Rats

What rats look like

Rats are heavy-bodied rodents, roughly 30 to 45 cm long from nose to tail tip and weighing around 200 to 480 g. The fur is brownish grey with coarse darker hairs mixed through it, and the belly is a dirty greyish white. The snout is blunt rather than pointed, the ears are small and the tail is thick, scaly and shorter than the body. That blunt face and thick tail are the quickest way to tell an adult rat from a mouse. A young rat is often mistaken for a house mouse, but it has an oversized head and large feet compared with the rest of it. Rats are strong swimmers and climbers, they gnaw constantly because their front teeth never stop growing, and they can squeeze through a gap the size of a toonie.

Signs you have rats

• Droppings. Dark capsule-shaped pellets around 12 to 18 mm long, usually found in clusters along walls, behind appliances, in cupboards and near where food is stored.
• Gnaw damage. Chewed corners on doors, joists, plastic pipe, storage bins and packaging, often with pale fresh wood showing through.
• Runways and rub marks. Greasy dark smears along baseboards, joists and pipe runs where the same route is used night after night.
• Burrows outside. Smooth holes about the width of a golf ball in soil next to the foundation, under decks, sheds, steps and compost bins.
• Noise at night. Scratching, gnawing and dragging in walls, ceilings, crawl spaces and under floors, loudest after dark.
• Pets fixed on one spot. A cat or dog staring, sniffing or scratching at the same section of wall or cupboard is often reacting to activity behind it.

Rats are cautious and stay out of sight, so evidence usually appears before the animal does.

Why rats come into Ottawa and Toronto homes and businesses

Rats follow food, water and cover, and dense city neighbourhoods supply all three. Garbage and green bins, compost, dropped takeaway food, pet dishes, bird seed and backyard chickens all feed them, and sewers, storm drains, ravines, rail corridors and construction sites give them places to live and routes to travel. Buildings become attractive when the weather turns, and autumn is when calls rise, because a heated basement, crawl space or wall void is warmer than a burrow. Rats do not need much of an opening. A gap under a garage door, a broken floor drain, an unsealed pipe penetration, a cracked foundation or a hole where a utility line enters is enough. Nearby excavation or demolition often pushes an established population into neighbouring buildings.

Are rats dangerous?

Yes, on both counts. Rats carry organisms that can make people ill, and contamination happens through urine and droppings in food, on preparation surfaces and in stored goods rather than through bites. Their urine and droppings also become part of indoor dust, which can affect anyone with asthma, and they bring fleas, ticks and mites into the building. Bites are uncommon but do happen when an animal is cornered. On the property side, rats do serious damage because they gnaw to keep their teeth in check. Chewed electrical wiring is a fire risk, and they also damage plumbing, insulation, stored goods, vehicles and structural timber, and burrowing can undermine slabs, patios and walkways. In a food business, rat evidence is a direct threat to the licence.

How to keep rats out

• Seal the building envelope. Close gaps around pipes, cables, vents and foundation cracks with steel wool and mortar or metal, since rats chew through foam and plastic.
• Fit door sweeps on garage and exterior doors, repair damaged floor drains and screen vents and weep holes with heavy metal mesh.
• Use rigid bins with locking lids for garbage and organics, keep them closed, and clean the area where they sit.
• Remove outdoor food sources. Take in pet bowls, manage bird feeders, pick up fallen fruit and keep compost in a sealed rodent-resistant unit.
• Cut cover back. Clear dense ground cover and long grass near walls, raise firewood and lumber off the ground and keep clutter away from the foundation.
• Store dry food and pet food indoors in hard sealed containers rather than bags or cardboard.

Sealing openings is what lasts, since new rats will otherwise use the same route.

How GO! Pest Control treats rats

• Inspection. We inspect inside and outside, following droppings, rub marks, burrows and gnaw damage to map the runways, entry points and harbourage before anything is placed.
• Exclusion. We close the openings rats are using with materials they cannot chew through, and identify the structural repairs needed where an opening is too large to seal on the spot.
• Removal. We set professional traps and tamper-resistant stations in the right positions along active runways, placed so children, pets and non-target animals are kept away from them, and we remove the rodents we catch.
• Follow-up. We come back to service the equipment, check for new activity and adjust placements until the signs stop.
• Advice. We explain the waste storage, yard and repair changes that keep the pressure down, and what to look for so a new problem is caught early.

We are licensed, insured and bonded, and we work in homes, apartments, condos and businesses across the Toronto GTA, Ottawa and Hamilton.

Common questions about rats