Is Your Whitby Home Protected from Rats this Fall?

As fall comes around, Ontario’s residents should prepare to see some pretty big changes in the natural environment, including an increase in rodent activity. If you see this happening near your Whitby home it is time to get some expert wildlife control. Especially if you want to keep your home rat-free this fall.

Does the Rat Population Increase in Fall?

You will definitely see more rat activity each fall. Like other animals, rats are busy eating their fill to get some extra body fat for the long winter ahead. Even though rats don’t hibernate, their instincts warn them of the declining food supply that is typical of winter. This drives them to hoard food (they’ll take their stores to their nesting location). While rats reproduce rapidly, seeing more of them in the fall doesn’t necessarily mean that the population has increased. Keep in mind that rats are always reproducing and as long as their presence goes unchecked, natural population increase is inevitable.

Rats in Cool Weather

As the warm weather gives way to cooler temperatures, rats, like many other wildlife, head for warmer spaces. That journey may lead them straight to your home. If you have the right environment at home, they will come. And being the social rodents they are, they will arrive in groups. Once inside, they will multiply fast so quick expert action is necessary to get them out. There are two common species of rats that Whitby homeowners should look out for in the fall. They are the Norway rat and the roof rat. The Norway rat, which is also called the sewer rat, prefers to live on the ground level which is why they can often be found in basements. The roof rat is very agile and good climbers. They prefer to live in trees and dense vegetation however, they will infest roofs, attics and upper parts of buildings if a lack of safe shelter is nearby. The roof rat, as its name implies, prefers to live in attics, gutters, and buildings. It can be easily identified by a long scaly tail as well as a pointed muzzle and large eyes. When desperate the roof rat will dig into the earth to get to a suitable nesting spot.

Protecting Your Home from Rats this Fall

When rats are in the home a number of problems emerge. The simplest of these is probably the annoyance of hearing their little feet scurrying about in the attic or between the walls or the awful smell emanating from accumulated urine and feces. The more serious problems are health and safety-related as rats carry a number of illnesses such as Lyme disease, Hantavirus, and leptospirosis which can all be deadly in humans. They also cause structural damage as their waste and gnawing can damage insulation, wooden materials, and electrical wiring. DIY rat removal is never advised as it usually results in people and wildlife animals being harmed. But nonetheless, there are some things you can do to discourage rats from burrowing or wriggling their way into your home. To protect your home from rats this fall, you’ll need to eliminate the things that attract them in the first place. This includes the clutter lying around (both inside and outside) that they can use to build nests. Bear in mind though, that even if your home is spotlessly clean, you may still wind up with a rat problem since rats will be desperate to find warm shelter as fall arrives. Exclusion strategies designed to keep rats out will also help you to have a rat-free fall.  To get this done effectively, you’ll need the assistance of experts such as the wildlife technician teams at Skedaddle. Skedaddle’s technicians are trained in rodent behavior and so they know exactly how to handle rats. We also come equipped with the right tools to thwart rats’ attempts to enter your property. Skedaddle also offers effective wildlife control services that will do wonders for you if you already have a rodent problem and need rats to be removed from your home.