Roof rats, also known as black rats, can be identified by their long scaly tails and their large ears. Despite being known as black rats, they can be other colors besides black, and the name roof rat comes from the fact that these rodents prefer to spend most of their time at least four feet above ground, in shrubs, trees and attics. Let’s take a look at how you can prevent these rats from entering your home.
Deny them food sources
Roof rats will enter the home for several reasons, with one of these reasons being that they are hungry. If the rats can find food in our house, they will not only enter, but they will set up and start reproducing, growing in number over time. As such, you want to make sure that they do not have access to any food indoors. Make sure that you store all your food inside containers that cannot be accessed by rats. Usually, this means the fridge, but if you keep any food in your cupboards, such as cereals, you need to place them in plastic sealed containers. You also want to store your pet food in this way.
Keep the yard clean
Roof rats are likely to first be attracted to your yard before they make the leap and enter the home. To make the yard less attractive, you have to remove clutter. Make sure to rake under trees and shrubs, prune your fruit trees, remove any brush and wood piles, and that you thin out bushes. If you have any palm trees, make sure to trim them as well, since roof rats are particularly fond of these trees.
Seal the home
Of course, rats would not be able to enter the home at all if they had no access points. To seal the home, you will have to find all the small gaps and cracks in the exterior of the building and seal them. This can be difficult, if you do not know where to look, but you can hire a pest control pro to seal these entry points for you. Contact us today if you are having problems with roof rats on your property. We will remove them for you quickly, and then seal the entry points into the home to prevent future infestations.
