How To Tell If A Rat Infestation Is Gone

Is there anything more horrible than dealing with a rat infestation? These pests can drive you mad. You have to deal with them spoiling your food, leaving droppings everywhere, and damaging your property. But believe it or not, rats do sometimes migrate and leave on their own.

This happens for a number of reasons. It could be because they no longer enjoy where they are living. It could also be because they have found a better source of food. If you haven’t spotted rats in a while, there’s a good change they might actually be gone. But how do you know if this is actually true.

Is your rat infestation actually gone?

A common rat infestation is quite easy to pick up on. First of all, you’ll usually hear these pests. They most often come out at night and make screeching and scratching noises. You may hear these noises coming from your roof or walls. Along with this you’ll also notice that your food has been interfered with. You may find food packets which have been torn open, or have gnaw marks on them.  The next thing you’ll spot is droppings. These droppings usually appear near food. In addition to this, is the ammonia-like smell of their urine. You may also spot damage to your home. This will take the form of gnaw and chew marks on household items. Finally, you may actually spot the rats themselves.

All of the above are signs of a rat infestation. What usually happens is that all of these signs stop because the rats have gone away. The key here is the length of time. If these signs stop for a week or two, the rats are probably still around. If they stop for months, then the rats are probably gone.

What will the rats leave behind?

What you might want to do is investigate the source of the noise. This usually indicates where the rats are living, typically in your roof. You may find left behind nests, droppings, and other rubbish. Just note that even though the rats are gone, it doesn’t mean they won’t come back.

At this point you’ll probably want to clean up their mess. This is not always a good idea. For example, rat droppings and nests contain bacteria and deadly viruses. You could easily become sick when handling their rubbish. Some people also recommend that you sprinkle flour or talcum powder to see if their footprints appear in them. Unfortunately, this is ineffective and not ideal.

The best thing to do is hire a professional pest control company if you find rats indoors. We have the means to safely clean up the infestation and destroy all harmful viruses and bacteria. We can also set traps and carry out pest proofing. This will go a long way to ensuring that rats are no longer a problem.