Roof rats can’t hold their beer, it turns out. PHOTO: CARLOS ARANGUIZ / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS / GETTY IMAGES
Dr. Bobby Corrigan, a world-renowned rodentologist and a fellow Pest Management Professional (PMP) Hall of Famer (Class of 2008), coined the term “rogue roof rats” for Rattus rattus individuals that require extraordinary means to be eliminated. Some never get caught and seem to leave on their terms instead.
Smoke ’em if you got ’em
There is a private home in a nice neighborhood. The pest management professional (PMP) has been there more than 20 times in an attempt to get this rat, with no success.
Out of desperation, the homeowner calls me. I am bewildered after I perform what I thought was a thorough inspection. How was this rat getting in and out without detection?
I examine the garage door, dryer vents, screen soffits, and all pipe and wire penetrations to the exterior, toilet bowls and attic. Everything looks to be in order.
Solution: I turned to a professional plumber who specialized in finding roof rat pathways into structures. He hooked up a smoke machine and pumped smoke through the pipelines starting from the sewer.
Within 20 minutes, smoke was discovered coming out in an upstairs bathroom. The piping along the ceiling-wall juncture was hidden in a boxed void. We opened the wall void and found a plastic pipe that was chewed open by a rat — or multiple rats.
The pipe was repaired, and the plumber installed a trap in the pipeline on the exterior near the sewer. The rat never returned. It turns out this technique can be used in larger apartment complexes as well.
Conclusion: With video cameras, infrared cameras and cornstarch tracking powder, I have watched roof rats avoid my glue boards, snap traps, and every control trick I tried. Sometimes, even the expert has to call in an expert to finish the job.
Drink up
One roof rat keeps showing up inside a dog food warehouse. It avoids all snap traps and glue boards.
The warehouse manager is a longtime friend calling for help, but it’s impossible to find free time in my schedule and be there anytime soon. It’s in the summer, and the warehouse is warm. No liquid products are present.
Solution: I told my friend to do the following:
- Use cornstarch as a tracking powder to help determine where the rat was most active. Verify with an infrared camera.
- Make sure the exterior doors are closed and rodent-proofed.
- Cover the toilet bowls so rats have no access to water.
- Once you know where the rat is active, install flat pans filled with fresh beer.
- Use fresh material every night.
As I hoped, the rat came out, drank the beer and could not burp. It died bloated. They sent me a photo of four adult men smiling as they held up their dead trophy.
Conclusion: Knowing the biology of a pest can help conquer it. Who could have predicted that an old college roommate, who drank his fair share of beer back then, would come to teetotaler me decades later for a beer solution?
<p>The post Creativity is crucial to catching ‘rogue roof rats’ first appeared on Pest Management Professional.</p>
from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2025/03/14/creativity-is-crucial-to-catching-rogue-roof-rats/
Sacramento CA
No comments:
Post a Comment