Pests destroy the quality of houses and distort the quality of living. Roof rats are among these destructive parasites that every homeowner hates and aims to eliminate! But the first thing to do is to identify and acknowledge the presence of these rodents in, on and around the home.
Obviously, when you witness by yourself how there are rats running around your residence, you will find out that they are lodging near you or worse, with you. These roof rats are thin and long with a cone-shaped nose, a rough tail, two big ears and two eyes. Commonly brown in color and with black spots, roof rats stay in elevated areas such as where the name indicates, the roofs. Other sites include attics and planks.
If you are a homeowner who’s wondering and worrying about the possibility of roof rat infestation in your house, the key strategy to discover that is to look for evidence that these rodents exist there. If you observe these 8 signs that roof rats are infesting your house, you better quickly do something or else, oh no… Things will get worse! Read on, and make sure you don’t miss a tip.
1 – SCRATCHING NOISES
To see the roof rats is the most determinative way to believe that they are in your house, but to hear them moving around is another apparent indication!
Frequently heard scratching noises and running sounds on roofs can either be cats or rats, but you will notice when they are roof rats because the steps or the movements are quicker and tinier. The noises are thuds from feet smaller than cats. Besides roofs, you can hear them in attics and walls as well.
Roof rats are night-loving animals. That’s why you can usually hear them at night time, and they startle you in the middle of a quiet evening. Sometimes, their constant dashing on your roof ruins your sleep. On another note, it is said that if you notice these gnawing clatters at daytime, the roof rat infestation in your house may be more serious.
2 – MUNCH MARKS
When roof rats bite, you know that it’s precisely them. Marks of munches and gnaws on the roofs, floors, walls, doors, windows and furniture edges are a head-scratching signal that these naughty pests are around your abode!
You may determine the sizes of those roof rats based on the sizes of the bite marks you see. Needless to say, the bigger nips come from roof rats with bigger teeth.
Be alerted already when you see these munch marks because these roof rats are not kidding when it comes to desolating your home structures and your house items. You will lose your important and expensive things to these unbothered rodents if you don’t do something to get rid of them!
3 – GREASY RAT RUNWAYS
Oftentimes, it’s difficult to clearly see roof rats because of their speedy movements. You probably see their shadows or blurred appearance more frequently than their full selves. In line with that, you will see greasy runways which prove that there’s really something suspiciously squeaky going on around your house — that roof rats are there.
These destructive pests make their pathways as they follow these for their entries, exits and other motions. On a dusty roof beam, a seemingly clean trail is noticeable. It can be an evident marker of roof rats. Seeing these traces, you will identify how and where they usually move around.
These rodents carry oils in their smooth fur, and these excretions are left on the tracks they travel through. When you see grease marks, you can assume the annoying presence of roof rats which you have to stop as early as possible.
4 – CHEWED ELECTRICAL WIRINGS
Photo credit: Northwest Exterminating
Among the most common rat-related problems shared by several homeowners from across the world are broken electrical wirings caused by rat bites.
These pests don’t care if it’s your television wiring, your laptop cords, your cellphone charger or the more critical power wirings you have at home. If they find it interesting enough to chomp on or if the wires are near prospect food sources, roof rats will bite on them! They enjoy nibbling on electrical wires as their teeth are also strengthened; it looks like an eating rehearsal to them, huh?
Roof rats chew wires and leave the replacing job to you. How agitating! And what’s more angering is the fact that the chawed active wires can lead to accidents at home starting from little and unnoticed sparks.
5 – BIG DROPPINGS
Roof rats are actually not as smart as they think they are. They run and hide, but they leave behind feces that shout out about their whereabouts!
Black, capsule-shaped droppings with pointed edges are owned by roof rats. Sometimes, they can be of other colors too, but black is the most typical hue. Their doo-doos are thrice bigger than standard mice poos. Moreover, it will help to know that the roof rat was just in a certain area a while ago if the new wastes look damp and mushy.
6 – URINE ODOR
Your pets can detect rats, right? They can help you with detecting infestations. If you see them going after a particular house area for quite a few times already, check that spot out. It might be covered with rodents’ urine odor.
It’s difficult to see the urine itself without any device, so a UV flashlight is recommended to be utilized. Be sensitive about odors because you will know if there are roof rats around when you smell their foul-smelling or stale-smelling urine.
The sickening smell of roof rat urine can be a source of viruses, so make sure to completely sanitize the areas where you locate its existence.
7 – SCOOPED-OUT FRUITS FROM SURROUNDING TREES
Do you have fruit trees near your house building? If you do, it’s common to see fallen fruits on the ground or on your roof. That’s normal and nothing to really worry about, however, if the fruits are scooped out, looking like some animals detailedly dug out their insides, it may be a sign of roof rats lurking around!
Trim trees and clean up those dropped fruits to reduce rat attraction. You may scan more house areas, especially your roof to see if there already are damages done. Roof repairs can be very financially costly, so detecting the roof rat infestation issue as early as possible is crucial!
8 – IRRITATED AND ILL HOUSE PETS
Aside from materials and structures at home getting wrecked by these rodents, your pets may also be exhibiting grave signs that there are roof rats within your dwelling.
Pets like dogs and cats hate them, too. Be mindful when your fur babies seem vexed, distressed and inactive. These may be alarming signifiers of roof rat infestation.
Roof rats are not only destroyers but also disease carriers, and the bacteria can be transferred to people and to other animals like your pups and kitties. Leptospirosis can infect pets when they get rat bites, eat roof rats, swallow roof rat urine or liquids tainted by it. Check your pets for symptoms like looseness of bowels, throwing up and food aversion. These could be hints of leptospirosis in your pets.
This is definitely one of the most substantial reasons why you must never take roof rat infestation lightly. These pests can affect your way of living, your health, your family and your life.
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OH NO! ROOF RATS!
Roof rats are swift to move and swift to reproduce. They give a tough headache to homeowners because of the damage they bring that leave people with expensive house renovations, costly roof repairs to handle, unnecessary furniture replacements and more unwanted aftermath!
If you are suspicious that there are roof rats pestering your house, have a keen eye to consider the above-mentioned signs of roof rat infestation. When the problem is proven, do not hesitate to contact expert roof rat exterminators near you, or you can do the solution with the help from knowledgeable family members and neighbors too! And of course, prevention is always better than cure, so learn of effective home maintenance tips to keep your house safe from roof rats!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nicole Ann Pore is a writer, an events host and a voice over artist. She finds quality and well-researched writing as a worthwhile avenue to enlighten and delight others about things that matter. For her, it’s restoring and fulfilling to the heart and a great way to clear the mind while loading it up with fresh learning. Film critiquing and filmmaking are among her interests too. Giving all the glory to God, Nicole graduated Cum Laude from De La Salle University Manila, Philippines with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Arts.
