Rats are the pest that no one wants in their house or even on their property. Just the thought of these large, furry pests scurrying around your home with their pointy noses and scaly tails is enough to make most people want to make sure their home is protected from these harmful pests. However, if you don’t know a lot about rats or if you don’t have the right information about rats, you may not know what to do to make sure these pests don’t get into your Fort Mills home.
If rat prevention or rat control in Fort Mills is something you need to look into, Go-Forth Home Services can help. This informative article offers the information you need to know about rats, the problems they cause, and, most importantly, how to get rid of them and prevent them from getting into your house and onto your property.
Understanding Rat Behavior: Insights For Effective Rat Control
Like every living creature, rats have specific needs that they have to meet in order to survive. Food, water, and shelter are the three main necessities, and unfortunately, those three things can all be found in your home. If rats are searching for any of these resources and find them in your house, they will move inside without looking back.
Rats in Fort Mills are cautious and secretive animals. If they get into your house, it’s possible that they’ll be able to do so without your knowledge. However, it won’t be long before you start to notice signs of rats in your house. You’ll likely hear them before you see them, making scratching or squeaking noises in the walls or ceiling. You may also discover their droppings in your cabinets, find gnaw marks or holes in food containers, and see greasy rub marks along your baseboards. Rats don’t like to be out in the wide open, so if rats get into your house, you might see the signs they leave behind without seeing the rats themselves.
Health Risks Of Rats: Protecting Your Family And Pets
A rat problem is more than just an annoyance. Rats introduce a variety of health risks into your home that can put your family and pets in harm’s way. They leave contaminated droppings wherever they go, including areas of your kitchen where food is stored and prepared. Although rare, they can also spread diseases through direct contact, such as a scratch or bite. Salmonellosis, leptospirosis, and trichinosis are just a few of the diseases rats are known to spread.
Additionally, rats are dangerous for your house. They are extremely destructive, with the ability to chew through almost any material. If rats get into your home, you can expect to find damaged areas. In some cases, they’ll chew through pipes, ductwork, and even electrical wires. This can lead to mold growth and fire hazards, both of which are serious health risks for your family.
Rat Prevention Tips: Eliminating Attractants And Sealing Entry Points
In order to prevent rats, you have to make your home and property unattractive to them. They will come around looking for food, water, and shelter, so what keeps rats away is making sure they aren’t able to find those things. Do the following outside:
- Keep garbage bins tightly sealed.
- Don’t leave pet food outside.
- Remove bird feeders.
- Pick up fallen fruit from fruit trees and bushes.
- Eliminate areas of standing water, such as buckets, bird baths, and clogged gutters.
- Keep your grass and landscaping trimmed.
- Remove brush, lawn debris, and leaf litter from your lawn.
Inside, do the following:
- Store food in hard-sided containers.
- Keep counters and floors clean.
- Take out the trash on a regular basis.
- Make sure you don’t have any leaking pipes.
Additionally, it’s important that you eliminate entry points that rats could use to get into your house. Rats are able to squeeze through holes as small as a nickel, so identifying even small holes, cracks, and crevices, and doing something to repair or fill them will help keep rats out of your house.
Call The Rat Control Experts: Ensuring Safe And Effective Elimination
If you want to prevent or get rid of rats, it’s helpful to contact the professionals at Go-Forth Home Services. Because of our experience and training, we can ensure safe and effective rat control services to make sure your home becomes and remains free of rats.
Rat control for your Fort Mills home is available from Go-Forth Home Services. If you are concerned about rats in or around your house, our rat control services will protect your home and family. Contact us today!