The Return Of The Rat – Our Most Reviled Pest Thrives

The Return Of The Rat – Our Most Reviled Pest Thrives – The rat population of Britain is currently at an all time high, fortnightly waste collections, lack of sewer baiting and the late night takeaway are all cited as culprits in this rodent explosion, but what do we really know about the humble creatures that thrive in our sewers and induce almost universal fear and loathing in all who encounter them.

Rats are not native to Europe or North America but originate in Asia and almost certainly arrived in Europe as stowaways on trading ships, indeed the common name for Rattus rattus is the ship or black rat.

Brown Rat

In Asian folklore the rat is a prominent character, in Hindu mythology the elephant-headed god Ganesh is accompanied by a rat wherever he travels. An offering to Ganesh and his companion Vahana the rat is therefore an important part of Hindu worship.

To the Romans the sighting of a white rat was considered to be lucky but if you found that rats had chewed your belongings then you should postpone any business affairs that you were planning that day or they would surely fail.

Reviled in the west, the rat is revered in Chinese mythology, being part of the Chinese zodiac and respected for its quick wit and resourcefulness. The rat is considered good luck in China & Japan where it is credited with bringing the gift of rice to the world.

To the Polynesians rats were an easily bred and transportable source of food

In 1347 the Mongols laying siege to the Crimean city of Caffa began to succumb to a mysterious illness that killed swiftly and mercilessly. In order to weaken the city the Mongols catapulted the bodies of their own dead over the city walls and within days the inhabitants of Caffa also fell prey to the disease.

However, a group of Italian merchants were allowed to leave the city and return to Italy, and probably unknowingly took with them the Black Death, Yersinia pestis.

Black or Ship Rat

The ensuing plague raged throughout the continent reaching Britain in 1348 with up to 90% mortality in some areas and it reappeared in Europe in every generation for over four hundred years.

We now know of course that the rat was a carrier, or to be more precise the fleas that the rats carried on their bodies were the agents of plague transmission.

Indeed whilst being in no way established in fact, it is possible that the children’s story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin is an allegory of the plague, it certainly indicates that the rat population was booming at the time.

Every cloud however has a silver lining and the survivors of the 14^th century plagues found that they could now demand higher wages and better conditions as the shortage of workers in the wake of plague deaths created a seller’s market for labour. The rise of the Yeoman Farmer and the British class system could be argued to be attributed to the humble rat.

Into modern times and the Black Rat is now almost extinct in the British Isles, having been replaced from the 18^th century onwards by the Brown or Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus) and it is this creature that now thrives in our sewers, on our streets and in our homes and it is when we encounter it there that it creates most revulsion.

A typical rat weighs around 200 – 300 grams or half to three quarters of a pound, and has a tail around the same length as its body, often making it appear bigger than it really is.

One of the primary functions of a rat’s tail is thermo-regulation; it uses its tail to dissipate body heat. When a rat’s temperature falls it restricts blood flow into its tail.

Rats are rodents, the word comes from the Latin ‘Rodere’ meaning ‘to gnaw or eat away’, aptly named as their teeth never stop growing and they gnaw on hard objects to keep them sharp, unfortunately this can often include electrical wiring and water pipes. A rat’s teeth can penetrate mild steel.

Often a rat will move into a loft or roof void looking for somewhere safe to give birth, being excellent climbers the interior of the cavity wall of the building is a common route, especially if there is an underground breach in the drainage system.

They are sexually mature at around 13 weeks and have a gestation period of about 20 –22 days giving birth typically to 7 – 10 young per litter.

They are naturally shy and nocturnal creatures said to suffer from ‘neophobia’ a fear of anything new in their environment.

Often the first signs that a house is infested will be the patter of tiny feet on the upstairs plasterboard ceilings, although with the modern trend for roof insulation an infestation can often go undetected for quite some time. In homes with floorboards gnawing will often be heard in the sub-floor area.

Their need to eat will often betray their presence, food stored in cupboards will be taken, cereal packets chewed, chocolate and crisps are favourites, although a rat often has a diet that we would find somewhat strange.

The rat has no ability to taste ‘bitter’ foods so it can quite happily munch away on a bar of soap for the fat content. Pest controllers use this as a safety feature and all rat poison is coated in a bitter substance that the rats can’t taste but which would make it totally unpalatable to a dog or a child.

Although the rat is no longer a plague carrier it does come with a number of unwelcome traits. It is a carrier of a number of diseases including Murine Typhus, Salmonella and Weil’s Disease, spread from rats’ urine, which unfortunately usually claims at least one life in Britain each year.

If you have a rat infestation then you have a legal duty to remedy it and in extreme circumstances forced entry to your property can be made against your will.

As a final sting in the tail, many household insurance policies specifically exclude damage by vermin so if a rat chews your wiring and the house burns down you may find yourself without insurance cover.

Hated, despised and unloved the humble rat continues to share and shape our environment in ways that we do not see or appreciate and despite our best effort the rat and man will always co-exist.

Related articles by Zemanta

• The Black Death in Europe (weuropeanhistory.suite101.com)
• Return of the Plague (time.com)

The Return Of The Rat – Our Most Reviled Pest Thrives is a post from: Lancashire, Cheshire, Trafford & Manchester Pest Control

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Welcome to Harrier Pest Control dealing with all types of pest control in Manchester, Trafford, Liverpool, Wirral, Lancashire and Cheshire. We are available to help seven days per week on 0800 781 9329 or 0161 930 8814  or 01925 670375 or 01257 230637. We can also be contacted by email using info@harrierpestprevention.co.uk  but if your pest control problem is urgent please use the phone as if we are busy we may not pick up our email for several hours.

We provide a rapid and discreet service whatever your pest control problem and are usually able to provide

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a same day service although this may vary in the summer time, especially in flying ant season when we tend to be very busy.

We deal with all pests and specialise in Wasps‘ Nests which we destroy for just £32.00 (£44.50 for postcode areas L, CW & CH), and problems with ants and bed bugs. We also deal with rats, mice, bed bugs, cockroaches, carpet beetle, biscuit beetle, flies, birds, moles, ants, rabbits, fleas and any other pest control problem you might have.

We give an agreed fixed price for most pest control work but other than for wasps’ nests we cannot do this by telephone, we need to see the job. Where ant infestations are a problem inside properties we will come out free of charge to assess the work and advise you of what we can do and the costs invoved. In 95 percent of cases we will be able to offer you a fixed price to cure your ant infestion and a three year guarantee, any follow up calls being included within that one fixed price.

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Bed bugs are rife in the Manchester Pest Control area of operation and if you even suspect that you may have bed bugs you need to get help fast as bed bugs are not a pest that can be tackled by an amateur.

We do not charge extra for destroying Wasps’ Nests on Saturdays, Sundays & Bank Holidays. We do not charge extra if you have a second wasps nest on your property, the price is still £32. If you have a third wasps nest it is just £10 for the third wasps nest and each subsequent one destroyed on the same visit. Some Borough Councils are charging £55 for the first wasps nest and £30 for each subsequent one.

We are happy to discuss matters related to pest control, to share hints and tips, stories and anything related to the control of pests and vermin.

For the first time ever in 2010 we have introduced a range of pest control products for sale direct to the public through our trading partners ChadTrad Stores. These include humane mouse traps , Focus F1 Electric Fly Killer, and The Urban Garden squirrel stop.Please visit our Products Page for more details

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Dust Mite Products: We get a lot of visitors to this site regarding skin allergies caused by dust mites and whilst this is not really a pest control issue we recommend the following product which many customers have found works successfully for them.ELECTRONIC DUST MITE CONTROLLER (848)-SOLUTION TO ALLERGIES .

We cover South Lancashire, Greater Manchester and North Cheshire and are more than happy to answer any queries or talk pest control with you, see our ‘areas covered page’ for more details or give us a ring as we will always try to help if we can, maybe by pointing you in the direction of another reliable pest control company if you are too remote for us to attend. We use ony pesticides approved under current legislation will aways use the safest products available, appropriate to the task.

We will always advise on how to keep children, pets and staff safe. All works will be carried out in accordance with the Health & Safety Act 1974, the COSHH Regulations 1988, the Food & Environmental Act 1985 and Control of Pesticides 1986

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Lancashire Pest Control Wasps Nests £32, Manchester & Cheshire

Trafford, Liverpool Wirral and Manchester Pest Control Wasps Nests Destroyed £32, Lancashire & Cheshire Remove A Wasps Nest

Manchester Pest Control Wasps Nests £32 Remove a

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accrington, abram birchwood, ashton on mersey, hindley, aspull,standish, adlington, appleton, alderley edge, altrincham, ashton in makerfield,astley, atherton, baguley,bebington, billinge, burscough, formby, birkenhead, wasps, nest,benchill,  blackburn,blackpool, bradshaw, burtonwood, bolton, bootle, boothstown, bowden,bramhall, broadheath, burnage, bury,  bredbury, chadderton, cheadle, croston, croft, cheadle hulme, chorley, clayton-le-woods, culcheth, darwen, davyhulme, didsbury, eccles, eccleston, ellesmere port,old trafford, farnworth, flixton, fleetwood, frodsham, fylde, garstang, gatley, glazebury, golborne, great sankey, grappenhall, hale,hale barnes,  handforth, harwood, haydock, heaton mersey, heald green, heswall, heywood, horwich, haze grove, irlam, knutsford, knowsley, leigh,leyland, levenshulme,  little lever, lymm, macclesfield, middleton, neston, northenden, northwich, newton-le-willows, offerton, oldham, partington, penketh, preston, prestwich, prescott, pendlebury, poynton, ramsbottom, radcliffe, rainford, reddish, rochdale, st helens, sale, shevington, salford, skelmersdale, southport, standish,stockport, stretford, swinton, thameside, timperley, tottington, trafford, tyldesley, urmston, walkden, warrington,  weaverham, wigan, whitefield,  wilmslow, woolston, worsley, warrington, weaverham, wigan, winsford,  wilmslow, worsley, westhoughton, birkenhead, wallasey, hoylake, heswall, winsford, middlewich, runcorn, widnes, rainhill, croft, halewood, prescott, huyton, wythenshawe, whittle, Claughton,  North Birkenhead, Rock Ferry, Tranmere, Oxton, Prenton, Upton, Bidson, Noctorum, Egremont, Liscard, Seacombe, Liscard, New Brighton, Leasowe, Upton, Saughall Massie, Arrow Park, Woodchurch, New Ferry, Port Sunlight, Moreton, Meols, West Kirby, Greasby, Newton, Heswall, Thingwall, Bromborough, Eastham, Brooklands, Sale Moor

Trafford and Manchester Pest Control Wasps Nests Destroyed £32, Lancashire & Cheshire Remove A Wasps Nest is a post from: Lancashire, Cheshire, Trafford & Manchester Pest Control