Rats are large, disease-carrying rodents, and you do not want them in your home. Particularly if you have pets or children, a rat infestation can be dangerous. They are large, and like mice, rodents carry disease and destruction – and fleas and mites, along with them. They will come into your home and destroy practically everything, and touching a dead rat or rat droppings can be enough to transfer diseases to pets and children. They also are known to bite and transmit disease that way.
In the warmth and safety of your McAllen home, rats can live up to three years, and with the average female rat giving birth to 8-10 babies at a time, your home can be overrun quickly. Fox Pest Control, your local McAllen pest control company, is here to fight your rodent problems for you. If you have a rat infestation, calling a reputable rat control expert in McAllen, TX is important. Call Fox Pest today to receive prompt service and removal.
On this page: 🐀 Signs of Rats, What You Need To Know About Rats, Helpful Rat Prevention Tips, Rat Removal in McAllen, Rat Exterminator FAQs
You might already know for sure that you have a rat problem. But here are a couple of the most common signs of a rat infestation in McAllen.
The first sign of a rat infestation in your McAllen, TX home is their droppings. Larger than mouse droppings, Norway rat droppings are dark and cylindrical. Rats will usually find specific, hidden places to urinate and leave their droppings.
Because their teeth never stop growing, rats can chew through electrical wires, solid wood, hard plastic, and even metal, especially if there are large numbers in an area.
Rats may fight one another at night over food, territory, nesting material, or dominance. They might make scurrying noises or squeals.
Always on the lookout for food, rats will chew through food storage containers or even solid wood to find food. Some rats may steal chicken eggs from coops or food from vegetable gardens.
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Fox Pest Control provides rat control services in McAllen, TX and the surrounding areas, including:
Hey guys, Caleb here with Fox Pest Control.
As the winter approaches, your home is the perfect place for rodents to thrive
while escaping changes in the weather.
With the possibility of rodents carrying multiple diseases, it's best to get rid of them right away.
At Fox Pest Control, we have certified pest pros that are trained to find all rodent entry points.
After locating those areas, our pest pro will apply the appropriate treatment.
Then we will recommend how to eliminate conducive conditions
and work with you to create a plan that best fits your specific needs.
And don't worry.
If you continue to see rodents, we'll come back until the problem is gone.
Our Fox Pest Pros are licensed professionals with the expertise and experience for the best possible rodent control.
So if you suspect rodents are in your home, don't wait.
Call us today for a free quote, or to schedule same-day service.
Why not have one less thing to worry about?
Fox Pest Control. No Bugs. Simply Better.
Rats have an extraordinary ability to squeeze themselves into tiny spaces. Rats can fit into a gap or crack about the size of a quarter and then wiggle their way through.
After gaining access, rats are likely to look for hiding places, food and water, and material for nests. Often, the kitchen, basement, or other places with food storage are the most obvious hiding places.
Rats commonly destroy property by gnawing on walls, chewing up papers or fabrics, and generally causing a mess with their nests, urine, and feces.
Small rodents like rats and mice are not known to carry rabies or transmit it to humans.
Typical signs of rats may include:
Gnaw marks in walls, near the corners of doors, or in food containers.
Squealing and scratching sounds. Rats will fight one another for dominance or food, so you may hear rustling or squealing noises at night.
Nests. You might discover a rat nest, which is often made of ripped pieces of paper, cloth, wall insulation, or pillow stuffing.
Droppings. Even though rats try to find a good hiding place to do their business, you may discover where they discard their droppings, such as an area that is hidden out of the way.
Footprints. Finding tiny rat footprints in spilled food, dust, or dirt is also possible.
Unusual pet behavior. Finally, some pets may show alert behavior when they hear or smell a rat nearby.
Even though we’ve seen the cartoons, most rats would actually prefer other types of food besides the blocks of cheese we buy at the store.
Rats have a keen sense of smell, which they use to identify food that they most enjoy, which can range from fruit and nuts to vegetables, meat, and garbage. Rat species like the Norwegian rat are scavengers, so they can eat many different sorts of food, including decaying material or trash.
Rats enjoy foods with high energy, like high-sugar foods or high-protein foods. If they can, they willingly dig into pet food, bird seed, peanut butter, or other foods.
Unlike mice, rats are smart enough to be extremely cautious around things that are new to their environment, a fear called “neophobia.”
They also are intelligent enough to figure out whether or not something presents a hazard. For example, if one of the rats finds a trap or something dangerous, the other rats will notice the problem and avoid it.
Body Size. Mice are smaller than rats, although a juvenile rat may look similar to an adult mouse.
Ears. Mice ears are more rounded, while rats have a slimmer ear shape.
Tail. Mouse tails are longer than their bodies, while rat tails are generally shorter. Mouse tails also have small hairs, while rat tails are completely bald.
Droppings. Mice feces are about the size and shape of a grain of rice. Norwegian rat droppings are pill-shaped, and roof rat droppings are banana-shaped. Mice spread their droppings everywhere, but rats are more careful and use a specific hiding spot as a “latrine.”
Rosa Gonzalez
Our home has been serviced by Fox Pest Control for more than 2 years already, and they have never let me down with their great service. They always listen to what my concerns are, they are prompt in their response time, I receive ample notifications of when my service is to be performed, and each and every one of the servicemen delivers excellent customer service and attention to detail.
Rene Garcia
Fox pest has been servicing our home for the past 4 years and have always done a wonderful job. Never have any issues with pest since I started using their service and love the way they make billing, scheduling and treatments so easy.
If a Fox Pest Control customer has an infestation of covered pests in their McAllen, TX home or business between regularly scheduled Home Protection Plan treatments, we will come back and perform targeted treatments to get rid of the pest at no charge. If Fox Pest Control cannot resolve the problem after three such targeted treatments, we will cheerfully refund the customer’s last monthly subscription fee, as long as all other terms of the agreement have been met.
And if you see any pest activity between your regularly scheduled treatments, simply give our McAllen office a call; we'll come back at no additional charge.
*Call us today before 2 p.m. for a same day, zero-obligation inspection and estimate or to provide McAllen pest control & extermination services near you.