Rats are undoubtedly one of the most dreaded pests you can have in your home or commercial building. In addition to looking nasty, rats carry diseases and can cause some significant property damage. What’s worse is that rats don’t live solitary lives—they live with all of their friends and family in large nests.
But what does a rat nest look like? Their nests in Bartlesville, OK are usually made out of plant remains, cotton, twigs, trash or anything else they can find lying around. The nests are commonly found in attics, crawlspaces, underneath porches or even between walls. An average-sized nest can fit in a cereal bowl, but they can be much bigger depending on how many rats live in the nest.
Other signs of a rat nest
Since they’re not always big and are often located in hard-to-reach areas, you might not always see a rat nest in Bartlesville, OK directly. These are a few signs that you might have an infestation:
- Droppings: Wherever rats go, they leave small droppings behind. In fact, a single rat can produce 40 droppings in one night! Even though they’re only about the size of a grain of rice, you’re sure to notice the dark brown droppings on the floor if you have rats living on your property.
- Noises: Rats living in your walls, attic or crawlspace will surely make plenty of noise each night. You may hear tiny scratching noises of rats crawling up in the walls, or scurrying sounds of them running around under the floorboards. You might also hear grinding noises—this is the rats grinding their teeth.
- Footprints: If a rat nest in Bartlesville, OK is located in a dusty old attic or a rarely-used building, you can often see their tracks in the dust. If you suspect an active infestation but don’t see any marks, sprinkle some flour on the ground before you go to bed. You’re sure to see plenty of footprints in the morning if you have a rat problem.
- Gnaw marks: Because rats’ teeth grow throughout their lives, they must continually chew on things to grind them down. You may notice gnaw marks on baseboards, furniture or other wooden objects. There might also be noticeable chew marks on boxes of food in the cupboard, since rats are also always hungry.
- Burrows: Brown rats are known diggers, creating extensive burrows for food storage and shelter. You may notice these holes outside by your garden, under decking or in compost heaps. Even if these holes weren’t created by rats, they’re a sign that you have some kind of pest infestation on your property.
Don’t remove that nest by yourself!
Instead of trying to remove a rat nest yourself or laying out traps to catch them, hire our team at Excellence Pest Control to get rid of them. We have all of the proper tools and necessary experience to eliminate rats from your property and ensure they don’t come back. Give us a call today to schedule extermination or to learn more about what a rat nest looks like in Bartlesville, OK.