• Eliminate all food sources that attract mice or rats.
• Keep food in sealed containers (including dog food which mice love).
• Seal all visible cracks in foundations, floors and walls (mice can get through any opening of a ¼ inch or larger).

• Install Multiple Catch Traps.
• Maintain traps and remove mice.
• Only charge separate service calls to setup and pickup traps.  There is no charge for the traps we provide with our service.
  

• Always spray dead rodents, traps and droppings with a good disinfectant before you clean-up or remove materials.
• Always wear rubber gloves before you touch anything in areas suspected of rodent traffic.

Rats are part of a group called commensal rodents.  The word commensal means "sharing one's table" which rats and mice have done with humans for years.  The two most commonly known rat species of commensal rodents are the Norway Rat, Rattus norvegicus, and the roof rat, Rattus rattus.  While house mice are the more predominant rodent problem in most neighborhoods, rats are becoming an increasing problem.

Statistics:	NORWAY RAT	ROOF RAT
General appearance	large, robust	sleek, graceful
Adult size	7 - 18 oz	5 - 9 oz
Snout	blunt	pointed
Ears	small, covered with short Hairs	large, nearly naked
Eyes	small	large prominent
Tail	dark above, pale beneath	uniformly dark
Color	brown with scattered black	Agouti to gray to black
Droppings	capsule shaped, ¾ inch	spindle shaped, ½ inch
Sight	poor, color blind	poor, color blind
Smell, taste, touch,hearing	excellent	excellent
Food	omnivorous	omnivorous, likes Fruits, nuts, grains, Vegetables
Water	15 — 30 mil / day	15 — 30 mil / day
Feeding Habits	steady (shy to new objects)	steady (shy to new objects)
Climbing	readily climbs, limited agility	very agile, active climber
Nests	usually burrows	uses walls, attics, vines, trees, sometimes burrows
Swimming	excellent swimmer	excellent swimmer
Home range radius	98 — 164 feet	98 — 164 feet
Age at mating	2 — 3 months	2 — 3 months
Breeding season	spring and fall peaks	spring and fall peaks
Gestations period	22 days	22 days
Young per litter	8 — 12	4 — 8
Litters per year	4 — 7	4 — 6
Length of life	1 year	1 year

REASONS FOR INCREASED RAT POPULATIONS IN OUR SUBURBAN AREAS

States like Arizona in the Sun Belt are experiencing an explosion of roof rat populations.  This is caused in part by the human population explosion of the Phoenix area (which experienced a 45.3% increase between 1990 and 2000).  These new suburban neighborhoods with irrigated yards, fruit trees and man made lakes in this arid climate have proven a perfect habitat for rats, especially roof rats.  Because rats can often live undetected, their populations can increase rapidly before any property damage or rat activity is detected.  In some cases, homeowners allow rats 'share' the property so long as they stay outside, but eventually, they loose their good neighbor status.

RAT ACTIVITY

Norway rats are commonly known as house rats and are often found in burrows on the property.  They will find ways into a home to search for food, water, or shelter in some weather conditions.

Roof rats are seldom seen on the ground.  These rats are extremely agile and often move between trees and buildings like tree squirrels.  They can also move easily along telephone lines, power lines, fence tops and tree branches to get from one area of a property to another and throughout the neighborhood.

OPTIONS FOR RAT CONTROL

The most expensive damage occurs to homeowners when rats enter the home.  Exclusion is the first step to control and preventing this damage.  This is especially true for homeowners who are part-year residents and come home to find a rat's nest in their toilet or attic.

• Screen off all openings (sewer stacks, vent pipes, vents, attic openings, etc.) with ¼ inch hardware cloth.
• Prune tree branches so they are 4 or more feet from the roof.
• Place steel wool or copper mesh in the cover of the air conditioning line that runs from the outside into the attic.  This keeps the rats from running up insulated lines into the structure.
• Collect and discard ALL unwanted fruit (both on the tree and off the ground).  Some areas provide for pickups of fruit for charity food banks.  Check local resources to put the fruit to good use rather than rat food.
• Keep stored garbage, wild birdseed and pet food in sealed containers.  Put out only enough pet food for the current meal.