Category Archives: Rats & Mice

Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use Rat Poison or Mouse Poisons

In this post, we will list the reasons why we would never recommend you use rat poison in your home and how it can create even bigger problems.

So you have some rats or mice in the house?

Obviously, you want to get rid of them, and as soon as possible.

Although you could call a professional rat removal service, a cheap and easy solution that will occur to many people would be using rat poison or rodent poison. It’s not hard to find in a store, it’s not especially expensive and it can sometimes be effective.

But we would never recommend you use rat poison. It’s a bad idea for several reasons, from safety to the unintended consequences that can result.

Reasons not to use rat poison

Dangers to children

The biggest reason not to use rat poison is potential dangers to children. An accidental ingestion of rat poison by a crawling child or curious toddler could be life threatening.

According to poison control centers, over half of their poison emergency phone calls are for children under five. Over 90% of child poisoning incidents occur in that child’s own home. No matter what precautions you take, it is safer to keep all poisons out of your home.

The American Association of Poison Control Centers advises that if you think someone has been poisoned, call 1-800-222-1222 right away. Serious poisonings don’t always have early signs. The call is free, private, 24/7/365, and expert help is available in more than 150 languages.

Dangers to pets

Rat poisons are powerful and they don’t discriminate. If you don’t have children to worry about, you will still be putting your pets at risk. Dogs and cats can both be poisoned by accidentally coming in contact with rat poison.

Dogs are well known to eat almost anything and those little poison pellets just look like food to them. Pets also come in contact with dead poisoned rodents and may be exposed that way.

Dangers to wildlife

Rat poison kills many wild animals each year beyond just their intended rodent victims.

The most common unintended victims of rat poison are other mammals and birds such as bobcats, coyotes, foxes, hawks and owls. They can become poisoned either by directly feeding on poisons, or indirectly by feeding on rats and mice who have already ingested them.

Many of these animals are protected or even endangered species. You could be unintentionally killing wild animals and hurting our animal ecosystems.

Rats and mice can die in your walls

Another great reason not to use rat or mice poison is that these poisoned animals will now be at risk for dying in your home.

A poisoned and sick animal may look for a safe spot to recover and then end up dying in your walls. We don’t know if you’ve ever smelled a dead rodent, but if you have, you’ll remember it. It’s terrible.

Imagine that dead rodent rotting away in your walls for weeks, leaving an almost unbearable smell floating through your entire home.

Besides the smell, that carcass may end up being the perfect habitat for flys. Imagine having a fly nursery in the walls of your home with hundreds or even thousands of flys in your home and no way for you to stop them all. It’s a horror story you don’t want to have in your home.

When it’s time to remove that dead animal from the wall and you realize there may be no other way to get to it other than cutting a hole in your wall, you’ll realize that maybe you should have used another method to get rid of rats.

Want to have a professional safely remove those rats or mice for you?

Contact Attic Solutions online or call (847) 464-1861

How to Tell What Kind of Animal is in My Attic?

Hearing noises coming from your attic at night?

Unfortunately, in Chicagoland, it’s not an uncommon thing. The extremes of weather here, especially during winter months will send a lot of animals searching for shelter. They might just decide your attic is the perfect place to settle down to keep warm or raise a family

In this post, we’ll cover some basics on how to try and identify what that animal in your attic is.

Identifying animal sounds in the attic

Most common animals in attic

The two most common kinds of animals that will enter your attic are raccoons and squirrels. This is a good place to start because most of the time that sound is going to be one of these two critters.

Related: Common animal entry points

Raccoon sounds

If you are hearing animal sounds in your attic at night, it is most commonly a raccoon because they are nocturnal animals and thus most active at night.

Raccoons are often the loudest sound you will hear in your attic. They are the largest animal that will enter your home. It will make heavy, thudding, dragging, slower moving sounds. They will sound more like footsteps than any other animal, which can be frightening sometimes.

Squirrel sounds

If you are hearing sounds in your attic during the day, it’s probably a squirrel. They are typically only active during daylight hours.

Squirrels will make more erratic kinds of sounds. They ar lighter and will scurry and move around faster than a raccoon. Squirrels will usually stick to a schedule and so you’ll hear them moving around at the same time every day, usually around dawn and dusk.

If you hear one in the wall near you and bang on the wall, unlike some animals you’ll hear the squirrel run away from you.

Related: How to get rid of squirrels

Mice sounds

Being the smallest animal, mice will be much harder to hear. The saying “quiet as a mouse” exists for a reason. But it is possible you may hear them moving around at night. It might sound like a light scratching or chewing sound.

If you hear a mouse in the wall and bang on the wall, unlike a squirrel, it won’t run away. It will remain perfectly still for at least a minute, waiting to move again.

Bats

You usually won’t hear a bat at night. They are in places where they’re not likely to be heard unless they are trying to crawl through your wall. In most cases you’ll see a bat in your house before you hear it.

For professional animal removal services or attic cleanup and repair in Chicagoland call Attic Solutions (847) 464-1861

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Do I Need a Permit to Remove a Nuisance Animal in Illinois?

Raccoons carrying disease into your home

You may not realize it, but that nuisance animal in your attic, shed, garage or on your property might be legally protected in Illinois.

Most wildlife is protected by law and cannot be killed or even removed without a permit.

The Illinois Department of National Resources is tasked with conservation and management of wild species in Illinois. By Illinois law, a property owner or tenant needs a Nuisance Animal Removal Permit to trap and remove most species of wildlife.

By Illinois law, property owners or tenants need a Nuisance Animal Removal Permit (PDF) to trap and remove most species of wildlife.

Is the animal you want to remove a protected species? We’ve listed the most common nuisance animals in Illinois below.

Questions? Call Attic Solutions at (847) 464-1861

Mice, Norway rats, moles, voles, gophers, and shrews

These small mammals may all be removed with no permit needed.

Exceptions to this rule include the eastern woodrat and rice rat, which are endangered species in Illinois. These two species may not be removed.

Ground squirrels and chipmunks

The eastern chipmunk and the thirteen-lined ground squirrels may be removed without a permit.

Franklins ground squirrels are listed as threatened in Illinois and may not be removed.

Raccoons, skunks, opossums, beavers, muskrats, red foxes, gray foxes, mink, river otters, badgers, weasels, woodchucks, coyotes, and bobcats

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) recommends hiring a professional wildlife removal service to capture and remove fur-bearing animals. If you want to remove a fur-bearing animal yourself, contact an IDNR District Wildlife Biologist to see if you qualify for a Nuisance Animal Removal Permit.

In rural areas, the IDNR encourages removal of most furbearers during open hunting and trapping seasons whenever possible. All Illinois hunting regulations must be followed. For more information on hunting and trapping regulations, visit the IDNR Licenses & Hunting site.

Related: Common animal entry points

Gray squirrels, fox squirrels, red squirrels, and southern flying squirrels

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) recommends hiring a professional wildlife removal service to capture and remove squirrels. If you want to remove a squirrel yourself, contact an IDNR District Wildlife Biologist to see if you qualify for a Nuisance Animal Removal Permit.

In rural areas, gray squirrels and fox squirrels may be taken during open hunting seasons.

Rabbits

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) recommends hiring a professional wildlife removal service to capture and remove rabbits. If you want to remove a rabbit yourself, contact an IDNR District Wildlife Biologist to see if you qualify for a Nuisance Animal Removal Permit.

In rural areas, rabbits may be taken during open hunting seasons.

Bats

The (IDNR) recommends hiring a professional bat removal service to capture and remove bats.

Bats inside rooms will usually exit on their own. Close off exits to the room and keep windows open overnight.

White-Tailed Deer

White-tailed deer are protected under the Illinois Wildlife Code as a game species. It is illegal to take live deer from the wild unless you have received a permit from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) or are a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

IDNR Deer Removal Guidelines (PDF)

In rural areas, deer hunting is permitted in season. All state hunting regulations must be followed. Outside of hunting season, or in situations where hunting is not allowed, a deer removal permit may be issued by an IDNR District Wildlife Biologist.

A person who hits and kills a deer with a motorized vehicle can legally claim the deer to salvage the meat, hide, and antlers.

For more information on hunting and trapping in Illinois visit the Illinois Department of National Resources.

For professional animal removal services in Chicagoland call Attic Solutions (847) 464-1861

Top 10 Signs Of Rats

top 10 signs of rats

During autumn, animal pests like to enter your home, seeking shelter and food. In rural areas, when fields are plowed, rats lose their habitat and make their way indoors. In urban areas, the cool weather drives them into your home. Regardless of where you live, rats can cause big problems. Aside from the numerous diseases and parasites they carry, they can cause major damage. If you have a hunch that you have a rat infestation, check out our lists for the top 10 signs of rats:

TOP 10 SIGNS OF RATS

Scratching in the walls – Scratching or rustling sounds in the walls is one of the early, subtle signs of a rat infestation. They run through the walls to and from food sources. In addition, if they are building a nest, they will be moving materials between the walls.
Rat droppings – Rat droppings are small, brown, and rice-shaped. A single rat leaves between 10 and 30 pellets a day.
Grease marks – Rats have an oily fur that leaves grease or dirt tracks. You may notice them along floorboards or across counter tops in your house.
Footprints – Their tracks have front and hind paw marks plus a tail print. You may notice them in dustier areas of the home.
Rats holes – Brown rats are great burrowers and may leave holes as evidence.
Rat nests – Rats make nests with cardboard, straw, and other soft items. You may notice them in your attic or basement, depending on the type of rat in your home.
Rodent odors – You may notice a musky smell with the presence of rats.
Urine stains – Their urine stains glow under UV lights.
Chewed wires, floorboards, & boxes – Rats’ teeth are continuously growing, which means they gnaw on plastic, wood, and anything hard to keep them filed. You may notice gnawed floorboards, boxes of cereal, or walls.
Rat sightings – If you’ve seen a rat, dead or alive, in your home – you may have an infestation.

If some or all of the top 10 signs of rats apply to your home, it may be time to call pest control. Attic solutions can safely and effectively remove rats from your home and repair damage caused by rats.

What Do Animals Do During Fall?

Where do animal pests go when the whether becomes chilly? Surprisingly, many of them stay active before the snowy, winter months hit. Read more to discover what do animals do during fall.

what do animals do during fall

What Do Animals Do During Fall: Migration

Many birds and insects migrate to warmer areas during the chillier months of fall. Because temperatures begin to drop during the fall season, these creatures begin to find more suitable conditions. For example, swallows migrate south once the weather begins to cool and their food sources dwindle. You may think that since some animal pests are leaving during this season you’ll see less activity, but it’s far from the truth. In fact, you may see more activity in your home at this time of year.

What Do Animals Do During Fall: Hibernation Preparation

Other animals prepare to hibernate during the fall. Squirrels, chipmunks, and groundhogs will gather food to store for the winter. Although chipmunks and squirrels do not go into a true hibernation state, they a relatively inactive during the winter. This leads them to frantically stockpile leftover food near your garbages or from your bird feeders. These small mammals can be quite pesky during the fall.

Bats will also hibernate during the cold months. You can expect their presence to taper off as the insect population dies down with the cool weather.

In addition, wasps and bees will still be active during the fall. They do not hibernate until winter. If there’s a nest near your home that needs to be removed, unfortunately the cold weather won’t be enough to detract them. Make sure to call pest control for assistance moving wasps or bee nests.

What Do Animals Do During Fall: Stay Active

Many other animals stay active during this time of year. Skunks, for example, stay in their dens but are awake during winter. You’ll see (and smell) plenty of skunks during the fall. Raccoons behave similarly, and will stay active year round. This means, you still have to be vigilant and remove outdoor food sources for these pests. In fact, you may notice more pest activity because homes have plentiful opportunities for food, while the cool weather limits natural sources.

Opossums are also active during the colder months. You may be surprised to know that they’ll even become active during the day, though they are nocturnal. Nonetheless, you should never take a chance with an opossum behaving strangely, as it may be infected with rabies or another disease.

Lastly, rodents remain highly active during the cold months. You may see more mice and rats in your home during the fall, as fields are plowed and they escape to your safe home. In addition, homes are full of food sources and provide shelter from the elements. Your rodent problem may be highest during the fall. Call Attic Solutions to remove your pests safely and efficiently, so you can enjoy the fall season without pests.

Leptospirosis: One More Pest-Related Infection

What is Leptospirosis?

Animal pests are known to carry many infections and diseases from plague to rabies. These diseases can decimate human populations and have been tough to eradicate. As a result, education, cleanliness, and pest control have improved to tackle the perpetual pest vector problem.

One infection you may not have heard of is leptospirosis. Leptospirosis is a bacteria infection that is spread through raccoon, rat, and other mammal droppings. Both humans and animals can contract this infection. However, it cannot be passed between humans. The infection can cause serious health complications. Humans become infected through contact with contaminated food, water, or soil that has infected urine in it. Also, dogs frequently pick up this infection.

Signs & Symptoms

Signs of leptospirosis range from severe to mild. Infected people may experience headache, high fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, meningitis, and even kidney or liver failure. In some cases, the infected shows no symptoms. The symptoms appear within 7 to 12 days. Most cases of leptospirosis are mild. However, severe cases are characterized by meningitis, liver damage, and kidney failure.

Treatment & Prevention

The infection can be treated with antibiotics. In severe cases, cefotaxime or ceftriaxone are used. Also, salt infusions and dialysis may be used in serious cases. An estimated one million people are diagnosed with severe cases of leptospirosis each year. Consequently, of the severe cases, there are nearly 59,000 deaths.

Pest control has helped aid in minimizing the risk of leptospirosis. In addition, you should avoid urine contaminated water, food, soil, etc. If you believe you’re infected or at risk, seek medical care immediately.

If you discover raccoons or other pests in or near your home, call animal control to safely remove the pests. Preventing pests from leaving droppings can prevent infections from reaching you and your family.

Working Cats In The City

The Rat Problem

Chicago’s rat problem has grown over the past few years, with complaints up in 2016. Though the mayor is working to address these issues, some residents are taking matters into their own hands. As a result, people are using working cats to combat the rat problem. The Cats at Work Project pits cats against rodents, providing a home for the cats and humanely eradicating rats.

Working Cats

Through this program, felines are put to work by controlling the rat population through their presence and hunting. They are vaccinated and sterile, and often come from former life-threatening situations. This option allows the them to stay out of the shelter system while providing a rodent elimination service from their natural behavior. The felines will hunt the rat pests, not eat them, and keep your home and yard free of animal pests. There have been over 225 working cats successfully placed. Many who have used the program claim to see an immediate rat population decline within a week of having working cats.

Does it Work?

Some criticize the working cats method. Experts say that cats may reduce the number of rodents spotted, but not diminish the number of pests. Because of the cats’ presence, rats may behave more secretively. Experts suggest that there may not be concrete science to back up the eradication of rats due to cat presence. In addition, cats may cause harm to the bird population. They hunt rats, mice, birds, chipmunks and many other small animals. This means, a working cat likely will not discern between animals and target rats, specifically. Lastly, experts are concerned that cats could cause exposure to parasites through their feces. Consequently, the felines would become pests.

How to Get Rid of Rats

Experts suggest limiting the rats’ access to food, water, and shelter. Rats can be tricky to remove though, and breed incredibly quickly to restore any population loss. If you are experiencing a rat problem, contact pest control to take care of the solution safely and effectively immediately.

The Differences Between Rats and Mice

RATS AND MICE:

If you’re not sure which pest has made it’s way into your home, take a look at our list of defining similarities and differences between rats and mice. Although they are similar in some ways, there are significant differences between their behavior, appearance, droppings, and where they may be located or causing damage in your home. Both animals are rodents and reproduce incredibly fast, up to 10 times a year, so if you suspect they may be in your home, call pest control immediately.

MICE:

Smaller 3-10 cm
Nocturnal
White, brown, or gray
Produces 40-80 droppings a day, smaller sized with one pointed end and one rounded end
Long thing, hairy tails
Triangular snouts
Long whiskers
Have larger eyes in proportion to their bodies
Live 1 year in wild, up to 6 in captivity
Prefer carb-loaded food like cereal, occasionally fruits and sweets
Do not usually burrow or dig, make nests instead
Cannot typically gnaw through glass and metal containers
Gnaw electrical wiring & cardboard boxes
Timid nature, not aggressive
May be found in nests in the walls of a home

RATS:

Larger in body size, larger heads and feet proportionally, 16-40 cm
Nocturnal
White, gray, brown, or black depending on species
Produced 20-40 droppings a day, larger sized and banana shaped
Long tails, hairless and scaly
Blunt snout
Have smaller eyes in proportion to their bodies
Live about 1.5 years in wild
Prefer grains and meat foods
Burrowing behavior, can dig deep long burrows near your foundation or in your yard
Can gnaw through sheet metal, building materials, cinder blocks, wood, and glass
Greasy fur may leave marks on surfaces that they scurry across
Depending on species may be found in basement (Norway Rat) or attic (Roof Rats)

Types of Rats

There are two primary types of rats that live in the United States: the roof rat and the Norway rat. Both of these pests can be quite troublesome in your home and infest different areas. It is not impossible for a roof rat infestation to exist in the attic while a Norway rat infestation is in the basement of a home.

Roof Rats

These dark colored rats nest above ground, fitting the name “roof rats.” They are slender and have very little hair. Roof rats, or black rats, are great climbers and prefer to live in trees, woodpiles, wall cavities, and ceilings. In fact, these rats spend 90% of their life 4 or more feet off the ground. Common signs of roof rats include seeing them on trees, power lines, and roofs, discovering banana shaped rat droppings, hearing noises in the walls and attic, and identifying gnaw marks near roof eaves. Roof rats have much longer, scaly tails, are smaller in size, and have larger, hairless ears than Norway rats.

Norway Rats

These rats are sometimes known as sewer rats, as they can be found there regularly. Norway rats like to burrow and live under concrete slabs and infest basements. Norway rats are found in 48 states in America and all continents besides Antarctica. They are considered the most successful mammal on the planet besides humans. Common signs of Norway rats include gnaw marks on wiring and furniture, banana shaped rat droppings, rat tracks, and unexplained grease marks from their oily coats on the floor or walls. Norway rats are usually brown or gray and larger than roof rats but have shorter tails.

If you suspect either of these rats in your home, call pest control immediately to take care of them and prevent or treat an infestation.

Which Pest Is Most Dangerous?

We compare the following species of animal and insect pests to determine which ones are the most dangerous animals to your family, pets, and home.

Dangerous Pest Ranking:

1 = Most Dangerous Animal
2 = Dangerous Animal
3 = Least Dangerous Animal

Raccoons – 2

Raccoons can be aggressive when cornered, but generally leave people and pets alone. They can cause major home/shed/yard damage, as they are incredibly curious and like to take revenge. They are known to tear apart cushions, wallpaper, garbage cans, and any food source within reach.

Bats – 3

Bats are known incorrectly as being bloodthirsty vampires, but they’re quite harmless. Bats rarely bite, but their bite is nearly guaranteed to give the victim rabies if the bat is infected. Other than this potential danger, bats avoid humans. If a bat is in your home, they’re probably trying to figure out how to escape.

Squirrels – 3

Squirrels can cause quite a bit of damage to yards. Squirrels are constantly searching for food, which means tearing apart the plants, gardens, and bark to find a snack. It’s debated whether squirrels carry plague or diseases that affect humans, but probably best not to take chances.

Skunks – 2

Skunks are well known for their pungent spray smell that takes days to disappear. This smell is probably worse than any behavior they exhibit, though. Skunks are not aggressive creatures. By nature, the skunk is a defender, not a fighter. Skunks can carry distemper, roundworms and other parasites, which can cause harm to pets.

Groundhogs – 2

Groundhogs are territorial creatures, which lead them to be aggressive, particularly near their dens. They can move significant quantities of dirt and cause structural damage to foundations and homes, aside from major garden destruction. In addition, groundhogs can also carry roundworms, which can affect dogs.

Opossums – 3

Opossums are known for their defense of “playing dead,” and are not very aggressive. Sometimes they show off their teeth as a scare tactic. If provoked, they may attack. They are about as dangerous as a cat.

Rats & Mice – 1

Rats are perhaps the most dangerous pest that could enter your home. Both rats and mice carry many diseases and parasites that are harmful to humans and pets. Rats can eat through nearly anything, including glass, electrical wiring, and wood (all of which can cause major home damage). Both reproduce very quickly and are difficult to eradicate once established in a home. Luckily, they are not aggressive animals.

*It is important to note that most of these animals are not highly aggressive and if a pest is behaving extremely aggressively towards you and your pets, it may have rabies. Contact wildlife removal immediately.