Why You Should Get Rats Out of Your Home 

The main reason you should exterminate rats from your home is because they really don’t make good bed mates. Rats are big, disgusting, and filthy and will become very invasive in your house if you allow them to. The rats spoil your food and leave droppings all around your house plus they cause damage within the walls and insulation of your humble abode. Plus, they breed so it’s important to eradicate them as soon as possible.

What Type of Diseases Do Rats Carry?

Rats are a direct carrier of diseases and not only should contact be avoided, areas where the rats travel should be disinfected as well. Plague, Salmonella, Weil’s Disease, Fever, and other viruses are either spread by rats, fleas on the rodents, or in their feces. The thing about rats is that they don’t need to look sickly to be carrying a deadly disease and they often don’t display signs of illness.

The Different Types of Rats

The two primary types of rats that are found in homes throughout North America are the Norway Rat and the Roof Rat. The Norway rat I your most common sewer rat that inhibits lower levels of buildings and underground. They have gray-brown bodies with a short tail, eyes, and ears. The roof rat is a great climber that will nest in your roof, attic, walls, and cabinets and are most commonly found in warm areas near coasts.

Some Weird Rat Facts

Obviously rats can’t be all bad, as almost all animals serve some purpose…not sure what that is yet but here are some interesting rat facts to leave you with. 

• Rats have horrible vision and rely on their nose and whiskers to navigate.
• Rats are very social and enjoy cuddling and playing with their rat pack, in fact if one member of the pack falls ill the others will care for it.
• A rat can fall up to 40 feet without being injured.
• In Eastern cultures rat meat is readily available on sidewalk food stands
• Rats make a laughing noise when tickled (inaudible to the human ear) and dream while sleeping.

And finally, rats do not have any thumbs, but you’ll likely give two thumbs up when you find them out of your house for good.