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swirlie · F
Getting rid of rats in a house starts with finding out how they gain entry into the house in the first place.
Assuming you don't have any food or trash lying around that will attract rodents, the vast majority of rat and mouse infestation of a house occurs when the rodent gains access to the roof's attic via the roof vents which run across the top of the house.
Usually there's about 6 or 8 roof vents on a shingled roof and around the venting portion of each roof vent there's a mesh screen wrapped to keep bugs out. That screen is usually metal and in time, it will simply rot from it's fixture and fall off, leaving the vent itself as an open-access to the roof's attic.
Mice and rats (called roof rats) will then scale the side of a building in a heartbeat and will enter the attic space through that open roof vent. Once inside the attic, they take up residency and start a colony. As that colony develops, the rats begin to migrate from the attic down to other open spaces in the house, such as by climbing down the interior walls between the drywall and the interior brick surface, thereby entering the basement where the wall meets the concrete basement walls or footings.
Now, you have rats running around in your basement which may end up migrating to other parts of the interior of your home, but they got into the house in the first place via the roof vents on the roof.
The solution: hire a roofing guy to replace the roof vents ..or simply have the roofing guy re-wrap each vent with wire mesh and lock-ties to keep rodents out.
Roof rats (unlike rug rats) are part of the squirrel family, which are also rodents.
Assuming you don't have any food or trash lying around that will attract rodents, the vast majority of rat and mouse infestation of a house occurs when the rodent gains access to the roof's attic via the roof vents which run across the top of the house.
Usually there's about 6 or 8 roof vents on a shingled roof and around the venting portion of each roof vent there's a mesh screen wrapped to keep bugs out. That screen is usually metal and in time, it will simply rot from it's fixture and fall off, leaving the vent itself as an open-access to the roof's attic.
Mice and rats (called roof rats) will then scale the side of a building in a heartbeat and will enter the attic space through that open roof vent. Once inside the attic, they take up residency and start a colony. As that colony develops, the rats begin to migrate from the attic down to other open spaces in the house, such as by climbing down the interior walls between the drywall and the interior brick surface, thereby entering the basement where the wall meets the concrete basement walls or footings.
Now, you have rats running around in your basement which may end up migrating to other parts of the interior of your home, but they got into the house in the first place via the roof vents on the roof.
The solution: hire a roofing guy to replace the roof vents ..or simply have the roofing guy re-wrap each vent with wire mesh and lock-ties to keep rodents out.
Roof rats (unlike rug rats) are part of the squirrel family, which are also rodents.
@swirlie [media=https://youtu.be/d-IHMhnCOYM]