What is the best way to get rid of rats in my house?

Idioms about rats fill the English language. Turn of phrases like “smells like a rat”, “rat race”, “ratting on someone”, and “looking like a drowned rat”. They’re unanimously negative. Ultimately, because humans don’t like rodents. Rats scurry into your home, likely gnawing and clawing your belongings while bringing parasites and diseases where your family lives. If you suspect you have a rat in your Florida home, you need to act quickly. Before they start multiplying. Superior Spray Service, your Florida pest control experts, can help you answer “Why are there rats can in my house?” once and for all.

Rats simply exist to survive. They don’t discriminate when choosing where to invade. If an opportunity exists, a rat will take it. They make their way into your home in search of food, water, or shelter. Of course, having access to all of these resources makes your home more tempting to rats. Especially if these items become scarce in their current environment. That’s why rodents often show up when temperatures drop, seasonal vegetation disappears, and standing water dries up.

Sure the above reasons are the general reason rats enter houses. However, you want to know why they choose your house and not your neighbor’s! Inadvertently, you may have made your home more attractive to rodents. Any of the following factors may be the reason rats were attracted to your home:

 

• Fruit or vegetable trees and shrubbery
• Flowering gardens 
• Bird & squirrel feeders
• Water features (Koi ponds, fountains, bird baths)
• Outdoor pet food and water bowls 
• Poor drainage & standing water
• Tall grass & weeds
• Wood piles 
• Plants against your home
• Open storage
• Unsealed food in your home
• Clutter and crumbs on floors / countertops
• Unsealed trash cans 
• Any damage to your home that allows easier entry for rats (i.e. worn weatherstripping, broken windows, open windows/doors, etc.)

If you have a rodent problem, it is best to call a pest professional to handle the situation. Vermin are known for their unsanitary practices and tend to carry diseases. However, there are a few remedies that will make your home less desirable to rats. These include:

• Seal any and all entry points.
• Use sealed containers for food
• Clean up garbage and clutter. 
• Keep your yard maintained
• Stack wood away from your home
• Keep fruit / vegetable gardens further from your home, at the edge of your property if possible. 

That being said, once you’ve seen a rat in your home it is extremely likely that they are more. Rats are social animals, travel in packs and are able to reproduce at a rapid rate. A single female rat can produce 35 babies a year. 2 females = 70 rats, 3 females = 105 rats, and so on. Before you know it, you can have a serious rodent problem on your hands.

The best way to get rid of your rodent problem is by calling a professional pest control operator like those at Superior Spray Service in Florida. We offer rodent prevention, removal, and extermination as part of our pest control services for homes and businesses in Lakeland, Tampa, Orlando, Pensacola, Pace, Milton, Navarre and the surrounding areas of Central and Northwest Florida.