What You Should Know about Rat and their Infestation in Your Home
Rats are intelligent creatures and very friendly when tame and these features rather can make them as cute pets. Domestic rats are less likely to bite than gerbils and hamsters, and so it is a good choice if your child is looking for a new pet. Wild rats though are never good once they infest your home aside from not being cute. When you sense and show signs that the rats and their families are starting to occupy your outbuildings, garage, attic or basement, then you should already be concern.
There are many kinds of sub-species of rats, but the more common ones are the black and brown rats. Coming from Asia are the so-called old world rats which are small, but their relatives found in your cities and towns are much bigger.
Rats migrated around the globe just like humans, and they follow soldiers and traders along Asia’s and Europe’s trade routes. Rats were everywhere, hitching rides on ships, sailing between continents, and eventually you see them everywhere after a few centuries.
Just like many pests, rats are nature’s scavengers, and so the more food is available in a place, the more you will see them around. Rats are not choosy with their food, and they will be having a party just looting your trash or raid your vegetable patch, although they will be happy with diet of meat and vegetables. Small animals can also be attacked by rats if they cannot find any other food.
Rats are written and spoken about for several centuries and the main topic of concern is that they spread disease. The disease called the black death and later termed as the bubonic plague, were said to be transmitted by rats infested with fleas, and because of this, 25 million people died in the Middle Ages.
Today, we have now a better understanding of the disease and thus an outbreak of the disease can be prevented. But, with rats still around, the spreading of disease is still possible, and thus we need to deal the situation as quickly as possible to prevent infestation.
If you see rats living and breeding your surroundings, you should be concern of this condition since rat-borne disease called leptospirosis is the most common to occur.
If you consume food or water which are contaminated by rats, you could get the disease called salmonella. If people are exposed to rat droppings or rat urine, they can be contaminated with the disease called hantavirus, and also this disease can be transmitted through rat bite. Humans can also be infested with e-coli, another very common infestation on rats, and contaminated food and water is a source.