Black rats are common pests inside Australian homes. While domestic rats are fun pets to have, wild rats are not ideal to have in the home. Most homeowners contact pest control when their rat problem gets out of hand. You should too if you have a rat infestation.
Having a rat infestation is extremely detrimental to your health and they can destroy the structure of your property. Pest control services even state that rats are the most dangerous household pests you can get. Below are seven reasons that explain why they’re so dangerous.
1. Rats Are Extremely Intelligent
One of the first reasons why rats are so dangerous is because they’re extremely intelligent. Rats have specific brain cells called place neurons that allow these rodents to remember specific locations.
With this special ability, rats can find the best routes in and out of your house. What’s more, rats can even find alternative routes to openings in your home. These rodents will explore the outside of your house and remember all the locations that have entrances, especially ones that lead to a food source.
So, whether you block off holes in your walls and pest proof your windows and doors, a rat could find other means of gaining access to your home.
2. These Furry Creatures Can Climb
Never underestimate a rat’s ability to climb. These rodents are extremely agile so they can gain access to your home through your roof and even top floor windows. Rats can climb wires, vines or trees to gain access to your home.
If you have an open window or a hole in your roof you may want to proof these areas until a pest control service can rid your outside property of the rodents.
3. They Can Squeeze Through Small Openings
Rats can compress their bodies to fit through small openings. If a rat’s head can fit through the hole it can squeeze its entire body through the opening easily.
A rat’s ribcage can actually flatten when it needs to fit through a space. So, you may think twice about leaving any holes open if you have a rat problem outside. Inspect your walls to see if there are any large cracks or holes that need to be filled to prevent an infestation. If you already have rats inside the home, you still want to fill these holes so the rats don’t escape when you call pest control to assist you.
4. Communication between Rats
It’s difficult to kill off large groups of rats because they are excellent communicators. If there’s danger, the rats can tell the other groups of rats to stay away from an area. The rats use ultrasonic language to talk to each other and update other rats nearby.
Rats will communicate whether there’s food in the area or if the location they’re in is safe. So you may struggle to eliminate rats around your home with simple traps or poison. You’ll need pest control to fumigate large areas to kill all the rats that have infested your home.
5. Rats Have a Sense for Danger
Rats know when there’s danger and can pick up on patterns around them. If they’ve been in your house for quite some time, they’ll begin to pick up on your patterns such as:
- How you move around the house
- Areas you frequently use
- What time you go to bed at night
- If you are a threat to them
If you enter your kitchen at night and you see a rat gnawing on some leftover food, it won’t run away unless it feels threatened by you. It’s best not to be aggressive towards the rat because it could potentially attack you. Rat bites are harmful to humans so avoid these rodents until a professional can come and assist you.
6. They Carry Diseases
The reason why rats are especially dangerous is that they carry many diseases that are harmful to you and your pets if you have any. Wild rats carry fleas, ticks and mites that can spread these diseases quickly. You could potentially contract salmonellosis or Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome.
Major rat infestations pose a serious health risk, not only to you but to everyone living in your house. Children and pets are at a higher risk of getting ill from these rat diseases, so don’t leave rats to roam around your home. Get rid of them immediately to stop the spread of diseases they carry.
7. Rats Damage Your Home
Not only are rats the most dangerous pests, they’re also the most annoying because they can cause serious damage to your property. Rats can chew through different types of material such as wires, wood and fabric. This can be costly to you as a homeowner because you’ll have to repair or replace items around the home.
Final Thoughts
What do you do to keep rats from entering your home? Have you ever experienced a rat infestation before? Let us know your thoughts on today’s topic by leaving a comment below.
