Rats

Rats, and more distinctly Norway Rats, are very common in Arkansas. Inhabiting a very large region of North America, these scavengers live in very close association with people. In urban or suburban areas they live in and around residences, in cellars, warehouses, stores, slaughterhouses, docks and in sewers.

They may burrow to make nests under buildings and other structures, beneath concrete slabs, in garbage dumps and at other locations where suitable food, water and shelter are present. This makes them a very persistant threat.

Adult Norway rats weigh an average of one pound. Their fur is coarse and usually brownish or reddish-gray above and whitish gray on the belly. Rats use their keen sense of smell to locate food items and to recognize other rats.

Rats cause structural damage to buildings by burrowing and gnawing and can undermine building foundations and slabs. Rats also may gnaw on electrical wires or water pipes and further damage structures further by gnawing openings through doors, window sills, walls, ceilings, and floors. Considerable damage to insulated structures can occur as a result of rat burrowing and nesting in walls and attics.

Rats have been known to transmit murine typhus, leptospirosis, trichinosis, salmonellosis (food poisoning), and ratbite fever to humans and other animals. Telltale signs of rat activity are droppings found along runways or in feeding areas, smudge marks (rub marks) on walls, floors or baseborad as a result of oil and dirt rubbing off rats’ fur along frequently traveled routes, and gnawing marks visible on doors, ledges, in corners, in wall material, on stored materials, or other surfaces.

If you see signs of rat activity, give Curry’s a call today and we’ll enact a rat pest control plan immediately.