Rat hole in garage doorThis rat control job was for a home in Burlington Ontario, where the home owner thought she saw the shadow of a rat or squirrel in her garage. She didn’t know exactly what is was but she was sure she had a wild animal problem to deal with.

When our team arrived, we performed our usual inspection and came across a hole at the bottom of the garage door which at first glance seemed too large for a mouse to chew out – maybe a squirrel? – but upon further inspection we discovered that this hole and the other evidence we found, indicated that this home owner had a big problem and definitely needed rat control and prevention done as soon as possible.

The video below will show you exactly what we encountered.

In the video you’ll see as we were looking around that we found several chewed-out areas of wood and drywall (see image below) which in this case were most likely used by the rats to travel up and across to areas where it can chew it’s way into the attic, i.e. through the soffit line.

In a situation like this, we would have to drywall, tape and mud the entire garage to rectify the situation and ensure the rats don’t get back in.

Rat chewing damage to garage wall

Needless to say, we not only found signs of rats chewing holes in various places, but we also found feces everywhere. Over time, this garage had turned into a feasting area for rats and they didn’t mind leaving their droppings behind either.

If you do a home inspection yourself for rats, rat feces will be one of the first obvious signs you’ll see, but you most likely will have to move bags of garage, slabs of wood or recycling bins to see it.

The image below is an example of the rat feces and other debris they left behind. At this point having access to so much food pretty much told them that this garage was a good place to live in because they’ll have constant access to food when they need it.

Rat feces in garage

Does Burlington really have a rat epidemic?

The fact of the matter is, any home in any suburb has the potential for a rat infestation, not only Burlington. As long as a garage, attic or inside of a home is a sure resource of food for mice and rats, you can definitely expect your home to become a target. There are times when rats will just hit-and-run parts of your home if the source of food is scarce or temporary, but if not, you can expect their presence and the damage that comes along with them.

Rats love getting into the recycle bins

Be cautious of what you throw into your recycle bin. There might be two or three carrots inside; there may be some soup left in a can. What that is is food to rats, mice and other pests. When you throw food into a recycle bin, and you don’t clean it out regularly, you’re going to contribute to harbouring wild animals. You can never stop them from getting under your garage door, but you can make them leave because there’s nothing for them to eat there.

Stopping rats and pests from getting into a garage is usually a long shot, but hindering them from doing so through not providing food is easy. It might be a pain in the butt to keep your garage nice and clean but it’s much better than having rat feces everywhere.

Remember not to use exterminators

We published an article a few weeks ago showing why exterminators don’t permanently get rid of mice so be sure to read that before you hire a pest control company. There’s no use it paying for the same job twice or over and over again.

 

Do you need wildlife removal services? Request a quote today!

Share This