Tales from Pest Control

The electric company switched out the meter box on our house.
In doing so they left a pretty big gap. I started hearing this horrible scratching sound
in my exterior wall.........mice!

I called pest control and they took care of it asap.
I've never used pest control before. I am a very curious person so I asked him all his wild stories, and he
was happy to oblige.

The most recent made me ill to my stomach.
A local grocery store called in his company because they were having wildlife problems.
No sir, not wildlife, RATS. I guess there were rats under every____ single____ shelf.

Here's the part that gets me. That grocery store is one of the cleanest in the area. It really got me thinking.
If they have that kind of a rat problem, what do the other ones have? I shudder to think about restaurants...

I guess rats are posing a big problem due to covid and restaurant not functioning like they used to, ie. trash in dumpsters...

originally posted by: JAGStorm
Here's the part that gets me. That grocery store is one of the cleanest in the area. It really got me thinking.

As it probably should... when the “cleanest” grocery store in your area is plagued with rats, then it’s probably time to consider moving to a new area.

a reply to: Subaeruginosa

As it probably should... when the “cleanest” grocery store in your area is plagued with rats, then it’s probably time to consider moving to a new area.

I've lived all over, this place is clean. It has something to do with Covid.
We do not live in the city but it would not surprise me if these traveled from Milwaukee, rats are smart.

www.nbcnews.com...

Starving, angry and cannibalistic: America's rats are getting desperate amid coronavirus pandemic

"A restaurant all of a sudden closes now, which has happened by the thousands in not just New York City but coast to coast and around the world, and those rats that were living by that restaurant, some place nearby, and perhaps for decades having generations of rats that depended on that restaurant food, well, life is no longer working for them, and they only have a couple of choices."

a reply to: JAGStorm


Yeah sorry, I was just playing around... no offence intended.

A sudden influx of rodents in an area or region is almost certainly due to some underling environmental factor.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Rats aren't exclusively about sanitation. Unlike the kind of roaches that usually infest structures, which are mostly limited to indoor environments, rats are very much impacted by the wider ecosystem. If their existing habitat is compromised or sources of food (dumpsters at restaurants and litter may be greatly reduced by COVID) are eliminated they can and will adapt to larger home ranges and even flip their usual nocturnal habits in order to better compete for food. Even a demolition project nearby can trigger a massive and quite sudden influx of rats.

Rats are so persistent that holes and gaps need to be filled with wire mesh to stop them from gnawing through, they can slide through a gap as narrow as a pencil and can fit through a hole the size of a quarter.

Want to hear about fly and roach varieties next?


ETA: I see you actually have some sources posted further after the OP, didn't read them but the clips look accurate.