What you need to know!

The brown rat, or common rat is one of the most feared pests we are called to deal with, and their numbers are on the increase.

Estimates put the number of Brown rats currently living in the UK as high as 80 million, meaning there are more rats than people!

Adult rats can grow as long as 50cm (20 inches) including the tail and can weigh almost a kilo, so it is no surprise that these rodents can do as much damage as they do.

Their bodies are covered with coarse brown/grey fur with a lighter grey belly, and their tails are only lightly covered in fur and are commonly described as being scaly.

Brown rats are gregarious by nature, meaning they are never solitary, if you have seen one rat there are others. They live in large family groups and their population is not self-limiting.

Their numbers will rapidly increase to the point that the resources available will be sustained.

Brown Rats are excellent swimmers and extremely agile climbers. They can easily scale walls and drainpipes, and think nothing of running up ivy, wisteria and other climbing plants.

They are equally at home living in complex burrows they excavate in the ground, or in the roofs and voids of houses. If rats are living in the garden unchecked it is only a matter of time until they get into the house.

• Rat nest in insulation
  
• Rat’s Nest in Insulation
  
• Rodent gnawing on wiring
  
• Chewed Wiring

Within the United Kingdom brown rats are known to carry a number of extremely serious diseases that are transmissible to humans, such as: Weils Disease (Leptospirosis), Rat Bite Fever, Cryptosporidiosis, Viral Haemorrhagic Fever, Q Fever, and Hantavirus. For this reason alone if you have rats living in or around your house you need to contact us straight away.

Brown Rat eating bird food

Rats, like all rodents also gnaw to wear down their teeth causing a significant fire risk in houses where they gnaw the insulation from electrical wiring.

They can also cause serious damage to stored possessions and even structural problems with the building itself.

Rats are truly omnivorous and so are just as likely to eat the seeds you put out for the birds as the rotting vegetation in the compost heap, they are particularly keen on chicken feed, and will happily eat any eggs the chickens lay before you can get them.

They will even kill and eat the chickens themselves if left to their own devices. It is safe to say that there is no room for brown rats in or around modern houses.