Rats Can Be A Major Problem In City Centres, Even In Doncaster

Rats can be a major problem, especially in city centres. We don’t see a lot of rats because we live on the ground while they largely live under it. We mainly work during the day while they largely work at night.

However, we leave trash out on the streets and the rats will find it. Some alarming figures were shown in the US a couple of years ago referring to the increase in the number of rats over there. A national pest control service there, called Orkin, reported that between 2013 and 2015 calls to them about rats increased by 61% in Chicago, 174% in San Francisco, 67% in Boston, and 129% in New York city. Another figure, this time produced by Rentokil, said that in ideal conditions in a city centre, two rats can turn into 482 million over a period of three years!

So it will be no surprise if you start seeing more rats in Doncaster too. Here s something else most people don’t know: the brown rat can breed throughout the year in the right conditions, and the females produce up to five litters a year. The gestation period is only 19 – 21 days and the litters can have as many as 14 pups, although seven is more usual. They reach sexual maturity at about five weeks of age. That means that if you happen to be reading this on July 1st, a pair of rats can become grandparents by October 1st.

Rats can gain access to your home where they can get under floorboards or climb into your loft. Their heads are the widest part of their bodies, so they can get into anything through a hole through which their head will fit. One of the dangers is that they chew things – including electric cables. A rat chewing through an electric cable may be dead but may also set your home on fire. They also carry a number of diseases including Weil’s disease which can potentially be fatal. Imagine a rat getting into your loft and falling into the water tank! It happens.

Brown rats are very good at digging and they will produce burrows where they live and produce their young, very often next to the foundations of a garage or greenhouse. If rats get into your home you may hear scratching sounds which indicates there are rats there, and they also make a distinctive chattering noise called bruxing. You will likely see rat droppings which are dark brown and about the size and shape of a grain of rice, and they can produce around 40 every night when they are active.

Rats also often use their own tracks along the sides of walls or skirting boards, and they will leave grease marks which rub off from their fur as they run along.

Even if rats don’t get into your home, they can cause damage in your garden. They can gnaw at any wooden structures such as fences or your compost heap and they can damage pipes and hoses. If you store seeds in your garden shed, or sacks of food for your chickens, rats will certainly attack those, and they will also eat bird seed if you scatter it on your lawn, so you should always use a bird table.

If you want to know how to get rid of rats in Doncaster, the best course of action is not to let them in to begin with. Check sheds and outbuildings and seal up any small holes. They might also squeeze through a gap under a shed door. Keep the garden clean and tidy and remove potential nesting sites such as wood piles and cut back overgrown areas. Make sure that wheelie bins are closed, and don’t leave garbage bags out for long periods.

If you Google "how to get rid of rats in Doncaster" you will find that you can buy rat poisons, but this is not a good idea. Pets and children may find it, and pet deaths from rat poison are not unusual. Birds may also find it.

The best way to get rid of rats is to call in a professional pest control company that will deal with them properly, so that you don’t have to worry about them any more.

If you want to know how to get rid of rats in Doncaster, the answer is to call in Pestcotek which is a pest control company that provides a 24 hour service for rat extermination in Doncaster and the surrounding areas, and can get rid of any rat infestation for you.