Rat Control

Rats can cause a great deal of damage to foodstuffs and sterile areas, by gnawing through the food packaging and depositing urine and droppings. Rats carry a number of diseases which may affect people and other animals, such as Salmonella food poisoning and Weils Disease, and therefore present a real risk to our health.

Rats also cause a great deal of damage by gnawing woodwork, water pipes, electric cables, and materials such as paper and textiles and their burrowing activities have been known to cause subsidence in roads and pavements.

Rat Treatment

Sheffield Pest Solutions offers the full range of treatments for rats, from a simple one-off visit, to full proofing and site surveys at very competitive rates.  Our rat control officers use only the safest, most effective pesticides and carry out a full health and safety risk assessment for each visit.   We are careful that non-target species are not affected by the poison and we take our environmental obligations seriously. If you have a rat problem or a rat infestation and you live in the Sheffield area, contact us now, on tel no. to see how we can help you.

Rat Identification

The type of rat living near to homes and commercial buildings is the Brown Rat (also called the Com-mon or Sewer Rat). The Brown Rat has a head and body length of between 8 and 11" and has brown fur on its back and grey underneath; although sometimes black and white varieties are seen. The tail is shorter than the head and body and measures between 6 and 8".

Although rats have good senses of smell and hearing, their whiskers pr-vide them with such a good sense of touch that they can easily find their way around in complete darkness. Rats are very agile and can even climb vertical walls if the surface is rough enough and they are particularly good at swimming.

Brown Rats will eat virtually any kinds of food, but generally prefer cereals, although they will attack other animals such as chickens or ducklings if necessary. They also need water to drink and can only live for a few days without it.

Rats' Habitat

Rats will live anywhere where there is food and shelter, but are mainly found around buildings such as warehouses and farm buildings. In towns they are usually found out of doors living in sewers, compost / rubbish heaps, under sheds or other similar places, in nests made of dry grass, leaves or paper. Rat holes are large, being some 3" in diameter and their burrows may be many feet in length.

When nests are made indoors, they are usually in wall cavities or under floorboards and made of all sorts of house-hold materials.

Rats live in groups, are usually shy, mainly active at night, and use set runs between their living quarters and their food supply. The distance they travel depends very much on how far they have to go to find food and water. If there is plenty available they may live entirely in one building, but if necessary they will travel some distance (over 1/2 mile) each day to feed.