5 Reasons rats are attracted to your home. Most years rats are less of a pest in the winter months for several reasons. First most animals do not breed and have babies in the winter because there is less food available and that makes it harder for the mother to sustain the young and would usually result in the mortality of her babies.
But this year, because of the pandemic, rats are forced to get closer to residential homes and structures where they can find more food and shelter. Restaurants have closed and the food supply has dropped off to the point is causes rats to look for other sources of food.
Rats that have found your home have discovered that it is warm in the attic and there is plenty of food, so the do what is natural and start to procreate, and they are doing it in and around your beautiful home. Here are 5 reasons rats are attracted to your home and what you can do today to not attract rats to your home.
Clean Your BBQ After Each Usage (Rat Food)
Even though its wintertime and most creatures slow down their breeding, it is different around your home, because even though its winter, its still Southern California and people are still using the BBQ, and in the BBQ, rats will find delicious remnants of your steak or hamburger.
Your BBQ is a great source of food for hungry rats, when rats discover they can get food from your BBQ they will know to visit it frequently to obtain a free meal. So clean that BBQ after each usage. This is a major aspect of the 5 reasons rats are attracted to your home.
Pickup Fruit that has Fallen to the Ground
Quite often I enter a customer’s back yard to find fallen lemons and oranges piled up under the trees with little round holes and the fruit hallowed out, that is because rats are taking advantage of the free meal laying on the ground. Not only is it a free meal for rodents, its also a source of water that will keep rats close to your home.
Pick up the fruit off the ground as soon as you see it and deny the rats the easy pickings of free food, although they can still climb the tree to get the fruit there, its much easier to get the fallen oranges.
Remove Junk Piles (Rat Homes)
Rats are attracted to piles of junk for multiple reasons, but one of the main reasons are shelter, in the Los Angeles area one of the predominant rodent species are the Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus) or commonly known as the “Brown Rat”.
This species of rodent likes to build their nest underground in burrows and if they can find a nice pile of debris or junk to build their burrow entrance so it is hidden from predators, well all the better for them. Removing any junk piles will help to make your garden or yard less attractive to rats and mice.
Do not leave Your Dogs Food Out After Dark
Most people like to feed their pets out on the back patio, and it makes sense if your dog or cat is a sloppy eater, but most of the time your pet may not finish their food or create a mess right outside the bowl. This is a perfect source of food for rats and mice.
Rats are smart and they will adapt to your feeding schedule and quickly learn that you feed your pet at 5pm and your dog is done feed 5 minutes later, so the rats sits just out of sight waiting for your pet to move away from the food bowl then they run up grab a mouth full of your pets food and scurries back to safety to eat it.
After your pets has left the bowl, pick it up and any remnants left behind, denying rats this source of food will help to prevent rodents from hanging out in your backyard.
Time to Call in a Rat Professional
When it comes to pest control, a proactive approach is always better than a reactive one. The advantage of hiring a pest control expert is that he or she understands the steps necessary to eliminate the pest, its nests, and offspring from your home entirely.
If you see rodents running across your driveway or running along the top of the fence, its just a matter of time until they make their way to your home and possibly get in and then you have a whole other problem on your hands, give us a call, we will be more than happy to come out and assess your property and give you some pointers to help reduce the rodent population around your home. I hope the 5 reasons rats are attracted to your home help.