Where do rats hide in the house

Rats are sneaky, dangerous, determined, and contagious. You certainly don’t want to see them anywhere around or, even worse, inside any of your home’s premises. However, no one has an insurance for rat infestation and to repel the rodents, proofing actions and rat control methods should be used at the time a rat is spotted. There are 10 common places where rats hide and each requires a specific approach in order to be sealed effectively. Rats can hide in…

• In the Attic
• Inside the Walls
• In the Garden
• In the Loft
• In Basements
• In Drains and Sewers

• In the Garage
• In the Kitchen
• In Offices
• In Sheds
• How to Lure a Rat
• Disinfection After a Rat Infestation

Rats In the Attic

Attics are located under the roof of the house and are usually isolated very well which turns the premises into the perfect home for rodents. Rats are amazing climbers and sneak into the attic by running up the walls or by squeezing through holes in the walls. Materials such as soft insulation and cardboard can be easily destroyed by the critters. Some of the most common signs of a rat infestation in the attic are rat droppings with spindle shape and dark colour, grease and dirt on the floor as well as rat nests are also an indicator your attic has been infested. Dealing with rats in the attics should start by sealing all gaps (entry points) with an expanding foam filler followed by decluttering the whole place to leave no hidings for the rats. Don’t leave any pet food, garbage cans or bird feeders in the attic where rats hide as they are highly attractive to the rodents. See this tutorial on how to seal holes with the expanding foam filler:

Inside The Walls

If scratching noises come from the walls and are even more extensive during the night – there are certainly rodents living between them. Leaving the vermin inside is very risky as these animals can easily chew on any electrical wires which are one of the most common reasons for fires inside the property. Identifying the rats should be immediately followed by a process of finding and sealing the entry holes. Leave one or two gaps open where rats hide which lead to outside so you don’t trap the animals inside and force them to make new holes.

After that, feed the rats for few days to make them feel comfortable with this kind of food and to avoid scaring them further. Finally, set the traps at the outside exit holes that haven’t been sealed yet.

Rats in The Garden

There are plenty of things in the garden at which rats would gladly chew, such as plants, ornaments, wood furniture, food leftovers, rubbish and even dog excrements. These things turn the yard into a very tempting place for rats and its maintenance requires a lot of hard work and dedication. Identifying an infestation is easy as rats like digging and if any of the rodents have entered into your garden, you will most probably spot rat holes all over the place.

Toxic and poisonous baits are a preferred form of pest control for rats in the garden as they are highly efficient. To guarantee the safety of children and pets, though, they should be kept inside the home until the colony of rats is eradicated as things like glue boards may be very harmful in case a pet or kid lands on it. Decluttering the garden where rats hide is also a very beneficial form of rat proofing.

Rats At The Loft

Being an actual open space under the roof, the loft is the perfect shelter for rats, and not only. Rats leave foot and tails marks when they infest any premises and this is an obvious signal that certain measures should be taken to prevent the reproduction of a whole colony inside the property. If repelling them away from the loft doesn’t work, they should be exterminated. Don’t wait for too long and eradicate the rats as quickly as possible, they breed rapidly and their number will grow immensely. They will chew on whatever they find there. Their teeth constantly grow and will even continue to increase their size even if the rat’s skull has to be penetrated unless the rat chews something thick. The methods listed above would all work, just make sure you land bigger traps – ones made for rats in particular as the smaller devices work only on mice. If you’re still convinced rat eradication is non-humane, use any of the things included in the list of natural remedies for rats at the end of this guide on how to get rid of rats.

Rats Also Hide in the Basements

Basements are very often used as storage facilities for anything, mostly food supplies. Rats are very sensitive to this fact and get easily attracted to the basement. Such premises are also known as being dark, moist and warm which additionally appeals to the vermin. The rodents normally enter from ground level into the basement and this is where the entry holes into the basement may be noticed.

In case of rats infestation in your basements, always check for the overall status of the pipes, drains and walls and quickly repair anything that is damaged to prevent a new setting in there. Then, you can proceed with the extermination process with traps or poison.

Drains and Sewers Where Rats Hide

Rats can squeeze through opening with a diameter of 3.8cm which makes them very good at infesting drains and sewers for a very long time where they create a whole colony before being exterminated. The structural damage done by rats might cause a lot of trouble and will certainly cost a lot to be repaired. In addition to this, rats are excellent swimmers and can easily get into your bathroom through the toilet. Imagine the feeling of seeing a rat head coming out from the flush toilet when you’re sitting on it, definitely a terrible experience.

Toilets can easily turn into a one-way-road only for the waste water by installing an anti-rodent barrier. All drains should be equipped with solid screens and grates that will stop rodents from entering through the drains. Hardware cloth works very well for the roof vents – a thickness of 1.2 – 1.5 cm is the perfect cover material. Bait traps with peanut butter are very effective rat eradication method once all drains and sewers are secured. See how easily a rat can wriggle up your toilet:

Rats in the Garage

Rats usually sneak into the garage through the tiny gap under the garage door. After that, they nest inside and chew on whatever they find. Since they can cut through almost anything, if there is a vehicle parked inside it may get totally wrecked. Chewed wires and tires are most common.

To avoid this, just seal the garage door bumper with a garage door brush strips. These can be found literally in any store and cost from 10£ to 30£. It will save you a lot of worries and expenses for either a car repair or structural damage. Another very effective form of repelling the vermin is a sound repellant for rats. In case the rodents need to be exterminated, use a rat zapper device – it’s most handy for places like the garage.

Kitchens Where Rats Hide

Rats are scavengers by nature and if they have the opportunity to enter inside a kitchen in search for food, they will certainly go for it. The power supply unit behind the stove is where rats would usually make an access hole into the kitchen.

Always check that place and if breached, seal it immediately with strong metal. Regularly cleaning the kitchen of even the smallest pieces of food will help in preventing further rat infestation as the vermin usually get inside a place where there is sustenance. Lift up any food at a place which is hardly reachable by rats or store food in solid metal containers.

Rats in the Office

Office buildings provide exceptionally good environment for rats to live and reproduce. There, the small mammals are protected from predators, natural disasters and starvation. The dangers of ignoring a rat infestation in the office are more than just alarming. In addition to the increased possibility of fire in the building, while rats eat wires there is a high chance of causing a crash in hardware systems and tons of important data may be lost. Rats also spread disease and leave droppings and urine everywhere. This contaminates the working environment and may cause a decrease among the employees’ motivation and feeling of safety at work.

When rats have infested an office, they will usually hide in ventilation systems, walls and anywhere around places where rubbish is disposed. Clear all premises of food, leftovers and any type of waste a rat can chew on and call a pest control company for a full inspection of the office.

Once the problem is identified, it will be sold fast and efficiently by a team of professionals. Last, but not least, try to execute the whole rat extermination process in a way that as less employees as possible will realise what’s going on as some may freak out after finding out they’ve worked at a place which has been infested by rats.

Sheds Where Rats Hide

If not maintained professionally, sheds will draw rats inside immediately. They will easily cut through the wooden, metal or plastic walls and will munch out anything edible they find inside. Traditional rat control methods explained above will do a great job at eradicating the rodents, after which the shed should be rat proofed to perfection.

To protect your shed from being attacked by the vermin again, do the following:

• Fill all holes with expanding foam and isolate with metal plates if necessary.
• Get rid of clutter to make the place not good enough for a rat nesting.
• Don’t leave any food , rats will sense it from a long distance and will make their way into the shed sooner or later.
• Leave a few traps and use chocolate or a fruit as a bait.

In case you have to deal with the pest that hides inside your shed, make sure you’ve chosen the most appropriate pest control methods first.

How to Lure a Rat Out of Hiding

Catching a rat might take a while but it’s definitely worth the time and effort. Instead of poisoning the rodent once you’ve identified where it hides, better catch it. This will save you a lot of trouble such as having to clean afterwards. Some even need to make holes in the walls to get access to the dead animals’ carcasses.

The following solutions for luring and catching a rat are humane and do not have any intention to hurt the animal:

Use a bait

Put some sort of food bait into a metal cage and once the rat gets inside, close it either from a distance or if the animal is too busy eating the bait, do it with bare hands. Some very good rat baits are:

• Chocolate
• Cherries
• Corn
• Cheese
• Dog food
• Meat
• Peas
• Rice

Remove Hidings

Rats will hide anywhere around your home if there are good hidings, a source of food and lots of dark places where they feel safe, eliminate these and the rats will probably leave in a search of a better environment. Do the following:

• Store any food inside metal containers and above the ground(at least 3 feet)
• Remove moisture, especially in basements;
• Fill all cracks and holes inside the walls
• Do overall cleaning of your property (stains and dirt that emit smell are really attractive to rats)
• Don’t store your domestic waste in your garden. Use metal containers which impenetrable
• Hide any pet food or birdbaths (rats seek for water and will look even more desperate for it if have consumed poison as it dehydrates them)
• Disinfect all surfaces where rat faeces or urine was spot

If none of the suggested ideas above help, call Panther Pest Control and well-trained rat control expert will come for an inspection. If needed, a rat treatment will be done, ensuring the end of the rodent infestation.

Disinfection After a Rat Infestation

Wherever rats hide, they leave bacteria, harmful pathogens and contaminate the whole place with rat droppings and urine. For this reason, we highly recommend you to take the time and effort to properly clean your home after the rats are gone.

Keep your home out of danger with professional rat control

Experienced pest experts know rats’ hiding places way to well and have the necessary equipment to find their nests. They can locate and treat the smallest and hard-to-reach entry holes for rats and mice. If you’re concerned about having a rat problem, feel free to contact us and get a property inspection.