If you hear rats scurrying through the walls of your home in the middle of the night, they could be destroying more than your psyche. Due to their propensity for chewing, rats can cause extensive damage to your home.
Why do rats chew so much?
The four long front teeth of rats, called incisors, are highly specialized for gnawing. To ensure this capability, they are open-rooted, continuing to grow throughout the life of a rat on average about 2.2-2.8 mm per week! As part of their physiology as well as to keep tooth length under control, rats must continuously gnaw and bite to wear teeth down.
How much damage can rats cause?
The anatomy of the upper jaw of a rat allows it to gnaw very effectively and forcefully, giving them the ability to cause an array of damage to your home and property.
- Swallowing structure
Rats can eat their way their way through wood beams and eaves.
- Wolfing wires
Rats munching on wires can cause fire hazards and electrical issues and outages.
- Eating eaves
Rats are known to gnaw through soffit and eaves to gain access to your home.
- Partaking of pipes
Rats can chew through PVC pipes, particularly when dehydrated from rodent baits and in search of water.
- Consuming cars
Rats are known to nest in car engines. If you are experiencing car problems and have a known rat problem, they may have chomped a chunk out of your car’s electrical wiring.
Don’t let rats eat you out of house and home. For safe, effective, odor-free rodent control, contact Allison Pest Control today.