Rats are the cause of an enormous amount of destruction that costs the world billions in lost food storage. The city of new york had a rat task force that would bait the sewers and ally ways of the city but since the crash of 2008 that baiting has ended in most cities due to budget cuts and the result has been a massive increase in the population of rats in urban centers. Rats are highly dangerous and bring with them dozens of dangerous diseases including plague which still occurs in poorer countries around the world. In the west, we did well getting rid of the dangers of rodents but with the advent of Anti-vaxers the illnesses of old are now returning and Hantavirus, plague, mumps, and polio are returning to the first world. It may seem like the world is falling apart. Economies crashing, rats invading and the world just keeps getting poorer and darker by the day. Well, you may not be able to fix all the problems in the world but you can at least fix the problems on your own property. And if we all did that, if we all took care of property then the rats would have nowhere to go.
The rats that live in the sewer, a layman would call them sewer rats, are actually foreign invaders from Norway of all places. They are the Norway ship rat and they are very large and very aggressive. They need constant access to water or they will die from dehydration which is why they live in the sewers. Norway rats can hold their breath for three full minutes and can tread water for three full days. They can squeeze through small pipes and even around a U-bend and they are very tenacious. Nothing will stop them if they want to invade your home and unlike mice, rats are not something you can exterminate with domestic products. If the infestation is small you can try to resolve it on your own but you more likely to teach the rats to avoid necessary traps used in commercial treatments which would make it very difficult for a licensed rodent technician to deal with your rat issue.
In the situation when a rat comes up your drainpipe or through your toilet then you can assume it is just the one rat and either chase it out of the house, catch it or kill it in whichever way you want. If it’s in the toilet just shut the lid and put something heavy on it.
If you have multiple rats in your house you will also have them outside your house. Rats who come to your home through ground access and not through drain pipes tend to come in large armies. They will infest your yard and then try to find or make holes to get into your house to hunt for food.
