What Size Opening can a Rat Get through?

 Most Commonly Asked Questions about Rats

#1 What size opening can a rat get through?

A quarter is just under an inch in diameter (0.96 inches). Not all rats can fit through a hole the size of a quarter. Large rats and overweight rats are too big. But some rats are small enough to fit through — especially juvenile rats.

#2 Can a rat climb up a wall?

The house mouse and the brown rat are common rodent pests. … Rats are efficient burrowers and can burrow for several meters horizontally. Both rats and mice are good climbers and can climb vertical walls if the surface is rough enough, and “shimmy” up between walls and drain pipes.

Rat Trapping and Removal North Sarasota
Rat in a plastic tube

#3 How Does a Rat Get in the House?

Rats can squeeze into amazingly small areas. Evenrats that look very big can almost slide in like jelly into the tightest of gaps and holes – it’s amazing to watch. … How Big Do Rats Get? They can inhabit very small nooks and crannies inside a house, from walls to ceilings, crawl spaces and attics.

#4 What are Signs of a Rat in your House?

  • Rat Droppings. Tend to be found concentrated in specific locations as rats produce up to 40 droppings per night. …
  • Rub Marks. Rats use established routes along skirting boards and walls due to their poor eyesight. …
  • Scratching Noises. …
  • Rat Holes. …
  • Rat Nests. …
  • Footprints.

#5 Do Rats Attack You?

FACT: Some rats, if provoked and cornered, will fight their way out of the confrontation, as will many wild animals. But most rats do not outwardly attackhumans. Young babies, bed-confined elders, and the homeless sleeping in doorways and alleys, however, are occasionally bitten by unprovoked rats.

#6 Do Rats have a Collapsible Skeleton?

No. These are myths.

Rats have a skeleton made of bones connected with joints and cartilage, just like we do.

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Most Commonly Asked Questions about Rats

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Photo of Rat Droppings at Dominos [News Blog] Bradenton Rat Trapping and Removal

 

 

Bradenton, FL Rat Trapping and Removal 34205
Baby rat

May 4, 2018

JOHNSON CITY, TN (CBS Local) – A Tennessee Domino’s Pizza is under fire after a photo of raw dough covered in rat droppings was posted online. According to health inspections, the store in question has had a rodent problem for at least three years.

The Details:

  • A photo of rat droppings on Domino’s pizza dough has gone viral
  • The photo was posted by an anonymous source who claims to work at the Tennessee location
  • Rats have been found at the store during health inspections dating back to 2015

The Domino’s on Boones Creek Road in Johnson City, Tennessee drew massive scrutiny after an alleged employee posted a photo of feces-covered pizza dough to Reddit on May 1. The anonymous whistle blower, using the handle “matchgame74,” also claimed that rats are a common sight at the location and employees at the pizza chain don’t understand how the store continues to pass health inspections.

redditdough Photo Of Rat Droppings On Dominos Pizza Dough Goes Viral
Credit: reddit.com/matchgame74

“We ate that pizza like a week ago. That’s surprising to understand that they could find that and sell us that pizza,” customer Jeff Bowman told WJHL. Complaints about insect, animal, and rodent violations reportedly date back to 2015. Health inspectors, who found “14 trays contaminated with rodent droppings,” still gave the store a score of 86 on their most recent inspection on May 2.

“This was an extremely isolated incident, confined to a single store, and it’s been puzzling… The affected trays were removed; all others were inspected and new ones were delivered. The health department then cleared the store to open. The store is clean, open and back in business,” Domino’s spokesman Tim McIntyre told WJHL.

The state’s Department of Health told WJHL that restaurants can be shut down if they believe a health hazard “is imminent”, however they did not shut the pizza chain because staff immediately corrected the problems after the inspection.

The unnamed employee disputed the claims that Domino’s has actively tried to clean up the Tennessee location and even alleged that inspectors were being paid to look the other way. “I’m willing to lose my job over it at this point. My coworkers and I all feel guilty serving this to people,” matchgame74 wrote in Reddit’s comments section.

Have questions about rats in general?
Hearing strange noises or other evidence that a rat may be in your home?

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Rats from traps we set.

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Rat Lungworm Confirmed in Maui [News Blog] Lakewood Ranch Rat Removal

The Hawaii Department of Health has been conducting detailed investigations of two additional cases of angiostrongyliasis, or rat lungworm disease, contracted in the state.

The two cases are unrelated and were confirmed by laboratory tests conducted by the DOH State Laboratories Division in March. This brings the statewide total of confirmed cases of the disease to three individuals to date in 2018.

Rat Removal Lakewood Ranch Sarasota
Rat eating

Read more Rat Lungworm Confirmed in Maui [News Blog] Lakewood Ranch Rat Removal

Do Your Part To Keep Rats Away [News Blog]

What to do if neighbors aren’t doing their part

None of us want to have to deal with a rat problem in our community.  But, unfortunately, this can be a real a problem-  and there are a number of things that we can be doing to keep things under control. Karen Stiles of our call for action office joins us in the newsroom with more information.

Some of the neighborhood services departments in our area indicate that a major contributor to the rat problem comes from people not disposing of their trash properly.  But, another contributing factor comes from the waste that our dogs leave in our yards.

WORRIED ABOUT RATS? Call 1-866-263 WILD!

 To keep these situations from getting out of control, use proper, tight-fitting dumpsters and trash receptacles.  Do not leave your garbage outside in plastic bags or containers that can be easily opened by vermin. If you do not have enough room in your dumpster or receptacles, contact your city or municipality to inquire about other options such as getting a second dumpster or taking excess garbage to the dump.  Also, clean up after your pets on a regular basis. And, if you have feeders outside for birds, make sure that these feeders are up high enough from the ground and cannot be easily accessed by rodents.

If you notice your neighbors aren’t doing their part, contact your city or municipalities’ neighborhood services department to report a problem.  They can assist with checking things out, taking action, and providing further education on how to keep a rat problem under control or from happening in the first place.  in the next few weeks, the city of Milwaukee will be working on an extra effort related to this problem. But, in the meantime, they have a great brochure on their website that addresses how to avoid and resolve problems with rats.

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc. is fully licensed and insured. We are a locally and family-owned business that has been operating in Manatee and Sarasota county for 20 years. We are the REAL experts with the LONG-TERM experience that can save you from costly mistakes. Don’t trust your home or budget to a new guy on the block. Call today and speak with a trusted professional.

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IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH RATS KEEP READING

Rats from traps we set.

 

Due to what the animals leave behind, such a urine, feces, ticks, fleas and parasites which wildlife leave on the premises that they inhabit (whether it is attic, garage, roof, walls etc.) The below info is to educate you about the possible health risks that can happen if you, your family or your pets are exposed to any of this infected matter.

Rats host numerous parasite species and can possibly transmit fatal diseases to humans.  A Johns Hopkins University research team found rodent allergen in 95 percent of the Baltimore homes they tested. Allowing rats to contaminate attic insulation and other building materials with waste products can lead to serious health conditions.

• Hantavirus

A potentially fatal pulmonary virus found in fecal matter that spreads after becoming airborn. It can also be contracted through contact with rodent urine, droppings and saliva. Common symptoms include fever, fatigue, chills, muscle aches, headaches, dizziness, and abdominal ailments.

• Rat Bite Fever

Caused by a rat bite. Common symptoms include swelling, fever, nausea, chills, sore throat, headaches, muscle aches, abdominal pain and vomiting.

• Food Poisoning

Frequently results in salmonella after food or water has been contaminated by rodent feces or urine.

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• Asthma and asthma symptoms

Are often caused or complicated by rodent urine and urine protein contamination.

• Lyphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus

Is transmitted by contact with rodent feces. The disease can cause a variety of unwelcome symptoms, including a form of meningitis.

• Bubonic Plague

A virulent bacterial disease that is spread by the fleas that feed on rats and other rodents. Common symptoms include fever, chills, headaches, diarrhea and swelling.

• Rickettsial Pox

Spread through mites that are carried by rodents. The disease can cause lesions, fever, headaches and rashes.

• Rabies

A potentially deadly virus that infects the central nervous system. The disease is transmitted by rodents and other wild animals.

Need a rat trapper in Lakewood Ranch, FL or elsewhere in Manatee/Sarasota County?

Rats and other rodents can gain entry to homes and businesses by squeezing through hard to detect gaps and holes in rooflines, HVAC systems and foundations. Rats, mice and squirrels breed and contaminate food and building surfaces quickly.

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc. is fully licensed and insured. We are a locally and family-owned business that has been operating in Manatee and Sarasota county for 20 years. We are the REAL experts with the LONG-TERM experience that can save you from costly mistakes. Don’t trust your home or budget to a new guy on the block. Call today and speak with a trusted professional.

For more information or a FREE estimate call 1-866-263-WILD!

Or easily contact us by clicking here.  

Check out our RAT FAQ from our customers!

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc
1329 10th Street East Palmetto, Florida 34221
(941) 729-2103
 

Meet ‘Chirocopter’ a drone that flies within swarms of bats [News Blog]

By Katie Langin 

Wildlife biologists have put drones to work counting whales, checking bird nests, and nabbing poachers. Now, they’ve designed a drone that can hover within fast-flowing swarms of bats as they zip across a darkened nighttime sky.

The drone—or “Chirocopter” (named after Chiroptera, the scientific name for bats)—is equipped with a microphone to record echolocation chirps (sounds that bats use to navigate) and a thermal camera that can “see” bats by detecting their body heat. Similar technology has been used to record bats from the ground and from towers, but the Chirocopter has an advantage because it can be placed anywhere in 3D space, the team reports this month in Methods in Ecology and Evolution.

 

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Case in point: The team deployed a Chirocopter outside a cave in New Mexico that is home to about 800,000 Brazilian free-tailed bats. Just before dawn, the bats form dense aggregations and return to the cave along a chaotic aerial “freeway” at speeds exceeding 100 kilometers an hour. The team maneuvered the Chirocopter to hover in the middle of the fast-flowing swarm for 84 minutes at heights ranging from 5 meters to 50 meters—and there were so many bats that the scientists recorded 46 echolocation chirps per minute.

The researchers hope that after returning to the cave to get more footage and recordings, they’ll be able to figure out how the fast-flying mammals avoid colliding with one another. Chirocopters could also be put to work in other places to study how bats move around wind turbines and other human-made structures. (No bats were harmed in the testing of this technology—they all swerved to avoid collision with the Chirocopter.)

 

What does bat poop look like?

Image may contain: outdoor
Photo Credit: Clint Johnson

Guano is similar to mouse feces only larger. It is suggested that you inspect your attic windows for droppings that are evident. As well as being on the look out for any possible entry points ie openings where the creatures could be getting in and out. More than likely it will be up high, but if you have a good number of bats the guano will be fairly obvious.

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Photo Credit: Kevin Dahn
Image may contain: food
Photo Credit: Kevin Dahn

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Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc is a locally and family-owned business that has been operating in Manatee and Sarasota county for 20 years. We are the REAL experts with the LONG TERM experience that can save you from other’s costly mistakes! Don’t trust your home or budget to a new guy on the block. Call today and speak with a trusted professional.

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WHO WE ARE 

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Rodent Removal, Lakewood Ranch FL [News Blog]

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) 

By A.J. Nwoko

A Richmond mother calls 12 On Your Side, saying her house is being taken over by rats and it’s putting her six children’s health at risk.

Zakiyyah Dixon says her landlord isn’t doing enough.

“I don’t even feel like I’m at home…I feel like I’m living with somebody else, and they’re not even people,” said Dixon.

Dixon says she’s rented the home since 2017, but now:

“I just don’t even want to be here, because they’re running me out,” said Dixon.

All because of rats. Dixon says the problem is so bad, she’s seeing them in broad daylight.

“Oh yeah…It’s a family. It’s a family. I don’t know exactly how many, but it’s more than two… maybe three or four,” said Dixon.

She says she’s spent hundreds of dollars trying to solve the issue herself.

“I bought the stickies, and then I bought the little wooden ones that break their necks – those wasn’t working,” said Dixon.

Eventually, she reached out to her landlord. Dixon showed NBC12 the work he did, everything from boarding up and sealing holes in the wall and even supplying her with two special rat traps, but she says her rodent problems haven’t changed.

Her landlord did not want to be named on camera. He provided NBC12 with a receipt of services from the RRHA inspection and said in a statement that an exterminator has been to the property routinely to eliminate the issue. He also instructed her to keep a cleaner kitchen – something Dixon says she’s been doing.

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“Besides trying to keep the house as clean as possible, I take the garbage out every night. There should be no garbage left in the house at night,” said Dixon. “I am like to the point where I don’t even want to sleep here, because at night – not even to mention the fact that during the day it’s out of control – but at night, you hear them, you hear them…it’s like a constant [scurrying sound].”

As Dixon works to take back her home, she fears for her children’s safety.

“I just want out of this situation, and if I can’t get out of this situation, [the landlord] needs to fix what’s going on here so that it can be safe for me and my kids, because that’s my main concern.”

Dixon says the issue has gotten so bad, the rodents even chewed through her two-year-old’s blankets.

Her landlord says he’ll continue working with her to eliminate any future issues.

Copyright 2018 WWBT NBC12. All rights reserved.

Rats and other rodents can gain entry to homes and businesses by squeezing through hard to detect gaps and holes in rooflines, HVAC systems and foundations. Rats, mice and squirrels breed and contaminate food and building surfaces quickly.

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc. is fully licensed and insured. We are a locally and family-owned business that has been operating in Manatee and Sarasota county for 20 years. We are the REAL experts with the LONG-TERM experience that can save you from costly mistakes. Don’t trust your home or budget to a new guy on the block. Call today and speak with a trusted professional.

For more information or a FREE estimate call 1-866-263-WILD!

Or easily contact us by clicking here.  

Check out our RAT FAQ from our customers!

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc
1329 10th Street East Palmetto, Florida 34221
(941) 729-2103
 

Abandoned Townhome Becomes Nightmare [News Blog]

Written by Jalyn Souchek, Reporter

CORALVILLE (KWWL) –

Raccoons falling from their roof is how one homeowner described the nightmare of living next door to an abandoned property.

Phil Ganoe and his wife had just had their first child when they bought their first home over 15 years ago. The next year, their neighbor up and left the connecting townhome, leaving it abandoned.

“It was our first home and we were excited and things started out real well. We didn’t ever think we would end up where we are now,” Ganoe said.

The situation turned into a nightmare when a few years later a storm severely damaged the roof on the abandoned side, leaving a large hole in the ceiling.

It only got worse.

Raccoon Removal River Wilderness Parrish FL

“Every time it rained or snowed, God, we worried,” Ganoe said.

The open hole meant the home was filling up with mold. He worried about the health effects it could be having for his family but, again, it only got worse.

“Then the raccoons came. So, the raccoons got in through the hole in the ceiling and then, before you know, we have raccoons in our ceiling,” he said. “There were dead baby raccoons on our first steps. They had nested in the roof and the weight of them had busted through and fallen out onto our front steps.”

Over the years, Ganoe had tried to get in contact with the old neighbor, but without much luck.

He said they tried to sell their home, but the eyesore that was next door didn’t bring in a single interested buyer. It took several calls to the city.  Eventually, the city of Coralville took possession of the property, he said.

That’s when Habitat for Humanity was able to step in and help.

After 15 years, Ganoe said he was in disbelief something was going to be done. He also feared the damage would be so bad that their home wouldn’t be able to be saved, but that wasn’t the case. The first order of business was to replace the entire roof.

“After hearing Phil’s story and his families’ issues that they had due to this property, we kind of thought it made sense to help out as much as we could,” Heath Brewer, Habitat Executive Director, said. He said, when Habitat took on the property, they had no idea how much the neighbors had been impacted by it.

With a new roof over their head and a raccoon-free home, Ganoe spends extra time helping Habitat with the renovation of the home. After 15 years, he will soon have neighbors again.

“They were nice enough to put a roof on our house. They didn’t have to do that and we’re very grateful for that and, being a neighbor, I kind of feel like that’s the neighborly thing to do,” he said.

To show his gratitude, Ganoe is raising money for Habitat to cover the costs of repairing his side of the home. More about that fundraiser can be found here.

Brewer said the renovations should be completed in April and it will be available for affordable housing. He said the renovations not only help the Ganoe family with their headaches, but it will add value to the neighborhood.

 

How Do You Keep Raccoons Out of Your Yard? [Manatee County, FL]

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To read part II of our Raccoon FAQ installment series “Are Raccoons Dangerous During the Day?” click here

To read part I of our Raccoon FAQ installment series “How to Get Rid of a Raccoon?” click here

 

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc
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Snakes Alive! 31 pound Burmese python devours 35 pound white-tailed deer fawn in Florida. – News Blog

NAPLES, Fla. — Patrick Riley, Naples, FL Daily636555228362449747-1---Burmese-python-captured-in-Southwest-Florida-with-large-prey-item-.JPG

For Burmese pythons — one of South Florida’s most notorious invasive species — few meals are too big. But new research by scientists suggests the snake might be snacking above its weight class.

While tracking pythons in Collier Seminole State Park in Collier County, a group of wildlife biologists from the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and land managers from the state park stumbled upon an unsettling discovery: An 11-foot Burmese python that had devoured a white-tailed deer fawn weighing more than the snake.

The 2015 finding, which has since been peer-reviewed and is set to be published in the Herpetological Review this month, is believed to be the largest python-to-prey ratio documented to date, with the snake weighing 31.5 pounds and the deer 35 pounds, said Ian Bartoszek, wildlife biologist and science coordinator for the Conservancy.

“It almost did not compute,” he said during an announcement of the findings in the Conservancy’s snake laboratory Thursday.

More: Man crosses paths with two pythons on way to pick up takeout

More: Python hunt fuels fashion for Fla. business

“We were sitting there just trying to process that an animal this size could get its head around what turned out to be a deer. It’s surreal to see that in the field.”

When the researchers moved the snake out of the wild into an open area that day, the stressed python began to regurgitate the deer, Bartoszek said.

But had the snake’s meal been uninterrupted, the python would have eventually fully digested the fawn, which was less than 6 months old, he said. The python was later humanely euthanized.

Burmese pythons, which came to South Florida via the pet trade beginning in the late 1970s and were eventually accidentally or intentionally released into the wild, have had the delicate local ecosystem in a chokehold for years.

But the Conservancy’s recent discovery could spell more bad news for Florida’s already endangered panther population, Bartoszek said.

“White-tailed deer are the primary prey for our state and federally protected Florida panther,” he said. “That’s panther food.”

TO READ OUR POST ON THE 4 NON – NATIVE VENOMOUS SNAKES THAT LIVE IN  FLORIDA CLICK HERE 

snake-removal-siesta-key-FL
Rainbow Boa Constrictor

With Burmese pythons capable of reaching near 20 feet in length, finding a relatively small specimen successfully devouring a fawn heavier than the snake was “jaw-dropping,” Bartoszek said.

“It showed my team and myself what we were actually dealing with out tFrom left, Kathy Worley, director of science, Ian Easterling,here, what this python is capable of,” he said.

To be sure, Bartoszek said, the pythons, which are apex predators, have been known to swallow large animals, including alligators. What stunned the scientists was the predator-to-prey ratio, he said.

“We know that they’ll take adult deer now and then,” Bartoszek said. “If they’re tapping into young deer, then that just makes me a little bit worried that there will be additional impacts that we haven’t even considered yet.”

 

 

During a news conference on Thursday, March 1, 2018,

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials don’t keep records of python predator-to-prey ratios, said Carli Segelson, a spokeswoman for the agency’s division of habitat and species conservation.

“Pythons pose a concern for all native wildlife in Florida,” she wrote in an email. “Although infrequent, pythons are known to occasionally take a fawn or small deer, and this has been well documented previously. However, pythons are not believed to be a significant predator of deer.”

 The Conservancy’s python program, which launched about five years ago and is funded by private donors and the Naples Zoo, has researchers radio-tag pythons and then follow them to other snakes during breeding season to remove them from the wild.

As of last month, the Conservancy’s team has removed hundreds of adult Burmese pythons with a combined weight of more than 10,000 pounds in Southwest Florida.

Parallel to the Conservancy’s efforts, the South Florida Water Management District launched a python elimination program last year, sending python hunters into district-owned lands in Miami-Dade, Broward and Collier counties to track down the snakes and remove them.

 

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Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/opinion/ci_31652011/snakes-plane-emotional-support#ixzz56YvYuSUv

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 Nuisance Wildlife Removal, Inc. is very well known in the community as the GO-TO expert with the highest experience level in solving difficult insect and pest infestations efficiently and easily. We employ advanced technology such as thermographic cameras and Go-pro technology. This reduces the amount of damage to your structure and this will reduce the overall cost of your project.  

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Read more Snakes Alive! 31 pound Burmese python devours 35 pound white-tailed deer fawn in Florida. – News Blog