Rat Control Made Easy For Frisco Residents

Are there sounds that cause you to become tense when you hear them? Does the screeching of fingernails on a chalkboard make you squirm? Perhaps, the sound of a first responder vehicle with sirens blaring in your neighborhood makes you run to the window and look out in fear and anticipation.

Certain sounds create a reaction, and most people agree that noises from some animals create tension. Hearing a coyote howl when camping creates tension, or listening to two cats fighting may cause your blood pressure to rise. No one wants to hear something moving in the walls or scratching underneath the floors in the crawlspace. When you hear that sound, usually late at night or early in the morning, you realize an intruder is in the house. Compounding the tension is the realization that you cannot get to the intruder because it is living in areas inaccessible to you; if you think you can get to it, you are not sure how many invaders you will encounter.

When you hear the sound of rats nesting in your walls or scratching underneath the floor, you need the Frisco pest control professionals from All-Safe Pest & Termite. Our family-owned and operated company has removed rodents like rats from local homes since 1984. Decades of experience have given us the tools and knowledge to eradicate rats from your house safely and economically. This article will teach you rat infestation signs and how to discourage rats from entering your Frisco home.

Identifying A Rat Problem In Your House

Rats are active while you sleep, so you may not see a rat run across the floor unless the rat infestation is overwhelming and causes lower-ranking rats to forage during the day. Although rats hide during the day in walls, under appliances, in dark corners of cabinets, and secluded areas, they leave behind the following indications: 

• Gnaw marks: Rats have a pair of upper and lower constantly growing incisor teeth, which increase about four inches annually unless trimmed. To keep their teeth filed and sharp, rats gnaw on plastic, wood, metal, and concrete. So, they will chew through storage containers, wires, furniture, walls, and ceilings. Rats will gnaw on glass and steel wool but will not chew through them due to pain. 
• Holes: Rats create circular holes two to three inches in diameter, near the floor in walls. 
• Droppings: Daily, rats eat about one-third of their body weight. As omnivores, they consume candy, milk, seeds, nuts, poultry, meat, vegetables, and other rodents; amazingly, rats eat hair, soap, animal feces, rotting garbage, and leather, too! The appetite of a rat results in a considerable output of up to 25,000 droppings annually! As rats travel through your Frisco home, they deposit rod-shaped pellets as they move between food sources and their nest. 
• Urine stains: Not only do rats have a hearty appetite producing a prolific amount of droppings, but they also consume around one ounce of water daily. Water uptake from food or a source is released as urine as they travel throughout the house and leave stains on floors, walls, and other objects. 
• Greasy marks: The fur on rats is oily and attracts dirt and grim. As the animal bumps into walls, objects, and corners in openings, they leave dark smudge marks. 
• Tracks: When rats travel over dusty areas of the house or in the dirt outside the home, they leave four and five-toed prints. If you suspect rats in your Frisco home, sprinkle talcum powder in the areas where you see these signs, and if they are there, you will see track marks in a few days. 
• Food: Rats leave shells and inedible parts of food along the paths they travel between their nest and food sources. 
• Odor: Rats communicate using pheromones to alert other rats to food sources. These chemicals are present in rat urine, and when there is an infestation of rats concentrated in an area of the home, the pheromones create a musty smell. 
• Nests: Rats build resting places to raise their young in walls, under appliances, in the garage, basement, crawlspace, and attic. The four to six-inch nests resemble a ball consisting of shredded paper, cloth, and insulation. 
• Runways: Rats are creatures of habit and not adventuresome, like mice. Once the rodents find food, they travel the same path to and from the source. A trail of droppings, grease marks, urine stains, tracks, and partially eaten food indicate a pathway. Rats nest no more than 150 feet from a food source, so when you discover a runway, you know food and the rat's nest are nearby. 

Other signs of a rat problem in your Frisco house are the scratching sounds in walls and underneath floors, noises of running across the ceiling, and actual rats. Technicians from All-Safe Pest & Termite will inspect these areas of your house and locate rat nesting areas. 

It's Very Dangerous To Have Rats In Your Home

Tension and concern rise when we hear the sounds of rats in the walls because we know it is not good to have these rodents in our Frisco homes. Rats are filthy creatures who roam through rotting garbage, drains, sewers, animal feces, and compost piles. As they forage in these disgusting areas, their oily fur attracts bacteria and viruses lying on the surface.

When the rats enter your Frisco home, find a food source, and create a nest, the disease-causing organisms fall off and contaminate areas. Since rats often find food in the kitchen and pantry area, they pollute cooking and eating surfaces, exposed foods, poorly packaged products, and items in kitchen cabinets. Pathogens on the bodies of rats are not the only way they bring disease into Frisco homes. Rat feces, urine, and saliva also taint foods, food packaging, and surfaces in the house.

Leptospirosis, rat-bite fever, tularemia, and salmonellosis are diseases rats carry. Symptoms include fever, muscle cramps, headaches, nausea, and diarrhea, which sometimes results in hospitalization.

Illnesses are not spread only by bacteria and viruses shed from the rodents but may also be the result of fleas and ticks hitchhiking on the rats. These insects transmit murine typhus, tapeworm, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, etc., depending upon the species and insect. Symptoms are similar to those diseases spread by rats but may also include life-threatening brain and spinal cord swelling. If rats are in your Frisco home and family members feel sick, immediately seek medical help.

Rats in the house may trigger allergic reactions and asthma attacks. As their droppings dry, they flake, and particles become airborne and inhaled and may trigger reactions ranging from runny noses to asthma attacks, especially in young children and the elderly. The highly trained technicians from All-Safe Pest & Termite will remove rats from your house and eliminate the dangers.

Effectively Deterring Rats Around Your Home

Rat prevention is the best way to avoid exposure to diseases spread by rats and their hitchhiking flea and tick buddies. Keeping rats out of your Frisco home begins with discouraging them from burrowing on your property and making it impossible to enter the house by doing the following: 

• Remove outdoor food sources: Rats feed on animal feces, rotting fruit, compost, bird seed, etc. Periodically scan the yard for pet feces and fruit and clear them from the lawn. Contain and cover compost piles and trashcans, and clean up around bird feeders. 
• Maintain a manicured yard: You don't have to hire a landscaper, but mow the grass consistently, clear dense vegetation, and remove debris like excess wood, stones, and leaf piles. If you have firewood, store it 20 feet from the house and elevate it to prevent rats from creating burrows underneath. 
• Provide proper drainage: Rats need water, and poorly drained ditches and low-lying areas provide ample water supplies. Also, keep gutters unclogged and draining away from the house to prevent standing water in the basement or crawlspace, another place rats infest. 
• Seal openings: Rats can squeeze through holes and cracks no wider than 1/2 inch. Cover gaps and cracks in the foundation, between incoming pipes and wire, along the roofline, and around windows and doors with steel wool, sheet metal, or mortar. Place 1/4 wire mesh over the attic and crawlspace vents and chimney openings.

These tips will deter rats in the backyard and keep them out of your Frisco home. Our technicians from All-Safe Pest & Termite will work with you to keep rats away. 

The Safe And Effective Way To Get Rid Of Rats In Your House

Discouraging rats from moving onto your property and accessing your Frisco home will avoid a future rat infestation, but if you see or hear rats in your house now, you need the best rat control in Frisco from All-Safe Pest & Termite.

Our highly trained and experienced pest control technicians will inspect your property for signs of rats to identify hot spots and nesting locations; we will examine your house to determine entry points and attractions. After the inspection, our technicians will implement a custom strategy involving rodent traps and bait stations in strategic areas in the house and, if necessary, around the home. We will close entry locations on the ground level using copper mesh and other effective exclusion methods and products.

Over 40 years of experience have taught us that rodent control is not a one-time visit, so we will return weekly until the rodents are gone. Don't risk contracting a disease or experiencing an injury from a rat! Please reach out to us today and get your free estimate.