Rodents are notoriously destructive pests that can quickly cause irreparable damage to any home they inhabit, from chewing through electrical wires and insulation materials, to spreading disease.
Nests created by mice typically tend to be hidden, dark corners of your home where there is insulation or paper products for them to use as construction material.
Health Risks
Rats can carry various diseases that are harmful to people, which may spread via direct contact or through their droppings contaminating food and water supplies.
Rats can spread disease to people when bitten by fleas that feed off infected rats; for instance, the Black Plague that killed millions during Europe’s Middle Ages was spread via fleas carrying its infection on rats.
People can experience allergic reactions from exposure to rat urine, feces and dander – known as allergens – which can result in sneezing, itching and runny noses in humans.
Rats can carry and spread hantavirus, an extremely rare but potentially lethal virus, when exposed to dust from rats or handling or eating their feces, urine, or saliva. People can become infected by breathing in this dust or handling and/or eating any contaminated rat products like urine.
Property Damage
Rodents can wreak havoc in your home. They can chew through electrical cords, damage insulation and tear up storage materials like paper and plastic.
Rats not only cause physical damage to you and your family, they can also pose an extreme health threat. Rats can transmit diseases that affect humans such as plague and murine typhus which they carry from person-to-person contact.
Rats can be an annoying pest because they contaminate food supplies and leave behind urine and droppings that make your house smell awful.
Rodents can cause extensive damage to your home. Their nests may create structural issues and lead to leakage issues. Furthermore, rodents chew through electrical wires and drywall for access; costly repairs will ensue and possible house fires could ensue if left uncontrolled – therefore professional pest control services should be hired in order to eradicate rodents effectively.
Food Sources
Rats are adept opportunistic feeders and will seek food sources from nearly anywhere available to them – be it berries, seeds, nuts, bird seed or fallen fruit outside or pet food inside homes.
Rats will frequently raid garbage cans to feast upon dog waste, feces and any food left behind from householders or restaurants. Furthermore, they’re drawn to vegetable gardens and compost piles which provide plenty of sustenance.
Keep outdoor trash cans and dumpsters closed, as well as indoor messes tidy. If you maintain a compost pile, quickly dispose of obsolete and rotting fruits and vegetables as well as peels from potatoes or apples along with table scraps for prompt processing into compost.
Indoor rats are drawn to items that smell like food, such as soap, bird and grass seed, lard and genuine leather products stored in thin plastic or cardboard packaging – so keeping these sealed is an effective way of avoiding an infestation.
Cleaning Up
Once a rat invades your home, they can create havoc – including potential health risks – by leaving behind urine and droppings that must be cleaned up as quickly as possible. It is also crucial that any urine be flushed from the system quickly in order to limit future infestations of rodents in other rooms in your house.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests spraying areas liberally with disinfectant in order to kill germs quickly on contact, thus helping prevent disease transmission, pungent odors, and rats returning home.
Once sanitizing all contaminated areas, ventilate them for 30 minutes by opening doors and windows and wearing rubber, latex or vinyl gloves in order to avoid cross-contamination.
Clean rodent droppings and urine by spraying it with disinfectant (or 1 part bleach to 10 parts water solution), then leaving it for five to ten minutes before disposing. This will ensure germs are killed off while also helping absorb any disinfectants into the soil, thus limiting dust particles that might otherwise be released into the atmosphere.