SIZE: Roof rats can grow up to a length of 10 to 12 inches and can weigh over a pound.
COLOR: Roof rats are a blackish gray with a white or sometimes black underbelly.
BEHAVIOR: Not many people have a love for rodents and nobody wants them in their home. Rodents live everywhere and anywhere outside and could enter whenever they want, however luckily, this doesn’t happen frequently. Typically, most home intrusions happen in the fall, not due to cooler climate, but since the seeds and plants on which rodents feed on outside are gone. Rodents then go looking for new food sources. Unfortunately, one of these sources might be in your home. Roof rats are incredible climbers and are fit for picking up passage through openings around soffit vents, around wiring entering the structure, through gaps in vent screens and through turbine and box vents on rooftops, but the main entry for mice in homes is through garage doors as they give enough gap for mice to enter freely and eventually find access to the whole home. The roof rat is the smaller cousin of the 2 other common rat. Roof rats are also sometimes called black rats or ship rats.
HABITATS: Roof rats are nocturnal rodents and thrive in the colder seasons in Canada. They are scavengers and search for food in small groups. Because of their excellent ability to climb they can survive in a variety of environments. Once a roof rat gets inside the home it will not only damage all materials but they can also contaminate food which can lead to deadly dieses. Roof rats are attracted to green lands so houses with big shrubs, fruit trees and dense vegetation can serve as great habitats for them. Roof rats can enter structures through a hole the size of a 5 cent Canadian nickel and also gnaw their way through materials such as drywall, aluminum, wood. Although roof rats only live for about a year they can produce as many as 40 new offspring.
TIPS FOR CONTROL
The best way to keep this pesky rodent out is by not providing them with the harborage they desire. Follow these tips to prevent mice from entering your home:
