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Rats can enter a property in 3 different ways - what can you do?
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At the time of writing, I am approaching my fifth year in pest control. More times than I can remember, people have contacted me to say rats are in the loft, in the walls, under the floorboards, under kitchen units and worse...
Most of the following is for residential home owners as they make up the majority of my client base, but a lot applies to business properties also. I am sharing my conclusions based on evidence and experience.
Property defects above and below ground
How they get in
Rats can squeeze through gaps smaller than a pound coin, which has a diameter of 22mm. They also can exploit potential ingress points with gnawing and digging.
They enter lofts through gaps in the roof with access from the outside. They can climb inside a drainpipe, an uncapped soil vent pipe or vertically up the wall to reach gutter level. They are gymnasts! For me, there seems to be a strong link to rodent activity and curved tiles, which obviously have a gap on the first course. A rat can chew through felt and membrane with ease and move through small gaps in the roof. Turning off the light or torch in the loft can reveal daylight from the gaps.
Defects and holes nearer ground level can provide access to cavities and lofts with many people hearing movement in the walls.
Sometimes there is a subterranean problem. 'Rattus norvegicus' is also called a 'sewer rat' because that's what they do - they can get into storm or foul drainage and discover and exacerbate failings underneath your property.
What to do
Pest control technicians can certainly work to eradicate the creatures that are accessing your property in the first instance. Properties that have experienced rodent invasion have a likelihood of re-invasion because of local populations and odour trails presented by predecessors.
"The best way to deal with rodent infestations is not to have them in the first place." - CRRU
The Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use also made this comment about proofing: "Although they may be costly and require frequent maintenance, measures to prevent the ingress of rodents into buildings provide a long-term solution to rodent problems and are usually without adverse environmental impacts. These measures should always be implemented where practicable."
Sometimes there is an obvious point of entry which can be dealt with in a cost effective way. Unfortunately the presence of rodents can signify a building issue that needs to be confronted. Perhaps the roof needs repairing or replacing. Maybe the walls have deteriorated to the point where repointing is required.
It has been said that where no defects can be found above ground level then there is a strong chance that it is a drainage or sewer issue. Often inspection hatches will reveal evidence of the presence of rats and/or be in a state of disrepair. Disused drains can be capped.
Drain blockers for rat control are an excellent innovation to prevent your waste outlet from being penetrated. They have a one way valve or in some cases a double flap that allows waste to exit into the sewer, but prevents rodent access. The best engineered blockers can cost over £200 but that is cheaper than a drain survey that might not detect the problem or digging up the floor.
Open doors and windows
How they get in
Rats can simply walk through an open door or climb in through a window. This is more likely to happen if there is a known population in the area. Do you sometimes see rats in the daytime? A population of rats can grow exponentially and sightings should be monitored.
What to do
Often the household isn't aware a rat has entered, but they catch a glimpse of a tail disappearing behind some furniture, discover droppings or see some new damage in the home. When this happens, guess what the occupants tend to do? Close all the doors and windows!
Unlike the discussion above about rats entering through defects out of choice because they like the security that harbourage inside a property gives, locking them inside a property is against their volition and will result in a more complex problem.
Here are a few examples of situations that were resolved by keeping the doors and windows open:
1/ A family on a housing estate in Chard called to say they were sure there was a rat in the kitchen. They hadn't seen it but it had pulled out the polystyrene in the back of the fridge/freezer and there were droppings.
They did reveal that they had seen rats in the garden in daytime from time to time and as mentioned earlier in the blog a local population obviously increases the chance of an invasion.
Our initial assumption was that there seemed to be a gap by the back door and it was getting in through that hole. However, they called the following day to say it had been gnawing at the internal door that lead from the kitchen to the rest of the house. This made me realise that it had come in through the back door and was trapped.
We took all the kitchen plinths off and placed them in the garage and the back door to the garden was to be left open overnight.
Sure enough it departed that night, much to the family's relief. They needed to buy a new fridge!
2/ A family on holiday in Charmouth had the back door open in the summer and they watched a rat come through the kitchen and into the downstairs bedroom.
They were completely freaked out and said the rat was screaming and running round the walls. So you get the idea - rats are creatures of habit, cautious and neophobic. If they explore somewhere new and get locked in they don't like it very much.
So what did the family do? Closed the door, slept in another room and decided to curtail the holiday. This was upsetting for them and the property owner.
I was asked by the property owner that following morning to attend and retrieve the belongings in the bedroom, which I did. I suggested that the bedroom door should be opened and the back door to the garden. Rats always know where they have come from. If you startle a rat it will always run in the direction from which it came and so this would allow it to leave.
The guests and the owner didn't like the idea, so I opened the bedroom window. The owner called later to say that it had got out of the window and admitted that there were rats in the outbuildings to the rear of the garden.
3/ About a year later and within 100 metres from the holiday cottage mentioned above, a couple called to say there was a rat in the kitchen. This had an open entrance way to the conservatory and I asked if the sliding doors had been open for an extended period, which it had.
They had blocked up the kitchen to prevent it entering the living room but also kept the conservatory door closed. The creature was trapped inside. The solution was simple.
Pets bring them
How they get in
Cats in particular bring gifts in for their owners. If this is a huge adult rat deposited in the kitchen as was recently experienced by a local family then that is an uncomfortable experience.
What to do
The lady with the huge rat in her kitchen had sent me an email late at night and I didn't see it until the morning. I sent her a message encouraging her to keep the cat away and open the back door. The rat would be afraid of the cat. Unlike the two reasons for entry above, this was a rat brought into the property against its volition. It would want to depart.
She returned the message and said she wished she'd waited for my reply. Someone had come out in the middle of the night with a Jack Russell and air rifle. The rat got cornered and bit the man, who eventually shot it in the kitchen. She described it as a two hour trauma!
I heard of another situation where a colony of rats had established itself under bird feeders of a customer. The neighbour's Jack Russell cornered a rat in the garden and the dog was attacked. It had severe facial injuries and need to go to the vet.
So never corner a rat!
My experience is that rats inside a property against their will are not so easily trapped, caged or poisoned, but I have had many situations where giving the rats an exit has worked.
Conclusion
Rats entering via defects in a property can be eradicated, but "measures to prevent the ingress of rodents into buildings provide a long-term solution to rodent problems."
Rats entering through open doors and windows mustn't be locked in, but can be allowed to exit by keeping them open.
Live rats brought into a property by a pet should also be allowed to leave by keeping the pet away and exit through open door.
(I am allergic to cats and so have never had one as a pet. Is there some sort of cat training that helps it to actually perform as a pest controller and earn its keep for the household, rather than creating pest problems? Please let me know.)
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