4 Destructive Things a Rat Will Do in a House

Brown rat (Rattus norvegicus)

How to get rid of mice and rats? Rats are relatively large creatures, they can be up to 46cm long and weigh as much as 500g. According to local Pest Control Experts, the average street rat isn’t usually this big but the sight of one is still enough to give you a chill.

Rats carry a wide array of diseases that can be seriously detrimental to your health. This is part of the reason you should take instant action if you see one in your house. If you don’t have a mice exterminator for rodent treatment, click here to find out more about your local professional.

The sooner the rats are eradicated from your home with the help of a professional rodent control service, the better it will be for you and your home.

It’s not just the fact that they appear unpleasant, carry diseases, and may even bite you. Rats can also be very destructive. If left to their own devices without a proper rodent control intervention, they can cause serious, and expensive issues within your home.

  1. Wiring Damage

The rats make nests out of any materials that they find nearby. Your insulation is a great prize for them. They tear sections of it off although it’s unlikely that they’ll damage enough insulation to affect your energy bill.

But, they will chew through the electrical wires that run out-of-sight in your house. This will leave the wires exposed which can cause a short-circuit. The spark of a short-circuit or the subsequent heat build-up can cause a fire to start in your home, potentially destroying it. Therefore, if you have a rat at home, make sure to get a residential electrical inspection after a pest control service.

2. Destroy Food

Rats will head to the nearest source of food and help themselves. In the process, they’ll climb over everything else and leave their bacteria covered trail. If you then use this food you’ll risk becoming ill. You don’t even have to touch the food to catch the bacteria, you can touch where the rat has walked and left its feces.

The result is that you’ll have to destroy lots of food and potentially containers just to stay safe. The faster you deal with the rodent problem the better.

3. Damage To Walls

Rats don’t care about your home. If they need material for their nest or an access point they’ll simply chew through the materials in their way. This can result in holes appearing in your walls, both seen and unseen. It’s a great clue that you have a rat issue but it can also be expensive to have the issue repaired.

4. Sentimental Items

It’s not just walls and food they’ll target. Rats can chew through almost anything and that means they’ll be happy to munch their way through your old photos, graduation papers, or anything else you have stored. That can cause a huge amount of issues personally and emotionally as many of these items will be irreplaceable.

According to the detroit exterminators mice and rats are incredibly fertile, they reproduce rapidly. If you see one rat you can be assured there are more and that number will grow quickly. It’s essential to take prompt action.

In fact, it’s worth having a rat trap down even if you don’t think you have a rat. At least if the trap is set off you’ll know there is an issue.