Finding evidence of rat or mouse activity in your home can be alarming and distressing. These unwelcome rodents can cause extensive damage to your property and belongings, present health risks, and be very difficult to evict once established. Being aware of the destructive capabilities of rats and mice can help motivate you to take action at the first signs of an infestation. Here are four of the worst things rats and mice are likely to do if they take up residence in your house.
Chew Through Electrical Wires
One of the most dangerous things rats and mice often do is chew through electrical wiring in your home. Their sharp teeth easily gnaw through insulation to get to the copper inside. Damaged wiring poses serious fire and electrocution hazards. Fires in walls can smolder undetected for some time before bursting into flame. Even small amounts of exposed copper can deliver painful or lethal electrical shocks.
Rats and mice tend to gravitate toward electrical wires because the copper provides a source of minerals they need in their diet. You may notice appliance malfunctions, blown fuses, or tripped breakers when rodents start interfering with wiring. Take these signs very seriously and call an electrician immediately to inspect for damage. Leave wires exposed by rodents as-is until a professional can make repairs to avoid electrocution risks.
Spread Diseases
Rodents are infamous for spreading many dangerous infectious diseases due to their unsanitary living habits. Rats and mice contaminate food, surfaces, and possessions with urine and droppings. Their dirt, saliva, and fur also harbor disease-causing bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. Many serious illnesses can stem from exposure to rodent germs and waste, including:
- Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
- Leptospirosis
- Rat bite fever
- Salmonellosis
- Lymphocytic choriomeningitis
- Plague
Children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems are at greatest risk of becoming seriously ill from diseases carried by rats and mice. Protect your family by consulting a doctor right away if you suspect anyone has been exposed to rodent germs in your home. Prompt diagnosis and treatment are crucial.
Ruin Food Supplies
Finding that rats or mice have ravaged your pantry is disheartening and frustrating. They can gorge astonishing amounts of food in a short period of time and contaminate far more than they eat with urine and droppings. Rodents are able to chew into all types of packaging, allowing them to access grains, cereals, baked goods, snacks, candy, and more. Cans and jars do not present much of an obstacle once rodents gnaw away the lids.
Not only is it costly to replace ruined food supplies, but anything rats or mice access may also be unsafe to eat if their waste has infiltrated it. Discard any items showing signs of contamination. Thoroughly sanitize shelving, containers, and the pantry itself before restocking to avoid continued risk of disease transmission. Take preventive measures like sealing foods in rodent-proof containers to limit future losses.
Damage Your Possessions
Rats and mice have continuously growing teeth that need to be worn down by gnawing. This leads them to chew on all types of materials within your home. Couches, mattresses, rugs, shoes, books, cardboard boxes, and more are at risk of becoming nibbled, shredded, or soiled. Rodents are drawn to chew on fabrics treated with sizing or glue ingredients. Urine stains and odors may also develop over time.
Closets, basements, attics, and garages often contain ideal harborage sites for rodents to establish nests while remaining hidden. Damage to stored items in these areas may go unnoticed until major deterioration has occurred. Frequently inspect any belongings in concealed spaces for early signs of rodent presence. Discard anything that shows extensive contamination for health safety.
FAQs About the Destructive Impact of Rats and Mice
What parts of a house are rats and mice most likely to damage?
Rats and mice tend to focus their chewing and nesting in undisturbed areas that provide shelter and access to food sources. Attics, basements, garages, and crawlspaces are prime targets. Rodents also commonly nest inside walls, under floors or roof eaves, in cluttered storage spaces, and around appliances. Any area that offers seclusion and proximity to water pipes or electrical wiring will appeal to them.
How much wiring do rats and mice need to chew through to cause a fire hazard?
Even minor chewing on wires’ protective insulation poses safety risks. Exposed copper, regardless of how small an area, may deliver dangerous electrical shocks. Fires can occur if rodents sever wires completely or chew in one section to the point insulation fraying occurs. Electrical arcing between damaged wires is another fire starter. Leave all wiring repairs to qualified electricians.
What types of food do rats and mice tend to ruin most often in homes?
Rats and mice will eat almost any type of food, but those high in carbohydrates, fats, and proteins seem most enticing. Their favorites include grains like rice, pasta, flour, oats, and cereal; nuts and seeds; dried fruits and candies; baked goods like bread and cookies; cheese and meats; pet food; and more. Properly sealed metal, glass, or heavy plastic containers help protect vulnerable items.
How can you tell the difference between rat and mouse damage?
Rats leave larger signs of their presence due to being bigger in size. Rat droppings are about 3/4-inch long and cylindrical versus 1/4-1/2-inch long and more pellet-shaped from mice. Chew marks from rats are broader and lower on walls. Burrows are golf ball-sized for mice and baseball-sized for rats. Nesting materials rats use are also larger in scale. Listen for rats’ louder scrabbling noises versus mice’s lighter pitter-patter.
What health problems are most strongly associated with rat and mouse infestations?
Some of the most concerning diseases spread by rodent exposure include hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, rat-bite fever, plague, and lymphocytic choriomeningitis. Gastrointestinal illnesses are also common due to ingesting food or surfaces contaminated by their waste. Asthma flare-ups may result from sensitivities to allergens in their urine, saliva, or fur. Seek medical help if any unusual symptoms arise.
Conclusion
Rats and mice outsmarting your preventive efforts and gaining access to your home can have devastating effects. They are driven to cause destruction by their incessant need to chew and gnaw. These rodents present possible danger to your family’s health and serious harm to your home’s structural integrity and belongings. At the first indication rats or mice have breached your living quarters, take swift and thorough action to evict them before extensive damage occurs. Protect your property and loved ones from the many risks unwelcome rodents represent through vigilant monitoring and proactive control measures.
Heading: Damage to Home Structures
Rats and mice can substantially compromise the physical integrity and safety of your home through their gnawing, burrowing, nesting, and waste accumulation habits. They will exploit any vulnerable areas in your home’s construction to create entry points or sheltered harborage. Here are some of the ways an infestation can inflict structural degradation if left unchecked:
Chew Holes Through Walls and Floors
The powerful incisors of rats and mice make short work of gnawing through many common building materials. Drywall, wood paneling, floorboards, sidings, shingles, insulation, and more present little challenge for determined rodents to penetrate. They will enlarge any small pre-existing gaps or create new ones to gain access to interior spaces.
Openings rats and mice chew into walls also allow them to traverse up or down between levels via vertical stud bays. Take tapping and scurrying noises within walls seriously, as they indicate active rodents inside. Seal all holes thoroughly to prevent worsening damage over time. Seek professional repairs for any major compromise to load-bearing structures.
Undermine Foundations and Supports
Rats are accomplished burrowers capable of tunneling below foundations and slabs. Their subsurface runways can weaken critical supports, leading to settling cracks and sinkholes. Mice utilize rat burrows and naturally occurring voids to infiltrate below floors as well. Patching visible ground holes promptly is important but further inspection below foundations may be needed to identify extensive runway networks.
Load-bearing beams and posts also get compromised when rodents gnaw and nest inside them. Severe structural damage occurs slowly out of sight. Noticeable sagging ceilings, floors, or offsets in framing would indicate a worrisome hidden issue needing immediate attention. Get damaged wood supports reinforced or replaced before catastrophic collapse.
Spread Filth in Wall and Floor Voids
The cavities inside walls, under floors, and above ceilings offer ideal secluded nesting sites for rodents. Unfortunately, they stuff these inaccessible void spaces full of shredded materials and defecate prolifically. Urine and droppings accumulate in wall voids to the point saturation occurs, leading to permanent stains and foul odors permeating drywall and wood.
Decay fungi and odorous bacterial blooms thrive in the damp, unclean conditions rats and mice create inside enclosed spaces. Diseases easily spread among crowded rodent inhabitants as well. The health dangers these unseen filthy reservoirs pose make cleaning or replacing contaminated voids essential, though difficult and costly.
Clog Plumbing with Nest Debris
Nests rats and mice build inside walls typically get overstuffed with fibrous debris over time. As moisture accumulates, nest materials tend to putrefy into a dense sludge. Nearby sink, tub, or shower drains often become clogged by the organic muck and waste products invading from their nesting areas through openings or joints.
Sewer gas odors, gurgling sounds, and slow draining fixtures indicate a rat or mouse nest causing a blockage. Removing the clog and sanitizing pipes provides only a temporary fix. The nest itself needs locating and elimination within the wall voids to avoid repeated problems. This may entail opening wall cavities to remove all traces of contamination.
FAQs About Rodent Damage to Home Structures
What building materials can effectively keep rats and mice from chewing into a home?
Metal, masonry, and concrete are too hard for rodents to penetrate by chewing. Cement board, brick, stone, stucco, and metals like aluminum and steel offer durable exterior barriers. For flooring, smooth metal, tile, or molded seamless materials deter gnawing and nesting within. Avoid wood-based materials, insulation, or fabrics.
How can you find where rats or mice may be entering the home?
Inspect the entire exterior foundation closely for small gaps, gnaw marks, or rub marks indicating entry spots. Use thick caulk, concrete, hardware cloth, or metal sheeting to permanently seal openings. Indoors, follow droppings to find wall voids or gaps being used to access deeper nesting areas. Seal these securely. Trapping also helps locate their interior travel ways.
What risks do rat burrows pose to a home’s foundation?
Extensive underground burrowing can undermine a foundation’s supportive strength. It also allows moisture infiltration and soil settling that worsens over time as burrows expand. Watch for interior cracks in walls, floors heaving upwards, or exterior sink holes developing and act promptly. Inspect the foundation perimeter and fill burrows with concrete or gravel to prevent further subsurface tunnelling.
How should you clean a wall void contaminated by an active rodent nest?
Take safety precautions against hantavirus when cleaning rodent nests. Open wall voids outdoors if possible and spray with disinfectant or chlorine solution. Soak up contaminated materials with rags rather than sweeping. Double-bag waste immediately. Wear goggles, gloves, masks, and coveralls for protection. Thoroughly sanitize the area before sealing it up again.
Why is it important to eliminate rodent nesting sites inside a home’s walls?
Left undisturbed inside walls, rodent nests become riddled with germs from their urine and droppings. Diseases flourish and spread through the rodent inhabitants. Nests clog wall voids as the debris accumulates over time. Drain pipes often get blocked too, causing leaks, mold, and foul odors. Rodents are also motivated to continue enlarging their sheltered nests, causing more structural damage.
Conclusion
Rats and mice can inflict severe degradation and compromise to your home’s critical structures if an infestation goes unchecked. They exploit vulnerable areas in your home’s construction, gnawing entries big enough for their small, flexible bodies. These openings also provide hidden access to voids within walls and under floors where destructive nesting occurs out of sight. Diligent monitoring and proactive repairs are essential to prevent a minor rodent issue from escalating into a costly crisis requiring major renovations to repair. Do not delay calling in professional help if signs of structural damage arise. With rats and mice, waiting risks allowing the situation to worsen exponentially. Take swift action at the first indications of their presence to protect your home’s integrity.
Heading: Spread of Disease Through Contamination
Rats and mice do not need to directly bite or scratch someone to transmit disease. Their urine, droppings, nesting materials, contaminated surfaces, and even corpses harbor a wide array of concerning microbes and parasites. Coming into contact with rodent filth puts you at risk of becoming dangerously ill. Here are some ways rats and mice spread disease simply by contaminating their surroundings:
Feces Containing Harmful Bacteria and Viruses
The feces rats and mice prolifically produce contain high levels of infectious pathogens. Bacteria such as Salmonella, Leptospira, Listeria, and Escherichia coli all easily pass into people via hand-to-mouth contact after touching contaminated droppings, food, or surfaces. Viruses like Hantavirus and lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCMV) also shed in rodent feces and urine as they actively shed infected cells.
Thorough sanitization of any areas soiled by rat or mouse droppings is crucial. Avoid sweeping up dried feces, as particles may become airborne. Wear PPE when disinfecting, and steam clean carpets once droppings are removed. Promptly wash hands after handling contaminated materials during clean up.
Urine Marking Territories
Rats and mice tend to urinate along their travel routes and in sheltered harborage areas. The steady deposit of infected urine thus widely contaminates any areas frequented by these rodents within a home or building. Pools of urine also collect in less visible areas like wall and floor voids. Diseases caused by bacteria like Leptospira spread easily to humans via contact with surroundings tainted by urine.
Locate heavily soiled areas using UV lighting and focus disinfection efforts accordingly. Address signs of moisture damage or odors related to accumulated urine in voids. Steam cleaning may help sanitize porous materials like unfinished wood. However, replacement of irreparably urine-soaked sections may become necessary in extreme cases of prolonged contamination.
Saliva on Surfaces and Food
Rats and mice drag saliva over surfaces as they travel and forage. Their mouths harbor numerous types of bacteria and viruses that efficiently transmit to others via contamination. Food, countertops, utensils, and anywhere rodents leave traces of saliva become possible disease exposures.
Avoid directly touching areas potentially marked by rodent saliva. Anything they contacted should get disinfected or discarded as appropriate. Wash hands immediately after contact. Covering or sealing food storage containers helps limit contamination. Traps can identify which areas show the highest activity needing decontamination.
Nesting Materials Spreading Germs
Rats and mice constantly shred materials like cardboard, fabrics, and paper to build elaborate nests. These provide excellent environments for microbes to multiply exponentially as they become saturated with urine, feces, and saliva. Nests act as breeding grounds for disease that leaks out through any nearby crevices or gaps.
Seal off access between infested voids or walls and living spaces to limit exposure. Follow safety protocols when removing contaminated nesting materials by wetting down, double bagging, and wearing PPE to avoid stirring up pathogens. Thoroughly clean and sanitize the nesting area afterwards. Proper disposal or sterilization of waste also helps prevent further spread.
Transferring Germs on Their Bodies
The fur and feet of rats and mice pick up infectious agents from urine, droppings, rotting food, and nesting materials as they go about their activities. These germs may cling to their bodies or be present in oils on their skin. Anywhere rodents travel thus gets surface contamination from the microbes their bodies harbor.
Regular cleaning and disinfection of floors, shelves, countertops, cabinets, drawers, and other surfaces can help mitigate spread of disease from rodent contact. Traps allow identification of paths needing attention. Reduce clutter and food spills that encourage activity. Cracks or holes that allow entry also need sealing to limit contamination.
FAQs About Disease Transmission Risks
Which rat or mouse-spread diseases most often make people severely ill?
Some of the most concerning rodent illnesses causing serious health impacts or death include hantavirus, leptospirosis, rat-bite fever, viral hemorrhagic fevers, salmonellosis, and plague. Those at highest risk face life-threatening complications without prompt treatment. Even healthy individuals may become very sick from extremely pathogenic strains.
How long can germs from rodent droppings survive to infect people?
Depending on environmental conditions and the specific pathogen, certain viruses and bacteria from rat or mouse feces remain infectious anywhere from days to months after being passed. For example, some strains of hantavirus or Leptospira bacteria may contaminate surfaces or dust for weeks before losing viability. Disinfection is vital even after rodents are excluded.
If there are no rats or mice visible, does that mean disease risks are low?
Not necessarily. Rodents are elusive and good at hiding. But they may still be actively roaming inside walls, attics, crawlspaces, and other concealed areas. These spaces often contain large accumulations of hazardous droppings and urine. Risks remain until a thorough inspection finds no signs of current or former inf