Our technicians have seen just about every kind of rodent problem you can have in San Antonio. We’ve also seen rats and mice in many different types of buildings, and we’ve seen the immense damage to structures that these animals cause. And when you ignore the problem it only gets worse — sometimes, devastatingly worse.
Here are a couple of the weirdest rodent infestation cases that ABC has ever seen in San Antonio. Keep in mind that these are very extreme cases, and most infestations can be handled by our staff very quickly.
One Hundred Traps. One Mouse.
A family of 4 contacted us when they realized that rats had infiltrated their home through an open food storage room in the back of the house. These rats entered the home by chewing through the walls of that unprotected food pantry.
Like many customers, the homeowners thought the problem would eventually take care of itself, and they did not call us immediately. They got a kitten thinking it might scare the rats away. But some species of rodents are as large or bigger than typical house cats, and certainly are not quelled by a friendly kitten. In fact, the little cat was just as terrified of the rodents as the family.
Slowly but surely, the home accumulated lots of damage, and the rat population grew. When rats began stealing food from the family’s dinner table, they finally accepted that these vermin weren’t going away.
By the time ABC had a chance to look at the problem, there were over 100 rats in the home. The rodents had damaged the house so heavily that the walls looked like swiss cheese. We managed to trap and remove them all with our typical trap setup. But one rat kept getting away. After initially removing all of the other rodents, we had to set 100 traps until we finally got the last one. Needless to say, he was a very determined little rat.
The Six Pet Rats
Some species of rats are raised and bred and kept as pets. One of our customers was a man who lived alone with six domesticated pet rats. One day, he had to leave his home because of an emergency for several months and wasn’t able to make pet-sitting arrangments. Afterall, there aren’t many pet-sitters who will care for rats.
When he returned, his pets had taken reign over his home and were running wild. They had eaten every scrap of food from his pantry and were doing damage to his home in search of more food.
Rats are not easy to catch by hand. He tried to trap them on his own, but nothing was working. Finally, he called in ABC’s technicians to set up professional live traps. These traps are usually used to stray cats, skunks and racoons, but they work great for large pet rats too. We place bait inside the containment cage, and the trap locks automatically once an animal is inside.
We were able to bait the rats with peanut butter and return them to their cages. All of the man’s pet’s survived.
Don’t Worry. ABC Can Handle Anything
As you can see from stories like these, we aren’t afraid of any rodent problem that we come across. Whether we are dealing with 100 rodents in a single home, six pets that have gone wild, or one very, very smart rat, our technicians have a solution.
If you think you might have a rodent problem, don’t hesitate like the family in our first story. The longer you wait, the worse the problems get. If you see a rat on your kitchen table, it is far past the time to call an exterminator.
If you have issues with rodents and larger animals like raccoons, squirrels, skunks or even your pets, live traps are a good option. If we’re dealing with a wild animal, we will release it into a safe area. And we never recommend that untrained people, like homeowners, try to trap animals on their own. Some species that live in San Antonio can spread human diseases like Hantavirus and Rabies, both of which are life-threatening.
Got a Rat Problem? Call ABC.
We’ve been in this business for over 3 decades, and we have seen it all. If you have a problem with rats, we can help, no matter how scary the situation may be.
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