Are There More Rats in the Wild or Residential Areas?

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Wherever there are people there will be rats running just a few steps behind. Rats are almost like the janitors of this beautiful planet, cleaning up after all the other animals that can't do the job themselves. A scavenger by definition, rats join the likes of raccoons, opossums, coyotes and foxes; all animals who will happily tear through your garbage bag to eat whatever leftovers you have stashed away in there. That's not all they do, however -



Scavengers clean up the meaty bits of animals that have been left behind. Opossum been knocked over by a vehicle on a busy main road? No worries; other scavengers (rats and raccoons, for example) will come along and snap it right up. Fruit fallen from a tree and going bad, attracting flies and maggots? No worries there, either; the rats and other scavengers will come along, eat it up, and clean it all away at the same time.

Although pest animals are just that - a pest - they do have their place in the food chain, and that's where rats sit. They're quite insignificant creatures by nature, but we would more than likely miss them if they were eradicated entirely. It's unlike that we will ever successfully rid the planet of rats entirely (nor should we want to), but if that did happen, a large number of other animals would be affected. Rats have predators - owls, hawks, eagles, coyotes, foxes, etc. If rats were to disappear, the rat predators would lose an entire food item, which would then put them in danger of becoming a threatened or endangered species too.

Rats will naturally follow the smell or sense of food. That's what has lured them into more residential, commercial and agricultural areas, rather than the wild and rural ones they would once have inhabited. It is far more common to see rats in areas packed with people (and, therefore, garbage/food) than it is to see them out in the wild, and it is US that has made that happen - you and I.

Getting rid of rats means cleaning up after yourself and making sure you're not leaving food around for them to devour. You'll also need to ensure that holes are sealed and that your home is as rat-proof as you can make it. There is no one magical method to get a rat infestation resolved, but there are ways that definitely work better than others. When we're facing more rats in residential areas, it makes absolute sense to pay a little more attention to how wild-animal-proof your building really is.

Go back to the Rat Removal page, or learn tips to do it yourself with my How to Get Rid of Rats guide.

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