There are many species of rats, but the two pest rat species that are most often encountered by rat extermination companies in Metro Atlanta and throughout Georgia are the roof rat (Rattus rattus), and the Norway or brown rat (Rattus norvegicus).
Although both rat species are found in both urban and rural areas throughout Georgia, roof rats are slightly more common in wooded rural areas, and Norway rats are more common in urban areas such as Atlanta and Marietta.
Rid-A-Critter provides safe, non-chemical control of both Norway rats and roof rats throughout the Metro Atlanta area.
Roof Rats
In nature, roof rats (also known as black rats or tree rats) live in trees and spend most of their time aloft. In Atlanta and other cities throughout Georgia, roof rats are most often found in attics, roof soffits, drop ceilings, mechanical equipment rooms in commercial buildings, church steeples and bell towers, the tops of elevator shafts, and other elevated areas.
Roof rats are smaller and slimmer than Norway rats, have exceptionally good balance, are excellent climbers, and can chew holes through many building materials. Their biology and behavior, as well as the damage they do, are very similar to those of gray squirrels; but because roof rats are slimmer animals, they can get into buildings through smaller openings than squirrels need. They can also climb walls very well if they need to, and can travel inside wall and ceiling voids once they get into a building.
Norway Rats
Norway rats (also known as brown rats, sewer rats, water rats, or wharf rats) are burrowing animals by nature; but they're also happy to live in homes and other human-occupied buildings. They have powerful teeth and jaws and can gnaw through most building materials. They often burrow and gnaw their way into basements, crawl spaces, and gaps under sheds and storage buildings.
Once they're inside a building, Norway rats can make their way through wall and ceiling voids and may migrate upwards, especially if that's where the food is or if population pressures force them to move. Norway rats are also excellent swimmers and are often found in sewers and around wharves and piers. And yes, rats can swim up into a toilet.
In short, Norway rats usually start at the bottom of a building and work their way up if they have to, and roof rats usually start at the top and work their way down if they have to.
Rats were the first species of wildlife known to spread diseases. Historical evidence suggests that rats have been associated with disease even before biblical times, and practically all epidemiologists believe that rats were a big part of the reason for all of history's great plague epidemics. Specifically, rats are reservoirs for Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague. The fleas that feed on the rats then vector the disease to humans. Rats are also associated with the transmission of leptospirosis, rat-bite fever, salmonellosis, and many other diseases.
Rid-A-Critter treats rat problems without using pesticides or poisons of any kind. Our safe, non-chemical approach is the best way to solve structural rat problems. We seal rats and other rodent pests out of your house, and use traps to eliminate the existing infestation. This organic approach to pest rat control has many advantages over chemical rat control, including:
Safe, permanent, non-chemical rat removal and exclusion is the safest, most-effective, and most-permanent way to eliminate a rat infestation.
Metro Atlanta Rat Control Gallery
Here are some randomly-selected pictures we've taken at the many Metro Atlanta rat-removal and rat-proofing jobs we've done.
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The Atlanta, Georgia office of Rid-A-Critter provides rat extermination and removal in all of Metro Atlanta including the City of Atlanta and the communities of Berkeley Lake, Buckhead, Cartersville, College Park, Conyers, Decatur, Douglasville, Duluth, Dunwoody, Fayetteville, Hull, Johns Creek, Kennesaw, Lithonia, Loganville, Mableton, Marietta, McDonough, Newnan, Norcross, Peachtree City, Powder Springs, Sandy Springs, Smyrna, Stone Mountain, and Vinings. We are fully licensed and insured.
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