Many homeowners have questions on whether or not pests can cause certain problems in their home, and one that comes up frequently is the question of whether mice and rats have the ability to chew through the walls. These pests can be especially problematic since they can get into food, carry disease, and even carry fleas that can carry various diseases. There are few pests more hated than rats because of the huge amount of damage they can do, the health issues (especially with children around), and there’s no denying the fear, frustration, revulsion, and other similar issues from a rat running across the floor inside a house. Where there’s one, it’s usually only a matter of time until there are others, as well.
Serious Damage Every Single Year
There’s no question that rats are a serious problem that can compound in seriousness over time. They can chew through walls, insulation, wires, and cause all sorts of problems. Piles of their droppings can be a serious health hazard as well. There’s absolutely no question about their ability to chew through even strong building materials over time, and it is important to note that it is estimated that rats and mice together cause tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.
This isn’t just the tunneling through walls and ceilings, cutting through insulation, and making your home vulnerable to other pests, but also health hazards from feces, fleas, special diseases most often associated with these creatures but they can contaminate food supplies, cause health problems, and even damage wiring that results in an electrical fire. Burning down an entire building is the very definition of serious damage.
Even A Problem When Dead
There are many rats that manage to get into a basement, an attic, the walls, only to eventually get stuck in an area they can’t get out of. This is often the cause of frequent scratching that people sometimes hear in walls and that can be a dead giveaway to an infestation. If they starve to death or die from other means, their corpses can cause a massive stench in addition to extremely un-hygienic and unsafe conditions within the walls.
These are not problems that you want to leave undisturbed. They will continue to get worse and should never be ignored but need to be dealt with.
Trusting Professional Pest Control Services
Generally, you will want to call in a licensed and certified professional pest control service to help you out. Rats can be tricky, they can also be nasty when cornered, and then there are the issues of disease as well as being able to get to the pests and trap them and remove them safely doing as little damage to the house or business building as possible.
Even if you could catch the rat yourself, that doesn’t mean you could figure out how it got in and what open entry points were still around. This is a very important point because if you don’t seal up the original entry way then this is a problem that could just occur again and again. Hiring a professional means tracking down the root of the problem and getting it nipped in the bud.
There are many different types of pests, but a rat infestation is one that you especially need to worry about. From damage to the house to the threat of wiring damage to the health and safety of everyone there, it’s just something that needs to be taken care of as soon as the problem is discovered. Do that and you’ll be much happier in the long run.
