Rats are among planet Earth’s ultimate survivor species. They scavenge, hunt, hide, possess remarkable intelligence and are a very important part of the natural habitat. Since the dawn of mankind, the rat population has been booming all over the world because humans provide the best living conditions for the rodents. Because of that, property owners are in a great need of pest control once they realize they have a rat infestation.

As an omnivore, the Norway rat has a rich diet. It consists of but is not limited to, cereals, seeds, grains, nuts, meat, pet food, eggs, dairy products, and even chocolate. There are just a few foods they avoid—raw beets, raw celery, and peaches. Rats get their food from both outdoors and indoors locations.

Urban tales of rats preying on cats and dogs are exaggerated. Although they are omnivores, they are not keen on hunting. Rats are scavengers and will attack only when starving. However, it is not unlikely for a rat to attack and potentially kill a dog or a cat in self-defense.

Rats are well-known disease vectors and carry numerous infectious pathogens. The list includes serious illnesses such as typhus, Weil’s disease, rat-bite fever, Q fever and leptospirosis. They contaminate food and water sources with saliva, droppings and urine.

The disease most commonly associated with rats—plague—is not carried by Norway rats. It is transmitted by fleas leaving an infected black rat and attacking a man. Black rats are now extinct in the UK but can be found throughout Europe. They were driven out of Britain by the Norway rat. Black rats also spread Hantaviruses.

However, rats are one of the few mammals not known to spread rabies. Although there are incidental reports of rats infected by the disease, there are no known cases of rat-to-human rabies infection. Rats are also extremely resistant to the rabies virus.

• Chewed items – Like mice, rats have incisors which never stop growing. Thus they need to chew onto something hard on a regular basis – cables, woods, even pipes.

• Droppings – the shape and size of black olives. Unlike mice, rats are a bit more protective, so they have better hiding skills and don’t want to be noticed. If you hear noises, see chewed cables, but don’t find droppings, it’s probably rats, not mice.

• Smears – rats have poor sight, that’s why they follow the same routes while moving. Constant moving on the same tracks will leave dark marks on surfaces – that’s called smears.

• Noises – rats can climb walls, so you might hear scratching noises behind walls.

• Footprints – you might see footprints on dusty places (basements, attics). Like any other animal, rats leave their prints.

Prevention is the best medicine. If you don’t have rats right now, or if you just managed to remove the nightmare form your house, you need to make sure that no rodent enters your property again. To do this, there are a few important steps to follow.

• Fill holes and gaps in your property structure. The most common reason people get a rat infestation is holes and cracks in the walls or ceiling. Blocking the nasty critters' way in is the first and most important step in rat prevention.

• Get a pet. A cat or a dog won’t be useful if you have a full-blown infestation, but it’s true that they are a good prevention method. Rats wouldn’t dare to nest in a property where their predators lurk.

• Keep your home clean. Cleaning up a house doesn’t simply mean to sweep every day. Rats will not come knocking on your door, just because there’s some dust. Like any animal, they will come, if there is food laying around. Don’t leave uneaten food on the table, or dirty dishes in the sink overnight. Pet food is also a big attractor, and so is the garbage bin.

Throughout Leeds, both in the inner-city and the rural outskirts, pest control services are inundated with calls from concerned residents. For a number of years, the City of Leeds has been facing an unprecedented rise in requests for pest management assistance related to not just the influx of rats and mice, but flying insects too, including calling on pest control for nest removal services to get rid of ants, hornets, and over the summer, wasp nests.

Right at the time when Leeds was facing a rat epidemic in March of 2020, lockdown shut the sector down. After lobbying by trade industry bodies. Westminster finally U-turned their decision to give pest control services the green light to help fight the initial epidemic. And called for pest control services to help fight the battle plaguing Leeds and the wider West Yorkshire district for at least the past 3-years!

Apex Environmental Leeds aims to respond to any reports from residents within 24 hours 7 days a week and would urge anyone experiencing issues with pests to contact us wherever you live on 0113 3904270.