Understanding Rats
The predominant species of Rat in London and the wider UK is the Brown Rat (Norway Rat) – Rattus norvegicus. It is often commonly referred to as a Sewer Rat, and for good reason – we’ll go into this later. Rats are commensal which means that they live around humans.
Rats live alongside humans because we provide them with the two things they need to survive – food and shelter. Wherever there are more people, there are more rats.
Food is a important factor as to why rats live alongside people but predominantly shelter is why they come into our homes. Drains are cold and wet, homes are warm and dry.
About 50% of the customers we treat for rats have never seen a rat, nor seen evidence of a rat in their home. In these cases customers have heard them in the cavities (walls and ceilings) but the rats have never entered the living space.
Rats are not coming into properties for food.
Drains and Sewers provide food for rats
Think of each time you’ve washed a plate with rice on, did every single grain of rice go in the bin or did some wash down the sink? Imagine collectively all the food that finds it’s way into a sewer via domestic drains. Now consider how much food will end up in the sewer as a result of restaurants and takeaways. The sink is effectively a food chute for rats.
As a way of emphasising the importance of considering the drain we often ask customers the question – “Where are the rats in your ceiling cavity getting their food and water from?”
Understanding the way that rats get into our properties is important. Around 80% of the rat issues we deal with are related to the sewer or the drain. In all of the jobs we attend the drain will be our primary focus.
The other 20% should not be ignored – rats do get into homes from the surface, just not as often as from the drain. When considering how rats get into a property it is important to assess every possible entry point.
How do Rats Get in Via Drains?
In London an estimated 36% of homes were built before 1919. The drains serving our homes were built at the same time, therefore around 36% of drains are over 100 years old. Anything that is 100 years old is going to deteriorate over time, particularly when you factor in land movement.
One of the common issues we find are holes in the drain – what we refer to as drain defects. A drain built in the Victorian era is essentially a network of clay pipes joined together in 1 metre sections and accessed by manhole chambers that are lined with concrete or brick. All of these materials have deteriorated over the past 100 years and rats will find a way in wherever there is the smallest defect. We have attended jobs to resolve a rat problem and found that the entire structure of the drain has disintegrated leaving rats with open access into the property above.
Changes and modifications to drains are also responsible for many subsequent rat infestations. In London, space is at a premium and extensions of properties are more common than not. When a property is extended opportunities are created for rats to enter. What were previously live outlets of the drain system become redundant. The gullies that previously sat outside of a property are built over. This creates a redundant drain outlet underneath an extension which provides rats with a way in.
Do Rats get in via Toilets?
Rats are excellent swimmers and are very capable at swimming underwater. Most of their time is spent foraging for food in and around drain systems so part of their skill-set is to swim underwater through narrow pipes.
Whilst rats coming out of toilets makes for a great story in the tabloid media, the reality is that it is rare. In over 10 years of working with rats we have had two confirmed cases of rats coming out of toilets. Both were downstairs toilets located very close to a main sewer line. Compare this with the hundreds of jobs we attend for rats and it becomes clear that these are isolated cases.
A rat will follow the path of least resistance and getting in and out of your toilet each time it wants to move between food and shelter is not the path of least resistance. Rat infestations in homes do not occur because rats have accessed via a toilet.
Proper Investigation to Resolve a Rat Problem Permanently
For many customers, their previous experience with pest control has been just to put down poison and block some holes. The pest controller has usually not bothered to even lift a manhole. These are not the type of pest controllers you need to resolve your rat problem.
Properly resolving a rat infestation requires properly investigating their entry point. If we can find how rats are getting into your home we can stop the problem – Permanently.
Considering what we know about rats and drains then investigating the drain is key to successfully eliminating rat problems.
The approach we take is that that each new rat job is to treat it as an investigation.
The work we do is solving the puzzle – finding that piece of the jigsaw that resolves a rat infestation. Permanently.