Remove Rats From Your Home & Business
Rats are not common invaders of Minnesota homes. Those unlucky few who experience them are typically located along shipping lines such as the railroad or the river, or are in older, denser areas of the Twin Cities such as downtown Minneapolis or St. Paul. Folks often think of rats as a larger version of mice, but this is actually quite inaccurate. Rats are highly intelligent, have hierarchies, will work together, and even possess empathy. Getting rid of rats, therefore, is much more difficult than getting rid of mice.
Our Certifications & Experience
Our technicians have extensive experience and training in rodent management, including rats. Pest control technicians are licensed and recertified annually by the Minnesota Pest Management Association (MPMA), and hold additional certifications in Rodent Management and Zoonotic Diseases from the National Wildlife Control Operator’s Association. We are fully insured to work at any height, and specialize in ground level, attic and roofline work.
Our Service
Inspection
Our service begins with a complete inspection of the home or business’s interior and exterior with identification of areas of activity. Recommendations will be given to aid in decreasing rodent harborage, habitat or foraging, as well as recommendations for areas where pheromones, droppings, nesting, refuse or other damage may exist. This will decrease habitat factors conducive to rat activity, stressing them and enabling a higher degree of success and speed in the trapping process. This is an important component of Integrated Pest Management Procedures (IPM) employed by our technicians.
Exclusion
The sealing of entry points, known as exclusion, is ideally done in conjunction with trapping of the resident population. For most other species, population cleanout should be done prior to the sealing of entry points. Rats are neophobic, however, meaning that they will fear and avoid new additions to their environment like traps and baits for hours, days, or even weeks. Food scarcity, overpopulation, cleanups and modifications of their environment can cause them to range further, disperse to new nests, or force them to explore newly introduced elements in their environments like traps and baits. This means that modifying their environment by sealing them inside stresses the rats, and is actually conducive to a more effective trapping or baiting program by partially mitigating their neophobic response. Exclusion measures will also prevent a reinfestation through existing entry points.
If exclusion is going to be pursued, our wildlife and exclusion team can provide an estimate for the cost of repairs at each entry point. Those repairs are effected with durable materials like metal, mortar, and high grade sealants. Our team is highly experienced with custom metal fabrications, and can color match materials upon request.
Control
Rat programs will take slightly longer than those for mice, due to the neophobic response and the intelligence of the target population. Previous attempts at remediation can complicate the effort, as rats will learn from and avoid similar traps or baits in the future. Control of the rat infestation can be achieved through either trapping, and maintained through baiting:
Trapping programs are our preferred solution, as it allows us to more closely monitor progress, and make adjustments as necessary. The program begins with the placement of traps and the determination of the proper baits. Technicians will use their current food source as bait whenever possible. Once bait acceptance has been achieved, all traps will be switched to that bait. Trap checks will occur every 3 days from setup until they have been trapped out without further evidence of activity.
Baiting programs are recommended for maintenance type scenarios where the resident rat population is consistent. Baiting the perimeter of a building on the exterior is a very effective and common rodent control method. We frequently recommend this after initial abatement and exclusion has been performed to manage the influx of new rats to the territory. Controlling the local population will allow us to minimize activity in the structure.
Additional Control Measures
Disinfection
Disinfection is the final step in a rat remediation program, and can be a vital component in reducing future incursions as well as mitigating the dangers of disease posed by animal waste. Rats, like mice, leave pheromone trails in their wake. These trails are visible to other rats, and act like a road map to entry points, food and water sources, and previously established nests. Additionally, rats and their waste products are carriers of dangerous diseases such as hantavirus, leptospirosis, plague, salmonellosis and more.
Disinfection of their entry points, nesting locations and any waste products is ideal to limit both the pheromone trails and the diseases they carried. This is ideally done after the interior population has been cleaned out, but can also be done during setup anytime that waste is in a high contact area like a kitchen or child’s play area.
Ongoing Exterior Control
Ongoing control is recommended after an infestation has been cleared out. This can be achieved through an exterior baiting program, thereby culling new populations before incursions become infestations. This is particularly important when exclusion has not been completed, however, it is helpful in either scenario.
Bait stations are placed on the exterior of a structure, near likely entry points, and are serviced frequently on a seasonal or annual basis. This ensures the local population remains at a low level, and minimizes the potential for further damage and reinfestation. Given how difficult rats are to eliminate, a reinfestation is truly a worst case scenario and should be avoided at all costs.
Our Packages
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Service Areas
Northeast Metro
- Andover
- Anoka
- Arlington
- Blaine
- Champlin
- Circle Pines
- Columbia Heights
- Coon Rapids
- Fridley
- New Brighton
North Metro
- Brooklyn Center
- Brooklyn Park
- Maple Grove
Central Metro
- Crystal Bay
- Deephaven
- Excelsior
- Golden Valley
- Greenwood
- Hopkins
- Independence
- Long Lake
- Maple Plain
- Medina
- Minnetonka
- Minnetonka Beach
- Minnetrista
- Mound
- Navarre
- New Hope
- Orono
- Plymouth
- Shorewood
- Spring Park
- St. Louis Park
- Tonka Bay
- Wayzata
- Woodland
South Metro
- Belle Plaine
- Biscay
- Browntown
- Chanhassen
- Chaska
- Cokato
- Dassel
- Eden Prairie
- Edina
- Glencoe
- Green Isle
- Hamburg
- Hutchinson
- Lester Prairie
- Montrose
- New Germany
- Plato
- Shakope
- Silver Lake
- St. Bonifacius
- Stewart
- Victoria
- Waconia
- Watertown
- Winsted
- Young America
Southeast Metro
- Woodbury
Educational Resource
Learn more about our wildlife & pest control services
Control Your Rat Problem Today!
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