If you see evidence of rodent infestation around your business, you should call for commercial pest control right away. Both rats and mice can cause extensive property damage and carry dangerous diseases. However, does it matter which kind of rodent is infesting your building? Is rat removal in Barrie required more urgently than mouse removal?

Though the problems associated with infestations of different rodents are similar, with rats they may be present to a greater degree. While you might be able to cope with an infestation of mice on your own, if you have rats, you probably won’t be able to get rid of them without commercial pest control. Here are some reasons why rats cause more trouble.

1. Size

Rats can be at least twice the length of mice, and they have a significant weight advantage over them. This means that the measures that you might typically use to get rid of mice aren’t as effective against rats. A mousetrap with sufficient power to kill mice may not be as effective against a rat. The blow might be heavy enough to injure a rat but not enough to prove fatal. That’s assuming that the mousetrap goes off at all because, despite their size, rats may be nimble enough to get the bait without triggering the trap.

You may think that because rats are bigger, it might be more difficult for them to get into your building. No such luck. Like mice, rats also have the ability to compress their bodies and fit into holes that appear much too small to accommodate their bodies.

2. Intelligence

Compared to mice, rats are quite a bit more intelligent. They have the ability to learn and remember. If a rat manages to escape from a trap once, it will never go near it again, nor any other trap that resembles the first one. Not only that, but rats can also learn by example. If they see another rat perform a daring feat to obtain some food, they may try the same thing having seen that it can work. Conversely, if they see another rat get caught in a trap, they will be sure to avoid it in the future.

In rat’s brains, as well as in human brains, the areas responsible for perceiving smell are very close to the centers that control memory. Therefore, if it sees another rat get caught in a trap or has a narrow escape itself, it may associate the smell of the bait with danger and not go near it in the future.

Not only are rats smarter than mice, but they also have a different type of intelligence. Mice are curious and will go to investigate new objects in their environment, which makes them easier to trap. Rats are neophobic, which means that they regard new situations with hesitancy and suspicion. If you set a trap for a rat, it may take a long time before the larger rodent feels comfortable enough to check it out.

3. Reproduction

A single female rat can breed up to eight times a year and produce up to 22 babies in a single litter. That amounts to 176 baby rats for a single female per year. If that weren’t bad enough, any female babies born to the original mother are mature enough to start breeding at the same rate when they are a little over a month old.

The pace at which rats reproduce is comparable to that of mice, but when you factor in all the other reasons why rats are more troublesome, you can see why rats’ rapid reproduction rate can result in a bigger problem.

Commercial Pest Control From Truly Nolen

Infestation with rodents, especially rats, is bad for your business. Fortunately, our expertise expands beyond pest control in private residences. Call us for comprehensive solutions for restaurants and non-food handling environments.