Rats are among the most common pests in Surrey BC. The primary reasons behind this are urbanisation, moderate weather conditions, and availability of food. Therefore, they often enter your property and build their nests there. However, many homeowners in Surrey ignore rat problems. They often think rats will go away on their own.
Whenever you notice their presence, immediately call experts for rat control in Surrey. Otherwise, they start multiplying rapidly in your home and cause some serious health issues and property damage. In this post, we will explore the risks of ignoring rat infestation.
Hidden Problems of Ignoring Rats in Your Home
Spread Dangerous Diseases
Rats are carriers of many harmful diseases that can make your family sick. They can spread leptospirosis, hantavirus, and salmonella through their urine and bites. These diseases can cause severe symptoms, such as fever, muscle pain, vomiting, and even organ failure.
Children and family members with weak immune systems are more prone to these risks. If rats contaminate your food or water, your whole family can get sick. In short, ignoring a rat problem puts everyone in your home at risk of catching a serious disease.
Damage to Your Homeโs Structure
Rats love chewing and scratching everything that comes in their way. They can chew wooden structures, insulation, pipes, and even electrical wires. Over time, this damage can weaken the structure of your house and make it unsafe. If they chew through pipes, it can cause water leaks and lead to expensive repairs.
They can also damage insulation, which results in higher energy bills because your home will lose heat in the winter and cool air in the summer. Ignoring a rat problem can lead to serious and costly damage to your homeโs structure.
Increased Risk of Electrical Fires
One of the biggest dangers of a rat infestation is the risk of an electrical fire. Rats love to chew wires, which can remove their protective coating. Exposed wires can cause sparks that ignite nearby materials and lead to a house fire. Since these wires are often hidden behind walls, you may not notice the danger early.
Contaminate Food and Water
Rats are always searching for food. They crawl over kitchen counters, chew through food packaging, and leave droppings in pantries. This contamination can introduce harmful bacteria into your food and water. Even if you store food in sealed containers, rats may still leave germs on surfaces where food is prepared.
Once rats find a food source in your home, they will keep coming back. The worst part is that they donโt come alone. They bring various health risks with them. Ignoring the problem allows them to spread germs in every corner of the home.
Development of Colonies
Rats reproduce at an alarming rate. A single pair of rats can have hundreds of babies in a year. If you ignore a small problem, it will quickly grow into a large infestation. Once they start developing colonies, it becomes extremely challenging to get rid of them. Traps and poisons may not be enough to eliminate them.
Unpleasant Smells and Noises
Rats create a very unpleasant living environment. They urinate everywhere, producing a strong, foul smell that stays in your home. If a rat dies inside your walls or attic, the smell of decay can last for several weeks. Rats become very active at night.
They produce various sounds by scratching, squeaking, and running around. This can disturb your sleep and cause stress. A single infestation can make your home feel dirty and uncomfortable. The longer you ignore it, the worse the smells and noises will get.
Invite Other Pests
If left unnoticed, rats can invite various other pests to your home. They leave behind food scraps and waste that attract insects, such as cockroaches, flies, and ants. Their presence can also attract predators such as snakes and larger animals that feed on rats.
Multiple infestations make your living space unhealthy, and you have to spend a considerable amount of time and money to remove pests.
Mental Stress and Anxiety
Living in a home where rats are roaming freely around you can be extremely stressful. The constant fear of disease, hearing noises at night, and dealing with property damage can cause anxiety and frustration. You may also develop a phobia of rodents, which makes you feel unsafe in your own home.
All these things can affect your mental health and make it hard for you to do your routine tasks. Therefore, whenever you notice the presence of rats in your home, take immediate action to get rid of them.
How to Get Rid of Rats?
Only knowing the risks of ignoring rats is not enough. You must know how to get rid of them to mitigate the risks of health issues and property damage. You can adopt the following strategies to knock them out of your living space.
Use Traps: Itโs one of the simplest ways to get rid of these creepy creatures. You can use various traps to catch and kill rats. However, they will be effective during the early stages of the infestation. Once rats develop their colonies, it becomes hard to catch them.
Keep Your Home Clean: Rats often invade your home when they have easy access to food. Moreover, a cluttered space also attracts them as it offers various hiding spots. Therefore, you should always keep your home clean and decluttered. Pay special attention to keeping your kitchen clean.
Call Professionals: Itโs one of the most effective ways to get rid of rats. You can hire reliable professionals for rat control in Surrey to knock these creepy creatures out of your home. They use advanced tools and adopt effective techniques to remove them from every corner of your home. They destroy their habitats to offer long-term results.
Seal Entrances: Once rats have been removed from your home, you must block their entrance to avoid future infestations. Sealing cracks, repairing broken doors, and replacing damaged pipes are some effective ways to keep them away from your home.
Rats can lead to serious health issues and various other risks. Therefore, you should never let them stay in your home. Whenever you notice them, immediately call professionals to eliminate them.
