If you live in a city like Toronto that gets flood warnings every spring then you must be very acquainted with the sewer rat. This rat, the Norway Rat, came to the Americas via ship, they were the rats that lived in the bottom of the vessel and would come up only to find scraps of food. There are other rats in Ontario but none so large and aggressive as the sewer rat.
Sewer rats are called sewer rats because they generally live in the sewer where the kind of food they like is readily available along with all the water they can drink. This may not sound appetizing to us but to the rat, a sewer is a horn of plenty. Now when strong rains come the sewer tends to flood, even expelling waste into the streets. During this time it is very important not to come in contact with any flooding waters as if you have an open wound you can easily get sepsis, in fact, it would be guaranteed with all the bacteria in the water. The rats, of course, can sense the rains coming and evacuate the sewer before they are flushed out. This also means they need to find somewhere to live while the rais continue. And oftentimes they will find something much better than a sewer. Your property and home.
Rats are intelligent and resourceful. They are hard to kill and even harder to find. They are burrowing animals and so will live outside on your property and then enter your garage, shed, or house in search of food and water. If your property has a bird feeder, a water feature, or garbage that has not been properly stored then it’s likely that when the rainy season comes you will suddenly be swarmed with rats.
That is why preventative measures are so important. You cannot have food, of any kind on your property. Animal feeders are by far the most dangerous. Bird feeders and other devices, no matter how tamperproof the claim, will bring rodents to your property. So get rid of everything. Stop feeding pets outside and clean up very well after outdoor dinners, or just don’t have them at all. Clean your BBQ very well or it will attract rats and raccoons who will try to live in it.
If you have done everything you can, lock your garbage in the garage and even tried to inspect for entry holes and sealing them. Yet still, rats are swarming your property. Then the only answer left is to call a professional, trained and experienced rodent technician to bait the outside, set traps on the inside, and seal off any and all opening that can allow rats to invade the inside of your home.
