If you’re discovering signs of rat activity around your property, such as droppings, rub marks, or holes, it may cause you to wonder what is attracting rats to your property.
It might not be anything in particular. Rats will explore your property for no other reason than because they’re curious. They’ll run around in your landscaping, sniff around your foundation wall, scale trees, run down branches, and check out your roofline, all under the cover of night.
But it is possible that they’ve found something that keeps them coming back, or has provided a way for them to live on your property.
Food
The availability of food sources is a big attractant for rats. But, as you consider potential food sources that might be attracting rats, you need to consider what rats eat. They don’t have the same taste buds you do. A rat might be drawn to your property because you have a dog that leaves droppings in your yard. As unsavory as it may sound, rats eat dog feces. They’ll even collect your dog’s waste and carry it into harborage locations within your home.
Another common food attractant is open trash. You would be amazed at how many food sources a rat can find in your garbage receptacle. And, keep in mind that rats can jump high and climb walls to get into your trash.
If you have livestock or pets that eat outside, the food they eat can be an attractant for rats. Exposed food from pig slop to bird seed will lure rats to your property.
Water
As one of the building blocks of life, it is no wonder that rats are attracted to properties that have standing water. This might be a puddle. It could be water collected in a gutter. It might be a cup left out on your porch railing. Even an overturned frisbee in your yard can be a water dish for a rodent. Find and remove containers and address conditions that allow rainwater to be collected.
Harborage
This is the big one. When rats are able to get into your home, they may stay on your property because you have provided harborage. Rats love a nice, warm attic space or the shelter of a crawl space under your home. Roof rats are most commonly found in high locations. Norway rats tend to stay near the ground. Whichever rats you have on your property, they will present issues when they get into your home. They can contaminate your food, spread harmful bacteria to surfaces, destroy your belongings, chew holes in building materials, introduce ticks, and so much more.
How To Stop Rats
There are a few ways to get control of rats but homeowners don’t tend to have much success with them. It isn’t as much the products as it is the training and experience that a qualified rodent control professional brings to the table.
At Smith’s Pest Management, our technicians know how to track down and seal entry points that rats are using to get into your home. Once this is done, your technician will deploy field-tested rat control products to address rats that are infesting your property and also monitor for rat activity. Ours is the team to call when you need to get rid of rats for good. We have a track record for working with customers and achieving great results because we specialize in the control of wildlife pests. With Zach Smith the rat guy, and the team at Smith’s Pest Management, the rats stop here. Reach out to us today and schedule service for your Bay Area home