Some Information about Rat Infestation

Rats are said to be very friendly when tame plus they are intelligent creatures that would make them cute as pets. Compared to gerbils and hamsters, they are less likely to bite, and so if your child is searching for a new pet, your good choice could be a domestic rat. Wild rats though are never good once they infest your home aside from not being cute. When you sense and show signs that the rats and their families are starting to occupy your outbuildings, garage, attic or basement, then you should already be concern.

Rats have several sub-species, but the two main kinds are the black and brown rats. Coming from Asia are the so-called old world rats which are small, but their relatives found in your cities and towns are much bigger.

While humans migrated around the world, rats also followed and their population go along with the soldiers and traders who were busy trading in Asia and Europe. Rats were everywhere, hitching rides on ships, sailing between continents, and eventually you see them everywhere after a few centuries.

Rats are like pests which are nature’s scavengers, meaning, the more food is available, the more rats will be around. Rats are not fussy with their food, although they prefer diet of meat and vegetables, they will still be happy to loot your trash or raid your vegetable patch. Be warned that rats will also attack smaller animals if they cannot find food in their areas.

Rats have one main reason for being dreaded or scared of in the past centuries and this is because they spread disease. It was recorded that 25 million people died in the Middle Ages termed as the black death, where people just collapsed on the streets with disease spreading around, and this was known to be the Bubonic Plague caused by rats which were infested with fleas.

Nowadays, an outbreak of the disease can be prevented since we have now a better understanding of the disease and how to prevent it. However, the spreading of disease is still possible with rats around and so we need to deal their infestation as soon as possible.

One disease that you should be concern of with rats living and breeding in your vicinity is called leptospirosis, the most common rat-borne disease.
If you consume food or water which are contaminated by rats, you could get the disease called salmonella. Another fatal disease due to exposure to rat droppings or rat urine, is called hantavirus, and this is a fatal one. Very common also in the rat population is e-coli, and rats are also infected with this disease leading humans to be contaminated too from food and water that are contaminated.

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