Rats in Texas
A bubonic plague pandemic known as the Black Death killed an estimated 100 million people between 1347 and 1351, reducing the populations of China and Europe by half and a third respectively. The disease was carried by rats and transferred to humans through fleas and ticks. Although they are less of a threat today, rats in Texas can still carry a variety of harmful human diseases.
The risk of rat-borne diseases increases with rat populations. Pest control in Texas can keep rat infestations in check and thus minimize the risk of outbreak. Examples of rat-borne diseases include Weil’s Syndrome, plague, trichinosis, Lassa fever, Murine typhus, Hantavirus and lymphocytic choriomeningitis.
Rats in Texas, along with other rodents and bats, can spread a multitude of disease to humans in a several ways. Rabies may be transmitted to humans through direct contact with an infected animal such as receiving a bite. Diseases such as leptospirosis and salmonella can also be transferred from rodents to humans indirectly through ingestion of food or water contaminated by waste of infected animals. Humans have also been known to get infected by merely breathing in airborne dust particles of rodent waste.
Property Damage Caused by Rats in Texas
Adaptable and fast-breeding, rats in Texas flourish in territories inhabited by humans, urban and rural. Since they are omnivorous, rats thrive on human-generated food sources like crops, pet dishes and garbage. Excellent climbers, burrowers and gnawers, rats are as likely to nest underground as they are in walls and attics. Female rats, in particular, tend to prefer nesting indoors within manmade living spaces as it offers better protection to their offspring from predators.
Besides spreading disease, rats in Texas can also cause major property damage. The entryway with which a rat gained access to a building will be subsequently used by other pests like bats and insects to get in. Rats also tend to attract bigger, more aggressive pests like raccoons that prey on them and their food supplies.
Gnawed up wires can be costly to replace and pose fire hazards. The sounds made by rats within the walls of a building can be disruptive and disturbing to the human inhabitants and the foul odor of a decomposing rat carcass within a building, if not removed, may linger for months or even years. Rat infestations can lower a property’s value by between five to ten percent.
Long-Term Pest Control in Texas
While individual store-bought rat traps and poisons may solve isolated, small-scale problems, larger infestations require more comprehensive, far reaching extermination measures. John Moore Home Services offers long-term and preventative pest control in Texas that is environmentally safe. To schedule a service appointment, call 877-730-7711.
