If you’re an Aiken homeowner who takes pride in keeping your home comfortable and safe, then rodent prevention needs to be on the top of your list. Homeowners who think that rats are a simple nuisance don’t understand half of the danger and damage they can bring to your property. Once you learn the scary truth about rats, you’ll pay a little bit more attention to the best forms of rodent control.
Medical Dangers And Home Maintenance
The rats who typically invade Aiken homes are usually dark brown or black, ranging from six to ten inches in length, which doesn’t include the tail. Although rats can be rather intimidating (especially when you see one inside your house), it’s not their robust size that you should be worried about.
On the contrary, rats have incredibly large front teeth, which is a feature they share with all rodents. These large incisors are constantly growing, requiring rats to chew and gnaw on anything they can to keep these teeth shaved down. That’s why rats will chew up almost any material in your home that winds up in front of them, including your stored items, wood, drywall, shoes, laundry, linens, wiring, and AC ducts.
Along with potential damage to your home, a rat infestation also puts your health at risk. You see, the rats in the Aiken area thrive off of human waste and trash. Their search for food sources often leads them to local landfills, dumpsters, and even sewers, leaving them exposed to a variety of bacteria.
Unfortunately, the bacteria is incredibly dangerous to humans, but rats can easily spread it all over your home, contaminating your stored food and food preparation areas through contact or their toxic feces. That’s why many rat infestations often put you at risk of incurring dangerous diseases like salmonella, E.coli, and others.
Prevention Procedures
With that much health danger and home damage on the line, many homeowners want to do everything they can to keep rats out of their houses. However, it’s much more difficult than it sounds. First of all, rats are very resourceful and flexible, able to squeeze their bodies into holes barely larger than a quarter. Plus, those same teeth that allow rats to damage the items in your home also allow them to widen any existing holes or cracks in your home’s foundation, giving them nearly unlimited access.
So how do you keep something out of your house when it seems to have been designed by nature to get in? Preventative solutions are hard to find, so you should probably work on reducing the factors that attract rats to your property in the first place. The best ways to do this include:
- Cleaning regularly to avoid crumbs
- Mowing the lawn regularly
- Trimming back tree branches to limit roof access
- Decluttering the yard to prevent potential hiding spots
- Picking up fallen fruit in the yard
- Storing pet food and birdseed carefully both inside and outside
- Keeping outdoor trash in secure locations
Health And Safety May Require Professional Help While these methods can be effective, rats can still take an interest in your property as a good source of food or water.
Homeowners who come across a rat infestation in their house often make the mistake of trying to put out poison or traps to take care of rats one at a time. Unfortunately, rats are very prolific and will reproduce a lot more quickly than your tactics will keep up with.
The most effective and safest way to handle a rat infestation is to contact the professionals at Aiken Pest Control. They are your local source with a proven track record of outstanding service and prevention plans.