- alley and disappearing into a sewer run-off, crawling out of a city dumpster after gnawing on some leftover brisket scraps or emerging from ground burrows. Roof rats—unlike their Norwegian counterparts—prefer high and dry areas. Hence, given their behavioral habits combined with their desired habitat a.k.a. your home’s attic—these smaller sleeker rodents became known as roof rats.
If we dig a little deeper, we realize that roof rats not only have differing physical characteristics but have totally different feeding habits as well. For instance, they prefer fruits and nuts over meaty organic or decomposing foodstuffs, they nest in palm trees and love areas that are high and dry. High and dry at sea level? Well, not exactly—but as their name implies, roof rats love to access attic spaces and if left untreated or if infestations fester unbeknownst to homeowners, roof rats will shamelessly wreak havoc on our homes.
What do roof rats look like?
- Roof rats have large eyes and ears, a pointed nose and a long scaly tail.
- They also have a smooth coat that is somewhat brindle with blended strands of black intertwined with their more abundant brown fur.
- Sporting a pointed nose, roof rats typically have bodies that are 6-8” in length with a tail that is notably longer than their bodies at 7-11”.
- They weigh in at 6-10 ounces but can grow larger and reach sexual maturity in a few short months.
- Litters can yield 6-8 young so infestations within homes can spiral out of control in short order if left untreated.
Signs of a roof rat infestation?
In St. John’s County, roof rats are prevalent opportunists that will stop and nothing to invade your home. Roof rats could care less if your roof is made of asphalt shingles, Spanish tile terra cotta, cedar shake shingles—no matter the construct, they will find an opening and seize the opportunity to infest and invade your home. Once inside, roof rats will store foodstuffs, gather insulation and nesting material, chew on wires, soil cellulose or bat insulation with droppings and urine, gnaw on wood structural members, cause damage to soft duct work and the list goes on. Because of their uncanny ability to infest homes, roof rats are one of the most common pest problems that the professionals at InnoTech Pest Management deals with on a daily basis.
How do you solve a roof rat problem?
Wait—can’t any company take care of roof rat infestations? Well, not exactly. You see—solving roof rat infestations isn’t as simple as just trapping or spreading anticoagulant rodenticide bait throughout your attic. Solving roof rat infestations involves a thorough understanding of proper identification, understanding roof rat habits, understanding the construction of each home as well as conditions conducive to rat entry. Effective and efficient roof rat control also involves having a team of qualified experts to create construction-based solutions to tighten up the open fascia, shore up shotty roof exchanges, repair or replace damaged soffit, install expanded metal screens behind open louver vents, custom mix and dye mortar to close gaps around terra cotta Spanish tile roofs. Proper roof rat control also means remediating and removal of soiled insulation and rat feces. Remediation doesn’t stop merely at removing these soiled materials—but our roof rat pest control experts at Innotech Pest are trained in virucide applications to sanitize the areas impacted by infestation.
The pest pros at InnoTech Pest were trained by Dr. Richard Kramer, who holds a PhD in Urban Entomology from the University of Florida. Dr. Kramer is a co-founder of Innotech Pest, is a
retired Army entomologist and was the former Director of Education and Technical Resources at The National Pest Management Association (our industry trade association with nearly
5,000 company members nationwide). Simply stated, our company is rooted in education. This means you can trust our team to take your roof rat infestation from start-to-finish with our
multi-pronged approach and services that are not harmful to humans or pets, are eco-friendly and we always use low-impact EPA registered products for your piece of mind. Protect your greatest investment Call us or click to schedule a no-cost evaluation or free inspection from one of our team members.
- St. Augustine & Palm Coast, FL
- Mon–Fri 7:30am–5pm · Sat 8am–3pm
- info@innotechpest.com