How To Tell If You Have Roof Rats

Hearing scratching noises at night from above may suggest their presence.

How to tell if you have roof rats.

Ranging from six to eight inches in length not including their tails roof rats are colorblind and have very poor vision. You may see the rats themselves. Your pets are acting strangely 4. You hear squeaking or scratching noises 3.

Outside of seeing a rat with your own eyes some common signs of roof rats in your home include smells droppings sounds and damage. Droppings roof rat droppings are capsule shaped with blunt ends measuring 1 4 to 1 2 inch long. Rat droppings are three times larger than mouse droppings. Gnawing or scratching noises in the attic or walls gnaw marks around the home s roof or eaves spotting them running on tree limbs power lines roofs patios and in fruit trees hollowed out fruit if you have fruit trees gnawing damage to electrical.

If they have made it into your home you should also check cabinets and your laundry room. They do however have extremely strong senses of hearing smell touch and taste. Luckily for homeowners there s some sure signs that roof rats are in your home. The urine has a pungent odor that is unmistakable the feces is dark in color and shaped like small pellets.

Brown rats on the other hand are less adept climbers. Here are 5 signs you have roof rats 1. Black rats also known as the roof rat are agile climbers and can easily gain access into loft spaces and upper floors of buildings. The smell of urine can become extremely strong if there is a serious infestation of rats.

Roof rats have zero control of their bowels so they urinate and leave feces everywhere. They are typically shiny black but coloring can vary due to the rat s diet. If you have citrus trees on your property look at fallen fruit. You ll often hear roof rats making noises in their nests in your attic.

Look closely in areas such as your attic garage and patio. If you see the following you may have roof rats on your property. If the fruit is eaten or hollowed out that probably. Scratching noises think you might have rats in your roof.

You may see rat droppings 5.