Norway Rat Extermination in Phoenix
Are Norway Rats Dangerous?
Norway rats are a serious health and property risk. They carry diseases like leptospirosis and salmonellosis. Their extensive burrowing can undermine building foundations, sidewalks, and damage underground utility pipes.
What Are Norway Rats?
Also known as sewer rats or brown rats, they are large, robust rodents with a blunt snout and small ears. Unlike roof rats, they are poor climbers and prefer to live at ground level, often burrowing in the soil.
Signs of a Norway Rat Infestation
Look for burrow openings around building foundations, under sidewalks, or in gardens. Other signs include capsule-shaped droppings (about 3/4 inch long), gnaw marks on doors or baseboards, and greasy rub marks along lower walls.
Preventing Norway Rats
Eliminate outdoor food sources like accessible garbage and pet food. Remove clutter and dense ground cover where they can burrow. Seal cracks in your home's foundation and ensure doors have tight-fitting sweeps.
The Antidote
Our treatment strategy involves targeted baiting and trapping at ground level and near burrow entrances. We also provide recommendations for structural exclusion to prevent them from entering your home or business.
Norway Rat FAQs
Where do Norway rats live?
They are ground-dwellers that prefer to live in underground burrows. You'll often find their burrows along building foundations, beneath rubbish piles, and near gardens or water sources.
Can they climb?
While they can climb if necessary, they are not agile climbers like roof rats. They primarily stay on the ground or in lower levels of buildings like basements and crawl spaces.
What do they eat?
They are omnivorous and will eat almost anything, but they prefer a diet rich in carbohydrates and proteins, such as grains, meats, fish, and pet food.
Are they common in Phoenix?
While Roof Rats are more frequently encountered in residential attics, Norway rats are present in Phoenix, particularly in commercial areas, near dumpsters, or older neighborhoods with accessible crawl spaces.
How do I tell them apart from Roof Rats?
Norway rats are bulkier, have a blunt snout, small ears, and a tail shorter than their body. They live on the ground. Roof rats are slender, have a pointed snout, large ears, a long tail, and live up high.
Do they carry diseases?
Yes, they are known carriers of numerous diseases, including rat-bite fever, leptospirosis, and salmonellosis, which can be transmitted through their urine, feces, or bites.