Boxes chewed by rats at a call out in Chorley.
For the last few years call outs for rats in Chorley have been quiet. There is always odd problem here and there, maybe in gardens and the regular jobs at businesses, but recently I have been noticing an increase in calls for rats in domestic homes in the area. These calls have begun to follow a bit of a pattern. In quite a number of cases it has just been one single rat that has entered the property, it then makes it presence felt in the kitchen area, often shredding boxes and packets in its attempts to find food. I have seen whole boxes of cereal chewed up, eaten and spread around the kitchen, often making such a mess that the homeowners are shocked to find one single rat is responsible.
Often it is difficult to find an entrance point where the rat entered the home. If the problem is found in terraced housing then the problem of locating the entry point is made even more difficult, as rats can travel down a line of homes in connected lofts and wall cavities. As always the job of controlling rats, or any other pest species for that matter, is made even more difficult due to the fact people don’t like to talk to their neighbours about pests, especially rats, in their home. This is quite normal and understandable as rats are often regarded as a sign of poor hygiene and of dirty homes, we all keep the information to ourselves should we see one on our own property. Often though, as many people find out, its simply a symptom of a peak in the rat population over a wider area. If people and residents would discuss these problems with each other a little more freely then it would help the pest controllers task a lot, as we would then easily see the extent, indeed even the cause, of the problem in the area.
Often when I have caught or otherwise dealt with the problem rat, an examination of the sewers in the area shows that rats are present there as well and I often try to undertake a certain amount of control there if that is at all possible.
plastic Tupperware chewed by rats in Chorley
If rats are in the local sewers, then signs can often be found in the gardens. One of the favorite feeding sites for urban and suburban rats is on and under birdtables. These sites often are ideal feeding locations, stocked as they are with high fat and high energy bird treats. If you suspect rats in your garden then look out for holes dug under fences and in flower beds. Well worn paths, a couple of inches wide can often be seen leading from these holes to the areas where rats are feeding.
I remember a story told by a London based pest controller who had been sent by the council to a local park where an old man had reported regularly feeding what he called nocturnal squirrels, these turned out to be hoards of urban rats that he had even got eating out of his hands! Thankfully Chorley citizens are a bit wiser than that!!
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