Rats Instead of Squirrels
Nobody likes having squirrels get into their attic or walls. When they do get inside they are annoying and can be a pain to get rid of.
But, since people generally don’t mind squirrels as long as they aren’t in the house, there isn’t a stigma associated with a squirrel problem.
In fact your neighbor probably wouldn’t hesitate to tell you, “Yeah, I had a squirrel get into my house once. Those darn little buggers. “
Rats, on the other hand, really gross people out!
Thus, you generally won’t have people recounting to others at a cocktail party that time they found they had rats in their attic.
Associated with uncleanliness and disease, rats freak people out and nobody wants to cop to having had a rat problem.
We’re here to tell you that rat problems, just like squirrel problems, happen. And, it doesn’t mean that there is some failing in your living situation.
In all likelihood, its just a function of where you live: a place with ample opportunities for food and shelter.
Rats & Squirrels Sound Alike
We don’t typically deal with too many rats.
That’s because:
1) We specifically deal with nuisance wild animals you might find living in the fields and forests
2) We don’t deal with insects or other animals which are typically managed through the use of chemical pesticides (pest Control)
3) Rats thrive more in high density urban areas than a lot of the lower density urban and suburban areas we service here in the Akron, Canton, Kent OH area.
But, even though we don’t specifically deal with rats and mice, we run into them from time to time because people think the problem might be squirrels or other nuisance wildlife.
As you can see in the following video, that is exactly how Ryan ended up catching this rat: it sounded as if there was a squirrel problem because there had been one in the past.
As Ryan points out, is easy to mistake a rat problem for a squirrel problem because the noises can be very similar.
When we think we are dealing with squirrels and don’t catch any it sometimes turns out that rats are the real culprit.
Often these rat/squirrel questions exist in our cities that have sewer lines and higher denisities of dumpsters and trashcans.
Rats definitely use sewers for travel and entry into homes. Gaps in foundations or other pass-throughs are used by rats as well.
Like all animals, the rats are just looking for food and shelter. So anywhere there is an adundance of these, there is a chance for rats.
Dealing With Rats
A couple of online sources say the problem of rats seems to be growing so we may need to expect more of them.
One source states milder winters and drier summers have led to more rats surviving in recent years.
Another source indicates that more rats have been noticeable in this year of COVID as restaurants have provided less food (dumpsters). The theory is that rats are spreading out more.
We are not rat experts! So whether rat interactions in our area are more common is yet to be seen.
What we can help you out with is squirrels! We know how to manage squirrels and help solve that problem.
But, since they can sometimes be confused, if we diagnose the “squirrel” problem as a rat problem, it shouldn’t shock either party.
Rats can be managed too. Just not by us.
If you have suspected squirrel problems, do give us call! Most of the time it really is squirrels.
