Rats are one of the common pests found in Australia, mostly in urban areas like Melbourne. These rodents are not only simply a nuisance but are also significant health risks due to diseases carried and damage your properties may suffer. If you heard scurrying sounds in your ceiling or saw signs of rats in the house, taking immediate action is a must so that infestation does not reach a full-blown state. In this blog, we will guide you on how to get rid of rats in the roof with insights coming from 7 State Pest Control, a leading provider of pest control in Melbourne for rats.
Why Rats Infest Roofs?
Rats are opportunistic, always on the lookout for food, water, and shelter. Roofs come out especially in homes which have attics or crawl spaces because of their fabulous nesting conditions for such pests.
Here’s why roofs are attractive to rats:
- Security from Predators: Rats feel safer in elevated places as these places are least liked to be hunted by predators like cats or larger birds.
- Warmth: Roof spaces are warm, especially during cooler periods, so they make a perfect nesting ground.
- Accessibility: Rats are excellent climbers and can scale walls or trees or pipes and reach the roofs. Gaps left by vents and loose tiles make them an easy entry point.
- Food Sources: When food sources are nearby, rats will camp in your roof so they’ll not be far from their next meal.
How To Know If Rats Are Present In Your Roof?
Before calling the reinforcements, it will be a good idea to confirm first that rats are indeed living in your roof. Here are the signs of a rat infestation:
- Scratching Sounds: one of the most common indicators are rustling, scurrying or chewing sounds, primarily at night when rats are most active.
- Droppings: rat droppings tend to be found in hidden, inaccessible areas of the home such as corners, near food stores. Droppings are typically small, black, and torpedo-shaped.
- Gnaw Marks: rats enjoy gnawing on wood, electrical cables, and insulation. So, if you have torn-up wires or chewed furniture, you can rest assured that you have a rat infestation.
- Footprints or Grease Marks: Greasy marks and footprints by walls or along their travel paths are left by rats because of the oils from their fur. Also, in dusty areas, you can find small footprints or even tail drag marks.
- Nesting Materials: Rats use soft materials in making their nests, which may include insulation, paper, and cloth. Shredded materials under your roof or attic mean that rats are present.
Dangers of Having Rats in Roof
Having rats in the roof presents several problems:
- Health Hazards: The rats are diseases, lepto hantavirus, and salmonella. These can easily be transmitted to man through contact with rat droppings or urine.
- Structural Damage: Rats gnaw everything including wooden beams, pipes, wiring, and insulation which increases the risk of a fire. Rats have even damaged insulation, pipes, and wooden beams.
- Rapid Reproduction: One pair of rats can reproduce very fast. Within three months, you would have a full-blown infestation if it is not addressed early on.
How to Eliminate Rats from Your Roof?
Getting rid of rats in the roof requires step by step handling. Here are the most effective ways of getting rid of them:
- Inspect and Seal Entry Points: Dealing with a rat infestation involves proceeding through the first step of identifying and sealing entry points they may be using to gain access to your roof. Common entry points include the following:
- Gaps between roofing tiles or shingles
- Broken or damaged vents
- Holes around pipes or wiring
- Cracks in walls or foundations
Cover up the gaps with metal wool, caulking or metal screen, as they will chew through softer materials like wood or plastic. Make sure every hole bigger than 6mm is covered up because rats can squeeze into surprisingly small openings.
- Eliminate Attraction Sites: This animal is attracted to those places with easy access to food and water. The removal of these attractants will make your home less desirable. Tips include the following:
- Secure Trash Bins: All trash bins should have tight-fitting lids.
- Clean Up Food Waste: Avoid leaving food scraps or leftover pet food outdoors.
- Trim bushes: Flailing branches or vines may be a means of rat ladders to access your roof. Keep them trimmed back to eliminate easy entry points.
- Store Food: At home, store food in sealed containers and do not let there be any open food left for rats.
- Set Traps: Once the entry points are sealed and all means of food have been removed, you can start trapping the rats that remain inside your roof. There are different types of traps, which include:
- Snap Traps: These are the classic type. They snap shut when triggered by the rat. It is fast and humane if properly used.
- Live Traps: If you do not want to kill the rats, live traps can catch them alive for you to release in a far area from your home.
- Electronic Traps: These traps utilize a little electrical shock that kills the rat instantly. Effective and reused.Place the traps against walls or in areas where you’ve seen signs of rat activities. You can bait the trap with foods such as peanut butter, cheese, or nuts to attract the rats.
- Handling Rodenticides By Caution: Rodenticides, or rat poisons, can indeed work, but one uses them at a time with caution, especially around pets and small children. They take several days to start working, during which rats may die in hard-to-reach areas of your roof: possible sources of unpleasant odors or even health hazards. If you decide to use rodenticides, it is best to have a professional pest control service do the handling.
- Professional Pest Control Services : Rat infestation can indeed turn out to be one real challenge, especially if the infestation is really severe. Hiring professional pest control services would therefore turn out to be a much better option. 7 State Pest Control in Melbourne specializes in pest control for rats. The company equips clients with very effective methods that easily get rid of infestations.
Pest control experts can assess the situation, employ high-tech machinery, and safely target specific treatments to eliminate rats from your roof. They also work to make sure that the infestation does not come back by providing preventive measures and long-term solutions.
Preventing Return of Rats
After eliminating rats from your roof, preventing its recurrence is an important task. Some of the long-term preventive measures include:
Inspect regularly: go through your roof and attic time to time to look for signs of rats or new entry points.
- Keep your estate clean: trim the shrubs and other plants, patch all cracks or holes in your roof, and clean your gutters.
- Install rat barriers: Install rat guards along pipes and tree trunks that lead to your roof.
Even though the rats in the roof can pose a serious matter, proper approach will help you remove them and prevent return. Sealing the entry points, trapping them, removal of attractants, and calling for professional intervention when need be is what can help your house stay rat-free. To get expert service for pest control on rats in Melbourne, reach out to 7 State Pest Control to keep unwanted such pests at bay from your house.