infect pets and family members.
Signs of roof rat invasion
Spotting a dead or live rat
Presence of droppings
Noticing damaged electrical wires and ductwork or gnaw marks around the house
Hearing strange sounds from inside the walls or ceiling
How to prevent roof rat infestation
Roof rats can enter homes even through the tiniest of holes. The following tips can help you avoid roof rat invasion in winter:
Trim the trees and bushes
Use caulk to seal all gaps and cracks in the home’s foundation and around windows and doors
Fix leaky pipes and fixtures
Remove clutter and debris from your yard
Keep gutters clean and clog-free
Use sealed containers to store food
Ensure the roof is free from any issues, like loose flashing or missing shingles
Tightly secure the lids on the trash can.
Get professional pest control
Roof rats are highly adaptable, and it is tough to control an infestation as they nest in hard-to-access areas. The most effective way to eliminate roof rats this winter is to hire a reliable pest control service.
San Tan Pest And Weed Control offer reliable pest control for residential and commercial customers in Mesa, Tempe, Ahwatukee, Phoenix, Lower Santan Village, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Gilbert, and Chandler. Our pest management services control scorpions, ants, termites, bees, wasps, fleas, rodents, cockroaches, weeds, and more. We provide attic and crawl space cleaning and home sealing services to keep pests out. Call us at (480)405-0690.
