Rats
Solving an infestation problem involving rats or mice, is complicated at best... and since the
rodents have managed to adapt to and overcome each and every new technology found to
combat them, the control methods we use must reflect an understanding of the commensal
rodents' (rats & mice) habitat requirements, reproductive capabilities, food habits, life history,
behavior, senses, movements, and the dynamics of its population structure. Without this
knowledge, both time and money are wasted, and the chances of failure are greatly increased.
The 3 commensal (adept at living with humans) rodents most responsible for infestations and
the accompanying damage found in the Orlando-Kissimmee metropolitan area are all of the
family murinae:
These species originated in Asia and spread throughout the world bringing with them disease
and devastation. Our primary rodent problem here in Orlando and the rodent we will be
focused on in this article, the roof rat is notorious in history for being the vector for bubonic
plague transmission in Europe during the middle ages.
It's more recent history involves it's transplantation to North America where it is estimated to
cause billions of dollars in damage to people, homes & businesses each year by spreading
diseases, causing fires, water damage, food contamination, and many other stresses on
societies.
Habitat
Roof rats are comfortable occupying both above ground (arboreal), on ground (terrestrial),
and below ground (subterranean) nesting sites and are amazingly adaptive to any habitat that
can provide sufficient harborage and food.
Once rats or mice find an entry point into homes, businesses, or multi unit buildings and
become established, they readily breed and thrive. They have also been found living in sewer
systems.
Food Habits
Roof Rats are omnivorous and, if necessary, will feed on almost anything, although they can be
surprisingly picky when a variety of food is available. Roof rats usually require water daily,
though their local diet may provide an adequate amount if it is high in water content.
Reproduction and Development
Rodents, rats and mice, are the most successful mammalian reproducers. The young are born
about 3 weeks after mating and the female is ready to reproduce again almost immediately
after giving birth. The number of litters depends on food availability, population and season- in
Florida they seem to breed all year.
New rats are sexually mature and ready to reproduce the next generation of rats in as little
as 60-90 days and with each rat producing 6-8 offspring, one mated pair can engender 20,000
offspring in one year.
Foraging Behavior
Rats usually start foraging shortly after sunset. Food items that are too big to be eaten on the
spot are carried to a protected location for consumption and when food is plentiful some
food is stored in caches near the rats nest.
This hoarding behavior is why rats can survive in a sealed up home or business for a
surprisingly long time. Roof rats have a strong tendency to avoid new objects in their
environment and this neophobia can influence control efforts, for it may take several days
before they will approach a bait station or trap and since they have access to hoarded food,
traps with food attractants are much less attractive unless properly placed.
When necessary, roof rats will travel considerable distances. They may live in the landscaping
of one residence and feed at another. They can often be seen at night running along
overhead utility lines or fences. They may live in trees, such as palm, or in attics, and climb
down to a food source. Traditional baiting or trapping on the ground or floor may intercept
very few roof rats unless bait and/or traps are placed at the very points that rats traverse
from above to a food resource.
Rat Senses
Rats rely on keen senses to navigate and survive in a world where they are the basis of the
food chain... but, as rats have evolved, the senses they have developed have allowed them to
become the second most successful mammal on earth.
Roof rats have evolved to be these highly adaptable engines of destruction, and they use the
senses developed through millenia to control outcomes to their advantage... due to their
highly developed senses, roof rats can taste 1 particle in millions, move rapidly through low
light environments, and locate and consume approximately 1/3 of the food produced on the
planet. They are so successful, that even though man has spent more resources to eradicate
them than has been spent on AIDs, heart disease or cancer they have still managed to cause
more human death than any other mechanism on this planet short of aging.
Signs of Rodent Infestation
Signs that rat infestation is under way may be difficult to spot until the population of roof rats
have reached a critical mass that forces individual rats to take risks that give away their
presence. The signs reported by our clients:
There can be no doubt that rodents are one if not the most costly of pests that affect
greater Orlando and Central Florida... they cause damage into the tens of millions of dollars
and as we grow as a state their commensal nature will allow them to grow right along with us.
Diseases
Rodents (rats & mice), according to the CDC are the transmission vector for a number of
human diseases, including murine typhus, rabies, leptospirosis, salmonellosis (food poisoning),
rat-bite fever, and plague to name just a few. Rats are also capable of transmitting a number
of diseases to domestic animals. Rats and/or mice need not come in contact with you or your
pest to transmit diseases... they leave fecal pellets, dander, urine crystals and fleas & ticks
which have fed on rat and/or mouse blood which then feed on you or your pets, transferring
the diseases in such low contact mechanisms.
Solving an infestation problem involving rats or mice, is complicated at best... and since the
rodents have managed to adapt to and overcome each and every new technology found to
combat them, the control methods we use must reflect an understanding of the commensal
rodents' (rats & mice) habitat requirements, reproductive capabilities, food habits, life history,
behavior, senses, movements, and the dynamics of its population structure. Without this
knowledge, both time and money are wasted, and the chances of failure are greatly increased.
The 3 commensal (adept at living with humans) rodents most responsible for infestations and
the accompanying damage found in the Orlando-Kissimmee metropolitan area are all of the
family murinae:
- The Roof Rat (rattus rattus) a smaller, long tailed rat with prominent ears, a brown &
gray back and a light gray belly. The roof rat is the primary culprit at work in home
damage in this area of Florida. - The Norway Rat (rattus norvegicus) a large blunt headed rat with a tail shorter than its
body, small ears and brown and gray mottling on its back and light brown on it's belly.
The Norway rat is rare in Central Florida but is the primary culprit in infestations up
north. - The House Mouse (mus musculus) very small rodent with pointed snout, longer tail and
gray and white coloring. The house mouse is rarely seen in the Central Florida area-
Apopka is the most notable exception and we deal with mice in homes in Apopka, Mt
Dora & Eustice on a regular basis.
These species originated in Asia and spread throughout the world bringing with them disease
and devastation. Our primary rodent problem here in Orlando and the rodent we will be
focused on in this article, the roof rat is notorious in history for being the vector for bubonic
plague transmission in Europe during the middle ages.
It's more recent history involves it's transplantation to North America where it is estimated to
cause billions of dollars in damage to people, homes & businesses each year by spreading
diseases, causing fires, water damage, food contamination, and many other stresses on
societies.
Habitat
Roof rats are comfortable occupying both above ground (arboreal), on ground (terrestrial),
and below ground (subterranean) nesting sites and are amazingly adaptive to any habitat that
can provide sufficient harborage and food.
Once rats or mice find an entry point into homes, businesses, or multi unit buildings and
become established, they readily breed and thrive. They have also been found living in sewer
systems.
Food Habits
Roof Rats are omnivorous and, if necessary, will feed on almost anything, although they can be
surprisingly picky when a variety of food is available. Roof rats usually require water daily,
though their local diet may provide an adequate amount if it is high in water content.
Reproduction and Development
Rodents, rats and mice, are the most successful mammalian reproducers. The young are born
about 3 weeks after mating and the female is ready to reproduce again almost immediately
after giving birth. The number of litters depends on food availability, population and season- in
Florida they seem to breed all year.
New rats are sexually mature and ready to reproduce the next generation of rats in as little
as 60-90 days and with each rat producing 6-8 offspring, one mated pair can engender 20,000
offspring in one year.
Foraging Behavior
Rats usually start foraging shortly after sunset. Food items that are too big to be eaten on the
spot are carried to a protected location for consumption and when food is plentiful some
food is stored in caches near the rats nest.
This hoarding behavior is why rats can survive in a sealed up home or business for a
surprisingly long time. Roof rats have a strong tendency to avoid new objects in their
environment and this neophobia can influence control efforts, for it may take several days
before they will approach a bait station or trap and since they have access to hoarded food,
traps with food attractants are much less attractive unless properly placed.
When necessary, roof rats will travel considerable distances. They may live in the landscaping
of one residence and feed at another. They can often be seen at night running along
overhead utility lines or fences. They may live in trees, such as palm, or in attics, and climb
down to a food source. Traditional baiting or trapping on the ground or floor may intercept
very few roof rats unless bait and/or traps are placed at the very points that rats traverse
from above to a food resource.
Rat Senses
Rats rely on keen senses to navigate and survive in a world where they are the basis of the
food chain... but, as rats have evolved, the senses they have developed have allowed them to
become the second most successful mammal on earth.
- sight- least developed of the rats senses, they are color blind.
- smell- they use their keen sense of smell to locate and select food items, identify
territories and travel routes, and recognize other rats, especially those of the
opposite sex. - hearing- their keen sense of hearing also aids in their ability to detect and escape
danger. - touch- rats use their acute sense of touch to explore their world... their long,
sensitive whiskers (vibrissae) near their nose and the guard hairs on their body are
used as tactile sensors. The whiskers and guard hairs enable the animals to travel
adjacent to walls in the dark and in burrows. - taste- rats have a strong sense of taste as well and they will carefully select what they
eat when more than one foodstuff is available.
Roof rats have evolved to be these highly adaptable engines of destruction, and they use the
senses developed through millenia to control outcomes to their advantage... due to their
highly developed senses, roof rats can taste 1 particle in millions, move rapidly through low
light environments, and locate and consume approximately 1/3 of the food produced on the
planet. They are so successful, that even though man has spent more resources to eradicate
them than has been spent on AIDs, heart disease or cancer they have still managed to cause
more human death than any other mechanism on this planet short of aging.
Signs of Rodent Infestation
Signs that rat infestation is under way may be difficult to spot until the population of roof rats
have reached a critical mass that forces individual rats to take risks that give away their
presence. The signs reported by our clients:
- scratching or chewing noise in areas of the attic.
- smudge marks (the result of oil and dirt rubbing off of their fur as they brush up
against objects as they move from one place to another). - dogs or cats paying undue attention to the attic, wall voids and crawl spaces.
- droppings, urine, or tracks on the floor.
- chewed through food containers or water bottles.
- actual damage (i.e. water leaks from gnawed plumbing, loss of cooling in certain rooms
and/or insulation being found blowing out of air vents, lights & electrical sockets not
working etc.). - chewing on citrus and other fruit and vegetable plants.
- flu and/or allergy like symptoms including asthma, bronchitis & other respiratory
ailments. - recurring parasitic infestations of the home or business (primarily fleas and ticks).
There can be no doubt that rodents are one if not the most costly of pests that affect
greater Orlando and Central Florida... they cause damage into the tens of millions of dollars
and as we grow as a state their commensal nature will allow them to grow right along with us.
Diseases
Rodents (rats & mice), according to the CDC are the transmission vector for a number of
human diseases, including murine typhus, rabies, leptospirosis, salmonellosis (food poisoning),
rat-bite fever, and plague to name just a few. Rats are also capable of transmitting a number
of diseases to domestic animals. Rats and/or mice need not come in contact with you or your
pest to transmit diseases... they leave fecal pellets, dander, urine crystals and fleas & ticks
which have fed on rat and/or mouse blood which then feed on you or your pets, transferring
the diseases in such low contact mechanisms.
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